Page 112 of Vengeance Mine

“Yes. And I fucking love you back.”

“¿Siempre?”

He growls, his lips crashing down to mine. Once I’m breathless, and my eyes are glazed with lust, he nuzzles into my neck. “Siempre.”

Epilogue 1

Dutch

Ten Months Later

Idon’tknowwhatthe fuck is going on. Cruz and Ryan have been gone for two weeks, on what they called a bro trip. It’s cute that they’ve bonded, but I want my man back. The Duke, who has now moved in with Ryan, has had enough of my whining and kicked me out of their apartment.

I huff a sigh, stomping back down the stairs to my apartment. Everyone has abandoned me. Jase and Kian are busy doing something they won’t tell me about. Trey and Rebecca are on their honeymoon, as are Nate, Eric, and Tessa.

Susannah and the twins gratefully accepted my old apartment eight months ago, when Harris offered them all positions at my old stomping grounds, the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building. A quick twenty-five-minute ride on my bike means we get lunch together often. But even that whore is out doing some kind of secret job she can no longer tell me about.

It’s dangerous when I wander around the building bored, with nothing to do. Who knows what I’ll get into? Just as I start making a list, my phone pings. It’s Jase.

The Nerd:Hey, could you meet me in the dining room? There’s something I need to go over with you. It’s important.

The Biker Chick:Sure, will be right down.

Thank you! Something to do. Hopefully, it will take longer than five minutes, or I swear to God, I’m going to try knitting again. Last time, I nearly stabbed several people in a fit of rage.

The lights are off when I enter the dining room, the flames in the fireplace roaring merrily. Hundreds of candles are draped across every surface of the room. I stutter to a stop, my brows lowering. What the fuck?

Stepping hesitantly into the room, I notice Jase and Kian grinning widely at me. Followed by Susannah and the twins. And Rebecca and Trey. And Nate, Tessa, and Eric. And Ryan and The Duke.

“Um, guys? What’s going on?”

There’s a tap on my shoulder, and I spin around, gasping when I see Cruz. I take a step back, running my eyes over him. He gets down on one knee and holds out a cooler. Just an ordinary cooler, like the kind you take on picnics.

But I’m pretty sure it’s not filled with sandwiches and cans of soda.

It’s déjà vu all over again.

“Dutch, you’re not an ordinary woman. You’re an extraordinary one. An ordinary proposal would never do, so I’m offering you an unusual one.”

My eyes fly wide at the word “proposal”. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Cruz comes to his feet, and I stumble back. He holds his hand out, and after I release several deep breaths, I take it. The sparks fly, as they always do when we touch, and I breathe easier. This is Cruz. My Cruz.

“One promise I make to you is that no one will ever lay a finger on you with harmful intent again. If they do, I will end them. You are mine, always mine, and no one touches what’s mine.”

He sets the cooler down on the table and opens it, gesturing for me to look. Rolling my lips under my teeth, I hesitantly step forward, peering into it.

El Diablo.

I stagger back, my eyes wide as they meet Cruz’s. The man Vincenzo was going to sell me to, the man that put his fingers inside a child to ensure her virginity, is now dead, his hands and head gifted to me in a cooler.

As a proposal gift.

How could I ask for anything more? The man is literally offering me the head of my enemy, and on bended knee no less.

“Say yes!” Tessa shouts out, and the others loudly agree.

“He hasn’t asked me anything yet!” I call back, receiving laughter in return.