Then I see them. On the nightstand. Dirty. Chipped. The chain broken. Catching the light from the lamp.
The thought hits like a jab to the chest.
My rhythm stops. Every muscle goes rigid above her. Eyes shut.
“Lorenzo.” Sharp. Cutting through. “Stay with me.”
Not a question. A command. My own words, delivered back to me. Her grip on my jaw. Pulling me back.
“Open your eyes.”
I open them. Her face. Right there. Dark eyes. Clear. Alive.
I press close until there’s nothing between us. Breath to breath.
“Not going anywhere,” I say. “Not ever.”
“Neither am I.”
I move again. Slow. Her body arching under mine. Her legs pulling me deeper. Eyes open. Both of us.
“I don’t deserve you.” The words scraped out at the edge. “But I’ll kill anyone who tries to take you from me.”
“I know.” She grips my jaw. “I know you will.”
“Non ti lascio più.“I’m never letting you go.
“Close,” she breathes. “Lorenzo. I’m?—”
“I know. Let go.” My mouth against her ear. “Now.”
She comes. Her whole body locking tight around my cock, her hips lifting off the bed, my name torn from her throat. Wrecked. Beautiful.
I watch it happen. Her face. The way she shatters while holding my eyes.
Then the wave drags me under.
“Isabella.” Against her neck. “Isabella.” Against her jaw. “Isabella.” Against her mouth. Her name three times like a prayer I forgot I knew.
“Sei la mia rovina.“You are my ruin.
The aftershocks roll through us. Tremors. The slow settling of two people who’ve stopped running.
I pull her against me. She curls into me, boneless and warm. Her wrist. I bring it to my mouth. Kiss the raw mark where thezip-ties cut in. The gentleness consumes me. My throat aches with it.
The other wrist. The same mark. I press my lips to it. Holding.
“Stella mia.“ Against her pulse. So quiet I’m not sure I said it out loud.
The beads sit on the nightstand. Dirty. Damaged. Safe.
She pulls my arm tighter around her. Presses back against me. Her fingers thread through mine and hold on, even as her breathing slows.
I’m not going anywhere. I mean it.
Tomorrow, Flavio. He’s still out there. Wounded but alive. There’s still work to do, violence to come, a world that won’t stop being dangerous just because we survived tonight.
But that’s tomorrow.
