Chapter 27

"What if I refuse?" I inquired.

Anderson responded with a gentle yet menacing smile. "Then you might as well wait for Sebastian to appear at your doorstep soon. But if I were you, I wouldn't want to confront him alone after these three years, during which his influence and fury have only intensified."

A shiver ran down my spine. Reluctantly, I accepted the documents, aware that the decision I was about to make could have irreversible repercussions. But did I have any other option?

"What does the contract entail?" Sebastian questioned, his jaw tight with tension.

“It outlines the terms of our agreement. I’m obligated to marry Anderson, or I’ll have to pay him ten times the amount we agreed upon as compensation. A hundred million dollars.”

“I’ll find a way to get that damn contract annulled. And if I can’t, I’ll pay him the money. You won’t have to worry about it.” He walked toward the window, running his hand through his unruly hair. He let out a heaved breath as if trying to release the tension radiating from him.

“No, Sebastian. It’s my mess to deal with. I got myself into this and I should face the consequences.”

Sebastian’s hands washed over his face before he turned to me. “You got yourself into this mess because of my brother and the issues he has with me. So, it’s my mess. Let me handle it.”

I slowly approached him, my brows knitting. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Don’t be.” His husky voice rang in my ears. “The only thing I’m mad about is how little trust you put in me.”

“I’m so sorry, Sebastian,” I whispered through the pain building up within me.

“Even after you came back.” His head tilted, and his eyes filled with regret. “Didn’t you notice that I didn’t even ask about our child or the pregnancy? Did you not see that I had no idea?”

I felt a ping of regret rushing through me. “I thought it was a game. I believed you were pretending to continue your revenge, getting closer to taking Angel away from me. Anderson warned me you’d try these tricks.”

“Fuck,” Sebastian hissed. “Of course, he said so because he knew I still had feelings for you. He knew I still loved you, Melissa.”

I felt my heart breaking in two at the thought of how I let myself be manipulated. “And why did he know about Angel, and you didn’t?” I asked.

“From Colin,” Sebastian stated without hesitation.

Once again, my heart broke. Once again, I trusted the wrong person.

“That day, three years ago, when Colin came to see me, he didn’t mention the pregnancy. He told me you overdosed on sleeping pills. You can imagine how I reacted to that news. I went crazy. I was lost in despair. Colin did it to cloud my mind, to buy more time to come back to you with all these lies about my revenge and to run away with you. And while I was losing my mind, searching for you like a fool, Anderson offered Colin his help. And together, they started plotting behind my back right from the beginning,” Sebastian said, his voice, though fueled by rage, cracking. “Anderson didn’t find you. He knew all along where you were. He played it like this, so you’d believe he found you. To scare and manipulate you.”

Tears welled up in my eyes. “How do you know?”

“From him. That bastard.”

“So did you catch him?”

“Yes.” Sebastian nodded solemnly. “He had no choice but to tell me everything. Though, he still lied to me that you miscarried.” His muscles tensed.

“Where is he now?”

Sebastian’s gaze remained steady as he answered, “He’s dead.”

***

Sebastian.

I looked at Melissa, her face turned pallid. Her luminous eyes widened in shock, searching my face for any sign that what I’d just said was just a twisted joke. It wasn’t. I killed this piece of shit with cold blood, and I’d do it again. And again. And I’d do it much sooner. Before he managed to ruin my life.

“Did you... kill him?” Melissa’s voice trembled as the words barely escaped her parted lips.

“Yes, and I’d do it again.” My response was void of emotion. “What’s more? I’d kill Anderson, too. If he weren’t my brother, I swear he’d be dead by now because of everything he’s done.”

A single tear traced its way down her cheek. “Do you even hear yourself, Sebastian?” she whispered. “That’s why I feared you could’ve hurt me or Angel. Because you handle everything like this. With violence. You get rid of people who are inconvenient for you.”

My jaw tightened, and I released a heavy sigh, grappling with the anger and anguish consuming me. "Damn it, Melissa. I've always been transparent with you about who I am," I murmured in a subdued voice. "I'm involved in a mafia. What more did you anticipate from me? This is the brutal reality of our existence. If I hadn't dealt with those who posed a threat to us or our family, I'd be the one lying in a grave right now. Being entrenched in this world, occupying my position, necessitates difficult decisions."

Melissa shook her head, tears tracing down her cheeks. "I can't, Sebastian... I..."

She made her way toward the door, but instinctively, I grasped her elbow, unwilling to let her leave. Not again. She turned to face me, our faces mere inches apart.

"I'm doing this to ensure the safety of my family," I asserted in a hushed tone. "And you and my daughter are my family. I would never harm you. And I would never allow anyone else to harm you."

Melissa’s eyes flickered between mine as if torn between the love she once knew and the dreadful reality of who I was. “You’re a monster, Sebastian,” she whispered. “An annihilated, ruthless criminal.”

“Am I?” I hissed darkly.

“Yes. Yes, you are.”

“Does it scare you?” My nose was almost touching hers.

“No. Not anymore. But does it bother me? It does.”

I leaned even closer so that our breaths were meshing, lips brushing. “It didn’t bother you in the past,” I murmured darkly, and I could feel Melissa’s chest moving up and down heavily against mine.

The tension, the attraction between us, was palpable. I wanted to kiss her so badly. I craved to have a taste of her lips as if she was the forbidden, I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t. Not anymore. I leaned closer, her rugged breath sweeping across my parted lips. I was so close I could feel her heart racing in her chest. Our lips almost collided. Almost.

“Things have changed.” She pulled away, stepping back as if to keep a safe distance. “I’m not the same Melissa anymore. She’s gone.”

She was right. She was no longer the fragile rose I remember. She blossomed into a captivating midnight rose adorned with mysterious, dark petals, impossible to resist. She had that intoxicating darkness and alluring elegance in her that lured me in even more than before. She’d become a manifestation of my deepest desires. Now, I wanted her even more. I craved her with every fiber in my body.

“Is it because of him? Do you have feelings for my brother?” I couldn’t help these thoughts. They had been haunting me ever since I saw them together. And now she seemed to be slipping through my fingers. The moment I thought I had her back, she would push me away. It seemed as if I couldn’t catch her, no matter how much I chased her. I knew this woman would be the death of me one day. But did I care? No. Call me twisted. Call me possessive. But Melissa was everything I’d ever craved, and that’s why the thought of her with another man was killing me.

“I can’t believe this is what comes to your mind first.” She shook her head. “You’re so possessive.” There it is. “Obsessive,” she added with a scoff.

I took a few steps closer. Her body shivered as I ran my fingers down her arm. “I am possessive only over what’s already mine.”

“I wanted to be yours.” Her eyes darted between mine. “But then I remembered you’re a ruthless gangster with a poisoned heart.”

My brow twitched. “Now you thought of that?”

“Perhaps I was too blinded before to see who you truly are,” she spoke in a hushed tone, her face painting with trouble. “Or perhaps I didn’t want to see it. I chose to ignore all the red flags from the beginning. Intentionally. But now that you killed Colin…”

“So this is what it’s all about. Colin,” I stated harshly. “You still care about that twisted, obsessive bastard who betrayed both of us?”

Melissa moved back as if she was scared of me. “What did you think, Sebastian? That his death wouldn’t mean anything to me?”

“Melissa, he fucking lied to you. He filled your ears with lies that I wanted to harm you, harm my own daughter, for fuck’s sake.” I hardly composed my anger. “The bullet in his head was the least he deserved for all that he’d done to us, all the damage he caused to us.”

“Can’t you see that we cause damage to each other? We hurt each other; people die… We’ve done enough damage.” Her words came out as a painful whisper. “This… we… it wouldn’t work out, Sebastian. I told you this the day you kidnapped me from the charity. We were blinded by lust, and lust is toxic.”

“Lust?” I questioned. “You think what we had was merely lust?”

“Think of it, Sebastian. You tell me you killed a man with cold blood, and you expect me to fall into your arms right after, and when I don’t, you question me, question whether I have feelings for your brother.” The pain in her voice was impossible to ignore. “This isn’t love. It’s merely lust that will fade away as time passes, and when it does, we will have nothing left. We will fall apart.”

She quickly wiped the tear from under her eyes before running her hand through her hair and heading toward the door. And I stood there, tightening my teeth. I knew I should let her go. Perhaps it would be better for both of us. But I couldn’t. Melissa was the only woman I couldn’t let go of. She was still undeniably the Queen of my Heart, etched into the very core of my existence. She was my only desire, my very own destruction.

I sprinted to the elevator, catching the doors just in time to prevent them from closing. Our gazes collided, charged with an electrifying desire I was sure we both felt. Lust. But above all, an unbending love that refused to die, no matter how badly she wanted to kill it.

“Melissa,” I breathed, stepping into the elevator, instinctively pressing her against the cool steel of the wall. The elevator door slid shut with a metallic thud as my lips crashed onto her, hard and demanding, and the world around us ceased to exist. Everything faded away. All I could feel was her intoxicating presence, which I craved like a madman.

Breaking our fiery kiss, I murmured against her swollen lips, “Can’t you see that I’m so fucking jealous of him because I still love you? I desire you because I love you. It’s not just lust. I crave you with every fiber of my being, and that’s what only love can do.” My voice was a low, almost desperate hiss. “Without you, I forget how to breathe. I know you feel it, too, Melissa. Stop fighting your desires. Stop resisting me. Stop running away because you can’t avoid it.”

Crashing my lips onto hers again, I lifted Melissa effortlessly, her legs wrapping around my waist as I pressed her against the steely wall. There was no space left between us, only the heat of our bodies mingling. My fingers danced over the control panel, pressing the emergency stop button. The elevator jolted to a halt. Melissa’s fingers weaved into my hair as my lips blazed a trail down her neck. She couldn’t suppress a sigh of pleasure as I nibbled the sensitive skin just below her collarbone.