Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 132498 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132498 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
The room erupts into chaos.
“Over a decade?” Cyrus shouts.
“How the fuck…” Jaxson shake his head.
Gideon sets down his drink. “You’re barely a functioning adult. How do you maintain a marriage?”
“I prioritize.”
Tobias shakes his head. “Sorry I call bullshit. There’s no fucking way.”
Cyrus runs both hands through his hair. “You’re fucking unhinged. Kill on a dime… You make serial killers look tame…”
Jaxson’s eyes widen slowly. “Holy shit.”
“What?” I ask.
“Was this the reason for all cryptic shit?” Jaxson demands. “The list of names?”
“Wait. Years ago, you had me do some shady shit for you…”
I look Cyrus and then at Jax. “Yes.”
The silence this time is different. Then Cyrus lets out a sharp laugh. “You bastard.”
Jaxson points at me. “We’ve been running a covert wife op?”
“Yes.”
“You told me once,” Cyrus eyes are wide, “that you were handling a ‘delicate situation.’”
I shrug. “She is delicate.”
Jaxson chokes on his drink. “Oh my God. Every time you said ‘personal matter.’”
“You were going home to your wife,” Cyrus finishes.
I don’t bother answering.
Tobias actually claps slowly. “I’m impressed.”
Alaric starts to chuckle. “I’m not going to lie, I’m almost proud.”
Cyrus studies me carefully. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
I take a deep breath. Doesn’t matter that the threat is over, it still pains me to think about it. “There was a hit on her. Through a pretty fucking big assassin group… I couldn’t risk anyone knowing where she was.”
Cyrus’s expression tightens. “So…you let us think you were some crazy sociopath.”
“After killing forty-two assassins for my wife, I kind of am a crazy sociopath.”
“That’s not the point.”
“They’re all dead now,” Matteo adds quickly. “Every last one.”
The weight of that settles in the room.
Jaxson lowers his drink.
Cyrus exhales slowly. Then he steps forward and grips the back of my neck before pulling me into a hug. “You idiot. You should’ve trusted us.”
“I did. I do. Just not with her life,” I answer honestly.
He nods once.
Jaxson claps my shoulder. “What’s her name?”
“Victoria.”
Cyrus smiles. “Victoria.”
Tobias tilts his head. “Does she know about you? What you do?”
“Yes.”
“And she still stayed?” Trent asks.
“She chose me.”
Alaric lifts his glass. “To Victoria.”
They all raise their drinks.
“We’re happy for you,” Cyrus says, serious now. “You deserve happiness.”
Jaxson nods. “Yeah, you do. As much as it pains me to admit it.”
Gideon smirks. “We expect to meet her.”
Matteo folds his arms. “Preferably before Lorenzo locks her back in a vault.”
I let out a sigh. “Fuck you, Cuz. I didn’t lock her in a vault.”
Cyrus arches a brow.
“I didn’t.”
With that the room fills with laughter again.
I welcome it.
Because for the first time in ten years, Victoria doesn’t live in secrecy.
And neither do I.
68
Victoria
It’s been a crazy few days since my life changed, and I feel like I haven’t seen my husband in days.
I stop just inside the doorway of our room to find Lorenzo waiting for me.
“Before you say anything, I need you to listen.”
My fingers curl into the doorframe. “I don’t like that sentence.” A corner of his mouth lifts, barely. “I know.”
He takes a step closer and reaches into his pocket and pulls out a box before opening it.
Inside is a ring.
It’s simple and beautiful, and perfect in every way.
“I already married you.” I smile.
“That wasn’t the right kind of wedding,” he says quietly. “This,” he continues, lifting the ring between us, “is me asking. No leverage. No threats. Just love.”
Tears well in my eyes. “You do know we already have a kid, and another one actively using my bladder as a trampoline?”
His gaze drops instinctively to my stomach, softening in a way that still wrecks me every time. “I’m aware.”
“And we’ve been married for years.”
His mouth curves. “Stop being difficult, Little Bird, and say you’ll marry me. Again.”
I stare at him.
At the man who burned half the underworld to keep me alive. At the boy who never stopped leaving me rocks. At the father who pretends not to cry when our son falls asleep on his chest.
“Fine,” I say. “But you get a ring too.”
His brow lifts. “I don’t need one.”
Then I walk over to the desk and grab my own box.
He stills.
“I had a little help getting this from Marta. Don’t be mad. I was going to give it to you after the baby was born,” I say, opening it. Inside is a darker band. “This time, I choose it. I choose you.”
For a long moment, Lorenzo doesn’t speak.
Then he exhales like he’s been holding his breath for a decade.
“Christ.” He drags a hand down his face. “You’re going to kill me.”
“Eventually,” I promise. “But not today.”
EPILOGUE
Victoria
This place looks different. Maybe because so much has changed.
My parents are long gone now, living god know where. The moment I found out what they did to Lorenzo and me, I wrote them out of my life. And once Grant passed, it didn’t take long for them to lose everything.
I’m no longer the young girl trapped in a cage. I’m now a woman who’s no longer afraid.