A Deal for the Di Sione Ring (The Billionaire's Legacy 7)
Page 29
Mina stared at him, hands clenched by her sides, adrenaline racing through her. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” His gaze narrowed. “The kiss was necessary, Mina. It had to be real. To evoke the violent reaction it did in you so you could use your power.”
She nodded.
“And what did you do?”
“I got away.”
“What would you have done next?”
“Run.”
“Where?”
“Out the front door. The house was empty.”
“Exactly,” he said. “Move toward people. Help.”
She unclenched her fists. Took a deep breath as she attempted to calm her body down.
“You’ve just taken back your power, Mina.” Nate stepped toward her. “I knew the blow was coming and you still incapacitated me long enough for you to get away.”
She nodded. Instructed her pounding heart to relax because this was Nate in front of her, not Silvio.
“If you have that power,” he said, “you can choose who you trust. You can choose what situations you put yourself in. Not all men are violent. Some would only want to kiss you for pleasure—yours and their own.”
She knew that. But the way she’d felt when Nate had just kissed her...
“What?”
She put a hand to her heart. “This panic. I know I can trust you and still I felt terrified.”
“Like I said. Give yourself some time.”
She forced a smile. “You’re right. I just hate giving him that power over me.”
He was silent for a long moment. “Then don’t.”
She blinked. “Scusi?”
“You trust me?”
She nodded.
“Then get back on the wagon.” He took another step toward her, stopping just short of her personal space. “We’re attracted to each other, Mina. Intensely attracted to each other. But I am not Silvio. I can kiss a woman and walk away, no matter how hot and bothered I am, regardless of where my emotions lie, because I am in control of them. I would never hurt a woman. So,” he said deliberately, “kiss me right now. Replace that image of what happened with Silvio with a positive experience.”
She gaped at him. “We can’t do that. We made a rule.”
“So we break it for one kiss. The longer you let this eat away at you, the harder it’s going to be to leave behind.”
She had a feeling that was true. She didn’t want to carry this victim mentality with her. Didn’t want to give it a chance to take hold. Because this Mina Mastrantino she’d been tonight was not the real Mina. The Mina who had chased away her childish ghosts in boarding school because there’d been no one else to do it for her. The Mina who’d learned to survive without love when it seemed like everyone around her had it but her, by telling herself someday she would have it, too. The Mina who was stronger than this.
“Sì,” she said. “Let’s do it.”
“Come here.”
For a brief, heart-stopping moment, Mina thought she might actually be insane. Because this man was dangerous. Beautifully, undeniably, self-admittedly dangerous. Yet, she conceded, she trusted him implicitly.