Page 142 of Savage Enemy

“What are your terms, Ace? What are you offering?”

This felt different—so easy. I could tease him and vice versa.

An enormous weight had been lifted from our shoulders, and we could just be ourselves now. We could be like the kids we pretended to be when we first met.

Stefano shrugged. “Everything. But it’s a forever commitment. There’s no backing out for either of us. No second guessing, no decade-long breaks. And this does not end at death.”

He held out his hand, his beautiful blue eyes warm despite the blood splatters on his face. Despite all the lies I’d told him.

“You’re mine forever, Valentina Vignali.”

Taking his hand, I let him ease me up onto my feet.

“You have a deal, Stefano Vignali. Now take me home to our son.”

I turned to Santo and hugged him.

A sharp pain shot through me, and I couldn’t help but shut my eyes for a moment before getting my voice back.

“You have to call me, okay? All the time, and I mean it.”

My little brother nodded and gently hugged me.

Then I went to Marco. Tears burned my eyes. I needed to say so much to him, so much I needed to thank him for, but I didn’t have the fucking words.

He eased me into an embrace and kissed the top of my head.

“It’ll all be okay, sorellina. When everything settles down, I want to see you again and meet my nephew. Tell him I’m sorry if I scared him.”

“I’ll tell him all about you. I know he’ll want to meet you. You better call me. God, I’ve missed you so much.”

I let go of my brother and put my hand in Stefano’s. We headed for the front door, and I didn’t even care that I only had on a nightgown. I needed to breathe in my newfound freedom.

As we hit the doorstep, Marco called after us.

“A heads up, Vignali. I need to get my house in order. I can’t do that while dealing with the Russians. I’ll be telling Klimov that you took her. You need to be prepared to handle that.”

Stefano didn’t turn around.

His jaw flexed, and he nodded once.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“We’ll talk on the plane.”

I already knew, though.

One fight had ended, and a new one waited for us at home.

But why the fuck was he was missing that finger?

CHAPTER 29

STEFANO

Once Valentina’s bare feet hit the sidewalk in front of the Moscatelli house, her body trembled in the frigid night air from the cold and the shock.

She’d insisted on walking rather than letting me carry her.

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