Page 80 of Daddy's Christmas Obsession

When we finally separate, I remain sitting on the lab bench, my skirt rucked up around my waist, completely debauched in the middle of my pristine medical facility.

"I love you," I say, the words carrying the weight of everything we've built together.

"I love you too," he replies, straightening his tie with the casual efficiency of a man who's used to looking composed after claiming his wife in inappropriate places. "All of you. The brilliant doctor, the ruthless strategist, the woman who can save lives and destroy enemies with equal skill."

"And I love all of you," I return. "The criminal mastermind, the devoted husband, the man who saw what I could become and gave me the power to become it."

As we straighten our clothes and prepare to leave the lab, I catch sight of our reflection in one of the polished metal surfaces. We look exactly like what we are—a power couple who've learned to balance love and ruthlessness, healing and destruction, light and shadow.

"What's our next move?" I ask as we walk toward the exit.

"Now you have two empires to run," Victor says with satisfaction. "Your research institute and a pediatric cardiac program. Think you can handle saving both adult and children's lives?"

"With the right funding and equipment, absolutely." I pause at the door, turning to look back at the empire we've created. "There's no limit to what we can accomplish together, is there?"

"None whatsoever." He takes my hand as we step out into the Denver evening. "No dream too big, no goal too ambitious."

As we walk to the car, I think about the trajectory of my life. Three years ago, I was a heartbroken graduate student with no money, no prospects, and no power. Now I'm Dr. Kyra Sinclair-Strickland, director of the most advanced cardiac research facility in the country, majority stakeholder in a children's hospital, wife to one of the most powerful men in Colorado, and a woman who's learned to wield influence like a scalpel.

I save lives with dirty money and sleep peacefully beside a man who's killed people. I've found love in the most unlikely place and built an empire on the most questionable foundation.

And I've never been happier in my entire life.

The good girl died in a mountain cabin three years ago. In her place stands a queen who's learned that sometimes the only way to heal the world is to embrace the darkness that makes healing possible.

Victor takes my hand as we walk to the car, his touch warm and possessive and completely right.

"Ready to go home, Mrs. Sinclair-Strickland?"

"Ready," I say, squeezing his fingers. "Always ready for whatever comes next."

Because when you've learned to turn dirty money into medical miracles, when you've found a partner who sees your potential and gives you the power to achieve it, when you've built something beautiful from something dark—the future islimitless.

And I plan to take full advantage of every bloody, beautiful, life-saving moment of it.