Page 214 of Dark Romeo

Abigail: “We’ll get them out. We’ll ensure their safety.”

Maria: “If anything happens to me, you’ll look after them. You’ll make sure they’re happy. That they’re loved. That they grow up to be good men.”

Abigail: “Nothing will happen to you.”

Maria: “Promise me!”

Abigail: “Joan, I promise.”

When the audio recording stopped, I felt Roman trembling under my palm, the silence growing thick and heavy.

“Your father was lying,” I said, emotion coating my throat so my voice came out strained. “Your mother wasn’t going to leave you. She was going to take you with her. She turned against your father because she could see what he was becoming. She didn’t want that for you boys. She loved you so much she was willing to risk her life to get you away from him.”

Roman said nothing. I slid my hand off him and turned away to give him some space. He grabbed me before I could walk a single step. He pulled me into his lap so I straddled him. He buried his face in my neck and wrapped his thick, strong arms around me like a vice. I just held him, while inside, pieces of him stitched together. We sat like that until he stopped shaking. Until his breathing returned to a steady pace.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

EPILOGUE

JULIANNA

One year later…

Sixteen years. Sixteen years and I’d finally gotten justice for my mother.

She could finally rest in peace. Giovanni was dead. Abel had been sentenced to life in prison for her murder. The Tyrell empire was no more.

I stood at the foot of my mother’s grave, a bunch of fresh peonies in my hands. I couldn’t believe it had been two years since I stood here on her birthday. I’d met Roman that day and it changed everything. It had been gray, if I recalled correctly. Today the sun was out.

“Do you remember I told you about The Innocence Project?” I said. The Innocence Project had been a scheme that Roman and I had dreamed up during our yearlong exile in France. It would be a cause that reviewed and investigated old criminal cases to find the real truth. It would give hope to sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives of victims of unsolved cases.

“Well,” I told my mother, pride growing in my chest, “we did it. The Innocence Project has officially started. We got ourselves a brand new office, hired our first staff member and we got our first client. Roman was just with him.”

I let out a long breath when I thought over the last few years. I couldn’t believe we were here. “Can you imagine…a man everyone assumed was a criminal is now the one putting them away? I’m so proud of him. He is the man I always knew he was. And we finally found a way to turn that blood money into something good.”

After Roman announced he was alive, it came out that Giovanni had left a considerable amount of money for him. When I say “considerable”, I really mean he could have bought a small damn country with the money his father left him. While he’d been alive, Giovanni had managed to separate this sum of money away from the Tyrell empire just in case his empire ever fell. For months Roman refused to touch it. It sat in an account in his name until I had the brainwave to use it to fund The Innocence Project. The money allowed us to charge only what our clients could afford.

Roman would work the legal side. I would work the investigative side. Together we were a team. I had quit the police department and needed a job. I couldn’t work for the police force anymore. I needed to get out from my father’s footsteps and make my own path. The Innocence Project was perfect.

Anyway…happy birthday, Mom.” I stepped forward and placed her favorite flowers on her resting place.

Roman stepped out from between two gravestones like he had over two years ago, causing me to suck in a breath. He still knocked the wind out of me. He looked just like he did that first time, suave and powerful in his Armani suit, his dark hair swept back off his chiseled features. Perfect lips pulled in a smile just for me.

He didn’t hesitate this time. He strode up to me and wrapped his arms around me, kissing me, his tongue finding mine, holding me like I was the most precious jewel in the world. My body rushed with heat like it did every time he touched me, and I curled my fingers into his shirt.

He pulled away, rubbing his nose against mine. He whispered in that gravel and caramel voice of his, “Hello, Mrs. Tyrell.”

A thrill went through me. Mrs. Tyrell. I loved hearing him say those words. And I was proud to call myself that. I chuckled, wondering how long it would take for me to get used to that name.

We had walked into Waverley Cathedral together hand in hand a few months ago and were married by Father Laurence in front of my father, Nora and Nonna. All the people who mattered.

“Am I late?” he asked.

I grinned. “No, you’re just in time.” Like he always was.

He slid his hand onto my round belly and bent down so he could mumble against my bulge. When the doctor told us that I must have gotten pregnant on our honeymoon, in Paris of course, just after I stopped taking the pill, Roman practically beat his chest like a caveman. “And hello to you too, little Mercutio Espinoza Tyrell. I missed you and your beautiful mommy today.”

I rolled my eyes. “What if she’s a girl?”

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