Serafina
I had to go. I had to go now.
I'd woken up to the sound of Enzo's heavy breathing beside me. He'd rolled over and was lying on his stomach, his head turned away from me. The arm closest to me was bent at an angle, his fingers tangled up in my hair.
Slowly and carefully, I extracted the strands from his grip. I waited a few seconds, then began to ease myself off the bed. Muscles I didn't even know I had ached from the best kind of misuse as I crept silently across the floor on bare feet. The dress I'd borrowed laid in a puddle on the floor where I'd left it, and now I stepped into it and pulled it up and on, wincing slightly as the material abraded the tender skin of my ass that was still heated from his large palm.
Tiptoeing back over to the bed, I picked up my shoes and let them dangle from my fingers as I snuck out of the room. In the bedroom doorway, I hesitated. There was a gaping hole in my chest that was making it hard for me to breathe, and it only grew larger the farther I walked away from him. But I told myself not to look back. The man in that bed represented everything I wanted to escape. I didn't want this life of constantly looking over your shoulder, wondering if the person you loved would come home that night or if you'd be visiting them in jail. Or worse-the cemetery.
I wanted to be free. Free to live where I wanted. To do what I wanted. To marry who I wanted. Someone I chose, not a man who took all my choices away from me.
As my eyes roamed down Enzo's muscular back until the sheet blocked my view from the rest of him, I wondered if we'd met under different circumstances…
No. It was best not to go there.
With a new sense of determination, I ignored the ache in my chest and crept through the sitting area to the door that would take me out of there. I had no idea what time it was, but it was still dark, only the city lights coming in through the big windows lighting my way. I shrugged into my jacket and picked up my clutch. I left the wig where it was. Maybe it would be a better idea to take it to disguise my hair, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to touch it.
As quietly as I could, I turned the deadbolt and unlocked the door. Now all I had to do was open it and walk out.
Instead, I stood there staring at the door as the two warring sides within me battled it out. I knew I needed to leave. Staying in a relationship with Enzo would be toxic and unhealthy. And yet…I didn't want to go. But in the end, my head won over my heart, and, with a shaky hand, I reached for the door handle.
The tips of my fingers had barely touched the cold metal when all of the hair suddenly stood up on the back of my neck. I froze as I heard the sound of a 9mm chambering a round.
"Where do you think you're going, Sera?"
My fingers fell away from the knob, but I didn't turn around. However, I couldn't keep the sorrow from my voice when I answered, "I'm leaving, Enzo."
He made a clicking sound with his tongue. "Are you, though?"
I still didn't turn. I couldn't. I couldn't make myself look at him because I knew what I would see. I could hear it in his voice. The rage. The betrayal. And I didn't think I'd be able to stay strong enough to go if I saw him breaking.
"Step away from the door, Sera."
"Enzo, please," I whispered. "I have to go."
"No, you don't."
I closed my eyes at the razor-sharp pain in his voice. It shredded my heart and left me bleeding, but I had to do this. I had to. Because if I didn't pull away from him now, I never would. I put my hand back on the knob.
"Sera."
"I have to," I cried. My fingers tightened on the metal, but I made no move to open the door. I just stood there, waiting for him to either tell me to go or put a bullet in my head.
When he spoke again, he was so close I could feel his warm breath on the back of my neck. "No. You don't." A sob escaped me when I felt the touch of his lips on my bare skin. "You don't have to go anywhere, baby girl. You can stay here with me. Now step away from the fucking door." His arm came around my waist and his free hand covered mine on the door handle. The scent of a dark forest hovered in the air around me, and I breathed in deep, even as my body stiffened.
I tightened my hold and took a small step closer to the door, but he pried my fingers away as he pulled me against his hard body, still warm from the bed. I felt the heat of his skin seep through my jacket and dress, and felt the cold metal of his gun digging into my ribcage.
He pulled me away from the door with him, walking us backward into the hotel room. I could feel his erection pressing into my lower back. The chase excited him. But what would he do when he had me? Would he be content with that?
When we reached the center of the room, he let me go. "Turn around."
Lifting my chin high, I did as he asked. But I would not cower before him. I absolutely fucking refuse.