Page 81 of Beautifully Forgiven

“How’s my kitten?” he asks. Pulling me to his body, he brings his nose toward my collarbone and inhales.

“Fuck, baby, you smell so damn good, we might just end up with another one.” He smiles.

Slapping his arm, I pull away. “No, no more yet, mister. These boys are a handful, just like their daddy.” He growls, making me laugh.

“I’ll show you a handful,” he hisses as his fingers spread across my ass cheek.

“No more,” I groan, pushing him away while he laughs. I swear that man wants me to be carrying a baby every year. We found out we were pregnant a few months after Jacob killed my father.

It was a shock, something I wasn’t planning for a while, but looking at my boys now, I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Our start may have been unconventional, but in the end, Jacob saved me. I couldn’t imagine where I’d be today if he hadn’t taken me that day. If he hadn’t used me for his revenge.

Nothing ever goes to plan, and sometimes life throws you a curveball.

Every year Jacob asks me for forgiveness for what he did.

Every year I give him the same response.

Together we are stronger, together we are made, and together we are love.

There’s nothing to forgive. Jacob Kipling saved me, and I hope that one day when our boys are grown they turn into men like their father. A man who is willing to go to the depths of the world to avenge those he loves.

Because when Jacob Kipling loves, he loves with his entire being.

I’m just the lucky woman he calls kitten.

BONUS EPILOGUE

…age nineteen

Stormingthe room we wait for our orders.

“Phoenix, you take the girl,” Nicco orders me. “Madden and Roman will have your back.”

I nod, you don’t argue with thecappo, you follow orders. Nicco may be my cousin, but he’s still my boss and head of the bratva. Letting out a slow breath, I turn my attention to the footsteps currently coming toward us. With weapons raised, we wait.

De Luca burned his bridges with Nicco for the last time. He’s a patient man, but he doesn’t give second chances, so his daughter pays the price. Lucia De Luca is just shy of her eighteenth birthday, making her the perfect age to marry, and since in our family we don’t harm women, she’ll stay with our family until Nicco decides who’s bride she’ll become.

My mother is going to have a fit when she finds out Nicco’s plan.

Not that she can say too much about the matter because what Nicco says goes. There’s no arguing with him.

My mother met my father this exact way, he’d taken her against her will, wanting revenge on her father, my grandfather.

Lucky for them, they fell in love. Somehow, I don’t see Lucia being too keen to be married off in the bratva.

Gunshots fire past my head and Roman slaps my arm for me to pay attention.

“Fuck’s sake, Nix, Nicco will have your ass if you get shot,” he snaps, firing his gun at the man running toward us and taking him out while I do the same to the man behind him.

Fuck, he’s right. My head hasn't been in the right space ever since I found out we were taking the girl this morning. I've felt off. Usually, I don’t care, I do my job and then get the fuck out. Why is this girl different? I’ve never met her, I can’t even tell you what she looks like.

We all take out her guards as we climb the stairs. De Luca left his daughter vulnerable and an easy target.

Madden points to the wall where a large photo of a young girl sits.

Lucia De Luca.

---