“I love Aisling but I’m not ready for other kids. They’re too sticky and whiny.”
Dante nods. “I’m with ya there.”
“How’s Maura?” I ask.
“Good, she’s being checked out but everything seems fine. Guess Conor was storing up a few crumbs of humanity in the center of that black and toxic heart of his.”
I let out a breath. “I’m glad she’s okay.” Then I let out a gasp. “Oh my God! Uncle Boris! Dante, is he—?”
Dante nods. “Also fine. We found Conor’s car and sure enough, he was stuffed in the trunk. They gave him a pretty good beating, but it’s just bumps and bruises. Nothing serious. Although, things would have turned out a lot differently if Conor hadn’t followed you in to the hotel. See, he knew you were a good person. That’s why he changed his plan.” He smiles at me. “If an evil bastard like that can see the good in you, then you know it’s really there.”
A soft knock on the door startles me and it creaks open. I crane my neck to see who it is, maybe this time a nurse who can get me some pain meds. That’s my hope, anyway.
But it’s not a nurse.
It’s Matteo. And he’s wearing a sheepish expression as he walks toward us.
A smile lifts his lips, the first real one I’ve seen from him since we met. Well, the first one directed at me.
He’s actually pretty gorgeous when he’s not scowling.
“Anya,” he says. “How are you feeling?”
“A lot better now,” I say, squeezing Dante’s hand in mine. “Listen, I’m sorry for—”
Matteo holds up a hand. “No. You don’t need to apologize to me again. You did it once and I rejected it. Yet you still put your life on the line to save me and my family. I’m the one who owes you. You saved everything I love, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you enough.”
“I’m sure you can come up with some things to show your gratitude,” Dante scoffs playfully. “Like maybe a couple of cars, a house, some jewelry…”
“Stop,” I say, giving his hand a gentle slap. I look up at Matteo. “I don’t need anything. I just want to make sure we’re cool. I understand if it’s going to take you some time to trust me and I can wait.” I smile.
“Trust definitely isn’t something I give up easily. I didn’t trust you when you came into our lives.” He smirks. “My instincts weren’t wrong, just saying.”
Dante snorts. “You had to get the last word, didn’t you?”
“Hey, it is what it is. Deal with it.” His eyes darken. “But after what you did on the roof…I mean, you took that bullet for me. Nobody except my brothers and my wife would have done that,” he says, shaking his head.
“Some of your brothers,” Dante mutters with a mischievous smirk on his face.
Matteo flips him off. “Look, what I’m trying to say is I knew in that second who you really were.”
Heaven pops her head into the room. “Can I come in now? Did you finish groveling?” she asks Matteo.
“He didn’t really grovel,” Dante says. “The undertone was pretty much ‘I was right, guys. Just remember that.’”
Heaven rolls her eyes. “Jeez, Matty. The girl saved us all. Would it kill you to show a little humility?”
“He’s fine,” I say with a chuckle. “And we’re good.”
“Okay,” Heaven says, giving Matteo a look as if to say ‘I don’t believe her at all but I’ll let it go until we get home.’ “Well, you rest up and when you get home, we’ll get you all set up—"
“Ah, yeah, about that,” Dante interjects. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
Heaven furrows her brow. “Meaning?”
“Meaning I’m gonna take care of it and get her all set up at my place.”
Heaven’s face lights up like the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. “Oh. Well, then, it sounds like that’s settled.” She can’t even help the huge smile plastered across her face as she rubs a hand down my arm. “Do you need anything at all, sweetie?”
I gaze at Dante, tiny flutters in my belly alerting me to the fact that the butterflies are back in force. “Nope, I finally have everything I need right here.”
Epilogue
Part One: Anya
I grasp Dante’s hand and lead him down a darkened hallway. “Just listen to my voice and stay right against me.”
It’s dark for him because I just put a blindfold over his eyes.
But even without a blindfold, I feel like I’m navigating in pitch blackness. I take tentative steps, unfamiliar with this corridor. But I wanted to keep him away from anything that might give away the surprise. As far as he knows, we’ve driven somewhere.
Unless he realizes I drove his car in a convoluted circle, he won’t have any idea where I’m taking him.
I reach out my hand and grasp the brass doorknob, turning it slowly. I silence the gasp that’s about to escape my throat when I see the inside of the room.
Our room.
Soft white lights are wrapped in tulle and hung across the ceiling. They look like tiny stars glimmering down on us, stars I’ve only become acquainted with since moving out here to Las Vegas. The room is private, at least for this part of the night. There is one single table set up in the center, cascades of white roses and calla lilies spilling over the sides of a centerpiece. There are brass candelabras set up around the perimeter of the room, the flames flickering furiously and adding to the aura of the occasion.
It’s perfect.
Exactly the way I’d wanted it.
The past few months have been a whirlwind for us. After a lot of discussion, we decided to relocate to New York. It took a visit to Ivan Volkov and a lot of negotiation to release me from my previous role as one of the bratva’s hired guns. But in exchange, Matteo offered him a sweet business opportunity he couldn’t ignore. One of the stipulations was that Uncle Boris gets to run the new shipping operation. But it didn’t take much to convince Volkov since access to the piers in the Villani territory would be huge for business and Volkov is no idiot. And just like that, I became a free woman.
Dante decided he needed a change of pace, too, since we do eventually want to start our own family and a mom and dad assassin team wouldn’t necessarily provide the most nurturing environment. So instead, he is starting his own security consulting firm, just like Matteo had recommended. He’s already got a slate of clients anxious to work with him, and he’ll also partner with Roman to handle the family’s businesses in lower Manhattan.
As for me, I just got accepted to the Fashion Institute of Technology.
I’m finally making my dreams come true.
All of them.
And I couldn’t be happier.
Lately, I’ve felt my parents and Maks’s presence a lot more, especially at times like this when I’m about to make a big bold move in my life. It’s a comforting feeling, knowing they’re there in spirit, smiling down on me. I know they always wanted the best for me, even though it took a long time for me to figure out how to make that a reality.
“Okay, we’re standing still. Can I take off the blindfold now? Or is there kinky shit I’m not allowed to see yet?”
I giggle. “There’s no kinky shit here. But hold that thought for a few hours.”
He breathes in. “Smells good. Are we eating? I hope so because I’m starving.” His hands fumble with my dress. “Although I could wait on the food if there’s something else I can eat in the meantime?”
“You’re insatiable!”
“Damn right,” he murmurs. “Now are you gonna let me see that gorgeous face or not?”
I bite down hard on my lower lip.
This is it.
I reach around the back of his head and unknot the scarf, dropping it on one of the chairs. “Happy anniversary, babe,” I say.
His eyes sweep the room and he flashes his famous sexy smile at me. “You brought me all the way back to our hotel?”