I grinned, pulling her close and kissing her again until we were breathless.
“I’m tired of all this fighting,” she admitted. “Of fightinghim.”
That sounded like a veiled form of permission to me.
“Of fightingyou.” She kissed me again, tenderly. “Of fighting what’s meant to be.”
“Me too,” I agreed. “Me too.” Stepping back to squeeze her hand, I tried to stay calm and not let this euphoria get to me. I couldn’t celebrate anything yet. I couldn’t lower my guard and be too optimistic. Hearing her admit that she loved mewasa reward I’d always cherish, but first, I had to remove the threats that endangered her. “I love you, and I can’t wait to show you again how much I do.”
“After,” she said as she resumed zipping up her bag. “After…”
“After tonight,” I finished for her. “We’re meeting him at his club, and that will be the end of it.”
She winced. “I don’t want to know. I don’t want… any details.”
She never did. She never had. For both of our sakes, she really was a terrible person to obtain intel for nefarious reasons. Her approach was that ignorance was bliss, and I’d grant her that unless she decided otherwise.
Together, we left to move into the other building. Hopefully, it would only be for the night. While Anya offered to stay here and keep her company, my father and I shot that down. Instead, soshe wasn’t worrying while I was gone, Sofia would call her cousin and catch up with her. Esmeralda was getting stronger and more stable, to the point that she wasn’t napping so much and could talk via a video call.
Anxious and impatient for closure, and to make up for the abuse Sofia had suffered at the hands of her uncle, I kept it simple.
“I’ll be back soon.” I kissed her at the door, satisfied that the place was thoroughly guarded.
“Be careful.” She kissed me back.
“Always.” I pressed my lips to her forehead this time. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” She kissed me again.
“I’ll be back tonight, and we can figure out how soon we can elope.” I hurried to kiss her this time, cutting off her squeak of surprise.
“Isn’t that rushing things?” she asked when she parted for air. A huge smile covered her beautiful face.
“Not at all.” I gazed at her, mesmerized by the warmth in her eyes. “I can’t wait for the rest of my life to start with you.”
“I—”
“O… kay.” Oleg clapped twice from where he was pacing in the hallway. “Not to interrupt, but…” He tapped his watch. “Time to move.”
Sofia gripped the front of my shirt and pulled me close for one last kiss. “Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
She nodded and kissed me again. “We’ll marry tomorrow if you want. Just go and be safe.”
With one moreI love youand my promise to be careful, I left.
Oleg smirked at me as we exited the building. “Are you going to be able to do this? To concentrate?”
I gave him a wry look. “I was born to do this.” Killing my enemies? Piece of cake. Retaliating for all the suffering my fiancée suffered? My pleasure.
That wasn’t cockiness. I wasn’t talking out of my ass. As we left the safehouse and neared the nightclub, a deep, sinister, bloodthirsty energy commandeered me.
Giovanni was about to pay.
This feud between our families would end now.
That was the goal, at least.
