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"Then that's great because I love you too."

She leans back faintly, her eyes widening. "You don't have to say it back."

"I want to."

"Really?"

Now it's my turn to laugh. "Is that really such a surprise?"

Sabina tilts her head and her hair sweeps slowly off her shoulder. "I mean… I'm just a chef with a surprise ten-year-old daughter and you're…" Her eyes dart around my face and then settle on my eyes. "You're you. The Jack of the Suit."

Ah. My heart skips a beat.

"You want to keep Illyana safe and I'm not safe."

Sabina frowns immediately. "What?"

"That's the reason you don't want me to say it, right? So that it's easier for you to leave with your daughter."

"Oh, Cassian. No." She sits up and slides her hand down my chest. "Your being in the Suit is what saved her. Without you… I dread to think where I'd end up. And everything that went down with Mario and Leo and Boris… I couldn't have handled any of that on my own. I wouldn't have survived. But I did. Because of you and who you are and what you do."

"Don't you want a life away from the Mafia?"

Sabina smiles and leans close again. "I can't think of anywhere safer than right here with you."

"So why is it a surprise that I love you?"

Her smile turns almost shy. "Well… what if life with me is too mundane and boring?"

"Are you kidding?" I finally shift my arm and clasp her waist. "I've been shot, nearly died, beaten up, kicked out of a country, in a car wreck, beaten up again, and fallen through three floors nearly to my death. A boring and mundane life with a chef and her daughter is exactly what I want from you."

Sabina laughs softly as I trace my hand from her waist to her arm, then up to her shoulder and clasp her face.

"Trust me," I murmur. "I love you. I had a crush on you for the longest time, and seeing how strong you are, how much you fought for Illyana even when you stood against people infinitely more powerful… I love you and I'm proud to love you."

She blinks slowly and her eyes shine a little. "Say it again."

"I love you." Drawing her down further, I lean up as far as my injured shoulder allows and kiss her.

"Again," she murmurs against my lips.

"I love you."

"Again."

"I…" I kiss her slowly. "Love." Another soft kiss. "You." A longer kiss in which I lightly suck on her lower lip until tiredness in my body forces me to lay back down against the pillows.

"I love you too," she whispers.

"We'll work out what comes next," I assure her. "But first?"

Sabina leans up with a light wince. "What's first?"

"I need to find out what happened to my grandfather and everyone else."

37

SABINA