Page 31 of Claimed By my Fake Husband

"Don't move, Cilento. It's over."

"You piece of shit. I run this town. My whole Family runs this town. Even if I die, they'll come after you."

"I think you overestimate their loyalty, Luigi. You were about to fly off to Italy and leave them behind. Doubt they'd appreciate that."

"They won't find out." He scoffs.

"All calls to the FBI get recorded, Cilento." Tess flashes him a smug little smile, arms crossed. "They'll find out. I'll make sure of it."

Cilento screams and lunges at her, fury boiling over.

Bang!

One more shot. He drops. Dead.

Tess's eyes fly to mine, her breath ragged. I nod and toss the gun to the floor.

"No one touches you."

She runs straight into my arms. That's when we hear the sirens outside, and footsteps pounding above us.

Tess

The house fills fast—detectives, FBI, crime scene techs, all of it. Logan and I are questioned for what feels like hours before the cops finally rule it self-defense.

"I'm not sure it counts if you were defending me."

I keep my voice low, still not quite believing they're letting this slide so easily.

"Of course it counts. I was protecting my wife. There's legal precedent for that."

I laugh before I can stop myself. "Your wife, huh? I don't remember a ceremony."

"We'll have to fix that."

My heart swells. I look at him. "Are you—are you serious? Do you actually want to?—"

"I love you, Tess. I'd marry you right here in this basement. Though it is a little gruesome for a proposal."

From terror tothis—I've got whiplash. But I like this part a lot better. I pull myself up and wrap my arms around his neck.

"Yes. I love you too. Yes, yes, yes."

We kiss, and for a second I forget where we are. Then Reynolds walks in, buzzkill that he is.

"You two are free to go. We'll need you both around for follow-up questions—a long while, probably—but you can head home." He glances between us. I don't bother letting go of Logan. "I'll be in touch."

"Keep me posted on the trial. I'm more than willing to testify against the rest of the Cilento family." Logan squeezes my hand, eyes narrowing at me. "Mitigating any risk, of course."

With a chuckle, he sweeps me up, and we walk out of the safe house without looking back.

Epilogue

TESS

A year later…

"Yes. I witnessed the defendant speaking with the late Luigi Cilento. From what I could hear—and what's recorded on my device—they discussed a late protection payment from a local meat shop under the People's Exhibit Six. The defendant went on to state they'd use physical intimidation to extort money from the owners."