They already killed him, so I know they won’t hesitate to do the same to me. With nowhere to run or hide, I buy a one-way ticket to Milan to audition for Barsetti Lingerie in the hope I can start a new life.

I tell Crow everything I know about the hit on his son. It’s a brief conversation, and I don’t waste my time trying to convince him of the facts. Whether he believes me or not, I couldn’t care less. I fulfilled my obligation to Vanessa. But once I realize Crow and Cane are outnumbered and they’re all going to die in this hit, I have to get involved. I have to risk my life because I know how devastated my baby will be if she loses the men she loves most.

Bosco Roth is the kind of man my father will never approve of, so I need an expiration date. He may be the man of my dreams, someone I could see as my husband and the father of my children, but the relationship with my family will never be the same and no man is worth that—not even Bosco. As the days pass, I dread the end before it even arrives. I can’t sleep without him beside me. Even if he’s out all night, I stay on the couch so I can hear his arrival the second he walks in the door. He’s on my mind and in my heart—always.

Griffin and my father are finally getting along, and Griffin has decided to retire from the hitman business. We talked about our future, and I told him there’s no future for us without children, and thankfully he agreed. But that perfect life is shattered when strange men pull up to the gallery. I don’t have time to make more than one phone call, so I decide to call Griffin instead of the cops. He can’t get to me in time, but he promises that he’ll find me soon enough.

I gave Crow Barsetti a piece of my mind—and I had no regrets. Now he’s the one trying to earn my approval, but it’ll never work. He put me through hell and back, almost made me lose Vanessa for good, so I don’t have to like him. Tolerate him, yes. But not like him. I try to make an effort for Vanessa, but it just blows up in my face. Sitting across from Crow at the dinner table, in the very chair where he handcuffed me and pointed a gun at my face…made me blow a fuse. All I want is Vanessa, and now that I have her, I have no obligation to her family.