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“Don’t tempt me. No matter what you do, I will not cave, not matter how what you do or what you say or if you beg. Your comfort is what matters to me and if me doing this—” I slip a finger inside her and she hisses once more in pain “—hurts you. Then, think about how you’ll feel if I take you three more times today.”

“Three? You’re giving yourself a lot of credit for recovery time.”

I yank her to me by her throat and smother her in a kiss. “You and that fucking mouth.” I shove my fingers inside untilshe gags. “That’s what you’ll be doing later then, gagging and coughing until you can’t breathe.”

Her eyes glaze over, a silent plea that tells me that’s exactly what she wants.

“Now, focus. Let’s go downstairs and eat breakfast.”

“Can I go back to work?” Jovie bends down to grab the loofah.

“Maybe. Only if I can still get my flower deliveries.” I love teasing her.

“You do know that no matter what, I’ll be going back. That business is my entire life, and I won’t let it go down the drain because some big bad sexy man tells me not to.”

I wrap my arms around her, turning off the shower, and just stand there for a minute wrapped in the warm steam. “You think I’m sexy, huh?”

She rolls her eyes, slapping my chest playfully. “You skipped over big and bad and latched onto that word instead?”

I nip her jaw, chuckling. “I mean, I am big and I have heard from authorities that I am a bad, dangerous man.”

Her smile is gone in the next blink, the mood ruined. “But you aren’t,” she says, her voice broken with emotion. “You’re a good man.”

I snag a towel off the warmer and wrap her in it, kissing the tip of her nose. “I am a bad, dangerous man. You should know the truth about that before this goes any further.” I hold my breath waiting for her answer. I never cared what anyone thought of me before Jovie. I kill if I have to. I torture if I have to. I set traps if I have to. I spend money to make money. I control and threatenevery politician under me. I control the police force. Lawyers are in my pockets.

I’m an untouchable, powerful man who isn’t afraid to spill blood, but I’d never spill hers.

Jovie is the safest place she can be. Right here with me. Under my protection. It won’t be long until my enemies know about her. She’ll have security detail everywhere she goes. It’s another reason why her flower shop makes me nervous. It doesn’t have the security system it needs, but she wants to work, and I respect that.

I only ever want to do what she wants.

“You’re a good man to me,” she says, handing me a towel from the warmer as well.

I wrap it around my waist and step out of the shower, giving her another peck on the lips. I can’t help it. I’m addicted to how her kiss feels against mine.

“I’monlya good man to you. Everyone else could die and I wouldn’t care, you need to know that about me, Jovie. I’m not a nice person. I’m not a good person. With you, I will always give you the best of me and even then, the best of me is bad.”

“Coming from someone who has seen the best of you, nothing about you is bad.”

“Not when it comes to you. You’ll never breathe in the worst of me. Ever.”

“I’ve met good people who have turned out to be horrible. I like that you don’t hide who you are while so many do. You might do questionable, horrid things, but I don’t think those actions arewho you are. Who you are is who you are with me. Everything else, that’s your job.”

I want her again right now. I want to yank that towel from her body and toss her on the bed, wrap us in the sheets until the day turns to night.

We get dressed in silence. I slip on my usual suit without a tie, and she slips into her clothes from yesterday. I realize she doesn’t have anything here. I text Lorenzo.

Me: “Buy her a few outfits. Anything she will need. Only the best.”

Lorenzo: “Yes, Sir. I can go to her apartment as well to get anything and figure out what size she wears.”

Me: “Do that and install the best security system. I also want bulletproof glass replacing her front windows.”

Lorenzo: “You might want to talk to her about that, Sir. She does own the building and if you step on her toes, she won’t be happy.”

He’s right. I hate not being in control of everything.

Me: “Fine. Hold on the bulletproof glass. Everything else is needed. Today.”