Conway drove the SUV with Carter in the passenger seat.

Sapphire and I sat in the back so we could talk. I hadn’t talked to her much over the past two weeks because I’d been busy.

Busy with Bones.

“How’s the baby?” I asked. “I know you’re only six weeks along, but do you feel differently?”

Sapphire was in a long-sleeved sweater dress with a dark blue scarf. Her diamond ring sparkled anytime she moved her hand. She wasn’t just glowing with her pregnancy but also with her happiness. “We went to the doctor the other day and everything is going well. I’m taking vitamins now.”

“That’s great.”

“Conway and I are working on the nursery.”

“What about the wedding?”

“Well, I want to get married as soon as possible because I don’t want to be huge in my wedding dress, but it’s been so cold this winter. Once spring arrives, we’ll do something small. I’ll only be a few months along by then.”

Conway looked at her in the rearview mirror. “A little baby bump will make you look sexier, if you ask me.”

Sapphire smiled, a slight tint coming into her cheeks.

Seeing my brother act affectionate with someone was gross, but I shut my mouth and let it go. When I brought my husband around someday, I suspected he’d be just as affectionate with me.

The way Bones was.

Fuck, it was the twentieth time I thought of him since I left.

His come was sitting inside me that very moment.

“What’s new with you?” Sapphire asked, changing the subject before Conway could say something else inappropriate.

“Nothing,” I said quickly.

“Nothing?” she asked with a laugh. “You’re always so busy all the time. I find that hard to believe.”

I’d witnessed Bones kill a man in an alleyway, and he held a knife to my throat and almost murdered me in his home. Now I was fucking him all the time. My life wasn’t the same, and it was pure chaos. No, I wasn’t doing nothing. “I’ve been painting a lot. School was hectic at the end of the semester. I’m glad it’s finally over. I went out to the bars with a few friends once finals were over, but nothing interesting happened.”

“Are you seeing anyone?”

Bones popped into my mind, six-three and buck naked. His package lay against his stomach as he waited for me to get on top of him and ride him hard. My neck felt warm, and I hoped the arousal wasn’t written all over my face. “No. I’ve been too busy and haven’t met anyone worthwhile.”

“You could always be a painter at a nunnery,” Conway said. “They’re always looking for new followers.”

I would definitely not fit in at a nunnery. Bones and I were fucking more aggressively than animals. We had the kind of passion and ferocity that I’d only heard about in stories. I’d never had a relationship so intense and volatile. He could threaten my family one moment and then fuck me so hard the next. “I’ll pass…”

They wouldn’t take me anyway.

On Christmas Eve, we had hot cocoa around the fire and talked about the wonderful things that had happened over the past year. It always happened after a feast, and we sat near the tree and admired all the ornaments that we’d collected together throughout the years.

My mom was always exceptionally happy around Christmas time. When we were all together, laughing in front of the fire, she lit up brighter than the tree. I always caught my father staring at her, affection in his eyes.

Conway had Sapphire sitting across his lap, his hand moving to her stomach from time to time even though she didn’t look pregnant at all. Carter sat with his mom and talked to her about his car business. Uncle Cane drank more wine than anyone else, and usually got particularly loud at the end of the night.

I thought about what Bones had said.

That my uncle used to be a Skull King, a hitman.

I shook the thought away.

I didn’t participate in the conversation as much as I usually did because my thoughts were clouded by the recent events in my life. When I saw my entire family gathered around to enjoy the holidays, I realized I could never tell them what was really going on with Bones. I couldn’t risk their safety, not when my family had already been through so much.

I had to kill Bones myself. That was the only way out of this.

He knew it was coming, knew I would make my move eventually.

That meant I had to be clever. I only had one shot to take him out. Poisoning seemed like the best option, but that seemed too obvious. I could shoot him again, but this time, I had to shoot him in the skull or the heart. If I hit him anywhere else, it wouldn’t stop him.

My father moved from his spot on the other couch and sat beside me. He held a glass of red wine, choosing to drink it at family events instead of the scotch he preferred. I knew he drank it when he was alone in his office because I’d caught him a few times. “Tesoro, how are you?” My father had raised me like a son, pushed me to be strong, smart, and independent. It annoyed me when I was young, but now I was grateful he pushed me as hard as he did. I believed it was much harder to be a woman in a male-dominated world than people realized. My father prepared me for that. If it weren’t for him, I never would have escaped Knuckles. And if it weren’t for him, I’d be panicking right now.

“Good. How’s the winery?”

He didn’t answer me, his hazel eyes watching me with quiet intelligence. “You seem distracted.”

I wished my father couldn’t read me so well. “It was just a long semester, and I’ve been thinking about my future as an artist…stuff like that.”

“Talk to me, tesoro. You know you can tell me anything.”

Not anything. Not this. “I’ve liked going to school, but I’ve been considering dropping out…”

Instead of getting angry or shouting his disapproval, he just stared at me. “You know the winery is yours if you decide you want to take it. But you’re very talented, Vanessa. I don’t think you should give up just yet.”

That’s not what I meant, but I appreciated his words anyway. “That’s not what I meant. I was thinking of dropping out of school so I could focus my time painting. I want to start my own gallery, but since classes take up so much of my time, I thought it would be more effective for me to spend time creating something…but then that would mean two years of education down the drain.”

It would be easy for my father to get upset because he was the one who paid all the money for my education. Even though he was extremely wealthy, that was still his savings. “If you’re asking for my approval, you don’t need it. Follow your destiny. No one knows the path better than you do.”

“Well…do you think that’s a good idea?”

He took a long pause before he answered. “There’s no doubt in my mind that you have the talent. Getting an education may help you in some ways, but you already have the foundation of an artist, and that’s something that can’t be taught. It’s something you’re born with. But I can’t tell you to withdraw from the university or stay. That has to be your decision, and I won’t influence you either way.”

My father had been hard on Conway and me when we were younger, pushing us to be talented and smart. But he was incredibly caring and understanding. He guided us where we needed to go without directing us. Now that we were adults, he was still involved in our lives, but in a much more distant way. He had faith in both of us to become the people we were supposed to be.

I was extremely lucky.

“So, what do you want to do, tesoro?”

“Well…I would like to focus on my painting.” I couldn’t believe I was actually listening to what Bones said, but his words had been ingrained in me. He wouldn’t say he believed in my work unless he meant it. He was honest, even when I didn’t want to hear him speak the truth. “I just have to open a gallery somehow. Milan might be a good place for that.”

“I can help you do that.”

I knew my father would buy me anything I wanted, not because I was spoiled, but because it was important to my parents that their children have what they needed to be successful. But I didn’t want his money. I was twenty-one and shouldn’t be using his cash anymore. “No, I’ll figure it out.”

He kept up his stern stare, his silent authority. He did the same thing Bones did, made moments tense with just his silence. It was a trait powerful men possessed. “Do you have a plan to do that?”

“Sell some paintings and save some money.”

“Where will you sell them if you don’t have a gallery?”

“Well, I was thinking I could display them at the winery. When people come in for tastings, we could have them up. Maybe people will buy them…maybe they won’t.”

It was the first time my dad smiled. “That’s a great idea.”

“Yeah?” I asked. “I don’t want to do something you—”

“Your mother will love the idea too. It’s perfect.”

“Thanks…”

He moved his hand to the center of my back and patted me gently. “I’m proud of you, tesoro. You’re going your own way in life. In my experience, successful people do that. They don’t follow the herd. They become a leader.”

I gripped my glass and gave a slight nod. “I know where I get that from.”

“You’re a Barsetti,” he said. “And Barsettis are powerful.”

“I know. And I want you to know that I’ll pay you back for my education…eventually.”

“Tesoro, I don’t want your money.”

“I know, but I want to give it to you.”

“You don’t owe me anything. What I want more than anything is to die knowing you’re taken care of. That when my spirit leaves this earth, my daughter has everything she needs. Money means nothing to me. You mean everything.”

“Daddy…” I could never put this man in jeopardy, not when his whole life was directed toward taking care of Conway and me. He was the most selfless man I’d ever known. He would do anything for me, and I would do anything for him. “I love you.”

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and kissed my forehead. “I love you too, tesoro.” He pulled away and dropped his hand. He took a drink of his wine, shaking off the affection because he wasn’t an emotional man. He only seemed to be that way with my brother and me, along with our mother. “So…are you seeing anyone?” He asked the question with dread, like he didn’t really want the answer. He never asked about my personal life before. But I was almost twenty-two, and he was probably wondering if I was close to finding a husband. I’d never had a boyfriend before, at least one that he met. Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of interactions with boys because my father, brother, and cousin scared them all away. But once I was an adult, my father backed off and stopped protecting me all the time.

Bones popped into my mind, not because I was dating him, but because he was the man in my bed. He was also in my thoughts, constantly. He’d taken over my life, becoming the person I spent most of my time with. He wasn’t my boyfriend at all, simply my jailer. I was a prisoner, but the only reason it was bearable was because the sex was unbelievable. “No. Not right now.”

My father drank his wine again, his long-sleeved black t-shirt gripping his muscles. Everyone else in the living room was talking to each other and laughter broke out from time to time. “If you meet a man you really like, I’d love to meet him.”

I wasn’t sure why my father was mentioning this now. It was like he knew something but didn’t directly tell me.

“I know I’ve never been very tolerant of men in your life. I was very protective. But you’re an adult woman now, and I don’t want you to be afraid to bring a man to the house…if you love him.” He didn’t make eye contact like he did before, obviously uncomfortable by the topic. And he made it clear he didn’t want to meet someone unless they could be my husband someday.

“I’ve never been in love,” I said honestly.

“You will…eventually. I didn’t fall in love until I met your mother, and I was almost thirty at the time.”

“But Mom was a lot younger, right?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “She’s four years younger than I am.”

“Well, if I ever meet the right guy, I’ll bring him around.”

He drank his wine again, emptying his glass completely. “I want you to be with a strong man, Vanessa. He doesn’t have to be rich, but he needs to be powerful. He needs to protect you with his life and love you even more than I do. If he does those things…he’s welcome in this house. And I will shake his hand and gladly give you away when he asks my permission to marry you.”

Bones popped into my head again. He was the last person who would ever ask permission. He was the last man I would ever marry. He was nothing but a man that I couldn’t shake. So why did I keep thinking about him? “You always taught me to protect myself.”

“And I stand by that lesson.”

“Well, I don’t need a man for that.”

He stared at me with his authoritative gaze. “But I do, tesoro. I need that.”

I might not live long enough to find Mr. Right. Now that Bones had cast a shadow over me, it destroyed my dating life. It destroyed my life altogether. The only way out of this situation was to kill him. “I actually wanted to ask you if you could give me a gun. After what happened with Knuckles—”

“Of course. How about a Glock? They’re small and easy to handle.”

“Yeah, that would be good.”

“I’ll give it to you before you leave. You need me to go over it with you?”

“No, I remember.”

“Alright,” he said. “I can always move you into a different place. Give you some security detail.”

“No, that won’t be necessary.” Actually, it was necessary for that not to happen.

“Did something happen, tesoro? Are you worried about something in particular?”

“No, not at all.” I tried to sound as convincing as possible. “I just realized it was stupid to not have a gun in the house. I thought I didn’t need one when Knuckles came in, but I probably could have killed him if I’d just had one. So, it’s something I should have.”

“I agree.”

I went to bed late that night. We kept eating and drinking, and before I knew it, it was two in the morning.

I went into my childhood bedroom where my queen bed was waiting for me. It had a champagne pink duvet with fluffy pillows and a gray headboard. My furniture was gray too, the subtle colors contrasting against the Mediterranean-style windows.

Conway and Sapphire went into his bedroom down the hall, and the rest of my family stayed in the guest bedrooms around the house. If we didn’t have a three-story place, it would be cramped.

I stripped down to a t-shirt and my panties and got into bed. My phone was on the nightstand and I grabbed it, seeing the missed video call. It was a number I didn’t recognize.

But I had a hunch about who it was from.

I called the number back, the screen black as the call went through.

Bones answered, his hard jaw still just as stern in the dark. He was in the bed I used to sleep in, shirtless and on his side. His broad shoulders were chiseled and powerful through the screen, and his blue eyes were still bright even when there was barely any light. “Hey, baby.”

I lay on my side and propped my phone on a pillow, so I could look at the screen without holding it. “Why do you always call me that?”

“Because you’re my baby.” His deep voice was raspy, like he’d been asleep when I called.

“Did I wake you?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll let you go then. I just wondered whose number this was…”

“Don’t play dumb.” He suddenly turned hostile, falling back into his usual stride. “You knew exactly who it was.”

I did, and I didn’t pretend otherwise.

“Enjoy your Christmas Eve?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah, I did.” If he was sleeping in Lake Garda, then he obviously expected me to uphold my end of the deal. He was seven hours away, so he couldn’t do anything with that kind of distance. He really did have me pinned under his thumb. “What did you do?”

“Went to the pub with the guys.”

“Who are the guys?”

“Max, Theron, and Shane.”

“Do they know about me?”

“Yes.” He stared at the screen with the same intensity as he did in real life. His black ink couldn’t hide his muscular frame under the designs. In fact, it only heightened it.

“You didn’t take a woman home?” I didn’t know why I asked the question when I didn’t really care. The silence felt empty, and I felt obligated to say something.

“Jealous?”

“Just curious.”

“No. But I wouldn’t bring her here anyway.”

“And where would you take her?”

“In the back of my truck. At a hotel. Against the wall of an alley…the bathroom. Wherever.”

“That’s romantic…”

“You know better than anyone that I’m not a romantic guy.”

“And did you screw a woman in the bathroom tonight?”

A slow grin crept into his lips. “You are jealous. You hate me, but you want me all to yourself. If it makes you feel any better, I feel exactly the same way. I get hard thinking about killing you, but I also want to carry your shit to the car and make sure you make it through the snow just fine. It’s stupid.”

“Yes…it is stupid.”

Minutes of silence passed, and we stared at each other through the screen. One hand was underneath my pillow while the other rested on my waistline. My body was covered with the shirt and the sheets, so he couldn’t see my bare skin.

He broke the silence with his husky words. “So fucking beautiful.”

I kept my face stoic, but my chest rose with the deep breath I took. We were hundreds of miles apart, but I could feel his presence in the room. I could feel his possession through his voice, feel the sincerity in his masculine tone. I could feel his lips on my body even though he wasn’t really there. I could feel his big hands brush against my skin before he gripped me. He claimed me without being in the room, claimed me from hundreds of miles away. That was the kind of power he had. “What’s your real name?”

His expression didn’t change as he stared me down. “Bones is my name.”

“No, it’s not.”

“It’s my middle name—and it’s the name I go by.”

“Tell me.”

His crystal-blue eyes didn’t blink. “Why? Why does it matter?”

“Because I want to know. I don’t want to call you by that name anymore. You call me baby. I want to call you something else.”

“I don’t call you baby because I don’t like Vanessa. You have a beautiful name.”

“Why won’t you tell me?” I countered.

He didn’t answer.

“Why won’t you tell me?” I repeated.

He stared at me like he was considering it. Then he picked up the phone and held it to his face. “Good night, baby.” He hit the button and hung up on me.

Christmas was wonderful, like always.

We had great food, wine, and so many presents.

I grabbed my wrapped-up painting and then gave it to my mom. “This is for both of you.”

She smiled at my father before she ripped it open.

Uncle Cane and Aunt Adelina sat next to the fire, his arm wrapped around her while they both held glasses of wine. Sapphire wore the new diamond necklace Conway gave her for Christmas. Carter was sitting with his maternal grandparents and his sister, Carmen. Lars was sitting in his favorite armchair by the fire, still strong despite his age and full of life. Everyone was quiet as they watched my parents open it.

My mom ripped off the wrapping then stared at the painting. Several heartbeats passed, and all she did was look. My father stared at it with the same focus, looking at the group photo we took at the dining table last year. Lars was the one taking the picture, but I painted him in anyway.

Mom’s eyes started to water. “Sweetheart…it’s…”

“Beautiful,” my father finished. “Perfect.”

“Amazing,” my mother added. “So much detail.”

Mom looked at me next, her eyes filled with a thin film of moisture. “My baby girl…so talented.” She handed the picture to my father then extended her arms, beckoning me to her.

I left the couch then moved into her lap, letting her circle her arms around me.

She kissed me on the forehead twice and squeezed me. “Thank you so much, sweetheart.”

My father wrapped his arms around both of us. “That was very nice, Tesoro.”

“You’re welcome,” I whispered, surrounded by my family’s love.

“You’re so talented,” my mother said. “We’re both very proud.”

Maybe Bones was right. Maybe I really did have a special talent. Maybe I could create paintings that made people feel something. My parents were moved by that painting, just as much as he’d been moved.

Silence passed for several minutes before my mother finally released me.

Conway sighed. “I give them a grandchild, but Vanessa is still their favorite…”

“Leave her alone,” Sapphire said. “That was really sweet.”

“I got my dad that nice gun holster,” Conway argued.

“Well, a gun holster isn’t as touching as a painting,” Uncle Cane said. “Vanessa’s gift kicks our asses.”

Aunt Adelina swatted him on the knee. “Don’t talk like that.”

“What?” Uncle Cane asked. “Everyone here is an adult—except the little one inside Sapphire.”

My mother picked up the painting and carried it to the wall. There was already a picture there, something that had been hanging there since I was young. It was a painting of water lilies in a pond. She quickly removed it because it was the same size and replaced it with mine. “There…that’s perfect.”

“What are you going to do with the old one?” Carter asked.

Mom shrugged. “Throw it away. It’s trash compared to this.”

“Uh,” Conway said. “That’s a Monet…”

“Whatever,” Mom said. “Doesn’t compare to an original Barsetti.”