Page 41 of Bad Husband

“No, Marco Volpi and Chiara Volpi are married. We’re no longer those people.”

She felt her heart start to race as he reached into his jacket pocket and handed her a brand-new passport. Inside, her name was no longer Chiara Volpi, but Chiara Blake.

“I don’t understand.”

Marco let out a grunt as he opened his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt, and her gaze went wide at the sight of the Band-Aid covering his body. There were several pieces, but he removed his shirt, and on his arm, where his Bove Mafia insignia lay, was a Band-Aid.

“We’re not part of the Bove Mafia anymore. We’re out. We’re free.”

“You ... did this?” she asked.

“They asked for the head of their enemy, and I granted it to them. They wanted the flesh they owned, and I did that.”

“You cut your flesh?” she asked.

She had always heard rumors of tasks being unachievable, and what was certain was always death. Yet, Marco stood before her.

“I also took care of those bikers,” Marco said. “If you will have me, I want to make No Point our home. I want you to be married to me.”

She felt tears fall down her face as she was completely blown away by what he’d done. He’d done all of this, and he hadn’t even known if she would accept him.

“If I say no?” she asked.

She saw the sadness envelop him, but then she couldn’t handle it and cupped his face. “I love you, you stupid man. You could have been killed! What would I have done if you had gotten killed?” She threw her arms around him, sobbed, and thanked anyone who was listening for bringing her husband back to her in one piece.

“Is that a yes?” he asked. “You will be my wife, and you will stay here with me?”

“Yes, yes, and yes.” She laughed. “You did all of this for me?”

“I know I’ve still got a lot to make up for.”

“Marco, shut up.” She never intended to forgive him. Chiara always planned on hating him and punishing him for what he did, but how could she do that now? He’d risked his whole life for this moment.

She cupped his face and smiled at him.

“It’s done. It’s in the past, and in fact, as we move forward, we don’t talk about the past again.” She took his hand and placed it on her stomach. “We’re pregnant,” she said. “We’re going to have a baby.”

Marco cupped her face and pulled her in closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back with a passion. She was not going to regret this, but she knew she would regret letting him go. She was in love with Marco, and there was no way she was going to be able to just forget about her feelings.

The past was in the past, and she was going to forget it.

They had a future together—an unknown future—but one she knew was going to be filled with lots of love.

Epilogue

Five Years Later

“Marco!” Chiara said, putting a hand to her chest as he came around the corner wearing a scary face costume.

Marco had come to love Halloween in the last five years he’d been celebrating it. Callum, his five-year-old son, clapped his hands and laughed. His son was dressed as a vampire, complete with droplets of fake blood on his chin. He looked so freaking cute.

Marcy, his two-year-old daughter, was dressed as a cat, and her chubby cheeks were just the most adorable. Taking their daughter from his pregnant wife, he blew a raspberry on his daughter’s face.

“I think I scared Mommy,” he said.

Chiara rolled her eyes.

“Are you going to take them out trick-or-treating, or do you want me to do it?”