Page 52 of Lily

Stefano drove into the city with a heavy heart. With one hand, he had a death grip on the steering wheel. The other, he kept threaded with Roselia’s, holding it over the console. He glanced at her a million times.

She was in shock and rightfully scared, but she was far more whole than she’d been nine days ago. He kept telling himself that it was because of him. He’d made a choice to whisk her away and hide her. It had been selfish and probably would piss off Diane and about ten other people, but it was done now, and he would never regret a moment of his time with her.

If he never got to see her again after this morning, he would have the memories of the last few days with her to last him a lifetime. He only prayed those same memories would be positive for her, too.

As they got closer to the office, he slowed down, not wanting to arrive. He needed to give Roselia information. He released her hand. “Open the glove compartment, sweetheart. The code is one zero two five.”

She jerked her gaze to him. “My birthday?”

“Yes.”

She opened the locked glovebox.

“There are two envelopes. I need the larger one. The other one is for you. Lock the box back up.”

She did as he asked and then looked at him. After setting the legal-sized envelope on the console, she asked, “What is it?”

“It’s all of my personal information. The key to my apartment. The passwords to my computer and phone. The codes to my safe and the gun boxes. All of them are your birthday. Most importantly, there is a key to my safe deposit box. It’s filled with cash. All of it is clean. It’s money I earned with the FBI before I was killed. It’s been there for eighteen years. The bank information and details you’ll need to access it are in that envelope. Put it in your purse. Don’t let it out of your sight.”

She started crying again. “Stefano, you’re only going to be gone a few hours. They can’t keep you. They can’t. I’m not leaving here without you.”

He grabbed her hand again. “You might not have a choice, sweetheart. I want you to trust Jagger Whitley. I will turn you over to his care. He will not let anything happen to you. Understand?”

“Jagger Whitley?”

“He’s an FBI agent. I’m sure he’s there waiting for me. I promise he’ll take care of you.”

She gripped his hand harder. Silent tears fell. He was surprised she had any left.

When he pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine, she sat like a statue, not moving. “I’m not ready.”

“I know, sweetheart.” He leaned over, cupped her face, and kissed her before gripping her neck and holding her gaze. “It will be fine.” He didn’t believe that, but he wanted her to be strong. “Please take care of yourself. Do it for me.”

This was the hardest thing Stefano had ever done. He’d thought he’d loved another long ago, but he’d been wrong. This woman he loved to the depths of his soul. Francesca had been an infatuation. She’d been rich and flirty and sexy. She’d been all good times and lies. Ironically, Stefano had dedicated almost half his life to avenging her murder, and it had led him to Roselia.

His heart was heavier at this moment than when Francesca had died. Far heavier because Roselia was his soulmate, and he was letting her down.

He forced himself to release her, grab his envelope, open the door, climb down from the SUV, and move round to her side. She was still sitting in her seat, seatbelt on, not moving.

Stefano leaned over her to unfasten the belt, but she grabbed him and stopped him from helping her out. “I can’t do this.”

“You can, sweetheart. I promise. You’re strong. You can do this. You have to. I have to. I have to stop Santo. This is the only way.”

She let out another sob that broke off another chunk of his heart before she finally let him lift her out of the car and set her on her feet. He made sure she had her purse across her shoulder and secured before he opened the side pocket and dropped his car keys inside.

She gasped. “Why…”

“Just in case. You’ll need your belongings later. If anything happens to me, the car is yours.”

She shook her head. “Stop talking like that.”

He kissed her forehead, threaded his hand with hers, and led her toward whatever future was in store for him.

As he’d expected, more than half a dozen agents were waiting just inside the entrance. The only one he knew was Diane, but he was certain one of the others was Jagger and whoever else had been working on this case with him.

“Stefano, it’s shocking to see you,” Diane said as she extended a hand.

He shook it, keeping his other hand locked with Roselia’s.

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