Page 116 of The Woman at the Funeral

Maybe I should have felt sympathy for Ronny and Tom, who’d now lost both sons. That said, they would both still be alive if Ronny hadn’t pushed for them all to try to take down the Costa Family empire. Her own greed was to blame for their deaths. That was just her burden to carry around.

“What about the guys who killed Matthew?”

“We have a lead on that. The Family will be following up.”

“Are we going to need to continue to be on lockdown?”

“No. We’ve concluded that the man who chased you and who broke into your house twice was Danny. We have no reason tobelieve that anyone is out to target you.” He paused as I took a bite, watching me with faraway eyes. “Except,” he started again, struggling to find his words.

“Except?”

“In an abstract way, you may always be a target if you decide to keep being with me. That’s the risk when connected to a man like me, a family like mine.”

“How many of the wives have been killed?” I asked.

“None.”

“Ever?”

“Not as long as Lorenzo has been in power.”

“Then it seems like I wouldn’t really be in that much danger.”

“I’m just worried you haven’t given it time to really sink in, is all.”

“I’ve had plenty of time to think about it.” Alright. That wasn’t exactly true. There hadn’t been much time when I’d been awake and coherent enough to obsess about it. But I’d done enough thinking. Just this once, I wanted to go off of my feelings. And no one had ever made me feel as good as Nico did.

Besides, everyone’s life was dangerous.

Just leaving your house or even taking that giant morning vitamin with no one around could spell the end.

Why not spend whatever time I had with someone who made me feel as safe and happy as Nico did?

“And?” Nico asked, blue eyes full of storm clouds, seemingly sure I was going to say I was done.

“And I think we’re both going to need to sell our condos and pick one bigger place. Lots of bedrooms. For lots of little beds.”

His eyes went gooey at that.

“You’re sure?”

“I’ve never been sure of anything else in my life. But I’m sure about you. About us.”

His lips found mine and it wasn’t long before we were wild with need, with happiness, with hope for the future.

And as Nico carried me down the hall toward the bedroom, I knew that finally—and without the slightest bit of uncertainty—I was in love and fully, completely, unconditionally loved in return.

Nico - 3 months

“What’s up?” I answered as I made my way out of the jewelry store. My pocket was heavy. With the ring box. And all the things that came with it.

“Know you’ve been looking, so just wanted to tell you that I got wind of a townhouse going up for sale. It’s not a brownstone. It was completely redone by some finance bro a few years back. I think Blair will love it.

“And from a Family standpoint, it’s only a few blocks from Lorenzo. Oh, and it’s got a decent little yard for Goya, so you don’t have to take him for a walk just to pee.”

“This is really good timing,” I said, thinking of how queasy Blair had been for the past four days. At first, we both blamed the takeout we’d gotten, even though I hadn’t gotten sick. But after four days, I could see the hope building in her eyes, could feel the same sensation in my chest.

That was why I was moving forward with the engagement, even though I had originally planned it for two months in the future.

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