Page 77 of Under His Embrace

Then he moved. He growled and lunged for Caleb as he twisted and feinted, just like I’d advised him earlier.

Soldiers parted, letting him sprint toward Chloe and Tessa who stood together behind Romeo and other Constella men.

Wes shot, but he was too slow to hit anyone. The bullet went astray with his lousy aim, but commotion followed anyway. Passers-by screamed and ducked for cover. Others shouted to call the police. In the second that Wes fired, the soldiers were on him, taking his gun, restraining him, and bringing him into one of the cars where they’d wait for my order.

After the years of fear and anxiety he’d given Chloe and Caleb, his capture seemed so… anticlimactic. So weak and dull.

Chloe hugged Caleb tightly as they watched Wes get taken away. Even though it was only one gunshot that was fired, security was already rushing from the hospital.

“Go on,” I told them. “Keep an eye on your mom for me, okay?”

Caleb nodded, still hugging Chloe. “Okay, Dad. I will.”

Dad.My heart was full. It swelled with love and pride. Lurking in my mind, though, darkness grew and intensified.

Chloe caught my eye, and I knew what she had to be thinking. What she had to be feeling. She was well aware that I would kill Wes. She had to know that was coming. With a careful, stern frown, she nodded once, acknowledging it.

She could acknowledge that this was who I was. Not a bad boy her parents disapproved of, but her hero. Her protector. It wouldn’t be easy. She’d need to come to terms with this, and we would both need to explain more things to Caleb, but right now, it was time to kill this motherfucker and move on with our lives.

“Go on.” Chloe urged Caleb to go inside with Tessa. “I’ll be right there.”

I stood still, watching her come to me in the parking lot. After she pressed a soft kiss to my lips, she sighed and stared at me. “Be careful.”

I smiled. “I always am. Go on. Go help Nina. I’ll be back shortly.”

A slightly troubled expression covered her face as she backed up, but she nodded. “Thank you, Franco.”

I chuckled. “Oh, it’s my pleasure, sweetheart.”

I turned with Romeo to go to the cars.

“I ordered them to take him to the nearest warehouse.”

I nodded as I sat in the backseat with him and closed the door. “Good.”

I couldn’t wait to kill this bastard. She’d never have to fear him again. It sounded like he’d killed her dad, and I would find a way to handle her mother.

Nothing would ever stand in the way of my future with Chloe and Caleb.

No one would ever dare to pull us apart again.

My heart had always belonged to her. A part of me had already lived on in him.

We were a family, and after I got the satisfaction of removing Wes from this world and getting him out of the picture forever, all would be right in my life. Chloe had come to me and loved me, and she seemed to love me and accept me for the killer I had to be. Caleb had hugged me and called me Dad, already glad to give me his permission to marry his mom.

I smiled, watching the scenery blur out the window, content that finally, at last, my heart was stitched back together and whole.

32

CHLOE

Seven months later…

“I can’t believe the cake turned out this well,” I told Dante as we walked past the dessert table at Eva’s baby shower.

“All I can say is the next one had better be a boy,” the Mafia Boss joked.

I smiled at the princess crown of a cake, commemorating the fact that Eva and Liam would soon be bringing another baby into the family. In the conservatory again, we enjoyed the pool, the food, and the company. Like we often did.

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