Page 62 of Lily

She rolled her eyes. “Stay out of trouble, and don’t get dead again. I’d never believe it, even if I saw your body with my own eyes.”

He smiled and nodded before turning to flee the office.

Luckily, he found Jagger waiting for him in the hallway. The man grinned. “Done?”

Stefano inhaled deeply. “I think so.”

“Everyone else went back to my house. You’re going to need a ride. Colter drove your SUV with all your luggage to my place with Roselia earlier.” He shoved off the wall. “Ready?”

“Definitely.”

Stefano slowly opened the door to the room where Roselia was supposedly sleeping. He knew that was highly unlikely, but he entered silently, just in case.

She was curled in a ball under the covers. A nightlight illuminated the room enough for him to make her out. Even her head was covered, and he could hear her sobbing. It broke his heart. Hopefully, he could fix the damage he’d caused. Hopefully, she would forgive him for the million things he’d basically done to deceive her or at least keep her in the dark.

He quietly removed his shoes before moving on to his pants, shirt, and socks. In his underwear, he pulled the covers back and slid under them.

Roselia gasped when he wrapped his arms around her. She nearly pegged him with her elbow as she rolled onto her back, tugged the covers off her face, and looked at him.

For a moment, she stared wide-eyed, and then she twisted around and threw herself at him. She cried harder as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I was so scared,” she cried out. “I didn’t think you were going to come back to me.”

“I’m right here, sweetheart.” He pulled her as close as he could and rubbed her back. “I’m sorry it took so long. There was a lot to explain and then a lot of people to arrest.”

She bolted upward to sit and looked down at him. “Did they arrest Santo?”

He nodded. “Yes, as well as several other people, including the men who came into your apartment and kidnapped you in your sleep.”

Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. “How did they manage all of that in one day?”

“Time was imperative. Eventually, Santo would’ve fled. I was able to provide a lot of information because I got into Santo’s emails. Weeding through them alone at night for the past few months was tedious, but today, a large team of people worked on gathering intel as fast as possible until we were finally able to make arrests in a coordinated fashion.”

She reached out and touched his lips. “You’re here. Do you have to go back?”

“No, sweetheart.” He wrapped his fingers around hers and kissed the tips. “I’ve been excused.”

Tears ran down her cheeks as she continued to stare at him.

He sat next to her and pulled her into his arms. “Can you forgive me for keeping so much information from you for nine days?”

She sniffled, her fingers gripping his shoulders as she nodded against him. “I know you were trying to protect me.”

He leaned her back and cupped her cheeks so he could look her in the eye. “How are all the other women?”

“Good, considering. We spent a lot of time today with the psychologist, Carol. I promised to set up regular appointments with her next week. She seems very understanding and nice. I liked her.”

“How was Gemma?” he asked softly.

“If you’re wondering if she wants to kill you in your sleep, you’re safe. She was shocked and upset when she realized you’d been in a relationship with her mother. Granted, so was I. You failed to tell me that.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. There was so much to tell you. I couldn’t cover it all this morning. We didn’t have time.” He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs.

“Gemma will forgive you. She was very young when her mother died, but she knew her mother was unhappy and felt trapped. She wasn’t really all that shocked to find out she’d been having an affair.”

“It was eighteen years ago, Rose. I was so bitter and angry at the time, but as the years passed, I continued on my mission anyway. I knew Santo was a very vile human being, even though I wasn’t aware until recently that he’d been trafficking women. I knew in my gut he was a bad person, so I had no remorse when I stole all of his money.”

She gasped, eyes wide. “You stole his money?”

He chuckled. “Yes. I gradually moved it all to offshore accounts that weren’t in his name. He has no access to anything. He didn’t even realize it. I turned all the account information over to the FBI today.”

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