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Before, I was finding her pushing points to use against her, but now, she’s given me one of her most vulnerable moments, and I’ll never use that against her. I don’t want her to feel like she did today, ever again.

I grab her face, pressing my nose against hers. “It was never about me needing dick, Gianna. Don’t get who I am confused. I told you that I’m obsessed with you. I want you. Not just for sex, for everything.”

“For now,” she mutters.

I swallow. There is only one way I can think of to truly show this woman where my head is. “I can prove it to you.”

“How?”

I pull my gun from its holster and press it against her throat. Her eyes light up, her pupils darken. And this is why I’m so addicted.

“I’ll walk out there, drag him to the barn, and I’ll shoot him in the fucking head. You give me the order, I’ll show you that there was nothing emotional between us. He upset you; he deserves it.”

A wicked smile appears on her plump red lips. “Answer this again. Was any of this real? Because you have one chance to admit the truth, because if I find out you’re lying, you won't live to see the next sunrise, Colten.”

She’s the one with a gun pressed to her throat, yet she’s confidently telling me I won’t live to see tomorrow. It’s like I’ve already died and gone to heaven.

“Everything is real between us, Gianna,” I say, my voice raw.

“Then Romeo can survive another day. I don’t have the patience to deal with a war right now.” She pauses, wrapping her hand over mine on the gun. “But if I find out I’ve been lied to. If there was more to it, I’ll kill you. I mean it. You don’t get to hurt me, Colten Sterling.”

“Then you agree not to hurt me either, G.”

She drags me closer, claiming my lips. “Then don’t give me your heart, cowboy.”

My chest almost caves in because, honestly, her claws have already ripped through my ribcage; it’s only a matter of time before her nails dig into my heart.

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

Gianna

I break the kiss before I demand he drag me into one of Hunter’s spare bedrooms. “Shall we go and join your family for the rest of the meal? It’s rude to disappear,” I sass.

“If we must, I suppose.” He rests his forehead against mine, his fingers digging into my ass. “I’m sorry you found out about my past like that. He had no right.”

I tap his cheek. “Would you have ever told me yourself?”

I wonder if he’s ashamed? Like Dom sometimes struggles with, especially when he’s been around my father too much.

“If you’d asked about my past… relations. Then yes, I would have been open.”

“Okay. Any other skeletons in your closet, Mr. Sterling?” I ask as he puts my feet back on the ground.

“My skeletons have their own graveyard, G. Much like yours. But nothing that is going to make you question who I am.”

He slides his hand in mine and squeezes. I stop us before he opens the door. “Colt… I want you to know that I’m not judging you. Actually, it’s hot thinking about you with another guy. That wasn’t what I was mad about. It was the who. Him specifically. And where your head is at with me.”

He grins. “You’re cute, viper.”

I let out a groan. “What is it with this family and the word cute?”

He leans in, nudging his shoulder against me. “Because I know it winds you up, G.”

“Oh, so after your ex-lover drops a bomb over a tray of meat, you think now is the appropriate time to wind me up? Really?”

He laughs. “In hindsight, maybe not. I can’t help it.”

I don’t fight the smile. I don’t remember the last time I actually smiled this much; the muscles in my face will need Botox soon with all this use they’re getting.