Page 44 of Contracted

He looked at his suited soldiers, all of whom looked twitchy and uncertain. “Do what she says.”

I waited for them to toss their guns before I clambered up the chain-wire fence and dropped to the other side. I wasted no time in gathering up the firearms. Valentino and my brothers took perhaps a minute to scramble over the fence before joining me and relieving me of all the weapons.

I nodded at them before I stalked toward the woman who really had crushed my heart in her hands. Did she realize I wouldn’t have had it any other way? She meant everything to me. She was the breath in my lungs, the blood in my veins.

Without her I was a shell. Empty. Meaningless. Irrelevant.

Connor had good reason to cower as I approached. Sending my fist flying into his meaty face, I knocked him out cold. As he crumpled to the ground, Delilah dropped the gun before I dragged her into my arms.

My pulse thundered in my ears, my chest warm and my emotions high. Only when I pulled back a little and gently cupped her bruised and bloody face did I tell her, “I love you, little firebird.”

Her eyes teared up, her voice shaky. “I thought you were incapable of loving me...of loving anyone.”

“You’re right on the latter, but definitely not the former,” I said huskily. “I think I fell for you the moment I set eyes on you...the only call girl brave enough to set foot in the Agostino home.”

She managed a smile and my heart contracted. She still looked beautiful even with her bruised face and her swollen, half-closed eye as she whispered, “I’ve thanked God every day since that you wanted me all to yourself.”

“Hey, steady on,” Evander said, his gaze swinging between us and the enemy soldiers he had his gun pointed at. Valentino had gone into the warehouse and retrieved some rope and was busy tying the soldiers’ hands behind their backs. “We have feelings too, you know.”

Alessandro laughed. “You might, sempliciotto. It doesn’t mean the rest of us do.”

Delilah giggled, but she had eyes only for me when she looked up at me and finally admitted, “I love you, too.”

I knew right then and there...nothing would ever keep us apart again.

Epilogue

Delilah

Two months later...

I stood in front of the aged care home with Serafino, my mouth dry and my palms wet. So much had happened to get to this point. I glanced down at my solitaire diamond ring. Not least Serafino going down on bended knee and proposing to me.

Of course I’d said yes. My life wasn’t complete without him in it. But before I could plan my future, I needed to let go of my past.

He looked at me, his face grave. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

I nodded. “Yes. Seeing my stepmother, no matter the state she’s in, will give me the closure I need.”

That Serafino was by my side gave me the strength to go ahead with it.

We stepped inside, the smell of disinfectant and a musty scent I associated with old people filling my nose.

“Can I help you?” a nurse asked with a friendly smile.

I nodded. “We’re looking for my stepmother, Mabel.”

“Oh, Mabel will love that.” Her voice cooled a little, her smile dropping a few degrees. “She never gets visitors.”

My smile was strained after she directed us to where Mabel spent much of her time, which was apparently alone in her room. I sucked in a steadying breath and knocked on the door, Serafino then reaching for my hand and squeezing reassurance before we let ourselves in.

The woman watching television as she lay on a bed with her head propped on a pillow was my stepmother, but she wasn’t. She was someone else, a woman with kind eyes and a warm smile. She blinked as she tilted her head to the side, her brow wrinkling as though she was trying to find a memory, and failing.

She put a fluttery, frail hand to her chest. “Aren’t you a beautiful girl?” Her frown deepened. “You remind me of someone. I just can’t place who, exactly, but I’m certain it was a man I used to know.” She blinked again before she stared at Serafino. “And who is this handsome man?”

I stared, not quite believing this woman was one and the same who’d made my life hell. I ignored her question and asked, “Do you remember me?”

She shook her head, the light in her eyes fading. “No, dear. Should I?”

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