After a long day spent at the police station where, as Calum had promised, she hadn’t faced any charges, they headed over to Calum’s place. Laurella opened the door that led down to his living quarters, but Calum put out a hand to stop her.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, frowning.

He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. “I’m so goddamn proud of how you dealt with what’s happened. You’re my hero. I’m in awe of your strength, your courage, your guts. I’m so lucky you chose to be with me.” She opened her mouth to interrupt, so he placed a finger over her lips. “I know I can be an ass sometimes, but I’m working on it. I’m in this for the long haul. Nothing you could do would make me not want to be with you. But I need you to promise me one thing.”

She held back on a bite of anxiety that twisted her gut. “What?”

“You will always trust me enough to share what’s going on in that beautiful mind of yours. I know you find it hard to share sometimes, but you need never be that way with me.”

Her vision blurred, and she nodded. “I promise.”

He curved his hands around her face. “I love you. So fucking much.”

Her heart almost burst with adoration for this complicated man who, over the last few months, had tested every single one of her limits. Despite the painful and tempestuous start, their future held only happiness.

With her hand firmly in his, Laurella headed down the familiar stairs at Jax’s hotel. At the bottom, she found the whole Brook family waiting. Well, except for Nate. The youngest Brook brother hadn’t been seen since that one night she’d met him.

Indie shot across the room and hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said, her eyes shining with sincerity. “I’m here if you ever want to talk. Woman to woman.”

“Thank you,” Laurella said, a little taken aback by the exuberant response, although it was lovely all the same.

Jax squeezed her shoulder, and then she found herself wrapped in Cole’s warm embrace. “You did so well today, Laurella. I know it wasn’t easy.”

“I’m just glad they believed me.”

“Of course they believed you,” Calum said. “That fucker broke into your apartment, and you defended yourself.”

“Well, it’s behind us now. I just want to forget it.”

“And on that note, let’s eat,” Indie said.

Laurella flashed her a grateful smile. She and Indie didn’t know each other very well, but the other woman had correctly guessed that Laurella wanted the conversation to move on. Maybe Indie would become a friend, someone she could go shopping or to the movies with or who’d be a sounding board when she wanted to moan about Calum. She missed her sisters and her girlfriends back in Italy, and as wonderful as Calum was, a girl needed her friends.

After dinner, Indie and Jax disappeared upstairs to take over the bar, and Cole muttered something about meeting his buddies for a drink. Laurella found herself alone with Calum. His eyes smoldered with an intensity that had her toes curling.

He placed his hands on her hips and moved her closer to him. “I knew, from the moment I first saw you sitting in my chair in the boardroom, that you’d be trouble.”

Laurella smiled. “Il mio amore, you wouldn’t have me any other way.”