Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
PRESENT
Three weeks after the final takedown of the ’Ndrangheta’s US cells, life has finally settled into something resembling normal. The air is lighter. The nights are quieter. And for the first time in forever, Kat and I have a damn moment to ourselves.
And I’m using every second of it.
Kat sits naked on my bathroom counter, legs spread nice and wide, her body rocking into mine, her nails raking deliciously down my arms. I guide her hips—slow, deep, I sink into her right to the hilt.
Her pulse is a drum on my lips. I bite down, biting until I know she’ll be cursing me tomorrow morning when she sees the mark. But right now? She’s begging for more.
“Damn,” she groans, her head tipping back, exposing the delicate line of her throat.
I tighten my fingers on her ass, holding her exactly where I want her. I drive up into her, deeper, harder. I run my tongue over the bite mark. “You taste like Heaven, baby…”
“Heaven?” She rolls her hips, teasing. “You sure you’re in the right place, cowboy?”
I flip her onto her back, trapping her wrists with one hand, skimming the other down her thigh, forcing it higher around my waist. “If this is Hell, I’ll happily burn.”
Kat gasps when I sink back into her, her legs locking around me, her moans breathless and needy. I drive her higher, her pussy clenches around me, I’m seconds from losing it myself. I brace one arm beside her head, slipping my other hand between us, circling her clit until she’s trembling beneath me.
“Santi,” she begs, her legs tightening, dragging me back in.
And I give it to her—hard, deep, claiming her in a way that leaves no doubt.
My pace quickens, relentless as I chase my release. I growl her name when I spill into her, claiming every last inch.
We collapse in a mess of tangled limbs and damp sheets, our breathing ragged. Kat hums, stretching like a satisfied cat, her bare thigh sliding along my hip.
She flops the back of her hand over her forehead as if exhausted. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”
I chuckle, biting back the urge to flip her over and take her from behind. Instead, I let my fingers trace slow, lazy circles on her thigh. “Not bad? Woman, I just spent an hour worshiping you.”
She smirks, gloriously wrecked but still taunting. “Only an hour? I thought you were God’s gift to women.”
I narrow my eyes, rolling onto my side to pin her down again. “You wanna test me, baby? I’ll edge you ’til gravity stops making sense and the only thing keeping you grounded is me.”
Her laughter is the most beautiful sound in the world right now.
I chuckle, but something about her features—vulnerable, unguarded—changes the mood. There’s no distance between us now, no shadows lurking in the corners. Just her, radiant.
I should be so damn sure of what we are, of where we stand.
And yet?—
The thought creeps in, settling deep before I can shake it off.
Would she still love me if I didn’t have this? If I didn’t have Monarch Hills, if I wasn’t this version of me, if I hadn’t built something for myself—would I still be enough?
I hate that the thought even exists. I know Kat. I know what we have is real. But there’s this piece of me—the one that spent years telling himself love like this wasn’t meant for me—that still aches at the possibility.
“You’re quiet.” She traces the ink on my ribs.
Before I can talk myself out of it, I let the words slip.
“Would you still love me if I didn’t have any of this?”
Her brows knit. She’s genuinely confused. “What?”
I hesitate, the words sitting heavy in my chest. I think about the way I spent my whole life trying to become more, do more and prove to people like her father that I was worth it. Kat never asked me to prove anything…
I swallow hard. “I guess I just want to know. If I wasn’t this Santi. If I was just… some guy, no Monarch Hills, no business, no land…” The words sound ridiculous the second they leave my mouth, but I can’t take them back.
Kat pushes herself up, blue eyes searching mine. “Where is this coming from?”
I shake my head. “It’s nothing. I just?—”
“It’s not nothing.” Her fingers slide up my jaw, gently tipping my face toward hers. “Talk to me.”
I exhale, staring at her like maybe if I search hard enough, I’ll find the answer.
“I think about the kid I was back when we met. The one who had nothing except a big, stupid dream and a girl who looked at him like he hung the damn stars.” Emotion claws its way up, impossible to hold back. “I don’t know if I ever really believed I could keep her.”
Kat’s breath catches, her eyes are intense with exactly what I need right now– recognition.
“You had me,” she whispers. “You always did.”
The words hit like a slow, shattering impact, knocking the air out of my lungs.
“Santi.” She cups my face, her thumbs brushing my cheekbones. “You’re still that same young man. The one who held my hand under the midnight sky and told me we could be anything we wanted. The one who made me feel safe long before I even knew what safety was.”
My throat tightens.
“It was never about what you had,” she murmurs. “It was about who you were.”
She locks on to me, the moment thick with meaning.
“I loved you then,” she whispers. “I love you now. And if we had to start over tomorrow—no land, no businesses, nothing but you and me—I would still choose you. Every damn time.”
This moment is as real as it gets—plain, simple, and sure as hell undeniable.
“Santi, I spent my whole life believing love was something I had to earn. That it came with expectations, conditions. That if I stopped being what people needed, they’d leave.”
I stay quiet, letting her say it all. Letting her feel it.
“But you don’t make me prove anything. You don’t make me fight for it.” Her smile is pure light. “You just love me.”
I cup the base of her skull, pulling her closer. “I always have, and always will.”
“I will always be yours, too.”
Her words mean everything to me. The weight of them settles deep in my bones. “No more waiting. No more walls. No more ‘someday.’”
Her lips brush mine. “Then let’s stop talking.”
I groan, picking her up by her asscheeks and heading to the bed.
I throw her down and crawl on top of her. “Now where were we…”
Then the front door slams and boyish voices echo below.
I groan, dropping my forehead onto hers. “Damn it.”
Kat bites her lip, trying and failing to suppress a laugh. “Next time, I’m writing the treasure hunt clues. Your dad made it too easy.”
“Yeah, remind me to have a talk with him about that.”
Reluctantly, we peel ourselves from the bed, piecing together our clothes, spraying on too much deodorant, and running damp fingers through our hair to look somewhat presentable. I bump into Kat when she has one foot off the floor trying to slip into her jeans. She giggles, tilting her chin up to toss me a fake glare.
God, she’s beautiful. That soft, post-love haze clinging to her, hair messy, cheeks still flushed.
Then her phone buzzes.
She grabs it from the nightstand, scanning the screen. A slow, knowing grin spreads across her face. “Ava,” she whispers. “She is something else…”
“What is it?” I lean over, curiosity creeping in.
Kat shoves the cell against her chest, grinning. “For me to know and you to find out.”
“Oh, we’re playing this game?” I chase her around the bedroom until I finally catch her, throwing her onto the bed, my body on top of hers again, my cock already stirring in my unzipped jeans. I slide my hand up her bare arm to the wrist where she grips her phone.
“Is it a secret?” I ask.
She’s still light but more serious now. “I have no secrets from you.”
She releases the phone, and I take it.
Ava
Santi might want to check his email. I tried him, but he didn’t answer.
“Shit. My phone’s downstairs…”
I rush to my desk, lifting my laptop open and fumbling for my email, scanning for whatever Ava is talking about. And then—there it is.
A message from the foster agency. Approved.
I don’t breathe. I just stare, rereading the words over and over. My fingers hover over the keyboard, shaking in a way they never have before, and the joy crashes in, nearly bringing tears to my eyes.
Kat sits on my lap and kisses my head. “Santi?”
I turn the laptop toward her. “Ava must have done something…”
Kat’s eyes shine. Laughter spills between us, filling that last empty space inside me.
“No, Santi… you did it. This one is all about you. The man you are.”
Her words soak into my chest.
Owen is here. Safe with me. I don’t know what’s on the horizon with his mom, if adoption will ever be a possibility, but at least he’ll never have to worry about where his pillow is at night or where his boots are in the morning. Never again.
I kiss Kat’s temple.
She looks up at me, smiling so wide I think she might burst. “Ava’s going to be insufferable now, isn’t she?
“Oh, you have no idea.” I huff out a laugh, already imagining her smug grin. “But I don’t care, I got what I wanted.”
Kat’s hand finds mine, squeezing tight.
Just then, another text pings on Kat’s phone, and she bursts into laughter. She shows me the text.
Ava
Tell Santi not to forget my thank you dinner. I expect steak.
I groan. “Jesus Christ.” I shake my head. “Do you think she’s the reason the decision came through a month early?”
“Doesn’t matter.” She combs her fingers through my hair. “The result would have been the same. Who better for the job than you, cowboy? ”
I clutch Kat close, needing something real to hold onto. The rush of it all nearly knocks me flat.
Then her phone buzzes again .
She groans. “If Ava demands gold-plated French fries, I swear?—”
I pick up her cell, then bark out a laugh.
Ava
Don’t forget dessert.
Kat snatches the phone and then raises a brow. “She thinks you’re handling dessert?”
I smirk, hauling her closer. “Woman, I am the damn dessert.”
I crush my mouth to hers, swallowing her laugh, her surrender, her playful words…
“Guess I better work up an appetite.”