Page 130 of Savage Ambition

“You almost said my name,” he stated.

I jerked backward to rebuild my ruined defenses. “It was a mistake. It won’t happen again.”

“Was it?” His eyes searched my eyes for truths I wasn’t ready to give.

“Of course it was.” My voice came out harsher than intended, brittle with fear disguised as anger. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I couldn’t hold back any more than you could.” His calm infuriated me further.

I turned toward the sink to put distance between us. I wiped the cum from my skin with trembling hands. “It meant nothing. I merely got caught up in the moment.”

“Bullshit.” He stepped closer, his reflection appearing beside mine in the mirror. “You don’t ‘get caught up’ in anything, Dante. Nothing about you is spontaneous. Your moves are calculated, and your reactions are controlled down to the last detail.”

“Apparently not,” I snapped. I gripped the edge of the counter until my knuckles whitened. “Since I almost fucked up badly enough to get us both killed.”

“It’s proof that what happened in that room wasn’t a performance. Everything between us was real, tesoro.”

The term of endearment struck deeper in my heart every time he used it. I needed to command him to stop calling me that, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it when a secret part of me savored it every time.

“Nothing in this place is real.” I met his gaze in the mirror. “Everything is a transaction.”

“Not everything.” He pressed against my back, stoking the chaotic reactions simmering within me.

I spun around and shoved him with both hands against his chest. “It was meaningless sex,” I snarled, willing it to be true. “That’s all it will ever be. That’s all it can be.”

Renato absorbed the blow. “You can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me.”

“Fuck you,” I spat. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“I know what matters.” He eliminated the space between us.

“What matters is that we’re risking our lives every second we stay in here.” My voice cracked with the strain of keeping it low. “You don’t know what Salvatore’s capable of.”

“I have a better idea than you think.”

“Then you should know better than this.” I gestured between us.

“All the more reason to not waste time.” He caught my face between his hands. “Why did you almost say my name?”

“I told you, it was a mistake.”

His thumbs stroked my cheekbones, the tenderness at odds with the steel in his voice. “When are you going to realize your body knows the truth you won’t admit?”

“What do you want from me?” I winced at the genuine anguish bleeding into my tone.

“The truth. That’s all I’ve ever wanted from you.”

“The truth is I can’t afford to feel anything for you.” I laughed harshly. “What happened out there can never happen again. No matter how I reacted, I can’t be yours.”

His eyes softened at my words with understanding. “Your body surrendered because it recognized something your mind refuses to accept.”

“And what’s that?”

“That you’re not alone anymore,” he replied. “I’m someone who sees Dragon and the real you hidden beneath and still wants you both.”

The words struck a nerve so deep I flinched. My throat closed around any response I might have made.

“I saw you tonight, Dante.” His hands slid from my face to my shoulders. “Not Dragon. Not the Gennaro heir. You. And what I saw was beautiful.”