Femme Fatale Loved (Pericolo #3) (23 page)

“If you ever come near my wife and our family again, I won’t hesitate to react. I watched you when you tore her apart. I watched for years as you made Amelia what you wanted her to be, what you loved her being. You can’t come into her life being the father she longed for you to be.”

“I know that,” my father responds, a voice that holds no conviction executing the words.

“Do you?” Zane asks, releasing my hand to approach my father. The only thing separating the pair of them is the picket fence. “I have seen Amelia sob because she lost you, and the hardest part is watching her struggle with herself because she lost you long before she truly realized. That woman behind me kept her loyalty to you as an utmost importance in her life, to the point she nearly gave up on allowing herself to find true love.”

“She clearly chose you in the end,” my father utters.

“Only because I fought for her!” Zane’s voice is sharper than ever now. “Even now you don’t see it, do you? Amelia only ever wanted someone to fight for her. She only ever wanted someone to show that she was worthy of a good fight, that she was worth being loved. You gave her every reason to give up on you when you gave up on her. She gave you multiple moments along the way to realize that she was vying for you to be the man she loved. She lost her fight because you gave up first.”

This time, my father doesn’t reply; he seems to take the words on and sober up. Apparently, Zane is the first person to really strike the right nerve with my father.

“I’m sorry you became the man you did, Salvatore. I’m even sorrier you’ll never get a chance to see the woman Amelia will become.” Zane backs away, coming to stand beside me in the candlelit pathway, the moon and stars twinkling around us. “I’m sorry you’ll never see what your sons become, what this family will become now that they’ve been granted the chance to dream.” He puts his arm around my back, his hand coming to sit on my waist. “Now, it’s my wedding night, so I’m going to take my beautiful wife back inside and dance the night away with her.”

As we make it back inside, Zane shuts the door, locking it. He pulls me close, holding me how he did during our first dance. He kisses my neck, allowing his arms to roam a little.

“Now that he’s gone, I can enjoy the rest of my evening.” Zane’s comments as he kisses his way to my lips, peering down at me between gentle kisses. “I’m looking forward to everyone getting a move on and leaving,” he says, pushing me against the wall at the bottom of our stairs. I stand flush, pinned beneath my husband’s aching body. “I made the neighbors remember your name once,” Zane quips devilishly. “It’s time to do it again,
Mrs. Maverick
.”

A chill bites through the air as it whips around me. It causes me to pull my coat around me as I walk, but it doesn’t deter me.

It’s now October, and I’m almost eight months into my pregnancy. To say this life has cast us into a whirlwind has been an understatement. Now, as we found it all settling, we decided to take a new path in life, a new route, a fresh adventure.

"We're moving." My words cut the air finely, and I breathe in deeply. "We wanted to set up home properly, without any threats, without Sal, without our past always there on the doorstep. Zane and I have been thinking it over for months now, but I need a clean slate. I want that for our child. Your niece or nephew deserves to grow up away from the life we did." I sigh, reaching out to pick away some of the fallen leaves away from the marble step that leads onto the crypt. "I didn't intend for the boys to follow, though. They shocked me. They’re all settled for the most part, but where one Abbiati goes, the others are sure to follow. We’re all here for one another; we’re all at that point we always wanted. We’re the family Madre fought for.”

There’s a moment where I just trail my gaze over the words on the plaques. It’s almost cathartic, and I know the only reason I’ll come back to Manhattan is to come here. There is no other reason; not even my grandfather can stay here on his own any longer.

“Please, don’t think it’s because I’m leaving you, Manuel. I just need to secure my happily ever after. I have to make sure my family is safe, but I just needed to see you one last time. I just needed to say a proper farewell.” As I slowly rise to my feet, I fight with my nerves and force my tears back down. “I love you both. See you soon.”

I walk across the cemetery, leaving my brother and mother in peace. I thought I would feel as if I were walking away from the better parts of my life, but those come with me wherever I go. This life we’re building is the life our mother wanted for us, the life she dreamed of, the one she died trying to make happen. 

“There she is! There’s my wife!” Zane shouts as I start to make the final few yards to the main gate. 

He was leaning against our SUV as I turned onto the final walk, but as soon as he saw me, he stood up, pushing himself away from the side of the car to come and wait for me by the gates. Even now, months after our wedding, he gives me the brightest grin every time he sees me. Every day it seems to grow.

As I leave the cemetery to approach him, I set a hand on my baby bump and just smile at him as I wait for what he’s about to say next. He looks excited, that cheeky little look on his face mesmerizes me.

“So,” he begins, walking to me, only to turn and put his arm around my shoulder and lead me to the passenger side of our SUV. “Where to, Mrs. Maverick?”

I smirk, looking up at him. “To California, Mr. Maverick.”

We’ve never left the honeymoon period.

And I don’t intend to anytime soon.

THE END

Author, graphic designer, book worm, peppermint tea obsessive.

Kirsty-Anne is a British author who stumbled across her love for writing just as she started university. Over the last couple of years she's found the style of writing that best defines her and her work. Her favourite genres to write are romantic suspense with dark themes, but loves to push her boundaries.

Starting off writing and posting on Fanfiction, Kirsty-Anne has since written books in the romantic suspense/ thriller, mafia-romance, and dark romance genre.

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