Page 138 of Contempt

“I still don’t know for what, Ren.”

One of his hands snuck into the pocket of his jeans, and when he pulled it back out, he held a letter. Renzo smiled a little bit—just a tiny grin that had her heart fluttering.

“One last letter,” he murmured.

“Oh?”

“I’ve replied to every single one you sent me, right?”

“Every single one except the last one.”

Sometimes, she would just wake up and a letter would be on her nightstand. Sometimes, he sent it in the mail. Other times, he gave them to her himself.

Renzo nodded. “This is the last one, baby.”

She took the letter when he handed it over, and unfolded it to read the words written inside. Water blurred her gaze as she read it.

Lucia,

I would do every second of this life again a thousand times over if you give me one second of you being my wife.

Would you give me that?

Love, Ren

She looked up from the paper to find he had kneeled down, and had his palm open for her to see the item resting there waiting for her to see.

Her mother’s engagement ring.

Lucia blinked, and sucked in fast breath. “Oh.”

Renzo laughed. “That’s not—”

“Yes.”

“Let me ask it first?”

Lucia nodded. “But you don’t have to. I—”

“Marry me?”

“Yes, Ren. Yes.”

EPILOGUE

Six months later …

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Renzo asked.

Diego tried to glance away like his older brother hadn’t caught him staring. Really, Renzo had been trying to ignore it for the most part. Diego had been doing this staring thing a lot more lately. Like he wanted to keep his eyes on his brother as much as he possibly could lest Renzo get out of his sights, and never come back. Or maybe it was just the fact that Diego was finally starting to believe that no, Renzo wasn’t going anywhere.

Maybe he’d go off for a day or two—he still had to work, he was who he was now. And now that he was—sort of—a free agent where The League was concerned, he could be a little more choosey with his jobs. If he wanted to bind himself to a contractor, like say the Marcellos, then he could. Or, he could work for whoever the fuck he wanted to as long as their check cleared, and they were smart enough to offer him good money to do a job.

But that was it.

He wasn’t going anywhere.

New York was fucking permanent, now. This was where he was going to live indefinitely. That was always the plan at the end of the day. His goal was always to come back to these goddamn streets that raised him and shaped him. This city made him into what he became … it gave him everything. The mindset he lived with every day; the go-out-and-get-it attitude that never left him; an ability to survive; the chance to become something bigger and better than he ever dreamed of … love, too. It even gave him love.