Page 120 of The Strength Of A Woman

I ponder his words.

“And there is no other way?” I ask, a bit sad. “Can’t we just come out and announce that I said yes to your proposal?”

“Have you?” he jokes.

Chuckling, I press my face against his chest while he rests his hand on my head.

“Yes. It’s a yes. I can’t wait to be your wife. Why can’t we let them know that I picked you, so they could leave us alone?”

“Because you don’t have that kind of power,” he says. “You belong to your family. They choose for you.”

“For themselves.”

“That, too.”

“What will happen if I said no to them and announced to the entire world that I’m marrying you?”

“They’ll try to kill us.”

I flick my head up.

“Why? I don’t understand.”

“For one, they don’t have a choice. Varela is most likely blackmailing them. He wants to replace me. So, he wants you, of course. And then, even it that weren’t the case, Giorgio considers him an upgrade in terms of influence. He’s already had me as an ally. He wants someone even more powerful than I am.”

“Is he more powerful than you are?”

“He controls more money and territory. I’m talking about that type of power. At some point, he’d be out, even if I didn’t take him out.”

“But you will?”

He nods in silence.

“What will happen after that?”

He takes in a long breath.

“Two things, possibly. A war. Or we’ll be on the run.”

“There isn’t a third option.”

“The dynamics of power will resettle. Once that’s done, we will face different options.”

I press my head against his torso again and lock my arms around him.

“I don’t want to die. Not now,” I say.

His fingers move through my hair.

“You won’t die. I’ll make sure of that.”

LEILANI

Things look a little different with the spectrum of death over our heads.

Our decisions are different, too.

Instead of putting our clothes on and going back, we stay here, naked, eager to feed our flesh again.