His jaw clamped at her words, and his tone was cuttingly derisive as he said, “Obviously.”

Her fingers dug into her palms. He was so, so angry. And she couldn’t blame him. “It’s a special holiday in uni. All of us didn’t have any classes.” She was stumbling all over her explanation, and the sound of her own voice made her wince. She couldn’t have made herself sound any more like a liar than she already was. “A-Acheron—”

“That’s what you call him?”

She nearly jumped at his viciously sharp tone. “H-he asked me to,” she whispered and nearly reared back at the murderous way the Dutch billionaire looked at her.

“He asked you to,” the billionaire echoed her words mockingly. “And just because he asked you to, you said yes?”

She realized too late, and it was foolish of her, what he was getting at, and paled. “It’s n-not like that—”

“Is it not?” the billionaire drawled.

She hugged herself in an effort to keep her body from trembling. “Willem, please—” She flinched as he cursed.

“Do you think it would please me now,” he asked savagely, “to have you call me Willem when you obviously have no problems calling him by his first name?” His fist slammed against the wall on his side, and he saw Serenity flinch again.

Goddammit.

Goddammit to hell.

“I think you should go,” he heard himself say.

She had to, before he ended up hurting her more.

But Serenity didn’t leave, didn’t even move.

“I’m not giving you a choice.”

The billionaire’s voice was ominously soft, and she knew what it meant. It was a sign of his rage boiling so closely to the surface, but it was also a sign that he was hurting…because of her.

This was what she wanted, wasn’t it?

Wasn’t it?

Her lips parted.

“I want to stay.”

And as soon as the words were out, she realized that she did mean it.

She wanted to stay.

For better or for worse.

Because…because she would always love him.

And she was so, so, so tired of pretending she did not.

Willem was suddenly walking towards her, and she stiffened. When he reached her, Serenity’s body stiffened even more at the rage that glittered in his eyes. His fingers snapped around her wrist, and she knew any moment now he would start dragging her out of his place.

“Please.” She choked the word out.

His head jerked up, and in her gaze, he saw terror. She knew what he was about to do. She goddamn knew – so why the hell wouldn’t she leave instead of forcing him to toss her out?

“You—” The minute he spoke, he saw the way she swallowed and stiffened, knew that she was preparing herself for the worst. But there was no resistance in her body, nothing that indicated fight.

She would take whatever he dished out.

She would not leave him.

His eyes closed.

Goddammit to hell.

He had hurt her, and she had hurt him back.

So what now?

Slowly, he opened his eyes. “You have to trust me one day, engel—”

A sob racked her body.

His heart aching, he raised a hand to her face, and as he carefully smoothed the strands of hair away, he said rawly, “You either trust and forgive me…or you complete what you came here to do. You finish what you’ve started the day you allowed me back into your life. Avenge yourself—”

Tears streamed down her face, and Serenity’s lips parted in a silent cry.

He pressed a kiss on her forehead, whispering, “Or let me love you again.”

With a heaving sob, she threw her arms around his neck, and he swept her up in his arms. He carried her to the bedroom, Serenity still crying in his embrace even as she frantically sought his mouth with hers.

She kissed him as she cried, and the billionaire tasted all the tumultuous emotions that tried to tear her apart into different directions. Pain, misery, confusion, vengeance, and underneath it all, love.

Laying her on his bed, he undressed her slowly, running his mouth over every inch of skin he exposed. Her hands rushed over his back, almost demandingly, but he didn’t let her hurry him, taking his time as he removed her clothing.

When she was completely naked, he cupped one breast and sucked on her nipple. Serenity moaned, her body arching from the bed and pushing her nipple deeper into his mouth. Her nipples dug into his back as he sucked her nipples, one after another, and she writhed restlessly under the heat of his gaze when he pulled away to undress himself.

“I love you,” he rasped as he sank back into the bed, positioning himself between her legs.

More tears fell down her face as Serenity looked at him, her eyes – still filled with terror and despair – did the talking for her.

Looking at her was like having his heart ripped out again and again from his chest. He kissed her hard, saying fiercely, “I love you, Serenity Raleigh. I love you, my Sere, my engel.” And even as she buckled against him and sobs began to wrack her body, he didn’t stop telling her the words, knowing that if he had to tell her a thousand times each day to convince Serenity, he would do so.

As he kissed his way down her body, he said the words over and over. He used his lips, his hands, his body to let her know what was in his heart from the very start.

His hands spanned her rib cage as he pressed a kiss on her womb. I love you.

He buried his head between her legs. I love you.

He thrust his tongue into her sweet, moist folds, again and again. I love you.

He threw her legs up over his shoulders as he fucked her with both his fingers and tongue. I love you.

He sucked on her clitoris. I love you.

And when she came, he drank everything in, every last drop of her release. I love you.

When he rose up, she immediately wrapped her limbs around his body, so tightly that the fears in her heart reached his, and he whispered hoarsely into her ear, “I’m not going anywhere, engel.”

One hand pushing under her body to cup her bottom, the billionaire positioned himself before sinking his cock into her sex. He fucked her, leisurely at first, to drive her wild. And when her hips started to rise and fall in an effort to meet his thrusts, his own hips began to pump furiously.

He fucked her hard and fast, fucked her into coming in minutes. But he didn’t let her up, turning her around without a word before his cock slid back into her, and he fucked her anew. Pulling her up on all fours, he cupped her jiggling breasts as his cock slammed into her, again and again, and he only relented when her breathless pants filled his room, using his fingers to trigger her release.

He made love to her the entire night, and every second of it he only had one thing in his mind. He wanted her to feel loved.

****

She woke up at the break of dawn, her body pleasantly aching and snuggled up against the billionaire’s side. Gingerly, she inched away from him, and picking his shirt up from the floor, she pulled it over her head before padding into the shower.

When she was done, she was about to go back when she caught sight of a silver box under the wooden bench in his walk-in closet. Curious, she crouched down and opened it—

The lid of the box fell from her suddenly limp fingers as she saw what was inside.

A pair of pink heels, studded with gems, and with a bow at the back.

They were custom-designed.

But it was not the only thing that made tears prick her eyes.

Lying in the bed of gauze, under the pair of pink heels, was a smaller silver package. It was easily the shape of a ring box.

The billionaire was stirring when she climbed back into bed. When the bed dipped because of her weight, he immediately reached for her, and she went to him willingly. Their mouths met in a sleepy, sweet kiss that nevertheless made her heart race.