She pulled back to look at me. "Is it really over?"
"It's over." I cupped her face in my hands. "Ricci's dead. Giuseppe's neutralized. The threats are gone."
"And us?"
"We're just beginning."
CHAPTER 18
Sienna
After Giuseppe and Francesco were removed from the apartment, the silence felt deafening.
Angelo and the other guards had retreated to give us privacy, leaving Luca and me alone in the living room where, just minutes ago, I'd sentenced my own uncle to life imprisonment.
My hands were shaking. I pressed them flat against my thighs, willing them to steady.
"Hey." Luca's voice was soft as he knelt in front of me, taking my hands in his. "You did the right thing."
"Did I?" My voice cracked. "I just condemned my own blood to—"
"To mercy he didn't deserve." Luca's thumbs traced circles on my palms. "He tried to kill you, Sienna. Our child. You could have ordered his death and no one would have questioned it."
"Part of me wanted to." The admission tasted bitter. "Is that terrible?"
"It's human." He pulled me to my feet, into his arms. "You're allowed to feel everything you're feeling right now."
I buried my face against his chest, breathing in his scent—gunpowder and cologne and safety. My whole body was shaking now, adrenaline finally draining away.
"I need—" I couldn't finish the sentence. Need what? To forget? To prove we were alive? To feel something other than this hollowness?
"Tell me what you need," Luca murmured against my hair. "Anything."
I pulled back to look at him. His eyes were exhausted but fierce, protective, full of a love so raw it made my throat tight.
"You," I whispered. "I just need you."
Understanding flickered across his face. He cupped my jaw, thumb brushing my cheekbone. "Are you sure? After everything tonight—"
"I'm sure." I rose on my toes, pressing my lips to his. "I need to feel that we're real. That we survived this."
He kissed me back, gentle at first, then deeper. Desperate. His hands slid into my hair as mine fisted in his shirt.
"Bedroom," he murmured against my mouth.
I nodded, and he swept me into his arms, carrying me down the hallway.
He laid me gently on the bed, his eyes never leaving mine. For a moment, we just looked at each other—survivors of a night that could have ended everything.
"I love you," I said, needing him to hear it again.
"I love you," he replied, voice rough with emotion. "More than I thought I could love anything."
Then I noticed the blood smeared on his jaw, the tactical gear still clinging to his frame, the exhaustion etched into every line of his body.
"Shower first," I said softly, sliding off the bed and taking his hand. "Let me take care of you."
Something vulnerable flickered in his expression. "Sienna—"
