Page 71 of Beautiful Obsessions
The air between us thinned.Tightened.
I could feel his breath now—steady, controlled in a way that made mine feel uneven, fractured.
My hand moved before I could stop it, gripping the front of his shirt.Not to push him away.To pull him closer.
That was all it took.
His mouth crashed into mine—not soft, not tentative.Controlled for half a second before something snapped.I felt it—the restraint breaking, the tension unraveling all at once.
My grip tightened, dragging him in, and he answered with something darker.His hand slid from my jaw to the back of my neck, firm enough to hold, to anchor, to make it clear I wasn’t stepping away unless he decided I could.
And I didn’t want to.Not when everything in me felt like it had been waiting for this exact collision.
The space between us finally fell away—and something violent, inevitable, and entirely out of control took its place.
21
Archie
Iknew without a doubt that I would die at the hands of a Cavalho.Because when they found out I’d touched their little angel, there’d be hell to pay.
The thought should have stopped me.
It should have been enough—Raze’s temper, Gianni’s bullets still echoing in my bones, the memory of Atlas’s quiet, calculating stare.The Cavalho men would not forgive my transgressions.Which is exactly how they would view my hands on Tone’s body.
And yet… I didn’t stop.I couldn’t.
Because Antonella Cavalho stood in front of me like an offering, her breath uneven, her eyes locked on mine like she was daring me to ruin us both.
And God help me, I couldn’t deny that I’d wanted this from the moment I met her.I’d more than wanted her.
It had started on a blood-soaked ground, my knees shattered, my body failing, my vision blurring at the edges.I’d been halfway to death when she’d come into view—sharp, furious, unafraid.While the rest of the Cavalho family circled like wolves deciding whether to finish the job, she’d dropped beside me without hesitation and started to repair me.
Her hands had been steady.Warm and certain as she’d pressed into wounds that should have made me black out, her voice cutting through the haze, dragging me back when it would’ve been easier to just let go.
I’d felt it then.Even through the pain.That she would be the thing that undid me.
It had been a spark back then.A flicker.Something I could ignore, bury under the weight of what was happening.But every time I saw her after that… the fixation intensified.
Every glance.Every argument and rebellion as she threw her attitude at me.The spark grew to something more.Something dangerous and all consuming.An itch that sat under my skin and refused to be ignored.
And now—now she stood before me, all I’d ever wanted and more.
Her fingers curled into my shirt like she couldn’t bring herself to let go, her body pressed against mine, her breath hot against my mouth.There was nothing hesitant about her, nothing unsure.
She gave me her warmth—her intent unmistakable.She wanted me as much as I wanted her.Whatever fragile line we’d been circling, we’d already stepped over it.
I broke the kiss first, but only because I needed to look at her, to confirm this is what she truly wanted.
Her lips were parted slightly, her chest rising too fast, her eyes darker than I’d ever seen them.There was no hesitation in them, only fire.
“This is where you tell me to stop,” I said, my voice low.
It was the last chance I was giving either of us to stop.
“Why would I do that?”
That was all it took for me to be all in.
