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Her breath hitches as I drop to my knees again, pushing her dress up her thighs. “You’re insatiable.”

“Only for you.” I press my mouth to the inside of her thigh, inhaling her scent. “Always for you.”

She spreads her legs slightly, granting me access as I hook my fingers in the sides of her underwear and drag it down her legs. The sun-warmed sand cushions my knees as I worship her, my tongue finding the slick heat of her with practiced precision.

“Stefano,” she gasps, fingers tightening in my hair. “Damn, your mouth...”

I lose myself in her—in the taste of her arousal, the sound of her pleasure, the way her thighs tremble against my shoulders. When I slip two fingers inside her, curling them to find the spot that makes her see stars, she comes apart with my name on her lips—my real name, the only one I use now.

Before she can recover, I’m on my feet, unfastening my pants with urgent movements. Her eyes darken as she watches me free my cock, hard and aching for her.

“Turn around,” I growl, the command softened by the reverence in my touch as I help her brace against one of the larger rocks. “I need to be inside you.”

She complies, looking back over her shoulder with a smile that’s pure temptation. “Then take what’s yours.”

I enter her in one smooth thrust, both of us groaning at the perfect fit. Her body accepts me like it was made for this—for me—her muscles clenching around my length as I begin to move.

“Mine,” I murmur against her neck, one hand splayed protectively over her stomach while the other grips her hip. “Both of you.”

“Yours,” she agrees, pushing back to meet each thrust. “As you are ours.”

The thought of it—my child growing inside her, our future taking shape—sends me over the edge faster than I’d like. I reach around to circle her clit, determined to take her with me, and feel her shatter a second time as I spill myself deep inside her.

We stay joined as our breathing slows, my arms wrapped around her from behind, her head resting back against my shoulder. The waves continue their eternal rhythm, unconcerned with the small miracles occurring on their shores.

“We may still have enemies out there,” I say finally, voicing the shadow that occasionally darkens even my brightest moments. “Members of Suzette’s family, and others who may want to come for us once they know about the baby.”

Isadora turns in my arms, fierce despite her flushed cheeks and kiss-swollen lips. “Let them try. We’ve rebuilt both organizations into something stronger than even a fortress. We have allies now, not just enemies.”

“And we have each other,” I add, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Which makes us dangerous.”

She smiles, the expression holding all the fire that first drew me to her in that club bathroom, when she was just a desperate bride-to-be seeking one night of freedom.

“The most dangerous kind of dangerous,” she agrees, rising on her toes to press her lips to mine. “The kind with something to protect.”

As we walk back toward the house, toward Maria and the life we’ve built, I realize that for the first time since I was a boy, I’m not defined by what was taken from me. Not a ghost anymore. Not a weapon. Not even a son seeking his father’s destruction.

Just Stefano. Husband to Isadora. Soon-to-be father. Man who learned that vengeance might sustain you, but love—fierce, consuming, hard-won love—is what truly saves you.

And I intend to spend the rest of my life being worthy of that salvation.

The End.