She takes a big breath in, and I let her have a moment for my words to sink in. She reaches up to me, her soft hands running down the side of my face, her eyes glistening as she looks at me, taking me in. “I love you too, Dante. I couldn’t bear the thought of that man shooting you. I had to do it, I just had to,” she whispers quietly to me before she leans in and puts her lips to mine. Relief sweeps over me that she still loves me, and I wrap her in my arms again. We stay together, on the bed, not wanting to let each other go.

I hear sirens in the distance, so I pick her up and walk farther down the hall and out the back door, through the back patio, and down a laneway. We have our back-up team here now, so I step into the back of the waiting Escalade, keeping her on my lap, and Tony the driver takes off back to our compound. She sits on me, not unlike the day I met her, the car speeding through the streets, and deja vu washes over me. Our safe house is now crawling with police, and I want Annie as far away from it as possible. Sebastian will be handling them all, with Nico and Carter no doubt by his side, because Annie saved us all. While I may have had a clear shot, she had the better one, and she took it. That is twice now she has put herself on the line for me and my family.

As I keep her close to me, rubbing her back, I think back to the past weeks and months. How I found her at the shootout at Allure and then kept her at my place. How well she fits into my life and how much light and love she brings to it. The way she protected Leo from his mother and how she protected Nico and me just now. She is like a fierce mother lioness, protective of everyone, yet the sweetest and most loving person I have ever met.

The house hasn’t been the same without her in it. It is like all the color drained away and Leo, Maria, and I have been living in greyscale. No light, no color, no laughter. I want color again. I want her in my house, in my family, in my bed, all day, every day.

I trust her with my life. I trust her with my heart. She is my equal. My person. She was made for me, I am sure of it. She is my destiny.

40

Annie