It was a clean shot.

The bullet pierced the skull and exploded out the other end. The target was dead before he hit the ground. The hit took place in his hotel room, where he was waiting for his escort to show up. With a wife and two kids waiting at home, I thought killing him at this specific time would lessen the blow to his wife.

He was a pig. Now she could take his money and move on.

I finished the job and headed to my hotel. My flight didn’t leave for six hours, and I hadn’t slept since I’d arrived. I’d been too busy staking out the place and finding the perfect position to place the rifle. I also had to meet our guy here to collect the guns and ammunition I needed for the hit.

I was constantly on the go.

When I walked into my room, which had been screened for cameras and microphones, I made the call to Max. “It’s done.”

“Where are you now?”

“In the room. I have six hours to kill before the flight. Thought I would get some sleep.”

“You can fall asleep that quickly after killing someone?”

I never felt remorse for the things I did. My target was known for his fortune in jewelry, but the public didn’t know they he had starving kids searching for diamonds in the most dangerous situations. Sometimes they made a few pennies for the day. He was a proponent of slave labor, pocketing millions in profit. Disgusting. “Yes.”

Max didn’t make another comment on the matter. “I think you should head to the airport now.”

“Why?”

“I’ve already detected a lot of communications. His men are talking about him, and the police are looking for the killer because of his presence as a public figure. His brother is the one leading the hunt, and judging by their closeness, he’s going to grab every lead he can find. If I were you, I wouldn’t take any chances, not when you have a woman waiting for you.”

“Is the threat that serious?”

“As far as I can tell, they have no idea who’s behind it. But like I said, don’t take the chance.”

I hadn’t slept in so long that I almost didn’t care. But the mention of Vanessa, the woman who cried as she said goodbye, was heavy on my heart. I owed it to her to be overly cautious. If I died, she would die too. “Alright. I’ll leave now.” I grabbed my bag again and prepared to walk out.

“I checked on Vanessa the other day. Nothing to report. But she wanted me to pass on a message to you.”

I halted in front of the door, thinking about the woman who filled my dreams. With that dark hair, beautiful skin, and soft-as-a-rose-petal lips, she was all I ever wanted. “What?”

“She said she loves you.”

I already knew that, but the words touched me anyway. She wanted me to know how much she loved me, even if she couldn’t hear me say it back. She was thinking about me every moment we were apart, desperate for me to come home. I told her not to ask me to quit…but knowing I was hurting her this much made me realize how impractical it was. I couldn’t put my woman through this terror every time I left. I couldn’t leave her unguarded while I was gone. She shouldn’t have to stay with her parents because her man wasn’t there to keep her safe. “Anything else?”

“Yeah. She said if you don’t come back to her, she’ll shoot you like she did last time.”

I heard her sass and attitude even though Max was the one talking. That was the woman I fell in love with, bossy and aggressive. “Tell her I’m heading to the airport. I’ll be back there in about twenty-four hours.”

“Alright.”

“And tell her I love her…and I won’t leave her again.” I didn’t know what would happen with her parents, but for as long as we were together, I couldn’t do this anymore. I couldn’t watch my woman cry every time I left. She’d turned me into a more compassionate man, made me feel emotions I’d turned off so long ago. I felt human again, felt vulnerable again.

Max was quiet, but he obviously knew the meaning behind my words. “I guess we’ll have to talk about this in more detail when you get back…”

“Yeah. We will.”

It was morning when I arrived in Florence. My plane landed, and I took a cab to the house I shared with her. I didn’t expect her to be there since she was probably at the winery for the day. As much as I wanted to see her, I was exhausted.

I needed sleep.

The cab pulled up to the gravel road, and I walked to the front door with my bag over my shoulder. My hand hadn’t reached the doorknob before the front door was flung open and Vanessa stood there in a sexy ensemble—deep blue lingerie that was so sheer it was practically see-through.

Now I didn’t feel so tired.

I shut the door behind me, dropped my bag on the hardwood floor, and then cupped her face with both my hands. My fingers dug into her hair as I kissed her, as I cherished the woman I’d left behind. I felt like less of a man for leaving her alone, for not doing my job and keeping her safe.

“I’m here.” I spoke against her mouth as I guided her backward down the hall. I wanted her on any piece of furniture I could find, whether it was the kitchen island or the couch. I settled for the wall and lifted her up, pinning her back against the plaster wall with her legs wrapped around my waist.

I kissed her neck and the valley between her tits, tasting a hint of olive that was ingrained in her blood. My hand fisted her hair, and I rocked into her, my hard cock rubbing against her through my jeans.

She pulled my shirt over my head then got my jeans loose so I could finally be free. My pants and boxers settled around my ankles, and my hard cock was finally against the lace of her bottoms.

I pulled them down her legs as I held her with a single arm. Her legs were so smooth and soft, luscious against my fingertips. I widened her thighs again and rubbed my length right against her aching clit.

She dragged her nails down my back as she moaned into my mouth. “Did you mean what you said?”

I guided the head of my cock to her entrance and slid inside, burrowing into the wet flesh that belonged to me exclusively. “Do I ever say anything I don’t mean?” I held her in place, my hands under her ass and my cock fully sheathed. I watched her breathe through the stretching, watched her enjoy the way I made her feel.

“No…” She held on to my shoulders, full of me.

“Then you have your answer.” I started to thrust inside her, my cock surrounded by her wetness. Her pussy was incredible, made just for me to enjoy. Boys may have had her, but they were never man enough to claim her like I did. I erased every man who had ever been there, claimed this territory as my own, and banished any other man from coming anywhere near her. She was mine.

Her fingers slid into the back of my hair. “Griffin…”

Vanessa erased the memory of every woman I’d ever been with. She made them seem insignificant, like they never happened in the first place. It didn’t matter how beautiful they were. It didn’t matter how sexy they were. They weren’t this woman…the only woman who actually meant something to me.

She was the only woman who claimed my heart.

“Don’t ever leave me again.”

I thrust into her harder, hitting her back against the wall. “I won’t.”

“Promise me.” She moved with me, her eyes fierce and emotional.

I grabbed her neck and looked her dead in the eye as I made love to her in the hallway. “I promise, baby.”

I fell asleep right after sex. I got into bed without showering, and I slept through the afternoon and all through the night. When I woke up the next day, Vanessa wasn’t beside me. I smelled breakfast in the air and figured out where she ran off to.

I hopped into the shower first and got ready for the day before I joined her in the kitchen. She stood at the counter, a pile of burned pancakes sitting on a plate. Most of the bacon was burned too, with the exception of a few pieces.

When she noticed me, she set down the spatula and turned off the stove. “I was trying to make you breakfast…didn’t work out too well.”

I grabbed a piece of bacon and took a bite. “It’s not bad.”

“It’s not good either.”

I pressed her into the counter and kissed her. “It’s the thought that counts.”

Her hand moved across my flat stomach. “No. It’s the fullness in my man’s stomach that counts. I’m going to need to learn to cook so you don’t starve to death.”

“I can cook for myself, baby.”

“But I want to cook for you…” She ran her hands up my chest, over my black ink, and looked into my eyes with self-pity. “Maybe Lars can teach me.”

“Or I could teach you.”

“You’re busy.”

“Not anymore.” I hadn’t had the formal conversation with Max, but he couldn’t control my decisions. If I wanted out, that was the end of the story. There was nothing he could do to stop me.

She rested her forehead against my chest and sighed. “I hated having you gone…every second of it.”

My palms moved up and down her arms, comforting her. “I know. When Max told me what you said…I knew I couldn’t do it anymore. I don’t want my woman staying at her parents’ place because she’s scared when I’m not there. I don’t want to be that kind of man, a man who abandons his woman for cash.”

“I’ve never felt abandoned, Griffin.” She lifted her gaze to look at me. “I don’t mind staying with my parents either. I don’t mind missing you because it makes me appreciate you even more when you’re here. Knowing you’re in danger…that’s what bothers me. That’s why I can’t sleep. That’s why I feel scared.” Her fingers snaked over my collarbone. “I wouldn’t know what to do if I ever lost you…” Her eyes watered just thinking about it.

I cupped her face and brushed my thumb across her cheek. “You’ll never lose me, baby. I’m right here—and I’m not going anywhere.”

She wrapped her arms around my torso and rested her face against my chest. She hugged me tightly, her cheek cold against my warm chest. She held me in the middle of the kitchen, ignoring all the burned food she’d prepared for me.

My hand moved through her hair as I rested my chin on her head. “I love you.” I kissed her hairline, smelling her shampoo and perfume. I had a beautiful woman in my arms, a woman who was strong and stubborn, but I’d managed to break her down until she loved me so deeply. She turned weak for me, just the way I turned weak for her.

“I love you too.” She lifted her gaze to look at me. “Let me make you a sandwich or something before you go since breakfast didn’t work out.”

“Where am I going?” I’d just traveled to the other side of the world. I had no interest in going down to the winery and moving crates all day, especially if I made the mistake of crossing paths with Carmen to initiate Cane’s wrath. I loved spending my time with this petite woman in the privacy of my home. I didn’t want to do anything else at the moment but be with her.

“To the winery.”

I shook my head slightly. “No. I’m staying here with you. They can get someone else for labor.”

Normally, Vanessa would be thrilled if I wanted to stay home with her and blow off everything else. But now she wore a timid expression. “I think you should go down there anyway.”

I knew something was off because she would never try to talk me out of something. I was a stubborn man, and she couldn’t change my mind unless it was for good reason. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“My father wants to talk to you. That’s all I’m going to say.”

I grabbed her chin and directed her gaze on me, forcing her to lock her eyes on me. “Why?”

“Just go down there and find out.”

“Why won’t you just tell me? I’m about to walk into the snake pit, and you aren’t giving me any warnings.”

“He asked me not to say anything.”

This continued to get stranger. “Vanessa.”

She tried to look down.

I gripped her chin tighter. “Baby, tell me.”

“I can’t. But I will say this…it’s a good thing.”

My fingers loosened on her face, my eyes narrowed.

“Please go talk to him.”

My heart started to beat hard in my chest, just the way it did before I killed someone. It was full of adrenaline, but it was also full of something similar to excitement, to hope. My blood pounded in my ears, and my breath came out quicker. I’d been working hard for this reward, but I wasn’t sure if I would ever reap the benefits of my commitment.

Maybe it finally paid off.

I dropped my hand from her chin and turned away, focused on getting out of that house as quickly as possible so I could face her father.

And finally get his approval.

I parked my truck and then stepped inside the main building. Crow was probably in his office because that was where he spent most of his time. I checked in with his assistant, a woman his age, and then was escorted inside.

Crow didn’t rise from his chair, and he had the same irritated expression on his face that he always wore. His beard was gone because he’d shaved that morning, but his dark mysteriousness continued without it. Dark eyes accompanied by a clenched jaw, he stared at me like he hated me as much as he always had.

He rose out of the chair and grabbed a bottle of scotch and two glasses before he carried them to the coffee table. He set them down and took a seat.

I sat on the other side of the table, my arms resting on my knees and my fingertips together.

Crow poured two glasses and pushed one toward me.

It was only noon, but I knew Crow started drinking the second he finished his coffee. For a man who knew how to make the best wine in Italy, he still preferred the amber liquid of the finest scotch in Europe.

I took a drink while I kept my eyes on him, waiting for him to give a speech. Anytime he spoke to me, it felt like a threatening lecture. There were times when he wanted to kill me, but he somehow found the restraint. Based on what Vanessa said, this conversation seemed to be taking a new direction.

I did my best to stop my hands from shaking.

I’d never wanted something so much in my life. If I got to keep Vanessa, I would be happy for the rest of my days. I would leave the past behind me and become a new man. I would be a husband, and maybe I would be a father too.

Still, Crow said nothing.

I dropped my pride and spoke. “Vanessa said you wanted to talk.”

“Yes. And I’ll talk when I’m ready to talk.” He grabbed his glass and took a drink, devouring half of it in a single gulp. His hands were corded with veins, as well as his forearms. His musculature resembled mine, except my muscle size was twice as big as his.

I could tell this was hard for him, and that told me my guess was correct. All my hard work was finally about to pay off.

“Vanessa said you quit. Is that true?” He set his glass down and stared at me, his eyes hostile even though the conversation was calm. His eyes shifted back and forth slightly as he looked at me, his fingers tight as they were clenched into two fists.

I didn’t quit because he pressured me to. I did it because I wasn’t going to make my woman cry every time I left. “Yes.”

“For good?”

I nodded.

“What changed your mind? I haven’t given you my approval.”

I glanced at the glass sitting in front of me, half empty because I’d taken a big drink. Now I wanted more. I wanted the whole damn bottle. “She cried when I left. Then she told my handler to give me a message…that she loved me. It hit me hard in that moment. I was on the other side of the world, putting myself in danger and terrifying my woman, and she was here alone without me to protect her. I don’t want her to stay with you every time I’m gone. She feels the safest with me…so I should be here. That was why I changed my mind.”

Even though that was exactly what Crow wanted to hear, he still looked angry. “Took you long enough, huh?”

“It took you longer.” The words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them. It was in my blood to retaliate anytime someone insulted me. I could keep my fist steady and not punch him in the face, but I couldn’t sheathe my words as easily.

Crow grabbed his glass and finished it while he kept his eyes on me. He slammed it back down, the glass thudding against the cherry wood table. “Vanessa told me she’s tired of waiting for my decision. So, she made it for me. My wife is on board with it too.”

Finally. “I appreciate that.”

“Keep in mind that I still don’t like you. And I certainly don’t trust you.”

No surprise there. “That’s fine.”

“But I’m willing to accept you into our lives and try to like you…and trust you.”

“That’s very generous.” Crow Barsetti used to be one of the most feared men in Italy. He didn’t trust anyone, not after being molded by his horrible past. But he was willing to give this a try, because his love for his daughter outshone his doubts. “Thank you.” I had to force those last words out, even though it burned my blood to do it. I shouldn’t have to thank him for anything. I shouldn’t even have to feel grateful. Vanessa was a grown-ass woman who could make her own decisions. Crow was acting like they were the royal family. But he was compromising with me, so I had compromised with him.

“Putting the past behind us would do us all some good. Maybe in the years to come…it could finally bring us all closure.” He’d lost his sister, the woman he named his daughter after. And I’d lost my father.

It was the kind of stuff people never truly got over. “Yes…I agree.”

He grabbed the bottle and refilled the glasses. “But before you walk out of here, there’s something I’ve got to ask. I’ve come to respect your honesty and integrity, so I know you won’t lie to me.”

Fuck.

He stared me down, his hands together in between his knees. His hostility increased, burning the air around us both. His eyes smoked like a gun that just fired bullets. He seemed to anticipate my answer before I gave it, before he even asked the damn question.

He’d already asked me a hundred questions, even questions that were too personal between two strangers. If I were another man dating his daughter, he would never ask for the details that should be private between two adults. But in this scenario, he didn’t seem to care.

So he could ask anything.

I finally found my voice, my heart beating a little faster. I was so close to having everything I wanted. He’d given me his permission, and I could go home to Vanessa right now and ask her to marry me. But her father kept me in place with his cold stare. “Alright.” Despite the tremors rocking my body, I kept myself perfectly still. Perfectly fearless. I wasn’t afraid of the man, just the power he had over me. He had the ability to change my future on a whim.

He massaged one knuckle with his other hand, his eyes trained on me. “Something in your story doesn’t make sense to me. I’m not suggesting you’re lying, but I think you left something out.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Explain to me how my daughter fell in love with you. You kidnapped her, didn’t kill her, still wanted to kill her whole family…and then what? You took her to dinner, and she agreed? I know my daughter. She’s fierce and loyal. After everything you put her through, falling madly in love with you doesn’t make sense. So tell me.”

I held his gaze and felt my heart pound in my chest. The blood was loud in my ears. I could barely hear my own breathing because my distress blocked everything else out. The smart thing to do would be to lie, to lie to this man so I could have his daughter. I’d established enough credibility that I could probably get away with it. But it went against everything I believed in, to pretend to be something that I wasn’t. I wanted to be accepted into this family, but only if they accepted me for everything that I was. “It didn’t happen overnight. It took months for us to reach that level.”

“I know. So how did you keep my daughter around all that time?”

He knew. He fucking knew.

“After everything you did to her, how did you keep her around?” His eyes narrowed further, drilling into my gaze.

“Crow, don’t go there…”

“I already did.” His jaw clenched. “I went through this story in my mind over and over. And then I remembered you said you fell in love with her and dropped your vendetta against us. But if that was months into this relationship, what happened before that moment? How were you connected to my daughter? Under what circumstances were you still seeing each other?”

“With all due respect, if I were another man, you wouldn’t be asking such a personal—”

“Answer the fucking question.” His nostrils flared.

Shit. I was about to lose everything.

“I wish you were another man. I wish you were a respectable man from a good family so I wouldn’t have to ask these questions. I would know he treated my daughter with respect, took her to dinner, and earned her love. With you, I have no idea what the pretenses were. I have no idea if she ever would have loved you if the circumstances had been different. If she had a choice.”

He didn’t even need me to say it. He just wanted the truth out there so his actions would be justified. Maybe he planned to kill me. There was gun sitting on his hip, fully loaded.

“Answer me. I’m giving you the opportunity to correct my assumption. Now, correct it.”

I kept my mouth shut, refusing to lie even to save my relationship with Vanessa. I had too much respect for my reputation, for being recognized as a man who always told the truth. That honesty got me here in the first place.

“How did it happen? Tell me.”

I looked down at my hands for a moment, silently saying goodbye to everything I’d built with Vanessa. I’d imagined living in Florence with her, making love to her every morning before she went to her gallery in the city. I pictured adding ink to my body in her honor, getting a black ring tattooed on my left hand. I pictured myself having dinner with her family, five years down the line, and her father looked at me with kindness rather than hatred. But that beautiful vision was nothing but a dream. “I couldn’t kill her because she deserved better. But I couldn’t let her go either, not until I figured out what to do with her. So I told her I would spare her entire family…if she gave herself to me.” I lifted my gaze again, looking him in the eye like a man. “And once she stopped, I would continue my vendetta.”

Crow didn’t react at first, his eyes unblinking and his gaze exactly the same. Slowly, the color started to come into his face, his olive skin reddening from the adrenaline that circulated through his heart. It seemed to take him a moment to process what I said, to absorb it to full capacity. It was the worst thing that a father could hear, that his daughter had to save her family by fucking me.

I wasn’t sure if I would walk out of there alive. “We’re in love now—”

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up.” His hands balled into his fists, and the vein emerged on his forehead. Throbbing and sporadic, it moved in time to his unpredictable behavior. He had so much rage but wasn’t sure what to do with it. His breathing slowly increased, and the monster behind his eyes emerged.

He slowly rose to his feet, his hands by his sides. His arms were shaking, and his jaw was clenched so tightly he was about to break off a tooth.

I did the same, keeping myself at eye level at all times. I didn’t know if I should prepare for battle or prepare to run. Regardless of what he did to me, I couldn’t retaliate. I would never do that to Vanessa.

“This is over. Ends things with Vanessa and disappear.”

No. A thousand knives pierced my lungs, and I couldn’t breathe. My happiness was taken away so quickly, within the snap of a finger. “Sir.” I raised both hands, unsure why I was even doing it. “I’m begging you, and I’m not the kind of man who begs. I love your daughter—”

He pulled the gun out of his holster and pointed it at my face within a second. His age didn’t slow his speed. His draw was still good enough for the wild west. “I will shoot you, Bones. So get out before I do.”

I slowly lowered my hands. “Sir, please.”

He cocked the gun, his hand steady as he pointed the barrel at my face. “We made a deal. I tried, asshole. I really tried. But I will not let my daughter end up with a man who forced her—”

“I never forced her—”

He smashed the barrel of the gun into my face, making my nose and cheek bleed instantly. “You didn’t treat her with the respect she deserves, and I will treat you exactly the same.”

I slowly turned my face back to him, ignoring the bleeding and the swelling. “I would die for her—”

“I wish you were dead now.” He pointed the gun at me again. “My daughter will marry a good man. She’ll hate me for a while, but one day, she’ll thank me for this. And when she finds the right one, she’ll forget your name.”

“She’ll never love anyone the way she loves me.”

His hand shook as he placed his finger over the trigger. “Leave. I won’t shoot you now, but I’ll save this bullet for later. If I ever see you again or anywhere near my daughter, I won’t hesitate. I will put you in the ground, like the trash you are.”

The fight left my body because I knew the war was over. Crow had made up his mind, and I’d just lost everything. I lost my woman and my future. Instantly, everything I cared about was taken away from me. “She’ll be devastated.”

“She’ll get over it. She’s a Barsetti. Barsettis aren’t weak.” He pressed the barrel right against my forehead, in between my eyes. “Now, go.”

I stepped away, getting the cold metal off my forehead. I turned my back to him, not caring about exposing myself in the most vulnerable way possible. There was nothing that bullet could do to hurt me more than his decision had.

He might as well kill me.

I walked out of his office, feeling weaker by the second. He took away the only thing that mattered to me, and even though he was justified in his decision, I couldn’t swallow it. I walked in there thinking the worst was finally over.

But it’d only just begun.