Page 90 of Waiting Game

He laughed, “and deal with even more mafia? No.”

“Okay,” I chuckled, “you’re right.”

“Russia?” he suggested.

“The Bratva?” I shook my head, “what about South America?”

Ren sighed, shaking his head, “Cartels.”

I rolled over, exhaling loudly, “I guess you were right all along. There’s no escaping this life.”

He chuckled once, “not with your last name.”

“What if we get Rome to make us new identities?” I asked, lifting my head to look at him.

He raised an eyebrow, “that’s not a bad idea.”

A big part of Rome’s business was in forgery and fake identities. I was sure that she could whip something up fast enough.

I stared at the ceiling laying on Ren’s lap as he continued scrolling.

“What about Europe somewhere? Like France, Sweden, or Iceland?”

Ren was silent as he considered it for a minute.

“There’s a flight tomorrow morning to Gothenburg in Sweden?” he said.

I pursed my lips, thinking. Europe had always been a far away dream of mine, one that I thought that I’d never be able to fulfil, but here we were.

Could we make a new home for ourselves?

“You can dye your hair blonde,” Ren said, stroking his fingers through my hair, “look like a true local.”

I laughed, “I think I’m too tan to look local.”

“So, what do you think? Sweden it is?”

I smiled up at him.

“I really don’t care where we go, as long as I’m with you.”

He smiled at me, running his fingers from my hair to my chin, pulling my lips towards his.

“You’re fucking insane if you think I’m ever letting you go again.”

The End

Epilogue

Valerie

Six Months Later

Gothenburg, Sweden

Australians were not built for this kind of winter.

The locals that surrounded us giggled as they passed Ren and I on the street, huddled together in our thick layers of clothing while they were draped in thin cardigans. Ren brought my hands to his mouth and blew against them, warming them with his breath.

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