Fuck.
I hold her tighter and walk faster.
"I love you too, baby. You're safe. You're mine. And nobody is ever taking you from me again."
One week later.
Summer isasleep in our bed. She sleeps a lot now. The doctor says it's her body healing, processing the trauma, and the drugs still working their way out of her system. The cuts are closing, but they'll scar. Every time I see them, I have to leave the room and put my fist through something that isn't a wall near her.
I haven't left the island since we got back. I haven't left her side for more than an hour. She wakes up screaming most nights, and I hold her until her breathing slows and she finds me in the dark and realizes she's not in that basement anymore.
Castellano disappeared on the night of the gala. His security detail pulled him out through a service tunnel beneath the east wing while my men were clearing the upper floors. By the time Andreas confirmed he wasn't among the bodies, we were already airborne.
I gave Andreas one instruction before we took off.Find him.I don't care how long it takes. I don't care what it costs. Find him and make sure there's nothing left to bury.
My phone buzzes on the nightstand. I check on Summer, she's still out, her hand curled under the pillow, her breathing steady. I take the phone and step out onto the balcony, pulling the door closed behind me.
"It's done." Andreas's voice is flat and tired, like a man who hasn't slept in days.
"Tell me."
"Tracked him to a safe house outside the city. A warehouse in the industrial district, registered under a shell company, three layers deep. He had eight men with him, all private military, same as the crew from the gala."
"And?"
"We hit it at four a.m. Breached the perimeter, took out the guards on the ground level, then wired the building. C4 on the support columns and under the foundation. Castellano was on the second floor when it went."
I stare out at the ocean, the moonlight flat on the water.
"He's confirmed?"
"We pulled dental records from what was left of the structure. It's him. There's nothing to identify visually, the blast saw to that, but we confirmed it through his dentist's office. It's done, boss. Victor Castellano doesn't exist anymore."
I close my eyes. The image of Summer hanging from that hook, the cuts on her skin, the white dress soaked dark.
"The men?"
"All eight went with the building. There are no survivors, no witnesses. Local authorities are calling it a gas leak."
"Good.”
I hang up without saying goodbye. I stand on the balcony for a long time, the warm air on my skin, the sound of the waves below. Then I go back inside and climb into bed next to my wife. She stirs when I pull her against me, her back to my chest, my arm around her waist, careful to avoid the bandages on her ribs.
"Kairo?" she murmurs, half asleep.
"I'm here, baby. Go back to sleep."
Her fingers find mine and lace through them. She pulls my hand up against her chest and holds it there.
"Was that your phone?" she whispers.
"Yeah."
"Everything okay?"
I press my lips to the back of her neck and breathe her in.
"Everything's okay. It's over. All of it."
