Page 112 of Revenge & Ruin

She’s watching me, her expression unreadable but soft, and there’s a calm in her gaze that I haven’t seen before. With a gentle nod of her head, she indicates the door.

I follow her out into the hallway, leaving the Morettis to their joy.

“It was touch and go for a while there,” Isabella says once the door closes behind us. “For a moment, they thought they might lose at least one of them.”

“But you stayed.”

She holds up her hand proudly, the telltale bruises already beginning to form along the back of it. “Couldn’t leave her if I tried. That woman is stronger than she looks.”

I smile at her as I bring her hand to my lips and kiss it softly. “Thank you.”

“Did you mean it?” she says suddenly. “What you said to my brother. Did you mean it?”

I don’t need her to tell me which part she’s referring to. The wariness in her eyes says it all.

And really, there’s no point denying it. Not anymore.

“Yes,” I pull her in closer so I can whisper in her ear. “I think I loved you from the moment you crashed the wedding.”

I can see the flush rising to her cheeks. “You just liked that I was on my knees.”

“I still loved you, though.” I weave my hand through her soft hair. “I likely always will.”

“Is that a promise?”

“One I will gladly make every day for the rest of my measly existence.”

And because she can, she kisses me.

And because I love her, I kiss her back.

30

ISABELLA

It feels strange to be back here.

The large metal gates of Teo’s home open to us in eager invitation. It is a really beautiful house, and the view across the river is unparalleled. But…

“Would it be weird if I said I kind of miss the bunker?”

Beside me, Teo snorts. “You want to live in Long Island?”

“I want to live in Manhattan, but my doorman would kick you out.”

He feigns shock. “Did you blacklist me?”

“You blacklisted yourself by stalking me,” I snap back.

His hand tugs me toward him. Exhaustion lines his features as I imagine it does mine.

He’d been discharged with nearly an entire drugstore's worth of creams and ointments and had several burns that would likely scar. But behind the exhaustion in his endlessly dark eyes is a glimmer of something beautiful.

Love.He’d called it.

The word sets something gloriously alight within me. I cradle it close, letting the warmth of it settle in my bones.

“Does this mean you’ll live with me?” he asks cheekily.

---