His eyes meet mine; dark, devoted, overflowing with the promise he made long ago.
“It says,” he says softly,“Finché il mondo non cesserà di esistere.”
My breath trembles. “Santo…”
His thumb brushes my knuckles.
“It’s what I told you the night you asked if I would search for you if you ever left,” he says softly. “And it’s still true. I would tear through heaven and hell to find you…until the world ceases to exist.”
My vision blurs. My heart breaks open.
“Put it on,” I whisper. “Please.”
Santo slides the ring onto my finger, my mother-in-law’s ring, the one I thought I’d lost forever.
The silver band catches the twinkling lights around us, and I can’t stop the tears that spill down my cheeks.
“It’s perfect,” I whisper, holding my hand up to admire it, the familiar weight settling back where it belongs. “I was so heartbroken when I thought I’d lost it.”
Santo rises to his feet, pulling me against him. His arms wrap around me, strong and steady as always. “I would never let that happen,” he murmurs into my hair. “I protect what’s mine.”
I laugh through my tears, tilting my head back to look up at him. “By stealing it from me?”
His thumb brushes away the wetness on my cheek, his eyes soft in a way only I get to see. “By making it better. By making it a choice this time.”
“It was always my choice,” I say, pressing my palm to his chest, feeling his heart beat beneath my fingertips. “Even when it wasn’t, it was. I would have chosen you even if I met you at someBratva meeting or Cosa Nostra wedding I was forced to attend. I would have seen you andknewyou were meant for me.”
He leans down, pressing his forehead to mine. “And you were meant for me.”
Something inside me cracks open, like every worry I’ve carried all week finally melts into the snow around us. I rise on my tiptoes, ignoring the ache in my feet, and press my lips to his. He responds immediately, his hand cradling the back of my neck, holding me to him as if I might float away. The kiss is gentle at first, then deepens as his arm tightens around my waist.
When we break apart, I’m breathless, my heart racing beneath my ribs.
“I love you,” I whisper against his mouth.
“I love you too, let’s get you inside before you freeze,” he answers, the corner of his lips lifting in that small smile that’s only for me.
“You were right about the shoes,” I mumble.
Santo chuckles, scooping me off my feet. “Hmm? What was that Mrs.I’m fine Santo, leave me alone, Santo,” he mocks.
I roll my eyes, but I’m smiling. “You were right Santo Amato!” I giggle into the cool air as he walks us back into the warmth of our home.
Chapter 13
An Invisible String
Vasilisa is curled into my side, legs tucked under a blanket she insists is“festive,”even though it looks like a knitted sugar cookie.
She’s wearing the matching pajamas she forced us into.
Blue with ridiculous little embroidered stars.
She keeps giggling every time I roll up the ill fitted sleeves like I’m some domesticated animal.
I don’t mind.
Not tonight.
