Page 349 of Valentino

End. Everything.

In order to protect him.

So that’s what I did…and I have no regrets, because only one man was ever going to make it out of this story alive.

The one that was mine.

EPILOGUE

Four months later.

“Hello.” I shake his hand with a smile. “Anna Leone.”

“Ahh.” His eyes light up. “Anna. It’s so good to finally meet you in person, we’ve been emailing for what feels like forever. I’m Saskia.”

“Hi, Saskia.” I turn and hold my hand out. “These are my assistants, Luigi and Gino.”

“Hello.” Saskia shakes their hands.

“Nice to meet you.” The boys smile politely as they play the charade.

Saskia turns back to me. “Wow, you have two assistants who go on location with you? Ha! You must be on a much better deal than I am.”

“Haha.” I laugh before quickly changing the subject. “Where are we up to?”

“We have the set prepped.” He walks off across the garden and we follow behind. “We have the ocean baths completely cleared for six hours, the models are just getting ready now.” We walk until we get to the end of the resort gardens to the side of a cliff. He gestures down to the water’s edge to show it’s the most beautiful crystal blue. “We have the deck chairs lined up.”

I look over to see yellow-and-white striped deck chairs lined up all along the side.

“So the nine models are all here?” I ask.

“Coming around now.” He holds his hand out toward a dressing room to show models walking out in yellow and white swimwear. Some are wearing a one-piece, some in bikinis, some are in G-strings, all are absolutely gorgeous with the most incredible bodies you’ve ever seen.

Luigi and Gino exchange glances and I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from smiling.

“How can we help?” I ask. “What do you need?”

Saskia looks around. “Photographer is here, music is on. We have some champagne coming.” He thinks for a moment. “Perhaps your assistants can check on the models to see if they need help with anything.”

“Done.” I keep my eyes on him so I don’t see the boys’ reactions.

“And the perfume?” I ask.

“Oh.” He laughs. “The queen of the show isn’t here. I’ll go and collect her from the hotel.”

“I’ll go,” I tell him.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes of course, you have enough on your plate. Go.”

“Thank you.” He takes the stairs down to the water’s edge and I turn to the boys. “Are you okay to go and look after the models?” I ask, straight faced.

“I was born for this job,” Luigi replies. “I could do it with my eyes closed.”

Gino chuckles. “We do love being your assistants, Anna.”

I giggle and gesture to the hordes of beautiful women. “I suppose, get to work then.”