He kisses me again, soft and lingering, and I know that this is only the beginning—of our family, of our love, of the life we’ve fought so hard to protect.
And God, do I love it.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
RAF
I can’t shake the image of my brother’s back from my mind. The discolored crisscrossing lines that will never heal completely. Because of me. It’s been weeks since we brought Sandro and Evi home, but the sight of his injuries that night have burrowed under my skin and stayed there.
Sandro’s alive. He’s bounced back like he always does—with astonishing resiliency. But when I look at him and Evi, holding each other like they can’t believe the other is real, I wonder what’s left of any of us.
The Yakuza didn’t just break our empire. They broke something deeper—our faith in ourselves. They’ve taken so much from us. So much from me.
And I’m the one who’s supposed to fix it.
I press my palms against the desk, leaning forward as the guards open the doors to the old Chiaroscuro estate’s war room. The Murrays file in like they own the place—four men in cable-knit sweaters, the father in front, his face carved from the same stone that’s built the walls around my patience.
The scent of cigarette smoke clings to them. Blood and expensive whiskey.
“Rafael Chiaroscuro,” Callum Murray says, voice as smooth as aged scotch. “I appreciate your agreeing to see us.”
I motion for them to sit, though my body stays wound tightly. “I didn’t realize I had a choice.”
Callum smiles like we’re friends, but he’s the only one who settles into the seat I offer. They don’t trust me any more than I trust them.
“I hope you understand we don’t think of you as our enemy,” the Irish leader says.
“Could’ve fooled me,” I mutter. “Last I checked, your family stood with the Yakuza when they tried to burn our house to the ground. You were there when my father’s blood hit the floor.”
His smile doesn’t waver, though the two men behind him stiffen. “It was business. Nothing personal. But business turns sour fast when your partners refuse to pay their debts.”
“So, now you want to switch sides.” I cross my arms, studying them. “Tell me—what’s stopping me from putting a bullet in your head for the betrayal?”
Callum doesn’t flinch. “Because you need us.”
The words hang in the air like smoke. I hate that part of me agrees with him. In truth, this is exactly what Sandro and I have been hoping for, for months. But now that it’s here—now that they’re coming to us—I can’t help but listen to the tingling intuition at the base of my neck that’s warning me not to trust them.
Still, the Chiaroscuro empire isn’t what it used to be. We’ve got Miko’s crew, a decent crew of loyal soldiers, and the Lombardis as critical allies, but it’s not enough. The Yakuza’s got manpower, money, territory. If I don’t find a way to even the odds, we’ll drown.
Callum leans forward. “We have resources. Men. Weapons. We know the inner workings of the Yakuza’s network. We can help you take them down.”
“And your price?”
He doesn’t hesitate. “A lasting alliance between our families.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “And after what you’ve done, you think I’ll believe for a second that you won’t turn around and betray me the moment it’s convenient?”
He smirks faintly. “A marriage will seal it.”
I blink. “You came here to barter your daughter?”
That’s when Aisling Murray steps forward. I hadn’t even seen her behind her father’s towering men. But when my eyes land on her, for a second, I forget to breathe.
She’s older now—her face sharper, eyes harder—but I’d know her anywhere. Burgundy hair like spun copper in the waning sunshine, those blue eyes that pierce straight through me, a smattering of freckles that makes her button nose look impossibly more adorable, and an air of defiance that still radiates from her like a live wire.
A memory hits hard and fast—her body pressed against mine, the taste of whiskey on her lips, her breathy laugh in the dark corner of a club she never should’ve been in. A fling, reckless and fast, over before it ever began.
And now she’s standing here, calm and composed, being offered like a peace treaty.
