Page 69 of Stolen Vows

“Is that true, or were you just never given the opportunity to rest?”I snarl.

She shrugs and wiggles deeper into the blankets after I lay her on the bed.

My phone vibrates in my pocket.I stiffen as it buzzes the pattern for a message tagged as important.

Pietro continues to make poorer and poorer decisions as he falls prey to my trap.Noah oversees management and sends me regular updates while the people closest to my target text their findings, but I only check when I’m in my office.

I can’t ignore the first message my team marked as important since Valentina walked the George Washington Bridge alone.The outcome of the last message may have been favorable, but luck rarely hits men like me twice.

“Answer it,” Valentina says.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and read the text.Adrenaline rushes through me and I smirk in satisfaction.

Pietro took the bait.It’s time to launch the next stage of my plan.

“You need to leave, don’t you?”

I pull my attention from my phone to my wife and belatedly realize my lips tilt in a grin.

She sighs.

“I do,” I confirm.

“How long will you be gone?”

“A few hours.”I check the time.“I may not be back for breakfast.Lunch tomorrow at the latest.”

She curls onto her side and slips her hand under her pillow.Her forlorn eyes tug at the heart I thought dead long ago.

“I can send—”

“No.Go.I know you’ll come back,” she says.

I study her face.She’s not placating me.She genuinely trusts me and wants me to enact our revenge.

“The house security—”

“Is the best money can buy.Mario, I’m good.Truly.I have your number.I’m safe.”She pauses to yawn behind her hand before continuing.“Go do whatever it is you need to do.Just come back in one piece.Capisci?”

I open the bedside drawer, take a pistol from my chest harness, ensure she watches as I place it inside, shut the drawer, and kiss her cheek.

“Rest well,amore mio,” I murmur.

She runs her finger over the length of my jaw.

“Prendi cura di te, mio marito.”

Joy blooms deep in my chest.I capture her hand, kiss each of her fingertips, and leave the room before I give in to temptation and miss a golden opportunity to torture the man who brutally attacked me and left me to bleed out in a back alley ten years ago.

Valentina’s words play on repeat in my mind.

Take care of yourself, my husband.

Wonder flows through me.

Mia paperottais waiting for me to come home.I won’t let her down.

I want to worship and care for her for decades.The rest of our lives.