“You’ve done good things too, Salvatore. You deserve all of this and more. We’re making up for lost time, you and I. It’s time for us to be happy and carefree and walk in the sun with sand between our toes. It’s past due, in fact.”

She squeezed my hand, pulled it up to her heart.

“Don’t be scared of losing this. Just be happy and grateful. That’s what I’ve learned. I think that’s what we’re supposed to learn. It’s so simple, but we make it all so complicated.”

“My oracle.”

“I am wiser than you, that’s true.”

“And not at all arrogant.” I heard her smile.

“Good night, husband.”

“Good night, wife.” I kissed her neck and held her as she fell asleep, her body relaxing, her breathing soft and even. I looked up at the night sky, at all the stars, and listened to the sound of the ocean, knowing I held everything that mattered right here in my arms. Knowing she was right about Dominic, that he needed space, that he needed to figure this out for himself. She was also right about the guilt. I was very good at wrapping it over my shoulders, weighing myself down with it. Maybe I needed to learn that some of that didn’t belong to me.

Lucia was wise and strong. I’d given her what I’d promised, a peaceful life, happiness. And while doing so, I had given the same to myself.

I may not be able to save my brother, but maybe it wasn’t up to me to save him.

I squeezed Lucia tighter and closed my eyes, nuzzling my nose in her hair. Life was both crazy and beautiful, and out of the ugliness and hate, we’d made love. I would not forget to cherish that, to cherish her, forever.

Dominic: a Dark Mafia Romance

About This Book

Gia

I’m the daughter of a foot soldier. The sister of a snitch.

Monsters have been part of my life for as long as I can remember, but the morning I woke in that cold, abandoned cabin with Dominic Benedetti looming over me, I knew I’d met the darkest of them all.

He took me to break me. But I’m not so easy to break. And when he saw the mark on me, everything changed.

But I’ve never believed in fairy tale endings and happily-ever-after doesn’t belong to people like us.

Some love thrives in the light.

Dominic and I, we belong in the dark.

Dominic

I’m the last-born son of the Mafia King.

The one with nothing to lose.

I walked away from my family. Turned my back on everything that should have been mine and became what I was meant to be.

A monster.