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“I love you,” she whispered She kissed his cheek “I love you” Then his lips, the touch feather-soft and perfect “I love you”

He gritted his teeth, trying to fight against the pain, the need, that was building in his chest, threatening to overwhele If that lad”

“Is that all?” she asked, searching his face, de honesty

He gritted his teeth and looked away “It’s all I have to give”

“You’re a liar, Dante”

Anger flooded through him, unreasonable and hot “I’m a what?”

“A liar And not just about this Your entire life is a lie Your whole existence”

He pushed up from his chair and she leaped backward, her eyes ith shock “Of course,” he snarled, battling against the pain in his chest “How could I forget? I’m the Italian bastard, adopted by a respectable fa Of courseto be civilized, pretending to be a man of honor, e both know I a of his parents “I have the blood of a killer in me The blood of a low-class, violent coho abused women Killed the his hand around the well-ordered, perfect room The lie he had built for himself

He stared her down, stared into her wide eyes, waiting for the fear to win Waiting for her to realize that what he said was true That he wasn’t the ht he was That he wasn’t the man he pretended to be That beneath his armor, was a darkness that no one would ever want to touch

“No,” she said, shaking her head “You idiot You think I don’t know that’s what you think of yourself? You think I buy what the press writes? What you show everyone? Don’t forget I’ed you out of that cold shower I’m the one armed you with her own body, so don’t try to scare me noith the same lie you tell yourself every day Because this is the lie, Dante Romani That you’re broken That you can’t love or be loved Look around you…people love you Because you’re worthy of it Don and Mary love you Ana loves you I love you And you won’t let us Because you’re too damn afraid”

“Hell, yes, I’ the walls he’d erected around his heart crue Do you knohat that means? Passion is poison for me It could be”

“It’s not true”

“You think it’s not true Why? Because you love e” He shouted the words, desperate to make her understand, to make her believe hiht he could be different That he could change Don’t you understand? Love doesn’t fix anything It hides flaws Makes people blind to thehtness and sunshine It can’t heal a da” His voice broke, thehisdoes”

She shook her head “Only if you choose to dwell in the dark He made a choice, Dante You can’t blame love for that That wasn’t love”

“Passion then Emotion A lack of control I won’t lethis arm across his office “Order Control That’s who I am It’s what I’ve made myself What I’ve trained myself to be So that I will never hurt someone like that So that I will never become that man”

“So that you’ll never be hurt,” she said, her voice soft

“That, too,” he said, everything in hi exposed no

“This isn’t real,” she said, looking around the room “It’s just stuff It’s just the outside It doesn’t fix who you are”

He laughed, the sound divorced fro who I am Keep it locked up”