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Eden's laugh carries across the room. The sight of her gorgeous face with its sharp, angled jaw and her beautiful hazel eyes makes my cock stir, even though I'm in a room full of family and friends.

She's my forbidden fruit. My one-and-forever. My undoing.

The woman is my undoing and my re-making, all wrapped in one sinfully sexy package.

My eyes fall to her glorious tits in the V-neck shirt she wears. Her rack is the best I've ever seen and really is made to make a grown man fall to his knees.

That man being me.

Christ, I want her. After all the times I've had her, I can never get enough.

The days of recovery after I had my vasectomy were agony. Not because of the pain in my balls, but because I couldn't wait to sink inside her. When I'd been 'out of commission,' I made it my goal for Eden to orgasm as many times a day as possible, and I fucked her with my fingers, mouth, and toys.

After the allotted time, I got tested. Once it was confirmed that my cum had no live swimmers, I was back to coming deep inside her pussy as often as I could.

I stare at her and shift to ease the throb in my cock. Trying to think clean, holy thoughts instead of the dirty, unholy ones rampaging through my brain at the moment.

Eden turns to me, probably sensing her predator is staring her down, looking for any opportunity to get her alone and hunt her. Her eyes drift down my body, her teeth rake over her bottom lip. I can feel her gaze like a physical touch as it stops on the bulge in my jeans.

I see the moment it hits; the soft inhalation, the quick dart of her tongue, the slight shift of her thighs. She wants me as much as I want her.

She lifts her eyes to meet mine. "One-and-done?" she mouths and raises a brow.

I shake my head. "One-and-forever," I mouth back.

Her answering smile is all I need.

Mamma goes over to Eden and says something that makes her laugh again. My heart swells with gratitude and love. My family welcomed Eden with open arms; she and Mamma had an instant bond. Maybe it was from Babbo and his gifting Eden with his treasured talisman, or maybe it was because Eden's biological parents are a fucking horror show. Whatever the reason, I'm so grateful for the woman of my dreams, living and breathing by my side, and my family bringing her into their fold.

Eden has also grown close to Sophie, as she works to help bring Sophie's passion project, Hope's Legacy, to life. The project is more than just an emergency shelter and transitional home for helping women and children escape the cycles of domestic violence and poverty. The wrap-around, on-site services support what the women and children may need—whether it's primary health care, mental health, or helping with substance use disorders, childcare services, access to education, and employment training. There's a lot of talk of more homes being built in the city, and philanthropists are lining up to donate to expand the model to other cities nationwide.

Sophie is nearing the end of her pregnancy, but she's like the energizer bunny, which is making Creed nearly lose his shit. He's such a fucking cinnamon roll when it comes to her, but his dominant side still wins and he gets her to rest.

My family knows about Eden's horrific and traumatizing past. However, being around Sophie and helping make a difference in children's lives has helped Eden work through much of what she avoided as a coping mechanism for so many years. We'll have to see what happens once Baby Santoro arrives, but my family is all ready to help Eden if she needs.

That's what family looks like for the Santoros. The mafia version of the Brady Bunch . Family takes care of family.

Deep laughter cuts through the room, and I glance in its direction and watch Ash and Dom with their new wives. Two ruthless, lethal men brought to their knees by finding their queens—and who are sisters to boot.

Dom called in his favor for backing Eden and me with the Chamber shortly after the vote at Gilly's with all the city's criminal leaders. Favors are a strong currency in our world; however, even if we hadn't owed Dom a huge favor, the Santoros would've backed him solely based on what he was aiming to do and bring down.

My eyes shift to Army and Bane, part of the Havoc Guardians' Council, and their new wives. We're all here tonight to celebrate Babbo 's birthday—the first one since we lost him.

Creed and Sophie are still firmly on the non-mafia, civilian side of the line and usually have little interaction with criminal factions; however, we're all here in honor of Tommaso Santoro. Also, Creed and Sophie have a bit of a soft spot for the Havoc Guardians as they played a pivotal role in saving Sophie, plus the MC is a huge supporter of Hope's Legacy—using only clean money earned from one of their many legal businesses, of course.

There's a commotion in the doorway to the open-space family room, and Mamma moves to greet the newcomers—Raf with Pix and Digits, who is the MC's tech genius. Mamma hugs them all, and Raf kisses both her cheeks. Then, he looks down at the violent, psycho little pixie beside him—looking at Pix like she makes the world spin on its axis—before he lifts his eyes to mine.

He doesn't give a shit that I caught him mooning over Pix and makes his way across the room. I pour him a glass of bourbon and hand it to him.

"Everything good?" he asks.

I'm standing apart from the group. Not because anything is wrong, but because I'm observing the motley crew of our family and allies coming together to honor Babbo .

"Everything's perfect."

He clinks his tumbler to mine. "Tommaso would be happy."

I scan the room again, taking in everyone here: Zio Marco, Andro, our cousin Gemma, Gabe—who is as much family as Raf—and Massimo, standing with his tiny queen by his side. We are all here with our strongest allies.

This is our family, and family was everything to Babbo .

"Yeah, he'd be in his glory right now." I smile, and my eyes fall on my wife.

Raf sees where my attention has fallen. "Aiken would have loved that you love Eden so much."

I swallow hard against the emotion that's closing my throat at Raf's words. "His three words changed my life, brother."

Vito, call Ed .

I had given a dying man his last wish. I had protected her, used the clue he planted in my head about the cube—or as he had said his last words, the box— and how to open it safely. I was the criminal in this city he trusted to do the right thing.

Pix grins at me from across the room, then looks at Raf with an arched brow. He's instantly at attention, and I chuckle, finishing my bourbon.

"Something you want to say?" Raf growls at me.

"Nope." I smirk. "I gotta take a piss, so why don't you go tend to whatever that is." I nod toward where Pix and Digits are chatting with Mamma .

He grunts, then leaves without another word. Chuckling, I walk across the family room and go down the hallway to the washroom.

Closing the door, I undo my jeans, pull my dick out, and brace my hand against the wall as I relieve myself. I remember the day Ohith and I destroyed Lixin, Amazu, and Simon Novak, and pissing all over their cut-off tattoos before setting them on fire. The satisfaction I still get from desecrating their flesh that way makes me smile.

Once I'm finished, I tuck my dick back in my jeans, zip up, and wash my hands. As I open the bathroom door, I'm hit by a hurricane.

Brunette, shoulder-length, wavy hair flies as soft, full lips crash to mine, and the most sinfully curvy body presses against me, pushing me back into the washroom.

I kick the door shut and push Eden up against it. My palm goes to her throat to hold her in place as my free hand gets her pants undone. "Needy for me, baby?"

"Yes," she gasps.

When I get her pants off, she grips my wrist and guides my hand down over her pussy. I love how she takes control and owns what she wants. I push two fingers in. She's wet and ready, and I catch her moan with a punishing kiss.

I finger-fuck her hard and fast, loving the sound of her wet pussy and her moans as I push her to ruin. As she gets closer to the release that will slice through her, I remove my hand from her throat and undo my belt and jeans, freeing my iron-hard cock.

"Oh god, Vito," she moans, looking pained. I know she's close.

I grip her thighs and bring her legs around my waist, then slam into her right to the hilt. Her pussy walls fight the invasion, partly because she's tight and needs to adjust to my size, and partly because she's on the precipice of orgasm. The grinding of my pubic bone on her clit is the catalyst, and she clamps tight around me like an anaconda. I slam my mouth on hers to capture her crying out my name and drink her in as heaven surrounds me.

As she comes down from the high, she tightens her legs around my waist and cups my face. Being inside her feels unlike anything I've ever felt with any other. It feels like perfection, like pure rapture. It feels like…

"Heaven," I whisper against her lips. "You're my heaven, Eden."

Her eyes lock on mine. "You're my everything, Vito."

Criminals, men with dark intentions, criminal organizations… Nothing would keep me away from her ever again. My heart soars—she's mine, and I'm able to tell the whole fucking world.

"You're my everything." Her head lolls back as I hit the spot deep within her that she loves. "But you're still a fucking cunt."

I grin. "I love you, too, baby."

Then I ravage her like the unhinged predator I am.