Page 142 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

Luna’s smile reached her eyes. I think it was the first time that happened since her father died, and I can’t describe what that did to my heart.

I grinned and followed her as she walked up the grand staircase intoourbedroom and intoourcloset. All the while chatting so quickly, the words tumbled out of her mouth like they were falling down a staircase.

I crossed my arms over my chest, watching her take her business suit off, hanging it on her side of our closet.

Well, her side was my original closet. The big one—which was now filled with designer clothes that my personal shopper had picked out for her. Clothes that Luna had fussed about, saying she didn’t need anything like that, just as she’d fussed about the car I’d bought her. She said she didn’t want material things, she just wanted me, but whether she liked it or not, I was going to spoil her rotten every day of her life.

Clothes and a car were just the beginning.

My half of the closet was the smaller closet that had once contained my Vigilante attire. I’d knocked down the secret door and had it converted.

And had closed off the secret tunnel after cleaning out the weapons room.

I’d be lying if I said there were days I didn’t miss that life, but all I had to do was touch Luna or see her smile, and any lingering urge would evaporate.

When you find someone you love more than the air you breathe, you gladly give up old habits. Like murdering assholes, for example.

“I’m proud of you,” I said. “After what happened to your father, you could’ve let the grief suffocate you, but instead, you’re living each day with purpose and meaning. You’re helping people. People just like your father. I know he’s proud of you.”

My words made her still, her gorgeous eyes shimmering in the incandescent light.

“Working the Innocence Project is even better than I could’ve imagined,” she eventually said. “And guess who they found to replace me as the public defender?” I walked up and stroked her cheekbone with the pad of my thumb. “A Harvard Law School graduate. The underserved and vulnerable are going to get an amazing defense.”

“And you’re going to get a lot of innocent people out of prison.”

God, look at the way her face lit up anytime she realized that.

But even in her light, I could still see her worry for me in the lines on her forehead, hear it in the long silence she let pass before clearing her throat.

Studying me and checking in on me like she did often.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

It would take time to fully get over everything that happened. And even then, I probably never would, but every day that I had with Luna was a gift. One I would never waste.

“With you in my arms, I have everything I’ve ever wanted, Luna.”

CHAPTER76

Luna

“Hey,” I said, plopping down in the diner outside the city.

The chrome-trimmed clock, a relic from a past era, hung just above the entrance. Its neon letters declared9:06 AM, a stark contrast to my heavy heart.

Rows of shiny red vinyl booths hugged the windows. Regulars, families, and lone wanderers filled the seats—their faces, half illuminated, caught in the soft morning light. Speckled white-and-black tiled floors gave the space a retro appeal, and strong, rich scents of freshly brewed coffee mingled with the sweet notes of maple syrup.

The soft murmur of conversations filled the space, punctuated by occasional laughter, while the clink of ceramic mugs battled with the chime of the cash register and the quiet hiss of the coffee machine.

“It’s good to see you,” Mom said.

Since I’d graduated high school, we saw each other once a month or so, but our relationship, I would argue, was surface level. When someone has hurt you and broken your trust, you can still love them, and still spend time with them, but it’s an empty shell of what it once was.

After Dad’s funeral, however, I was hoping to change that. I’d lost the most important person in my life, and I didn’t want to have this strained relationship with my mom anymore; she was all I had left, and I wanted to be part of her life.

But I wasn’t sure if I could get past the resentment from her trying to stop me from seeing Dad for all those years. Lecturing me about wasting my time trying to help him. Abandoning him in his time of need.

I wanted to. A good person would find her way past it.

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