"Okay," I whispered.
"Okay?"
"I trust you." I kissed him softly. "Do what you need to do."
He pulled me close again, holding me like I was something precious. "I love you. Everything I'm doing is to protect you."
"I know."
We sat there in silence for a while, just holding each other, until my phone buzzed with an email notification.
Maya had sent over the paperwork—contracts hiring Moretti Security Solutions as official consultants for Castellano & Co., complete with scope of work and payment terms.
"I need to review these and send them back," I said, pulling up the documents on my phone.
"Do it tomorrow." Dez took my phone and set it aside. "Tonight, you rest. You just survived what Vincent thought was a hostile takeover and two assassination attempts in one day. You're allowed to take a break."
"I can't just?—"
"Yes, you can." He stood and pulled me to my feet. "Come on. When's the last time you ate?"
I tried to remember. "Breakfast? On the plane?"
"That was twelve hours ago." He led me to the kitchen. "I'm making you dinner. Real food, not the stress coffee and adrenaline you've been running on."
I watched him move around our kitchen with surprising competence, pulling out ingredients, heating a pan. Within twenty minutes, he'd made pasta with a simple garlic and olive oil sauce, garlic bread, and a salad. In the three months I’ve known him, he’s never cooked a single thing. I wasn’t counting warming up leftovers.
"You can cook," I observed.
"I can make about five things. This is one of them." He set a plate in front of me. "Eat."
I did, and the warm, comforting food helped settle my nerves. We ate in comfortable silence, and slowly I felt the tension of the day ease.
"There seems like there’s so much to do." I asked when we'd finished.
"You have time. Maya, who will do whatever you need. The board is behind you now, so you have them. You have the evidence to undo anything he did. And you have resources, including my family's connections, my security team, whatever you need." He took my hand. "You're not doing this alone anymore, Angelina."
"I'm still getting used to that." I laced our fingers together. "For so long it was just me. Me against Vincent, me trying to save the company, me trying to survive. Having backup feels... strange."
"Good strange or bad strange?"
"Good strange." I smiled. "Very good strange."
His phone buzzed. He glanced at it, his expression darkening.
"What is it?"
"Vincent made bail. He's out."
My stomach dropped. "How? The charges?—"
"Vitale family lawyer. They posted his bond." Dez was already typing something. "I need to make a call. Go take a bath, try to relax. I'll be there in a minute."
I started to protest, but the look on his face stopped me. I kissed him and headed to our bedroom, hearing him dial as I closed the door. In the bathroom, I filled the enormous soaking tub and added the expensive bath salts Dez kept stocked for me. Steam rose as I sank into the hot water, trying to let it melt away the stress. But my mind kept spinning.
Vincent was out on bail. Free to run, to hide, to try again. Free to hire more people to plant more bombs. Free to destroy everything I'd fought to protect. Unless Dez stopped him first.
I closed my eyes and tried not to think about what that might mean. Tried not to imagine my husband doing things that could get him put away for a long time. Making choices that would change him. Making choices for me, because of me.
