Page 148 of Savage Saint
"Get used to it. First condition: we do this fast. Private ceremony, just family. I don't want to wait for an elaborate production that takes a year to plan."
"Done. What else?"
"Second, I want to take your name." His eyes widen slightly, and I continue quickly. "Not to hide who I was, but to choose who I'm becoming. Kasia Santoro sounds right to me."
"Jesus, Butterfly," he breathes, his voice rough. "Say it again."
"Kasia Santoro," I repeat, loving the way his eyes darken at the sound.
"What's the third condition?"
"Equal partners in everything. I'm not looking for a protector or a white knight. I'm looking for someone to stand beside, not behind. We make decisions together, we face threats together, we build this life together."
Angelo's grin turns absolutely predatory. "Butterfly, you could probably protect me better than I could protect you. I wouldn't dare try to put you behind anything."
"Good answer."
He stands, pulling me with him, and spins me around the kitchen. I laugh, holding tight to his shoulders as the world whirls past, feeling lighter than I have in years.
"When?" I ask as he sets me down, my feet touching the ground but my head still spinning.
"When what?"
"When do you want to get married?"
Angelo's expression grows serious. "Tomorrow, if you'd let me. But realistically? Before the funeral. I want to face that circus as your husband."
I do quick math in my head. "That gives us two, maybe three days to plan a wedding."
"We don't need much," he says, already thinking it through. "Dante, Luca, Alessa, Arrow. Maybe Mel, Marco and Antonio, if they promise not to cry through the whole ceremony."
"Marco will cry for sure," I say, laughing at the thought. "Alessa told me the man tears up at car commercials and those videos of soldiers coming home to their dogs."
"True. But at least we'll know it's coming from a good place." Angelo's eyes light up with sudden inspiration. "We could do it here. On the rooftop overlooking the town. Small, intimate, perfect."
"Here?" I look around the kitchen, imagining it. "Actually, that sounds amazing. The forest behind us, the view of Blackwood spread out below..."
"Exactly. Somewhere that means something to us." His expression grows thoughtful. "She would have loved you, you know?" he says softly. "She would have loved that you're choosing us, choosing this family."
The thought makes my chest warm. "I wish I could have met her."
"In a way, you did." He touches his pocket where the fortune was. "She left you a message."
We stand there in the kitchen, wrapped in each other's arms, and start planning our future like it's the most natural thing in the world. Which, I suppose, it is.
Because this isn't the Red Widow accepting her fate, or Angelo Santoro fulfilling an obligation. This is Kasia and Angelo choosing each other, choosing love, choosing to build something beautiful together.
And if that's not worth believing in fortune cookies for, I don't know what is.
47
ANGELO
The rhythmic thump of helicopter blades cuts through the morning silence, drawing my attention to the window. I watch as the sleek black aircraft descends onto my property, its arrival as dramatic as the person I know is inside.
The door opens, and Arrow steps out in full fabulous glory. Designer suit tailored to perfection, hair styled with mathematical precision, and, of course, black eyeliner that makes their eyes pop like a cat's. They stride across my lawn like they own it, radiating the kind of confidence that comes from being both a genius and knowing it.
"ARROW!" Alessa's delighted shriek echoes from upstairs where she's been helping Kasia get ready. She flies down the stairs and out the door, launching herself at them in a hug that Arrow returns with equal enthusiasm.
