every inch of our beings, fuelled by each other's strength. It was strange that I'd never realised he was headed my way when I’d been alone in the dark all those months. But now he was here, I realised we were bound so deeply that I didn't have to fear ever losing him again. Where his soul went, mine would follow. And into eternity, we would be together, just two savage creatures who could never be caged.
6 months later…
I carried Winter in my arms and she laughed as she tucked her head against my neck, asking for the hundredth time where I was taking her. It had been a long drive and she’d stoically played my game, keeping the silk blindfold tied around her eyes since before I’d come to collect her this morning so she hadn’t even laid her eyes on me yet. She’d sat patiently in the car as we talked about all the things we’d missed about each other with her eyes covered and even when I’d parked up and let Tyson out, she’d still resisted the urge to peek, letting me carry her from the car so that I could pull off the surprise exactly the way I wanted to.
Two weeks was too long for us to be apart, but I’d had to help Frankie consolidate our ties with the Santiago Cartel in Mexico and there was no way I was going to bring Winter somewhere so dangerous. Not while they were at war. And despite her healthy cursing and demands for me to stop treating her like a lady and let her be an animal with me, I’d managed to get her to stay behind. Of course she’d instantly taken on a job with Enzo the moment I was out of the country which could arguably have been considered more dangerous than what I was doing anyway.
Despite my constant protests, Winter was well and truly a part of the family business now. Papa had christened her the Red Widow when threatening our enemies with her and the name had stuck, circulating around the city and whispered behind hands with fear. The beautiful girl with the blood red hair who was covered in scars and could kill a man three times her size in less than thirty seconds. Not that she’d actually been doing any work as a hit woman for us around the city, but her scars had given root to countless rumours and tales about their origins. The most popular of all was that she had a scar for every man she’d killed, which had sent the Sinners Bay gossips into overdrive when photos of the two of us at the beach got leaked online over the summer.
It went against all of my instincts to let her keep putting herself in danger by working for the family, but of course that fell on deaf ears and if I tried to stop her, she just went around me anyway. It was fucking infuriating and I was sure it was an argument we’d be having for the rest of our lives because we were both too stubborn to back down about it. But I had to admit that she could more than hold her own even with my crazy family surrounding her, so maybe I was worrying for nothing. Not that I could help it. It was in my blood to protect her at all costs. Though at least for the next few weeks, I was pretty confident I didn’t have to. Aside from fully immersing herself into the Romero lifestyle, she’d also spent time sorting through all of the memories that had come back to her and we’d managed to track down her mom too. Winter was slowly figuring out who she used to be alongside who she was now and blending the two pieces of her soul together as she healed and grew more certain of who she was and what she wanted every day. She now had plans to set up women’s refuges across the state with the diamonds she’d taken from Ramon, creating safe havens for those in need like she had once been.
There was a damn good reason for me fearing for her safety still though. One week after we’d sunk Ramon and his fancy yacht to the bottom of the sea, a letter had arrived with my name on it. Inside was a single line, handwritten especially for me.
Julio Dominguez sends his regards to the Romeros, we look forward to