“Do you want me to leave, Emilio?” she murmurs to my back.
That useless organ in my chest stiffens. “No,” I reply without looking back at her. I raise my hand and cup it over hers. “I want you to stay here forever.”
“Then, why would you say something like that?” Hurt is clear in her voice.
I turn, helping her onto my lap, and scoot back until she’s comfortable. “I only want you here ifyouwantto be here. No longer is this a forced marriage. I want a willing wife who’s happy. If you can’t be that here, then I have no problem letting you go.”
She peers down at my lap, not meeting my eyes.
I brush my thumb along her jawline. “What are you thinking,guaio?”
“I am happy here,” she whispers. “I’m happy here, with you, in our home. This is the future I want. With you. Forever.”
I place my thumb beneath her chin to raise her face until her eyes meet mine.
She gives me a warm smile.
One that melts some of that ice around my heart.
I drop my head, kissing her collarbone, and suck on it.
“I’m staying here because I love it here, and I loveyou,” she says, sticking her thumb beneath my chin, mimicking exactly what I just did to hers, so our gazes collide.
My pulse soothes.
My muscles relax in a way I’ve never experienced before.
This woman calms my entire fucking system with one sweet look.
“Sure, we were brought together because of a crappy situation, but somehow, someway, we made it work.” She leans into me and brushes her lips against mine. “I thought I was marrying the beast. The one who’d make my life miserable. Instead, I got the dark Prince Charming who gave me a fairy tale.” She grins against my mouth. “I love my HEAs in my books, but I like getting my own even better.”
“Here I thoughtwe’d have to kill Aleksy and deal with the Russians, but the entire organization just killed themselves,” Antonio says from the head of the table, displaying a huge-ass smirk on his face. “Easiest fucking takeout I’ve ever seen. It was also a plus that Rurick had killed Fredricko after he learned about him burning down the bowling alley. He handed the weapons connections right over to us.”
I nod, lighting a cigar and leaning back in my chair. “Do you think any of the Bratva stragglers will come after us?”
“Nah,” Damien says. “They’re too busy slaughtering each other. There’s also no bloodline left, except for Dasha, Liliya, and their mother. You think any of them wants to play Bratvaqueen?” He huffs out a pleased laugh. “I love when my enemies die, and I didn’t even have to get my hands dirty.”
“Fuck that,” I say, exhaling smoke. “I prefer getting my hands dirty when it comes to my enemies.”
Julian scoffs. “Then why didn’t you cut off Aleksy’s head when you found out he’d sent you a murderous bride?”
I jab my cigar toward each one of them. “Don’t act like you all haven’t been vulnerable with your wives and refrained from violence so they wouldn’t get sad.”
Antonio lifts his vodka glass. “Guilty as fucking charged.”
We all follow suit.
“To our wives,” Damien says. “May they drive us crazy, fuck us wild, and prove that our hearts actually fucking work.”
EPILOGUE
Ten Months Later
“What do you think?”I ask Maggie, doing a dramatic spin to show off the freshly painted blue room. The ceiling is painted with fluffy white clouds and a sun. Painted hot-air balloons and animals adorn the walls.
This is the only room I didn’t paint myself.
Emilio wouldn’t let me.
