Page 193 of Lovely Venom

She wanders back into the kitchen, and it isn’t long before my friends start peppering me with questions. Most of them I still don’t have the answer to, but I promise to fill them in when we start thinking about names, nursery themes, and everything in between.

“If you have a girl, I think you should name her after me,” Lucia announces. “I’ll be her favorite auntie.”

“You mean the corrupt auntie.” Serafina snorts.

I sit back and enjoy the moment as they continue to argue over who will be a better influence. Then the conversation inevitably turns to something else I’ve been thinking about for a while.

“How will you decide who the godmother will be?” Val asks.

“Well…” I hesitate for a beat, not wanting to disappoint any of them. “I already have someone in mind. I just need to talk it over with Cristian first.”

“Of course it’s going to be me,” Mariella answers decidedly as she joins us on the patio. “As if there was ever even a choice.”

I know she means it as a joke, but I give her a not-so-secret smile, all but confirming she’s exactly who I had in mind.

Mariella has been there for me from the beginning. She’s helped me more than anyone will ever know, and if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be part of this family that I love so much. I also know there’s nobody else who could protect our child as fiercely as she would.

“Did everything go okay?” I ask her.

She nods, looking much more at ease than she did when Ares first sprang his proposition on her.

“I’m already plotting how I can make his life hell for the next year, and I’m actually looking forward to it.”

I laugh at her determination, and I don’t doubt that she’ll follow through. Ares has no idea what’s coming his way.

“Whose life are you making hell?” Gabi asks.

For the next few minutes, Mariella catches them up on the agreement she made with Ares. And not long after that, the men filter outside and join us at the table.

Cristian is freshly showered, his hair still damp as he leans down to give me a kiss.

“Did you get some rest?” he murmurs, his voice warm.

I nod, searching his face for any signs of tension from whatever happened with Theodore and Damian, but he looks calm and relaxed.

He takes a seat beside me, draping his arm over my chair as he massages my shoulder.

“It’s done.” He sets his phone on the table in front of me.

When I glance at the screen, I’m shocked to see there are dozens of breaking news articles with Theodore’s name on them. After clicking on one and doing a quick read-through, I get the summarized version.

Theodore released a video this afternoon confessing to assaulting dozens of women, along with the names of other men who participated. At the end of his statement, he made a declaration that the bulk of his fortune would be distributed to various foundations supporting survivors of abuse and assault. According to the article, his donations could total upwards of one-hundred million dollars.

After giving me a few minutes to let that sink in, Cristian delivers the cherry on top.

“Half of that will go to Aegis.”

Pressure builds behind my eyes as I glance at Mariella across the table, and she nods silently, indicating she already knows about this.

This amount of money will change the lives of innumerable women through the Aegis network. It will provide a safety net for other women like me when they escape with no resources of their own.

That realization settles deep inside me, offering me peace in a way that Theodore’s death alone never could. The man who spent his life torturing women saw everything he worked for stripped away in his final hours, only to be given to victims just like his.

His legacy is destroyed. His accomplices will soon suffer. And his reign of terror will now plant the seeds for something good to grow.

I can’t think of more poetic justice than that.

“Thank you,” I choke out as I wave my hands in front of my face, determined not to cry anymore today.