Epilogue #2
Rafael watches from the front row with Persia tucked against his side.
Drake fills a chair and a half with his arm around Katriana.
Luca catches my eye during the vows and winks, the gold flecks in his eyes catching the setting sun, and I almost lose it because the wink says welcome to the family louder than any speech.
Rowan stands near the back, quiet, observant, his expression unreadable but present.
He's a mystery I bet Onyx is dying to unravel.
He thinks I don't notice, but his attention isn't on the wedding.
It's on a red envelope I watched him tuck into his breast pocket twenty minutes ago.
His fingers keep drifting to it the way Massimo's drift to his viper tattoo when his thoughts go somewhere he doesn't want to follow.
Whatever wish is written inside that envelope has Rowan Volkov's ice blue eyes looking at something the rest of us can't see.
Samuel leans against the rooftop railing in a dark suit, his broad shoulders outlined against the skyline. He watches the ceremony with careful stillness, comfortable at the edges and dangerous everywhere else.
Julian Mercer sits three rows back with a bourbon in one hand and a look on his face that might be happiness or might be calculation. Knowing Julian, it's both.
The sun drops below the skyline during the kiss.
Massimo cups my face in both hands and presses his mouth to mine and the rooftop erupts in cheers and whistles and what I'm fairly certain is Drake's voice yelling something inappropriate that makes Katriana smack his arm.
I smile against Massimo's lips and he smiles against mine.
For one perfect second the two of us stand grinning into our kiss while the sky turns gold and the city is a sea of lights beneath us.
Later. The reception winds down. Guests migrate to the bar.
Julian catches my bouquet, which I didn't even throw, he just plucked it off the table when no one was looking and tucked a peony behind his ear and raised his bourbon in a toast to himself.
Onyx cried four more times and denied every single one.
Kon carried her heels when she kicked them off on the dance floor and held them in one massive hand like they were made of glass.
My best friend was lucky with that one.
I turn to Massimo.
We both did.
I stand at the rooftop railing with the night breeze lifting the ends of my hair and the city spread out beneath me.
Massimo comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me back against his chest. His chin rests on the top of my head and his breath is warm in my hair.
I close my eyes and let the moment settle into my bones.
"I made a wish," I say softly. "Three months ago I walked into a room in this building and wrote a wish on a piece of paper and put it in a box."
His arms tighten. "I know. I’ve carried it with me every day."
“We were so caught up in each other and all the ugly stuff…I wondered but I kept forgetting to ask.”
He pulls it out and hands it to me. “When I found this I made a vow to myself to protect you. The same vow I make now.”
I turn the wish over in my hands and can’t help the tears that want to fall.
"The wish came true." I turn in his arms and look up at him.
His face is soft in the light from the reception, the hard edges smoothed, the courtroom mask gone.
Just Massimo. My Massimo. "And it all started when I dropped one red shoe. "
I glance down at my heels. "Maybe this was a Wizard of Oz retelling instead of a Cinderella do-over because it sure felt like coming home after a dangerous trip through Oz.
" I press my face against his chest and smile.
"But Cinderella got the prince. A king, actually. And I got something better. A partner."
He laughs. Low and warm. His forehead drops against mine and our noses touch. Massimo settles his hands on my hips and we stand, swaying to music.
I press my palm flat against his chest where his heart beats strong and steady beneath my hand. Sometimes the fairytales get it wrong. The princess doesn't need saving. She needs someone brave enough to stand beside her.
The clock strikes midnight and I turn my face up to my hero. Love turned us both from lonely souls into something whole. He gave me safety. I gave him a reason to stop hiding behind contracts and start living.
Thank you for reading Wicked Mafia Mistake! The sexy and dangerous fun isn’t over! Rowan’s story continues in Wicked Mafia Sinner, Book 6 of the Red Letter Syndicate and you can preorder his book here or by visiting the series age on for the Red Letter Syndicate series.
I saw something I never should have and not even a wish to the Red Letter Syndicate can save me.
Or so I thought.
The one villain willing to protect me from a man who wants me dead is someone I should never trust.
My ex’s Bratva father.
But Rowan Volkov isn’t just Bratva. He’s a force of nature. Dangerous, unyielding, and the kind of man who gets what he wants. Even if it means marrying the woman his son threw away.
He lays out his terms with a cold, deadly calm:
Wear his ring. Sleep in his bed. Play the dutiful wife until the threat is gone.
But what starts as a contract for protection quickly turns into something much darker. Rowan watches me like prey. He caresses my curves like he already owns every inch of my body. And I feel every stolen kiss is a sinful claim.
He says it’s all pretend, but the line between fake and real blurs with every night I spend in the warmth of his arms.
He saved my life. Now he wants to see two pink lines and me in a satin white dress.
Only, our time together is short. I can't promise a real forever to my fake fiancé. You see, I’m married. Unwillingly, but it’s true. I witnessed my husband end someone on our wedding night and now he’s out for my blood. When he finds me, I’ll pay for my sins.
The only question is, when the truth catches up with me, will Rowan protect me and the secret I’m carrying or will he use me like everyone else in my life?
Wicked Mafia Sinner is a protector romance with a marriage of convenience that has witty banter, a possessive villainous billionaire hero, and a spicy happily-ever-after.
Every book ends with a guaranteed happily ever after and has no cliffhanger for that couple.
Every book in this series is a full-length standalone.