Her eyes search mine, and I let her see everything. The obsession. The need. The love that transcends possession and becomes something closer to worship.
"I choose both," she finally says.
Then she kisses me.
It's not gentle. Nothing between us ever is. Her mouth claims mine with the same fierce authority she brings to every negotiation, every strategic decision, every moment she refuses to be anything less than my equal.
Around us, the casino continues its relentless churn. Money changes hands. Fortunes rise and fall. The empire we've built feeds on ambition and fear and the beautiful machinery of controlled chaos.
But in this moment, there's only her.
When we break apart, she's smiling—that dangerous, knowing smile that still makes my chest tighten.
"Take me home," she says.
"We have two more shipments to verify."
"Marcos can handle it. I want you. Now."
How the hell am I supposed to argue with that?
The penthouse is dark except for the city lights streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows. Julietta kicks off her heels and pads barefoot across the marble, shedding her elegance like armor.
I follow, shedding my jacket and tie.
In the bedroom, she turns to face me, silhouetted against the window. The swell of her stomach is pronounced now, impossible to hide. But she doesn't try. She stands there, shoulders back, chin lifted, daring the world to call her weak.
"Come here," she commands.
I close the distance and sink to my knees.
Her hands thread through my hair as I press my lips to her stomach, feeling the life we created moving beneath silk and skin. Our daughter. The next generation of the empire we've carved from blood and ambition.
"She's going to be fierce," Julietta murmurs.
"Like her mother."
"Ruthless."
"Like her father."
I look up, meeting her gaze. In the dim light, her eyes are dark pools—endless andhypnotic.
"When I took you from that hotel," I say, voice rough, "I told myself it was strategy. That you were leverage against Lorenzo. But I was lying. I wanted you. Needed you with an intensity that terrified me."
Her fingers tighten in my hair. "I know."
"You've given me everything. An heir. A partner who makes me sharper, stronger. Someone who sees the darkness in me and doesn't flinch."
"Because I have my own darkness." She smiles, sharp and beautiful. "We're matched, Dante. Two monsters who found each other in the chaos."
I rise, capturing her mouth in a kiss that's equal parts reverence and hunger. She melts against me, soft and yielding in ways that still surprise me after a year.
But beneath the softness is steel. Always.
I walk her backward toward the bed, hands mapping familiar territory—the curve of her hip, the dip of her waist, the swell of her breasts. Every inch of her I worship. Every breath. Every heartbeat.
I lowered Julietta onto the bed, her auburn hair spilling across the sheets like wildfire, a wild contrast to the sleek, expensive silk. Her eyes, fierce and unyielding, locked onto mine as I hovered above her, my weight resting on my forearms.
