Page 154 of Savage Saint
Kasia hugs them tight, and I see Arrow blink rapidly, fighting tears again.
"Thank you," I tell Arrow as they pass.
They pause, studying me with those too-knowing eyes. "Take care of her, Angelo. She's been through enough."
"I know."
"No," they say seriously. "I don't think you do. Not all of it. But you will. And when you do, remember this moment. Remember that she chose you despite everything."
Before I can ask what they mean, they're gone, leaving me with questions I'm not sure I want answered.
One by one, they all leave. Dante and Alessa, lost in each other. Luca, shaking his head but smiling as he tells Antonio he'll drop him off. Marco, still weeping happily while Mel drives. Arrow, disappearing into the night as dramatically as they arrived.
Until it's just us.
Kasia and I, alone on the rooftop where everything began. I push a button by the bar, and the glass panel slides into the floor, revealing the glowing soft blue in the darkness.
"Remember that night?" she asks, sitting by the edge of the pool and trailing her fingers through the pool water.
"Every second," I admit, moving behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. "How hard it was to let you go."
She leans back against me. "You don't have to let me go anymore."
"Never," I agree, pressing a kiss to her neck. "You're mine now, Mrs Santoro."
"And you're mine," she counters, turning in my arms. "My monster. My hero. My savage. My husband."
I think about how much has changed since I first found her here. This rooftop was my escape, my sanctuary from the world. Now it's something else. A beginning. A promise. A foundation for whatever we build together.
"The funeral is in a couple of days," I say. "There will be challenges. Nicolosi. All of it."
"I know." She frames my face with her hands. "But tonight?"
"Tonight, we're exactly where we're meant to be."
I lift her into my arms, carrying her toward the stairs. She laughs, the sound bright in the darkness.
"I can walk, you know."
"I know," I say, not putting her down. "But I carried you into my life. Seems right to carry you into our bedroom as my wife."
"Romantic savage," she murmurs against my neck.
"Only for you, Butterfly. Only ever for you."
As I carry her inside, I catch a glimpse of us reflected in the window. Not the Red Widow and the Savage Santoro. Not the weapons we were made to be.
Just Angelo and Kasia.
Husband and wife.
Heroes in each other's darkness.
And for the first time in my life, that's enough.
It's everything.
EPILOGUE
