“Call my children. Tell them to come here. Every time I call them, they think I’m crazy. When Imane calls them, they say she is overdramatic. I need to say goodbye.”

“You’re not going to die,” I said. I wasn’t sure of what I was saying. I just couldn’t bear the idea that she would. Especially with Shadow’s blood work still in the lab. There was so much potential of losing everything that had kept me alive the last two years.

“Nobody lives forever.” She smiled at me, her eyes glistening. The sun was shining above us fiercely, and she was shivering inside her coats. Her blue-veined hand patted my own. “Don’t worry. By the time you’re my age, you’re tired. I’m ready. I just want to see my children. Please.”

I knew right then and there that her kids were going to come to California, even if I had to drag them by their goddamn ears. “Of course. I will call them.”

I left shortly after, pretending like everything was okay but internally screaming at her kids. Stomping over to my house, I dialed Dr. Wiese’s clinic number again. If they didn’t pick up soon, I’d have to pay him a visit myself. I jammed my key into the keyhole, ready to open the door, when a hand snaked from a monstrous plant and jerked me into a big rough body.

Bane.

I mean, Roman. It was difficult to wrap my head around him asking me to refer to him by his real name. His real name. He’d given me the real him.

“Christ!” I was so surprised, I accidentally bit my tongue. The taste of warm copper filled my mouth. Every time I saw his face it felt like someone punched my heart from the inside. I wondered if it was a normal reaction when you loved someone, before realizing that, yes, I was in love with Roman ‘Bane’ Protsenko. All of him. The thief, the con, the whore. He was cracking my heart with every touch, shattering it with every smile, and it didn’t make any sense, because how could he break something that was already broken? Still. I felt his presence in my bones. His newly-shaven face, so promising, so misleading. His mouth was wide, sexy, and pouty. I wished it was hidden by the beard so I could think straight again.

I opened my mouth, and he clamped his hand over it, crowding me against the wall. My breath shook against his hot palm. A surge of adrenaline ran through my system.

“In the interest of full disclosure, I have no idea what the fuck I am doing here.”

All I could do was nod, slowly and sharply, telling him that I understand. He plastered his body to mine, his erection digging into my stomach. Every muscle in his body was tight, his skin hot with sun and lust.

“Kiss me.” My voice came out muffled under his hand.

Love freely, Juliette had said. I want to, Mrs. B. And that scares me. A lot.

“You kiss me,” he said, rolling his forehead against mine in frustration. He removed his hand from my lips.

I grinned. “Why?”

“Because I need you to be proactive about this shit, Jesse. I want the old Jesse, baby. The one who made decisions. The new one just won’t fucking cut it.”

Something ignited inside of me. I’d like to think that it was her. The old Jesse accepted the challenge, rose within me like a hurricane, and came out in a rush of need and determination.

Whether it was because I was a rape victim.

A woman who knew he was an escort.

Or just because he wasn’t sure whether I was going to regret it or not didn’t matter.

I swallowed hard and realized that I was looking at the man I was in love with. The man who was set to ruin me.

It was in that moment I realized that I’d survived many things, but Roman Protsenko was probably not going to be one of them.

SHE STARED.

I stared.

This was bad. Six million bucks kind of bad. So bad it ought to be really fucking good for me to stand there like an idiot and let Jesse rise on her tiptoes, her lashes, thick and long, fanning across her cheeks. I wanted to kiss the curve of her lips and dip my tongue between them and conquer her inch by inch, like a hidden continent. Mine to explore and reign. Mine to rule. Mine to hold. She tipped her chin up, her lips a breath from mine. I liked Jesse a lot, but watching her make the first move was killing my fucking balls, and I wasn’t too keen on kids, but I liked having the option, you know?

Finally—Jesus, fucking finally—her lips locked on mine, and the urge to grab her face and kiss her the way I knew, the way I was used to, the way I wanted to, burned every cell in my body. I itched. I burned. Yet I stood there, still as a brick, giving her the power as her mouth shyly explored mine.