This is me being gentle,” he says. “Because right now, it’s only me you’re defying. If he had answered that call in the wrong place, with the wrong ears listening, it wouldn’t have been me you paid the price with.”
His face is so close now that I can see the faint shadow of old stubble burn along his jaw, the line of a scar I’ve never noticed near his temple.
“You want to risk your own life. That’s your choice,” he murmurs. “You risk other people’s because you don’t like my rules, and yes, I will correct you.”
The word shouldn’t heat my blood the way it does.
I swallow hard.
“You think you’re the only one allowed to be protective?” I manage. “Raf has been there, Dante. For years. He helped me when you didn’t. Do you think I’m going to just cut him off because you snap your fingers and
