Page 147 of Stolen Vows

Giovanni screams. His knee buckles, but I don’t stop. Another swing, another sickening snap.

He buckles to the ground, gasping, gripping his shattered knees.

I crouch down, bat resting against his chest. My voice drops. Low, dark, a growl of pure fucking fury. “The first one is for hurting her, for scaring her. And that second one is for ever thinking you were good enough to have her. And the third strike? It’s coming for you, Baldini.”

I rise to my feet, the bat still clutched in my fist, knuckles white. I turn on my heel and stride out of the room.

Beau falls into step beside me, his own bat resting casually against his shoulder. “Knew a bat would come in handy.”

A low chuckle bubbles out of me, a grin growing wide across my face. “Thanks for having my back.”

“Of course. We’re fucking brothers, man,” Beau says like that explains everything. And maybe it does.

Maybe everything is really just that simple.

We step out into the cool night air, a sense of finality settling over me as we leave the sprawling Baldini estate behind. The scent of freshly cut grass and expensive landscaping mixes with the acrid tang of violence still clinging to my skin. But with each step away from that house, from the ugliness inside, I feel lighter. Freer.

Revenge isn’t usually my style. I prefer subtlety, working behind the scenes to dismantle my enemies piece by painstaking piece. But seeing those bruises on Francesca’s delicate skin brought out a different kind of response.

So the Baldinis get the two-for-one special. A little physical violence to go along with the systematic dismantling of their entire corrupt fortune.

The Baldinis will fall. That’s inevitable.

But Francesca? She’ll never be theirs again.

She was always meant to be mine.

EPILOGUE

Francesca

six months later

The kitchen is filled with the scent of freshly brewed coffee and freshly baked blueberry muffins. Taylor Swift sings in the background about falling in love. Romeo snores softly from his spot on the rug, stretched out like he owns the place, which, to be fair, he kind of does.

It’s heaven. A sanctuary. And maybe my favorite place on Earth.

Outside the window, the backyard is bathed in late afternoon light, the oak tree swaying gently in the breeze, the empty space where we planned to set up for our wedding in a few months looking just as inviting as ever.

It’s going to be stressful, postponing the ceremony, pushing off plans we were just starting to finalize. But honestly? I can’t bring myself to care.

Because I have something better. Something life-changing.

Seven positive pregnancy tests, lined up like some kind of strange victory parade on the counter.

I think I’m supposed to be more freaked out than I am. I mean, yeah, I’m nervous. But I’m mostly excited. Ever since my sister decided to move forward with her pregnancy and leave her husband and our parents, I’ve been toying around with the idea of children. Before Graham, it was an abstract concept. Something I was told I would need to do, for the betterment of the family.

But like with so many things, Graham entered the picture and what once seemed scary now feels exciting.

I don’t hear him at first, but then his presence wraps around me, solid and warm. A hand skims over my waist as he steps behind me, pressing a kiss to the curve of my neck.

“You disappeared on me.” His voice is low, rough from sleep.

“You were napping,” I murmur, leaning into him.

I know he’s been up late, pulling long hours to right every wrong Blackwire Collective did in the name of Baldini Holdings. Including a few choice moves my parents’ various businesses made in the last five years. The amount of data and proof Graham showed me was astounding.

His arms tighten, lips ghosting over my skin. “I was not. Just resting my eyes. I stayed up late making sure the new software program took care of all those offshore accounts. Redistributed it back to those who need it.” He nuzzles into my neck. “Did you make sex muffins again, wife? Was this morning not enough for you?”

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