Page 196 of The Art of Ruin

Emotion pulls warm and tight through my chest.

Because there it is again.

Not grand declarations. Just honesty.

“I still can’t believe you came back to me sometimes,” he admits quietly.

The words hit me so hard I blink up at him. “Adi—”

“No, I mean it.” His eyes stay fixed on mine. “I know what I did to you. I know how badly I handled things.” His hand tightens slightly at my waist like he needs the contact. “And then somehow you still chose me again anyway.”

God.

This man.

I reach up slowly, smoothing my hand along his jaw. “You make it sound like loving you is difficult.”

A soft laugh leaves him then, rough around the edges. “Tesoro, I’m an acquired taste at best.”

“That’s not true.”

“No?” His mouth brushes briefly against my temple. “I’m controlling, obsessive, occasionally homicidal—”

“Occasionally?”

“Fine, often.”

I snort softly, and he smiles against my skin before his expression turns serious again.

“I spent a long time thinking love meant being feared a little,” he says quietly. “Then you walked into my life and somehow made me want softer things.”

The warmth in my chest turns almost unbearably tender. “You know what I think?” I whisper.

“What?”

“I think you were always softer with me.”

Something raw flickers briefly across his face.

Then he leans down and kisses me slowly, one hand sliding into my hair while the other grips my ass and pulls me against his chest.

“I love you,” he murmurs against my mouth. One hand settles against my waist while the other slides slowly up the back of my neck. “You know,” he murmurs, “you get this look sometimes right before you say something.”

I laugh quietly. “I do?”

“Yes.” His thumb brushes my jaw. “Usually right before I end up unable to think properly for several hours.”

“That sounds like a you problem.”

“It absolutely is.”

I smile despite myself.

Then his expression changes slightly.

Softening.

“Talk to me.”