CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

~ Stephano

The slap landed on my right cheek, sharp and stinging, snapping my head to the side. For a single second, I didn’t react. Then? I saw red. My fingers curled into fists, my entire body locking up. She was going to pay for that. I grabbed her—snatched her against me so roughly that she gasped, her hands flying to my chest. Too late. I had her locked in, caged so tight she couldn’t move. Not an inch.

"You," I breathed, my voice low, dangerous, "have no fucking idea what you just did."

Her breath hitched. She felt it. My rage, my heat, the way my entire...