Page 77 of Velvet Deception

It seemed that he’d been debating retiring, and now Stefan was all but encouraging him to. No jobs were waiting for him. His last assignment was to kill my rapist—Antonio. Without the pressure of a deadline or a job, it seemed Diego would focus his efforts on improving all of our lives. No more struggling or working overtime for every penny. No more of Señora Vasquez waiting for a hip replacement. No more of Ramon wearing the same tight shoes too long.

Per the video call that I overheard and sort of joined in on, the boss wanted Diego to settle down and focus on a family, not work. He’d worked too hard and so loyally for so long, he was due a change of pace. One day, Diego would fill me in on more of his past, how he’d ever come to work for Stefan. However, it seemed that Diego didn’t want to just quit, either out of loyalty to the man who’d saved his life when he was an orphanedteenager or because he wanted to continue to take out truly evil enemies in the world. The option for a much more relaxed job in LA was there to be considered, but we wanted to take this one day at a time.

And that would start tonight. As soon as I was discharged, we’d leave for a safehouse on the coast. Stefan had arranged for it to be stocked for an extended stay for us. He’d tasked people with decorating it for Christmas. And Diego had the foresight to have our things, including my Christmas décor, delivered to this place so we could still celebrate Christmas. They were supposed to get the wrapped gifts I had in my closet for Ramon, too.

“But if it takes so long to get out of here,” Ramon said, “we’ll have less time at the vacation home, won’t we?”

Diego and I both smiled down at Ramon. “No. It’s only temporary, anyway.” He lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles. “Once your mother and I marry?—”

“I think you’re skipping the part about proposing,” I teased.

“Oh, I’ll get to it.” He winked at me before facing Ramon again. “Once we marry and the baby is here, we’ll find a house to call home. On the beach.”

I smiled.

“With a pool.”

Ramon did a fist pump.

“And all the security we could ever need.” That was Diego’s focus, and I couldn’t help but love him even more. This man might have been “bad” before, as a killer, but he was definitely capable of all the good there could be found in this world.

Selfless. Compassionate. Observant. Generous.

I sighed, wondering how we could have ever come to this peace.

Twenty minutes later, I was discharged.

And another forty minutes after that, we arrived at the most gorgeous beachfront vacation villa I ever could have imagined.

“Thisis a safehouse?” I asked in a whisper as he parked. I gazed up at the modern beauty, bracing myself to be spoiled for life.

He smiled and shrugged as he reached in the backseat to get a sleeping Ramon out of the car. While he carried him inside, I checked out the empty but lovely accommodations. I pressed a kiss on Ramon’s head and backed out of the room, wondering how Diego and I would spend the magical stroke of midnight that turned Christmas Eve into Christmas Day.

Standing in front of the tree, I admired the twinkling lights and ornaments. They’d usedmine, the ones in my boxes from home. The old homemade nativity scene was sitting on a table, too.

“Merry Christmas,” I told Diego as we stood in front of the tree. I hugged him close, minding my stitches, and kissed him.

“Merry Christmas,” he replied after another deep kiss.

“I didn’t get you anything,” I said. “I didn’t even have the time to make you a card.”

“I beg to differ.” He placed his hand on my stomach.

“Okay. But we made that together.”

He smiled, nodding as he reached into his pocket before pulling out a ring box. “How about we make something else together, too?” He opened it, revealing a beautiful emerald and diamondring that sparkled under the tree’s lights. “How about we make a future together?”

I nodded, agreeing with his proposal immediately. With my heart bursting with love and joy, I leaned up to kiss him. “We already are.”

I held my hand out for him to slide the ring on, and I sighed, knowing all my Christmases would be as magical and perfect as this one. The one where I found the man I could trust and love forever.