Page 103 of Tormented Diamonds

And the redder everything bleeds.

As I reach the second level, I glance down at my wedding band and run the pad of my thumb across the layer that hides the inscription against my skin.

L'amore è una macchia indelebile sull'anima.

Love, fate, and sin. All three are irreversible stains on the soul…

And all three will find you, whether you want them to or not.

“Hey, Doc. Think fast.”

I look up just in time to see Gianni launch a bright red apple from the third-floor landing. I catch it, my lips pulling back in a smirk. “Interesting strategy, Mr. Malone. Haven’t you heard that an apple a day keeps the doctor away?”

“Then it’s a good thing I married her, too.” He leans across the banister, the muscles in his forearms tense with restraint. “You have thirty seconds, Dr. Brennan. I suggest you don’t keep me waiting.”

“Is that a threat?”

He flashes a lethally wicked smile that tells me his demons are coming out to play. “Oh, no, beloved. That’s a promise, and as you know, Johnny Malone always keeps his promises.”

I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, watching as he turns and disappears down the hallway. I start to follow, then pause as a reflection in the second-story window catches my eye.

It’s a different vantage point from up here, almost like I’m looking down from Heaven.

My heart aches as I think of all the people taken way too soon: my mother, my father, Gianni’s mother, Jack … even Victoria. I hope they know how hard we fought to bring them justice. It doesn’t erase the pain of their loss, but somehow, it stings a little less to imagine this as their view.

When one life ends, another begins.

I stare down at the family I never thought I’d have with the man I never saw coming. It’s a bittersweet feeling to raise our children in the same world that tried to destroy us. It scares me to know that fifteen years after Gianni defeated my monsters, theirs still lurk in the shadows.

Watching…

Waiting…

For destiny to come for Nero and Renzo, ascending them to a throne where darkness dwells. For Rosalia to carve her own path, oblivious to the predators that lie in wait. My only hope is for her to meet a man who’ll fight them as fiercely as her father did mine.

Because I meant what I said…

Sometimes, the bravest heroes don’t wear white. They wear black. They’re arrogant. They tell lies. They disappear in the middle of the night. They’ll even make you cry.

But they’ll show up for you every single time.

There’s a reason people say, “A hero will sacrifice you to save the world, but a villain will sacrifice theworld to save you.” It’s because a villain puts no one above the woman he loves. She’s his anchor, his home, his light, his world, and his only weakness.

For she was the one brave enough to walk through fire and love him in the dark.

The End