Page 30 of A Trap So Flawless (Titans and Tyrants #4)

“ G ood morning, Mrs. Gowan.”

Valentina stirs in my arms, rebellious strands of her dark hair tickling my chin. The sun has risen in Dublin, sending late-October light streaming in through the window. It’s a weak light, greyish and moody.

But there was sun yesterday for the outdoor wedding.

It was a small affair. Very private. Rowan and Amos served as the witnesses.

Valentina didn’t have anyone from her side present.

She’s the only one with Titone blood I can stomach having within ten metres of me at the moment.

She did call Elio on speaker phone before we eloped, though, to inform him of our plans.

I thought, after everything that went down with Elio’s wife Deirdre in the winter, his response would have been an immediate no, to which I would have told him to come and get his cousin, then, so I could finally have a chance to blow his head off.

But instead, he remained quiet for a moment before saying, “I looked for you, Valentina. Until I saw the airport security footage that showed you getting willingly on that plane to Dublin.”

Valentina pursed her lips at that, her gaze flicking to me. Because we both knew she didn’t actually board that flight willingly. But I guess she decided that Elio didn’t need to know that part, because she didn’t contradict him.

“But you’d told me about the engagement, and once I saw that you went without being taken, being forced, that you wanted to go…

” Another slight pause. “ Testarda come un mulo . I knew it would be pointless to try to bring you home. I knew if I tried, one or all three of us likely would have ended up dead.”

“Stubborn as a mule,” she said. “Mamma always says so.” She sighed, holding her left hand up to admire the catch of the shattering light on the yellow diamond. “So that’s why Papà did what he did?”

“He didn’t let me in on that particular plan before executing it,” Elio said. I thought I sensed an edge of disapproval there. “I would have tried to talk him out of it if he did. Not that it would have done any good. You got your stubbornness from him.”

“Yeah,” she said, not quite sadly. But very softly.

“Zizi wants to see you, you know.”

I tensed, about to tell Elio he could shove that idea right up his stupid Sicilian ass. Because the last time Valentina talked to her Mamma, she got so twisted up in Titone lies that we willingly walked right into the range of Vinny’s gun. But Valentina was already answering.

“I’m not ready for that right now,” she replied in a clipped tone.

“She won’t want to miss her only child’s wedding,” Elio said.

“She lied to me,” Valentina exclaimed. “She said she was at home! So I came, because I thought she needed me! I thought Papà was dead!”

“You lied to her, too. To all of us.” From beyond him, on the other end of the line, I heard a woman’s voice cut in.

“I’m not guilt tripping her,” Elio replied, speaking to someone else. “I’m getting fucking scolded by my wife over here,” he said to Valentina this time. Despite the complaint in his words, his voice had descended into an obnoxiously gooey, affectionate octave that I would have laughed at once.

Not anymore.

“Look,” Elio said, “I’m not going to force you to talk to Zizi. And I won’t drag you to Uncle Vinny’s funeral, either. But after you’re married, and after I get Curse out of Montréal, we need to meet. You, me, and Darragh.”

My hackles rose, snapping to wary attention.

“And Darragh, if you’re listening, which I’m pretty sure you fucking are,” he went on, “then you can fucking relax about what I just said, because I want to talk terms, not traps. You sent a note to me once, calling me your friend in Irish. And while I fully believe that you were just trying to fuck with my head at the time, and that the two of us will never actually be anything close to friends, for better or worse, you’ll be part of the famiglia now.

Valentina’s the closest thing I have to a sister, and I don’t want to live my life wondering when my own brother-in-law is going to put a bomb under my car.

So when the dust settles a bit, let’s sit down and talk like normal fucking human beings. ”

“Neither one of us,” I pointed out darkly, “is a normal human being.”

“Maybe not,” Elio admitted. “But let’s at least do our best to pretend. For Valentina.”

For Valentina. The only one I’d do anything for.

“ Congratulazioni to you both,” is the last thing he said before he hung up.

I draw my fingertips up and down the pearls of my wife’s bare spine as she snoozes in the big Dublin house I’m renting. She’s not ready to wake up yet, and I suppose that I can’t blame her. I kept her up half the night.

I have to get up soon, though. I’ve got a meeting with Amos later.

I’m going to build my own empire in Ireland, and he will be part of the process.

And then, I’m going to investigate the feasibility of buying back some of Grandda’s properties and businesses from the trust. I am officially married and no longer the heir, but maybe I can use the wealth I’ve already acquired in Toronto to find a way to purchase back what I want in Dublin.

Or maybe not. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter anymore. Because I’ve got everything I need right here in my bed, in my arms, in my dreams.

And my heart is within her.

Thank you so much for reading the conclusion to Darragh and Valentina’s story!

This couple took me on so many twists and turns I did not expect when I first set out to write their story.

They’re both fighters, for better or worse, and it was a thrill to watch them fight for each other, and themselves, as they achieved their happily ever after.

Many readers have asked me about Curse Titone, and I’m so excited to share that Curse and Aurora’s duet will be next in the Titans and Tyrants series. You can check out the first book in their duet, A Monster So Merciless!

Curse Titone was a friend to me once. The sweet boy who saved me from drowning on Sicilian shores.

But the cherub-faced child I knew more than twenty years ago is gone.

Now, Curse is Toronto's most merciless assassin. A soulless shadow of the innocent boy I once adored.

A monster.

But when I find myself trapped, terrified, with blood pooling at my feet and no one else to turn to...

I know a monster is the only one who can help me.

Even if that monster demands a sacrifice.

Even if that sacrifice is me.