The voice was weak. I forced myself off of my wife, but I couldn’t get up from the ground. My eyes were having trouble focusing, but when they did—
Blood pooled from her chest, seeping into mine.
One life.
Ours.
She and I.
Me and her.
Us.
Always.
“Mia,” I growled, pulling her against me.
The shot had gone through me and through her.
Everything around us went quiet. No more fighting. Something had happened a second too late.
“Mia,” I said again, kissing her face.
She couldn’t speak, but her nails dug into my arms, refusing to let go.
I didn’t either.
Not even when we both closed our eyes, and the darkness took us together.
Epilogue
Mia
The sun was bright on my face, beating down on it. Sweat poured from my skin, but it felt refreshing, like it was cleansing all the toxins out. I floated over water so clear that I could see straight to the bottom. I felt as weightless as a butterfly, but as strong as a lioness.
Soft music played in the background.
I was inspired to do nothing but absorb the warmth and float to wherever the current took me. Eyes closed. Arms languid. Fingers grazing. Water so cool compared to the heat.
Heaven.
This felt like heaven.
Except that measuring tool in my chest ached with distance.
Saverio. My husband.
He was too far.
Time seemed to stop, and memories played out in reverse.
Russia. Lev and the man with the wolf. Bykov’s mansion. Demands. Battle breaking out. Rio’s face when he barreled into the circle of men attempting to pull me apart limb by limb. The moment he stepped in front of me, shielding me with his body from a bullet.
That same bullet going straight through him to me.
It hit me with a force like a wolf running full speed and knocking me over.
If it was meant to shatter my husband’s heart, though, it was made to shatter mine. We shared that bullet and the blood after. His chest pressed against mine like a tourniquet. That tool in my chest measured the distance and reacted naturally. I held on as tightly as I could to him.
