Page 196 of Wicked Villain

“I am Allegra!” I scream.

If he’s going to kill me, I want him to know who I am. For years, I’ve wanted him to know I wasn’t his beloved Gabrielle. For years, I’ve wanted to watch that smug expression on his face fall. It does now.

First, shock registers across his features. Then understanding dawns. “That bastard Corrado. He lied to me.”

His hands close around my neck. He squeezes so tightly my vision blurs.

“Your lying father made me believe all these years you were Gabrielle, but you aren’t.”

“Let go of me,” I choke out.

“That’s okay. I’ll get my fill. You still have her face.”

He releases my neck. I gasp for air, but then he grips my shoulder and starts hauling me up.

“Let go of me.”

I drive my elbow into his throat. He recoils, releasing me, then slaps me across the face.

“You’re going to pay for that.” He reaches for me again when a gunshot cracks through the night.

The bullet hits him in the back. Danillo jerks in surprise and turns toward his attacker. Another shot strikes his neck. A third hits his head.

Danillo collapses. I’m not even sure he knows he’s dead.

I look up and see Lev standing there with his gun raised. The moment he sees me, he lowers it, slides it into his holster, and runs toward me.

I’m shaking, but I still try to get to him. He reaches me before I can stand and gathers me into his arms, folding me into the safety I’ve grown so accustomed to.

“It’s over,” he whispers against my ear. “It’s over. You’re safe with me now.”

I lean into his chest and listen to his heart beating—the sound of safety. My refuge. My husband.

It’s finally over.

Bright sunlight beams down on the terrace. I stand by the stone balustrade, watching everyone. My birthday was a few days ago, but we’re still celebrating. It’s wonderful to see our family together.

Mama and Zoya stand by the grill, talking while they turn the kebab skewers. Lev and his brothers sit at the table across from them, playing poker.

It’s nice to see everyone happy, especially Mama.

Thankfully, she didn’t suffer any lasting effects from the drugs Moretti’s people gave her. Her doctors checked her over and cleared her to come home.

As for me…

It’s been a week since the incident, but everything remains so fresh it feels like it happened yesterday. It was too much to endure in such a short space of time. But it’s in the past now, and I’m looking forward to the future.

It starts with moments like this.

Lev has done so much over the past week. One of the first things he did was take me back to the cemetery to see Gabrielle the day after our birthday.

Her name was on the headstone instead of mine. He’d had it corrected.

As painful as it was to see her name there, I found peace in no longer seeing my own.

Then he presented me with one of the best gifts imaginable: a trip to Bora Bora. We never had a honeymoon, so we’re leaving on Monday for two weeks. I can hardly wait. I’ve never been anywhere like it. Italy is beautiful, but Bora Bora is something from a dream.

“What a nice sight,” Anushka says from behind me.