Page 49 of Daddy's Little Spy

“I’ve been examined. No injuries, other than the bruising, which should fade in a few weeks. A bit higher and to either side and I would have had a broken rib or two. I was rather lucky.”

“Other than the whole being dead business.”

His lips twitched, but his eyes clouded over with his own grief. “Other than that, yes.”

“Tell me.”

“I wanted you to be happy,” he said, his voice soft and quiet in a way she’d never heard from him before. “I knew from the moment I saw you that I would do anything, move heaven and earth, just to see you smile.”

Despite the warmth blossoming in her chest, Diana shook her head. “What does that have to do with you dying?”

“Before we even said our vows, I started working on a plan with Emilio for us to disappear. Unfortunately, when you’ve lived the… colorful life I have, disappearing is easier said than done.” This time when he smiled, his eyes danced with amusement. “Especially if you plan on kidnapping one of Baltimore’s best detectives in the process.”

The pieces began to fall into place as he spoke. “So you decided to fake your death.”

“Our deaths. The original plan was for us to fake a drop gone wrong, a big shoot out, with yours truly as the sole casualty. Aside from bold, brave Detective Diana Clarke who would be tragically caught in the crossfire.”

“And then Franks showed up.”

Benito — Francesco, whatever the hell his name was now — scowled. “Yes. Slimy bastard nearly ruined everything. I’m just lucky he went for the body shot instead of the head.”

Lucky didn’t begin to cover it, but she might actually go insane if she spent too much time considering all the ways their plan could have gone wrong. “So, did Franks kill me as well?”

“No. Emilio was worried that killing one cop and, ah, ‘disappearing’ another might be more than the BPD was willing to ignore. You, my darling girl, died a quiet and tragic death at home. An undiagnosed genetic heart defect. You’d been a ticking time bomb from birth, according to the doctor who tried valiantly to save you after your partner showed up to check on you.”

“A heart defect.” And a dirty partner, apparently. Goddammit.

He lifted a shoulder in a careless shrug. “It happens.”

“It does. So… what now?”

“Now, we live happily ever after. If you’ll still have me, that is.”

“Do I have a choice?”

His expression went blank. “You do. If you want, I will set you up a new identity along with the funds to keep you comfortable for several years, and we can go our separate ways.”

“I get to choose a new name and everything?”

Benito’s eyes narrowed. “Yes.”

“How did you choose yours?”

“Does it matter?”

She had to swallow a giggle at the cool, clipped tones. Obviously, he wasn’t amused by her skirting around the elephant in the room. “Yes. I’ve never gotten to choose a name for myself and I want to make sure I pick something fitting.”

“Francesco means ‘free man’. And D’Anna, well…” Another careless shrug, though this time he looked distinctly uneasy. “I’m asking you to give up a lot. I wanted you to be able to keep some part of yourself, of who you were.”

Love exploded inside of her, a riot of butterflies battering her from every angle. “I have one more question.”

“Yes?”

Plucking the half-finished coffee from his hand, she set both their mugs on the bedside table before she straddled him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and meeting his carefully blank gaze. “Will you still be my Daddy?”

His eyes instantly warmed and a genuine smile curved his lips. “Always, bambolina.”

“Then, yes. Let’s live happily ever after.”

---