Page 109 of The Perfect Stranger

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Three Months Later

Oscar and Bruce, our two French Bulldogs, snorted and panted down the aisle. Nina had dressed them in bowties, and it seemed to make them more hyperactive than usual. Our friends had gathered at our newly purchased house, fitted with a porch swing and a lawn mowing goat.

We were out of the city, but still close enough to work.

We were free with no threats of cartels looming over us.

After a month long inquiry, the Commanding Officer dropped all charges of desertion and trafficking, and instead hired me as an informant into Government and military corruption to put the likes of Delacroix and Hanson behind bars.

That meant, Nina and I frequently crossed paths and assisted in each other’s investigations. We were a formidable team.

She fought hard for me while I was in the hospital. I didn’t deserve her allegiance, but she gave it anyway and because of her, my name was cleared in the media and I was no longer a fugitive.

Zero and Jase, the two men who had also put their reputations on the line in order to prove my worth, approached grinning ear to ear.

“Gotta tell ya,” Jase began. “Two and half years ago entering La Balsa, I would never have imagined we’d be doing this.”

“That makes two of us.” Knowing the job at hand, I had pretty much written my life off.

“You’re one lucky bastard,” Zero clapped me on the back. “That woman would do anything for you.”

“I know. Completely undeserving. Speaking of undeserving…” I looked at Jase, “…your wife looks amazing.”

A broad smile lit up his face when he turned to Nessa. She was chatting and laughing with another guest, one hand resting on her heavily pregnant belly.

“Can you believe I haven’t fucked anything up in over a year?” He sounded mighty impressed with himself and he should be. A year of no misdemeanors was quite the feat. After whisking his love away on a tropical vacation, they found each other again. There was no talk of sexual fantasies, and before they knew it, they were reaffirming their vows.

“It’s time,” Zero cocked his eyebrows toward the house before taking a seat.

I waited under the oak tree, the sky colored pink from the setting sun. The sound of dragonflies buzzed nearby as the harpist began to play.

Oscar and Bruce bounced over to Nina when she emerged off the porch.

She stopped and held my gaze.

I smiled at the gorgeous woman I was to call mine, and she smiled back with a love I never knew existed. She looked out of this world. Nina could wear lace like no other. Her dress flowed just below her knees, a small arrangement of flowers pinned in her hair.

With Oscar and Bruce loyally by her side, she walked down the aisle toward me. A slight breeze caught her loose tendrils, the smell of berries drifting in the air.

Nina Cross was going to my wife. She never said yes when I proposed. Instead, she climbed into my lap and kissed me with tears streaming down her cheeks. It always surprised me how much I meant to this woman. How much she would move the earth for me. How she would put her own life on the line to save me.

There was only one good thing from the last two years. Los Santos had led me to Nina. She had called me her Perfect Stranger. A man as evasive as those he was chasing, but someone she was unequivocally drawn to.

I took her hands in mine as soon as she reached me, my lips claiming hers, gentle and tender. She deepened the kiss wrapping her arms around my neck, her body pressed against mine.

She tasted sweet.

I couldn’t resist her.

Not then.

Not now.

Not ever.

We didn’t hear the cheering or whistles from those here to witness a wedding. We didn’t hear the celebrant clearing his throat. We didn’t hear Oscar and Bruce barking in the commotion.

All I heard were the four words that were my ruin. These four words whenever they were said were my undoing.

Every time.

Four words that had brought me back from the brink of death.

I love you, Antonio.

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