Page 79 of Dangerous King (Savage Kings of New York #2)

A few weeks later…

The house is quiet. A breeze brings in the scent of roses from the garden outside. Now and then, I hear the faint creak of old wood settling. The shuffle of paws down the hallway announces Shadow's on his midnight patrol.

It's the kind of quiet that feels safe—the kind I never used to trust and can now fully enjoy.

I pour a little more tea into my cup, wrap the throw tighter around my shoulders, and settle deeper into the chair by the window.

The pool glows; someone must have left the lights on, either that or they're still swimming, it's hard to tell from here.

Some days I wonder how it would be living in a house alone with Enrico—just him and me.

But then I run into Izzy or Eliza, or even Enrico's brothers, and I know I'd miss them too much.

I'm used to a large family now. Strangely, Enrico's family feels closer to me now than mine.

It might not be fair, but that's how I feel.

We're still working on making it better.

Behind me, the door creaks open. "You're not in bed," Enrico states softly.

I smile without turning around. "Neither are you."

A beat. Then the floor groans under his weight as he walks to me. He sets a hand on my shoulder, his fingers warm and grounding. I reach up to hold them.

"You okay?" he asks, because he always does.

"I am." I tilt my head up to look at him. "You?"

His smile is small, but real. "I am now."

He bends to kiss my forehead, then sits on the ottoman in front of me, still shirtless, hair rumpled from sleep. I run my fingers through it without thinking. We're finding our rhythm.

"I still think about her," I say after a while. "About Sabine."

Enrico nods but doesn't reply. His silence is enough. He understands.

I don't. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around what Sabine did. Mostly, I think, because Mamma seems to be mad at me. Like it was my fault. She hasn't said it out loud, but it hangs between us.

I'm not going to argue with her, but neither am I going to accept the blame. Sabine made her choice. So did my family. And so have I.

I've found peace in that realization. I'll always love them, but if they want to keep their distance, I'm not going to beg them.

I've grown stronger, and I have my own support system now.

My husband and his family love me unconditionally.

My door will always be open for my family, but I'm not going to stand in the doorway begging for them.

"I've been thinking we should take that honeymoon soon," Enrico suggests, guessing where my thoughts went.

I raise a brow. "You mean the one we earned after a bombing, a funeral, and a hitman swallowing poison in front of us?"

"That's the one," he murmurs, eyes gleaming. "We could go somewhere warm. Somewhere with no phones. Just you, me… and maybe a stray dog or two."

I laugh, the sound curling in the quiet room like a promise.

"I'd like that," I say. "But no stray dogs, Shadow will get jealous."

He leans forward and presses his lips to mine, soft and slow, like we have time. Because now, we do.

Outside, the sky begins to shift. The faintest hint of blue over the horizon. Another morning. Another start.

I don't know what's coming next. We still don't have all the answers. Maybe we never will.

But I have Enrico.

I have this life we fought for.

And I finally have peace.