Page 79 of The Broker
He laughs softly, his expression slowly filling with hope. “Then I would have said, ‘Want to get out of here so we can get to know each other better?’”
He holds out his hand to me.
I take it.
And it feels like coming home.
Dante wraps his arms around me and hugs me tight. “I love you, sparrow,” he breathes. “I never want to lose you again.”
“I love you too, Dante,” I whisper into his neck. “I love you so, so much.”
We stay that way for a very long time. Finally, I tilt my head up at him. “What happens now?”
“In a fantasy world, I’d take you to my bedroom, where we would make love for hours.” His lips brush against mine. “But we’re not in a fantasy, and you need to sleep. You look exhausted. When you wake up, I thought we’d stop at the shelter and pick up the dogs Angelica wants so that they’re waiting for her when she gets home from the hospital.”
My heart melts. “I look exhausted? Have I told you you’re terrible at compliments?”
His lips twitch. “At least once.”
“And have I mentioned that when you tell me what to do, it drives me crazy?”
He laughs out loud. “Twice a day, minimum.”
He kisses me again, his lips soft and perfect. A glow of happiness warms my heart, and a stray thought occurs. “Hey, Antonio forbade us from dating, remember?”
“He did,” Dante says. “He didn’t say anything about us getting married, though.” He tilts his head and looks at me. “What do you think?”
“Yes,” I reply, giddy and effervescent, a million bubbles of champagne working their way through my body. “Yes, yes, yes.”
EPILOGUE
VALENTINA
Aweek after Neil Smith’s death, the Carabinieri find a capsized boat in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Bari. Divers find three badly decomposed bodies. It takes the authorities a few weeks to identify the victims, but eventually, they issue a report that Neil Smith, Andreas Sbarra, and Marco Cartozzi drowned in a fishing accident. Without any other red flags raised, they close their file.
“Did you kill Marco?” I ask Dante.
“Not me. Antonio.”
I’m not surprised. The padrino couldn’t let Marco’s death go unpunished—a message had to be sent. And I bear the man no fondness. Marco was Roberto’s best friend. The first time Roberto hit me, Marco showed up at my door, warning me it would be a very bad idea to leave. “Roberto loves you,” he said. “It would be a shame if you left him. His heartbreak might make him do something reckless, you understand? And it would be ashameif something were to happen to your parents.”
“Did he. . .” I hesitate over the right words.
“Did he torture Marco?” I nod, and Dante shakes his head. “No, I offered Marco an easy death if he talked. It was quick.”
“And Romano Franzoni? What happened to him?” Franzoni sent Marco after Antonio. Granted, the man was acting under extreme duress, but Marco aimed at Lucia, and the padrino’s anger runs deep. “I’m somewhat surprised he wasn’t among the victims.”
“Romano sought Ciro Del Barba’s protection,” Dante replies. “It’s for the best. Antonio didn’t really want to kill Franzoni, and this way, he doesn’t have to.”
“Franzoni is talented and loyal. Sending him running to Ciro—”
Dante gives me a wolfish grin. “Turning into quite a strategist, are you, sparrow? I’m a little terrified.”
“You should be. And so will everyone else once I share the results of last week’s security audit.”
Dante groans. “Let me guess. You were able to hack into everyone’s account again.”
“With laughable ease.”