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All four of the gunmen fell.
Bertolli pressed a hand to his chest, his eyes wide. He opened his mouth to say something but dropped to the ground before he could. He lay still.
Demopoulos clutched at his groin and cursed in Greek. He sank to his knees and fell on his face, blood pooling beneath him from the shot to his groin.
Ace rose to his feet, dusted his hands off on his trousers and bent to roll Demopoulos onto his back.
The man’s face was white, the color completely drained.
As Ace straightened, he glanced toward the double doors he’d strode through minutes earlier.
Had he imagined it, or had he seen Jasmine?
A figure rose from the ground, stepped over a couple of bodies and came toward him.
“Jasmine,” he breathed. He opened his arms wide.
The woman he loved more than life itself ran into his embrace and buried her face in his shirt.
“They could have killed you,” she cried, tears soaking his shirt.
“But they didn’t,” he said and stroked her hair. He pressed a kiss to her temple, then gently lifted her chin to stare down into those beautiful green eyes.
“When Demopoulos arrived without you, I nearly lost my mind.” He kissed her eyelids, then the tip of her nose. “I looked for you since our affair in Athens. I’m not going to waste another minute without telling you I love you, Jasmine. I’ve loved you since you invited me to share your table at that little café in Athens.”
She smiled up at him through tear-filled eyes. “I fell in love with you that same day and haven’t stopped loving you throughout the last four years.”
Ace refused to remind her that she must have forgotten him a little if she’d gotten pregnant by another man. At that moment, he didn’t care. He loved this woman with all his heart.
“Mama,” a little voice called out.
Jasmine’s eyes widened, and a smile filled her face.
Ace released his hold on her.
Jasmine spun to face her son.
“Eli,” she said, her voice choking on a sob.
They ran toward each other.
Jasmine scooped the child up in her arms and hugged him to her chest, tears running down her cheeks. She kissed his hair and his cheek and finally stared down into his face. “Are you all right? Did that man hurt you?”
Eli looked over his mother’s arm at the man who’d taken him hostage. “No, mama. He didn’t hurt me. But he wouldn’t let me come home to you. I tried to be brave. I only cried a little.”
“Everything is okay now,” Jasmine said. “I love you, baby. Everything will be okay.”
Eli caught her face between his little hands and stared at her with a frown denting his forehead. “If everything is okay, why are you crying?”
“These are happy tears,” Jasmine said. “We’re together, and that’s all that matters.”
Eli smiled and laid his head on his mother’s shoulder. “Is it okay if I cry happy tears?”
She laughed. “Yes, sir.”
Ace stood back, letting the mother and son have their reunion.
Dmytro and Fearghas joined him on the patio.
