Page 309 of Vicious Temptation

It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve watched her race; I still hold my breath when she’s on the track, wanting the win as badly as she does, if only to see that smile as she climbs out of her car.

Remi doesn’t race on the streets anymore. These days, she spends two Saturdays a month at Speedway Blue, doing what she loves. I’m usually down in the pit, waiting for my girl when it’s over, but today, the family is all here, cheering her on from the bleachers.

Kai sits to my right, focused on the starting lights.

“All she has to do is hook on the launch, and she’s got that Mustang beat. He’s been sleeping off the line all afternoon.”

“She knows what to do,” I say.

Kai looks at me, a grin tugging at his mouth. “Of course she does. Who do you think taught her everything she knows?”

I laugh.

Going back to work wasn’t immediate. I spent nearly two months on administrative leave while Internal Affairs and a federal investigation picked through what Elena had done. As far as the department was concerned, I’d been pulled into an unauthorized operation without knowing its true purpose, then abducted when I tried to stop it.

Ryan backed me where he could. And Grey ended up under investigation for his part in Elena’s off-book orders at Remi’s range, then transferred out of the precinct before I returned. By early spring, I had my place back on SWAT. I was on the same unit, same badge, only now there isn’t another covert job hiding underneath it.

Getting back to normal with Remi took a little longer. Surviving everything, loving her, didn’t erase what I’d done, and neither of us pretended it did. There were times when my phone would ring and I’d see something shift in her face, or I’d tell her plans had changed and know exactly where her mind went. But I never made her drag an explanation out of me, and she never had to wonder where I was going, who I was talking to, or whether there was another part of my life she didn’t know about.

Eventually, she stopped waiting for another secret and hesitating before asking me about work. Until one day, being with me no longer carried the weight of my betrayal. We started feeling like us again.

Her family needed their own time. I understood that. Kai was civil but watched everything I did. And Matteo made it clear that loving me again was Remi’s choice, not his. Amalia never treated me badly, but trust from her wasn’t something I expected to be handed. I went to the dinners, I spent afternoons at the garage, showed up at the track, and let them decide what to do with me. And here we are.

Amalia leans forward from Kai’s other side. “Remi tells me your aunt will be in town tomorrow. You should bring her by.”

“She’d like that.”

“Good. I’ll make dinner.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t.” She smiles. “I want to.”

The ease with which she says it still gets to me. A year ago, I couldn’t have imagined my aunt sitting around a table with Remi’s family. Now Amalia is already planning what to feed her.

“I’ll ask her.”

“Don’t ask. Tell her she’s coming.”

I laugh. “Yes, ma’am.”

Amalia gives me a satisfied nod, then sits back beside Kai.

Remi didn’t just show me what it means to love someone enough to give up everything for them. She gave me something I never thought I’d have again.

She gave me a family.

“Uncle Thiago!” Zara leans over from her father’s lap, a few seats down, her ears covered by oversized orange noise-canceling headphones.

“Mommy says we can get ice cream when Remi wins. Will you come with us?”

“Of course, princesinha. As long as you’re buying,” I shout back with a wink.

She giggles and gives me an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

“You might be her favorite uncle.” Matteo’s smile fades into something more thoughtful. “Makes me feel a little better about things.”

“About what?”