Chapter 69
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
Drago
“I love you too,” she whispers.
And it calms something in me that she’s getting to the other side of this.
Her voice is barely there, like she’s testing the words to see if they’re allowed to exist between us. Then she pulls back just enough to look at me.
“And I’m sorry,” she adds quickly. “I know I’m… a lot. I don’t mean to fall apart. I hate that you see me like this. I just—” She shakes her head, frustrated with herself. “I’ve never had someone see me like this.”
Something in my chest cracks open at that. I slide my hand up her spine. “You’re not broken,” I say. “You’re human. You survived something that would have hollowed other people out completely, and you still choose softness. That’s not a flaw. That’s strength.”
She swallows. “I don’t want to be a secret. I think that has been playing on my mind too.”
Guilt washes over me. “You’re not,” I say immediately. No hesitation.
I lift her chin so she has to look at me. “I’m done hiding the thing that matters most to me. You’re the center of my life, Lily. Not something I tuck away to keep the peace.”
Her breath hitches.
“Your father will know,” I continue calmly. “I’ll tell him the truth. That I love you. That I chose you with open eyes. That whatever I lose by standing beside you is worth it.”
I press my forehead to hers.
“I-I don’t want you to lose anything because of me, Drago.”
I sigh, stroking her cheek. “There is nothing that exists that I wouldn’t sacrifice to keep you, Lily. I would lay down my life for you,” I say, not dramatic, just certain.
Tears slide down her cheeks, and she laughs softly through them. “I’m still a mess,” she whispers.
“A hot one.” I wink.
I lean in and kiss her softly, proving to her that I mean every single word I say. “I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper.
She folds into me, finally letting her weight rest fully in my arms.
Lily isn’t my weakness. She’s my gravity. The thing that everything else revolves around. I’m not guarding something I’m afraid to lose.
I’m holding the woman I love.
And I’m home.
I wake as the door to Lily’s bedroom opens, light spilling across the dark. Lev’s shadow fills the doorway.
My first instinct isn’t anger. It’s dread.
Careful not to wake her, I press a kiss to Lily’s cheek, tuck the covers around her like she’s something precious—because she is—and slip out from under her. I close the door quietly behind me.
When I turn, Lev isn’t shouting. That’s what guts me. There’s no rage in his face. No violence itching under his skin. Just disappointment.
The kind that sits heavy in your chest and makes you feel like you’ve failed at something you never wanted to fail at.
He opens his mouth.
I lift my hand. “Not fucking here,” I hiss, low and controlled. “Not where she can hear.”
Then I turn and walk down the stairs, forcing myself not to look back. Forcing myself not to hesitate.
This is my house. And she is my woman.
In the kitchen, I grab two glasses and the vodka. My hands don’t shake, but my chest aches as I pour. I’ve played this moment over in my head for weeks, but now that it’s here, it feels heavier than I imagined.
I turn and hand him a glass.
He doesn’t just take it, he snatches it, downs it in one swallow, and slams it onto the counter hard enough to rattle.
“She’s my daughter, Drago,” he snaps, voice raised.
“I know,” I say quietly.
I’ve never stopped knowing.
His eyes cut to mine, red-rimmed and furious now. “Don’t stand there acting like you’re calm. What the fuck is this? Some way to humiliate me? To prove you can take whatever you want?”
That hurts more than I expected. I curl my lip, not because he’s wrong, but because he knows he is.
“She deserves better than you,” he spits, grabbing the bottle and drinking straight from it.
The words land where I keep everything I don’t allow myself to feel. I nod once, slow. “Maybe she does.”
That’s the truth. I’ve never pretended to be good enough for her. I’ve just never believed anyone could love her more fiercely than I do.
“Fucking speak!” he roars. “Explain what the hell I just walked in on.”
I step forward, each movement measured. Controlled. “Lev,” I say, voice low. “I’m in love with Lily. And she loves me back. We’re together.”
The room goes still.
He flinches like I’ve struck him. His jaw tightens. His fist curls at his side. “You fucking cunt,” he snarls and swings.
I catch his wrist mid-air and shove him back against the counter, the impact sharp but contained. “I don’t want to hurt you,” I tell him, my voice steady even as my chest burns. “So calm the fuck down.”
Because hurting him would break something in me that I wouldn’t know how to put back together.
He shakes his head, disgust etched deep. “She’s my daughter. How could you do this to me?”
That’s when it hits hardest. Not the punch. Not the threats.
The me in that sentence.
I rake a hand down my face. “And she’s the fucking sun to me,” I say quietly. “The one thing that makes this life worth surviving. I don’t just want her, Lev. I love her.”
He scoffs, rolling his eyes, and I have to dig deep not to lose control. “There are billions of women in this world,” he spits. “You couldn’t pick one who wasn’t my daughter?”
“No,” I say, without hesitation. “I couldn’t.”
He laughs bitterly. “Leave her the fuck alone, Drago.”
The command is sharp. Absolute. And meaningless to me.
“No.”
His jaw ticks. He looks at me like I’ve become someone unrecognizable. “You think that was a request?” he growls. “You know who I am. What I can do. I’ll have you hunted for the rest of your life.”
I almost smile. I’m fighting for a future I can actually live in, and I won’t let him stand in my way of that.
He swings again. This time, his fist lands square in my jaw. I take it, and don’t hit back. Don’t even step away.
I rub my jaw once, then look at him with fury in my eyes. “You’re being a cunt, Lev,” I say softly. “And you know it.”
He breathes hard. “How long?”
“Since Monaco.”
“And how long have you been in love with her?”
I hesitate. Just a beat. “Longer than I realized.”
That answer costs me something.
He reaches for the bottle again, and I step in, blocking him.
“Lily makes her own choices,” I say. “We don’t need permission. What we want is your blessing. And if there’s anyone on this planet who would die for her, who would burn the world down just to keep her safe, it’s me.”
“She’s my daughter!” he shouts, hurling the glass against the wall. It explodes into shards.
My chest tightens. “Don’t wake her,” I hiss. “Don’t let her see you like this.”
“You telling me what to do now?”
“Yes,” I say, and it hurts, but I don’t back down. “I won’t let you scare her, threaten her, or make her feel like she’s done something wrong for choosing me.”
“I sent her away to protect her,” he says, voice breaking despite himself. “You’re dragging her back into hell.”
“No,” I correct quietly. “You did that when you gave that necklace to her. And once I repay my debt to Declan. I’m done.”
He freezes. “What?”
“I don’t want this life anymore,” I say. “I want a future. A family. I want to be a father to our kids.”
His face drains. “You got her pregnant?”
I huff a breath. “No. Not yet. But I hope she wants my children.”
He stares at me, shaken. “Who the fuck are you?”
“A man who finally wants to live,” I answer. “I’ve been your soldier my whole life. I’ve bled for you. Killed for you. I’m done.”
“You don’t get to leave.”
I step closer, towering over the one man I’d die for, my voice dropping. “Who’s stopping me?”
I hold his gaze, every word weighted. “My loyalty has always been to Lily. With me, building something real, that’s where she’s safe. Where your grandchildren grow up loved. Nothing stands in the way of that. Not you. Not anyone.”
I pause. Let it sink in. “So think carefully,” I say quietly. “Because if you threaten her—father or not—I will end you.”
“You’d kill me to protect her? I’m her father. I was supposed to be your best fucking friend. You were like a son to me!” he shouts, stepping closer.
I don’t flinch. Don’t raise my voice. I simply nod once. He doesn’t understand what utter devotion is. I know what I want out of life. I know exactly to whom my loyalty is. And that is Lily and our future. Our family and the plans to move to Monaco.
His speaking to me like this before would have killed me. Not anymore. It hurts, yes. But I know I’m doing it for the right reasons. I’m no longer just a weapon he can use. I’m a man fighting for love.
“I’d kill myself to protect her. So yes. If you risk her safety, you die. And it will be a slow and very fucking painful death.” I straighten, heart pounding, chest aching with everything I’m burning behind me.
“And if that isn’t enough for you,” I finish, voice rough but unwavering, “then get the fuck out of my house.”
I don’t say anything else. There’s no point. Not right now.
Lev’s breathing is ragged, his hands shaking, his anger spilling over into something messy and dangerous.
If I push him any further, it won’t end with words.
And Lily doesn’t deserve to hear that. Doesn’t deserve to wake up to raised voices and shattered glass and two men tearing each other apart over her.
“Take a minute,” I say finally. “Cool off.”
He scoffs, but I don’t wait for a response. I turn and walk away. Each step up the stairs feels heavier than the last. Not because I’m afraid of him, but because I know I’ve just cracked something that can’t be put back together the way it was before.
When I reach my office, I shut the door quietly behind me. This room is the one place in the house that doesn’t smell like violence or whiskey or regret.
It smells like paint.
Canvas lines the walls. Landscapes I stared at years ago when I needed something to bleed into that wasn’t flesh. Mountains at dusk. Storm clouds rolling over dark water. Fields caught between seasons.
And then there’s her.
Lily, everywhere.
Her profile was painted from memory long before I was allowed to touch her. Lily laughing, head tipped back, sunlight in her hair. Lily sleeping, curled in on herself, the most vulnerable thing I’ve ever seen.
I didn’t mean to paint her this many times. It just kept happening. She was my safety in this world without even knowing it.
My chest tightens as I step further into the room, the door clicking shut behind me like a final sound. My hands start to shake now that there’s no one left to see it.
I drag a hand down my face and exhale hard.
Fuck.
My mind flashes to her earlier today, curled beneath the shower spray, shaking in my arms like the world was ending. The sound of her crying, muffled by water, tears straight through me. Her fingers clawing into my clothes like I was the only thing keeping her here.
I’d never felt so helpless. So furious. So terrified of failing someone.
I cross the room and stop in front of the largest canvas. It’s her face, close-up. Eyes half-lidded. Soft mouth. Peaceful. The way she looks when she finally feels safe enough to rest.
And that’s when it hits me.
Lev’s face. Not the rage.
The disappointment. That hurt worse than any punch.
I press my palm flat against the canvas, my throat burning.
Maybe he’s right. Maybe I don’t deserve her.
I’ve killed men without losing sleep. I’ve done things in the dark that don’t wash off, no matter how hard I scrub. I am violence. I am blood. I am the thing people send in when there are no rules left.
Evil doesn’t get to have soft things. Evil doesn’t get to be loved.
I sink down onto the chair, elbows braced on my knees, head dropping into my hands. My breathing turns uneven before I can stop it.
She loves me. The thought should steady me. Instead, it scares the hell out of me. Because loving me means standing too close to something that burns. And I’ve spent my whole life making sure the people I care about don’t get caught in the fallout.
I squeeze my eyes shut.
I see her panic again. Hear her voice break. Feel the way her body finally went slack against mine when she realized she wasn’t alone anymore.
What if Lev is right? What if loving me only brings her back into the very hell I’ve been trying to claw my way out of?
My chest tightens until it hurts. “I don’t deserve this,” I whisper into the empty room. Not her. Not the paintings. Not the peace she brings with her just by existing.
My hands curl into fists. But then I remember the way she looked at me when she said she loved me. She wasn’t afraid of it. She was certain, like she’d already chosen me, scars and all.
And that’s the thing that finally breaks me.
I lean forward, forearms braced against my thighs, and let the weight of it hit. Not sobbing. Not dramatic. Just a quiet fracture inside my chest where the truth settles in.
I might be a monster. But, I’m her monster.
And if the world thinks I’m not good enough for her, if Lev thinks I’m poison… then I’ll spend the rest of my life proving them wrong. Even if it costs me everything else I have left.
I drag in a breath and lift my head. For Lily, I’ll be better.
Because evil might not deserve love, but I’ll fight like hell to make sure she never regrets giving it to me.