Page 157 of Desperate Crimes

“I’m here now,” I whisper.“I’m not hiding anymore.From you or Mom or anyone else.”

“Good,” she says.“Because next time you’re planning a jungle extraction mission, I want in.”

That makes me snort out loud.

“Deal.”

And just like that, I feel steadier.Stronger.Because the truth is—I’m not alone.

I never was.And now with Nico, my sister, my parents, and our families with us, beside us, I know whatever comes next, we can face it.Together.

As long as I have my Viper—I’ll survive anything.

We walk back inside together, and she hugs me, wiping a stray tear before joining her husband and children.

I stay in the kitchen a second longer and try to regain my composure.

“What’s going on?”Nico’s voice rumbles behind me.

I spin.He’s standing there, shirtless with thick bandages wrapped around his bruised torso, a sling on one arm and a crutch under the other, leaning heavily against the wall, eyes bloodshot but burning with that familiar fire.

I rush to him, easing my arm around his waist, trying to lead him back to bed, but he digs in his heels.

“You shouldn’t be up?—”

“I’m not letting you deal with all this without me, Wife,” he grits.

“Nico,” I whisper, “you can’t even sit up without grunting.”

He leans into me, pressing his forehead to mine.

“Then I’ll grunt, and I’ll still be here with you, Princess.”

Swoon.

“The guys are all talking,” I tell him.”

“Okay, want to go listen?”

“With you?”I ask him.And yeah, I’m a little bit stunned.

“Of course.I want you by my side always, Leanna.I thought you knew that,” he murmurs, cupping my neck and dragging my face towards him for a slow soft kiss.

“Come on, I need to know what’s next, Wife.Because someone tried to take me from you, and that’s a death sentence.”

Before I can argue, Nico is holding my hand, pulling me into the hallway towards the living room where all our family waits.

“Wait,” I tell him, and I duck into the laundry room, grabbing a button down shirt from the rack where the cleaning service leaves them before putting them away.

He smirks as I gently help him put it on one arm, and draped over the other.

I can’t help it.I don’t want him walking out there with his inked up muscles on display for everyone to see.

“I feel the same about you, Wife.No one sees what’s mine,” he growls, and I lift my head for his kiss.

It feels—it feels so right when he does that.And it settles something deep inside my gut.

I do belong here.With him.