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"It's done," I murmur as the priest gathers his things. Security begins clearing the room with practiced efficiency. "Legal. Binding. Irreversible."
She says nothing, but her fingers clench slightly in mine. It’s the first real reaction I've gotten from her since this began.
"Shall we?" I gesture toward the door, toward the suite waiting upstairs. Toward our future, whether she wants it or not.
The elevator ride is silent, heavy with words we won't say. She stands as far from me as the small space allows, one hand pressed protectively over her stomach. Over our child. The sight makes possession roar through my blood.
Mine. All mine.
The suite door closes behind us with quiet finality. Ava moves immediately to the window, putting distance between us. The city sparkles beyond the glass, lights blurring in the gathering dusk.
"Your brother will be retrieved tonight," I say, watching her reflection tense at my voice. "Tomasso has a team in position. By morning, this will all be settled."
"Nothing about this is settled." Her voice comes out raw with the first words she's spoken since her vows. "You've just made it more complicated."
"Have I?" I move closer, letting her feel my presence at her back. "Seems simple to me. You're my wife. That child is my heir. Everything else is just..." I lean in, lips brushing her ear. "Details."
She shivers, though whether from fear or something else, I can't tell. "And what happens when the Fioris retaliate? When they come after all of us?"
"Let them try." The words come out dark, promising violence. "I'll paint Chicago red with their blood before I let them touch what's mine."
"Yours." She laughs, the sound edged with hysteria. "Is that all I am now? Just another possession for the great Stefano Rega to lock away?"
The question hits harder than it should. Because she's wrong—she's never been just anything to me. Even now, after her betrayal, after forcing this ceremony, after everything...
She's still the girl who haunts my dreams. Still the woman who makes the monster in me purr. Still the only person who's ever made me want something more than power and control.
"You could have been so much more," I admit, the words tasting like regret. "If you'd trusted me. If you'd been honest."
"Honest?" She turns finally, dark eyes flashing with the first real emotion I've seen since this began. "Like you were honest about having me followed? About planning this whole thing the moment I left?"
"I've never lied to you." I catch her chin, holding her gaze. "Never pretended to be anything other than what I am: a monster, a possessive, obsessive bastard who's spent ten years searching for you." My grip tightens slightly. "A monster who would burn down heaven and earth to keep you now that I've found you again."
Tears gather in her eyes, but she blinks them back. Still fighting, even now. "I never asked for any of this."
"No?" I trace her lower lip with my thumb. "You never wanted the protection I could offer? The safety? The chance to give our child a future secured by blood and violence instead of cons and running?"
She tries to pull away, but I hold firm. "I wanted freedom."
"And I wanted you." The confession burns like whiskey, like blood, like everything dark and dangerous between us. "I’ve experienced years of wanting you, Ava, dreaming of you, searching for you." I lean closer, until our breaths mingle. "Did you really think I'd let you slip away again? Let you take my child and disappear into the night?"
"I thought..." Her voice cracks. "I thought I was protecting everyone."
"By lying? By running?" Anger rises again, hot and familiar. "By working for people who would kill you without hesitation?"
"I never gave them anything!" The words burst from her like she can't hold them back. "Never betrayed your secrets. Never?—"
I silence her with a kiss, swallowing her protests with my mouth. She fights for a moment, hands pushing against my chest, before surrendering with a sob that tastes like defeat. Like submission.
I don't just want her body. Her obedience. Her resignation to this cage I've built.
I want her fire. Her defiance. Her love.
But for now, I'll take what I can get. Keep her close. Keep her safe. Keep her mine in every way that matters.
Even if she hates me for it.
Even if part of me hates myself.