Page 124 of The Ruin I Chose

He exhaled slowly.

“I’ll be gone for a week. If anything happens, arrangements are in place—for you. For Kyra.”

“Amore…” I traced his cheek with the back of my fingers, grounding myself in the warmth of him.

“I just got you back.”

“I know.” His forehead rested against mine. “That’s why I have to finish this. For us. For her.”

“Promise me you’ll come back,” I said, forcing a smile through the ache.

“Because if you don’t, I’ll be mad at you. Really mad.”

A soft breath of laughter left him. “I promise.”

I kissed him—slow, lingering, like I could seal the vow with my mouth into his skin. Then I pressed my face into his neck, breathing him in. Salt. Heat. Him. Something broke loose in my chest, and the tears came anyway.

He didn’t try to stop them. Just held me while I shook, while everything I’d been holding back spilled out. No fixing. No judgment. Just arms around me, steady and sure, letting me fall apart without fear.

In that moment, the rest of the world faded. I didn’t care about fate or war or vengeance or the ghosts waiting in the dark.

All that mattered was this—his heartbeat beneath my cheek.

His arms around me. Here. Now.

Mine.

CHAPTER 46

MARCELLO

Santino and I headed to the airport.

This was it—the final hunt.

Everything Lorenzo had carved out of my life—years of grief, betrayal, blood—would finally be answered.

When he touched Roxanne, something snapped. He didn’t just cross a line; he reminded me why men like him don’t get to keep breathing. I’d burned his empire. Drove him into a corner. Set the trap. Now all that remained was to wait for the rat to bite.

Santino got word that one of Lorenzo’s men was spotted outside Kyra’s school in Mumbai. He flew down and caught the bastard himself—an independent contractor. Used a fisherman’s boat as his torture chamber, he flooded the bastard’s lungs one bucket at a time—waterboarding, drowning, reviving, repeating—until the fucker begged for death.

By morning, the boat was gone. So was the man.

Santino had his own sadistic style. Water. Always water. He was drawn to it like a fish with a vendetta. He never rushed it. Never lost control. That was what made it terrifying.

Martin confirmed Lorenzo was planning an auction, and I knew it wasn’t art. The location would be decided by his new partners—the triads. Instead of chasing the venue, we decided to lure him out. Cheung and Ronnie had managed to unite the other triads by exposing Lorenzo’s ambition to take over their operations and trade.

The only way to flush him out was to ensure the auction happened on neutral ground—Malaysia—where we’d have access to men and guns. Neutral ground meant one thing—no rules, no jurisdiction, no saints watching.

We arrived in Malaysia two days after the wedding. It was the hardest goodbye of my life. I kissed Roxanne like it was the last time. Like a man marching to war, tasting the memory of what he might never touch again. I held her like I could imprint her into my bones.

I promised I’d come back. But the truth was I wasn’t sure I would. And if I didn’t… I needed her to know I died protecting her.

The Shandong triads were lethal—not just skilled in martial arts, but also trained in advanced weaponry. We had our guns, and thanks to Martin being an ex-mercenary, a few of us were as good as 10 of theirs.

Martin and Ronnie met us at the tarmac in Kuala Lumpur.

“Lorenzo will be at Club Ion at 8. The auction starts at 11. It’s an online bid. But the kids will be displayed via a direct private link to the buyers. I’ve got the best hackers tracking these buyers, with a direct link to Interpol and local authorities,” Ronnie said.