Page 46 of Ruin of the Mafia Shadow
Choosing Santi Costa is unequivocally the most dangerous thing I have ever done.
But sitting here, inside this stark, echoing room, I realize I am the only source of light in his dark world. He needs my pragmatic grounding just as much as I need his lethal protection.
"Santi."
He turns instantly, his focus snapping to me like a magnet. "Yes."
"Tomorrow, we go shopping," I declare, pointing a finger at him. "I desperately need real clothes. And we are buying rugs. Lots of them. This room echoes like a mausoleum."
A slow, devastating smile breaks across his face. It completely changes his entire demeanor. The coldness vanishes.
"Whatever you want," he says.
He crosses the room in three long strides. He drops to his knees on the dark wood floor directly in front of me. The terrifying mafia shadow, kneeling in silence before the pilot.
He reaches out and takes my hands in his.
"You are staying," he states. It is phrased as a command, but I hear the faint, underlying tremor of raw, desperate hope buried beneath the steel.
"I am staying," I confirm softly. I squeeze his rough fingers. "Try and get rid of me now. I dare you."
"Never." He presses his mouth firmly against my knuckles. "You are my compass, Reese. You brought me back to myself."
I lean forward, the cashmere slipping off my shoulder. I press my lips to his forehead, then slide down to capture his mouth in a slow, deep kiss.
We tumble backward onto the plush mattress. The heavy, expensive blankets absorb our combined weight. The city of Chicago roars outside the reinforced glass, but inside these thick stone walls, inside this heavily fortified room, there is only unshakeable peace.
The bloody war with the Bellanti family is far from over. The Bellanti ledger is still unfinished. The compound's deeper secrets are still buried within these walls.
But all of that is a problem for tomorrow.
Tonight, the cold is finally broken. We are both breathing.
The End
