“Do you think your family will ever be okay with us? With me?” I trace a shape on his chest. “I’m still a Kozlov. That’s a lot of history to get past.”
“It might not be overnight. But you helped bring me home, and that counts.” He tugs at my hair, tilting my face up. “Besides, I’m keeping you. They’ll catch up.”
“You sure?”
“I am,” he grins. “And once you’re in with the Andrettis, you’re in for life.”
In for life.
It should probably scare me. Trading one crime family for another. But this doesn’t feel like a trade. It doesn’t feel like a cage.
It feels like a home.
I close my eyes and let myself sink into the warmth of him. The steady thump of his heartbeat. The rise and fall of his breathing beneath my cheek.
Luca brushes another kiss to my forehead. “To answer your earlier question, no. I don’t need anything else, Nat.”
I smile against his chest.
“I’ve got it all right here.”
EPILOGUE
LUCA
A FEW MONTHS LATER
My family runsloud on a normal day.
Tonight, they’re deafening.
The whole back patio at my father’s house overflows. Kids tear through the grass like they’ve been shot out of cannons. Men stand with drinks in their hands and an opinion about everything. Women gather near the long outdoor table under the string lights, talking over one another while the smell of grilled meat and roasted garlic hangs thick in the warm Vegas air.
The pool throws blue light over the stone patio. Beyond it, the desert stretches dark and quiet, like it knows better than to compete with an Andretti family dinner.
I lean against one of the pillars by the outdoor kitchen and take a drink of scotch, pretending I’m not watching Natalia from across the yard.
She stands near Mia, smiling down at the baby in her arms, and for a second the rest of the yard ceases to exist. My world narrows to a single point. Her.
That keeps happening to me. I can be in the middle of twenty conversations, a dozen potential threats, a room full of people I love, and all it takes is one look at her and my brain goes, yeah, none of that matters.
Just her.
She laughs at something Mia says and reaches down to brush two fingers over the baby’s cheek. Valentina is maybe eight weeks old now, and my half-sister already has the entire Andretti organization wrapped around her tiny fingers.
“You look disgustingly domesticated.”
I don’t have to turn to know Dario is behind me. I take another sip before I glance over. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
He stops beside me, following my line of sight straight to Natalia. “No. Just weird as hell. There was a time I was pretty sure you’d die in a ditch somewhere after pissing off the wrong woman.”
“There was a time I was pretty sure that too.”
Dario barks out a laugh and knocks his glass lightly against mine. “Fair.”
After a moment of quiet, he sobers. “She’s good for you,” His voice turns thoughtful now. “Natalia. She’s good for you, and she’s good for us. I’m glad you didn’t—” He stops. Swallows. “I’m just glad.”
I know what he’s not saying.I’m glad you didn’t kill her. I’m glad you made a different choice. I’m glad you came back to us with something other than blood on your hands.
