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Phoenix laughs gruffly and drops his face to the crook of my neck. “Ari’s taking care of him for the both of us.”
That much is true. I’m too old and too fussy to want to get my hands dirty the way our precious Ariel does, and that’s okay. That was what Aldis failed to see for all of these years. He believes these men are my downfall when they’re simply an extension of me. They make me whole. I can allow myself to rely on them for the things I need without shame or reservation.
It’s why I will live and die stronger than he will ever understand.
“Do you regret listening to him?” Phoenix asks.
I stiffen and feel a surge of anger before it melts into something like sorrow. I cup his cheeks between my hands and kiss him until he lets out a noise somewhere between a groan and a sob. “I regret that I didn’t see it before he could hurt you. But I will never, ever regret you. I didn’t need him to give me that nudge. You have always been my fucking everything, and it might have taken me a little longer, but well before he said anything, I knew I wouldn’t live a single day without you.”
Phoenix says nothing. He just kisses me again, then rests his head against my chest.
We stay there for what feels like hours, until there’s a knock on the door. James pokes his head in, and I look across the room at him, nodding as he steps in. “There’s been a delivery.”
My skin tingles a little at the anticipation. It took a little work, but it’s something I’ve planned for years. James must know because I can see the look on his face, and Phoenix must feel something in the lines of my body because he lifts his head.
“You found her?”
I nod. Three phone calls to convince Vanessa that Guido was sending a car for her. And she was so wrapped up in their idea of success that she didn’t question it for a moment. She won’t be reunited with Guido before she realizes the truth. She doesn’t get any sort of mercy or peace. She’ll wait, bound and gagged and blindfolded, while Ari takes his time with his current task.
And then she’ll be his.
It’s the best gift I can give him: closure.
“Aldis is gone,” James says after a long beat. “Ari says he’s ready to wake Romano whenever we are. He also says he wants you to hear something first.”
My stomach twists. I knew he wouldn’t go down with secrets, and I knew there was every chance he would have the ability to hurt me before he took his last breath. But it’s something I need. I kiss Phoenix once, then James on my way out, and I make the familiar path to the playroom.
It’s dark, and it’s starting to stink. Torture like this is never pretty. Ari’s done his best to hose it all down the drain, but it’ll take a cleanup crew at least a week to finish this space and get it back to the way it was.
Though I doubt the ghosts here will ever leave.
Aldis is slumped on the ground at the foot of the chair, missing a leg. I can’t see his face, but I doubt there’s much of that left either. Ari looks like an avenging angel—his hair still bright and glowing like a halo under the lights. He’s covered in specks of blood, his white shirt now almost entirely red. His hands look strangely clean after washing them, and he’s polishing his knife, which he sets down as I walk up.
‘I’m sorry,’ he signs immediately.
I shake my head. “Whatever he had to say, it doesn’t matter. I’ve already made my peace with the fact that things happened the way they were destined.” I touch his face, and he just closes his eyes and lets out the smallest sigh.
He straightens up and glances at the little recorder sitting on the bench, then shakes his head and lifts his hands. ‘You can listen if you want, but I’d rather tell you.’
I seize his wrist and kiss his palm. “Tell me.”
‘Aldis was responsible for your sister. He attempted to sell her to Guido in exchange for Alice. It clearly all went wrong, but they remained in contact since then. Aldis promised a way to ruin you from the inside if Guido would provide his daughter.’
My blood doesn’t run as cold as I expect it to, learning all this. I think somewhere between learning that Aldis was behind this and strapping him to that chair, I knew. I knew that none of my past was what I thought. Guido still deserves a painful death, and his family deserves to be ruined in this city, but it’s also time for me to clean house.
The Walsh blood is thick, but it’s old and corrupt. It’s the one reason I don’t feel pressing, overwhelming fear about this new child coming into the world. It will be raised by me, loved by me, given everything I have. But it will be free of my curse.
I take a step back, then glance at Guido before nodding to Ari. “Put Aldis’ body in the freezer, then wake Romano. I’m going to check on Alice and see what she wants to do.” I stop, then touch Ari’s cheek again. “Don’t exhaust yourself. I have one more gift for you.”
His eyes light up, and there’s no chance in hell he doesn’t know what it is, but either he’s too afraid to say it, or he wants to draw out the anticipation. Either way, my sweet, sweet man will have what he’s been waiting so many years for.
I turn and head into the house, feeling the weight of the evening as it passes into full night. Tomorrow, we’ll still be covered in blood, but we’ll be free. I’m choosing to trust that Rhys and Leo will put things to rights. That the love in Leo’s eyes that he feels will be enough to avoid taking a risk or doing anything that might shorten their time together.
They’re lucky. They’re blessed, perhaps. Their home will never be here, and they will never have peace across my borders, but the world is massive, and there’s space for all of us to live.
It’s a strange sort of comfort that I carry with me back into the house, then up the stairs, where Alice is resting in Phoenix’s bed. She’s alone for the moment, though the space beside her is warm, and I gently slide against her and stroke her arm until her eyes open.
“It’s not morning, is it? Did I miss everything?”
