The moment Elias has the door open, I dart past him and practically fly down the stairs.
My gaze lands on Nikolas as he pushes away from an SUV he was leaning against.
“Nikolas!” I scream, my happiness too overwhelming to contain after the longest two days of my life.
His arms open, and I throw myself against him, wrapping my legs around his waist. He holds me in the painfully tight way I’ve come to love, and intense relief pours dizzyingly through me.
“I missed you,” I sob, then I start to pepper his face with kisses, my fingers finding his jaw and relishing in his day-old stubble.
“Not half as much as I missed you, kardiá mou.” His mouth claims mine in a brutal kiss, his tongue lashing at mine as if he’s trying to familiarize himself with how I taste.
Overcome with emotion to be reunited with Nikolas, I sob against his mouth. He slows the kiss, and it becomes tender and profound, telling me he feels the same way.
When he finally frees my mouth and lifts his head, his eyes lock with mine. “The war is over.”
I nod, setting my feet back down on the ground, then I smile proudly at Nikolas. “You won.”
But we also lost.
“The funerals are tomorrow,” he says as if he read my mind, then he turns to give Athina a kiss on her forehead and shake Basil’s hand.
James is standing to the side until Nikolas says, “James, take three days off.”
“I’m okay,” my friend tries to argue.
“It’s an order.”
“Thank you, boss.”
I hug Athina quickly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
We all pile into our respective vehicles, and I immediately snuggle up to my husband’s side, asking, “Did anyone get hurt? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” He wraps an arm around my shoulders, holding me close. “We lost good men.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, feeling a little guilty because I’m so happy Nikolas survived. Taking a deep breath of his scent, I close my eyes, sending up a prayer of thanks for sparing my husband.
As the SUV moves toward the city, my thoughts turn to the funerals, and finally, I’m able to let my grief in. The past two days, I had to be strong for Athina, but now that I’m safely back in Nikolas’ arms, the full impact of what happened hits again. “I can’t believe they’re gone,” I whisper, sadness coating my words. “It’s hard to accept I’ll never see my mother again.”
Nikolas presses a kiss to the top of my head, then placing a finger beneath my chin, he nudges my face up. “I know it’s hard, but I’m here. Just lean on me if the loss becomes too heavy to bear.”
Not caring about a seat belt, I crawl onto Nikolas’ lap, and straddling him, I wrap my arms around his neck and bury my face against him.
He holds me as I finally get to mourn the loss I’ve suffered. His hand rubs up and down my back while he keeps pressing kisses to my hair, temple, and cheek.
Today I’ll cry my heart out because tomorrow, I’ll stand next to my husband, the head of the mafia, as we bury our parents, showing a united front.
They can come at us. They can wound us. But we won’t fall.
Together Nikolas and I will stand strong.
Rain pours down around us as if the heavens are also mourning the loss of our parents.
There’s a huge crowd, umbrellas forming a circle around the two graves. I don’t know most of the people and huddle closer to Nikolas as the priest says some final words.
Instead of listening, I’m bombarded with memories of Mom. How she used to love cooking. I’d always find her in the kitchen trying out a new recipe. Her laughter when she watched one of her favorite shows. Her obsession with the latest fashions. How she could put a party together without breaking a sweat.
My eyes drift closed as I remember the bedtime stories she read to me. Her hugs.
Regret fills my chest that I didn’t hug her longer when I last saw her. I shouldn’t have pulled away so soon.
Nikolas’ hand rubs up and down my back before I’m tugged tighter against his side.
I draw my strength from him, and opening my eyes, I lift my chin and watch as the coffins are lowered and our parents are settled into their final resting place. Beside each other, as it should be.
My lips part and I take a trembling breath. “When our time comes, promise we’ll meet death together. Like our parents.”
“I promise,” Nikolas murmurs. “Your final resting place will be in my arms.”
I hold onto Nikolas, my strength, my life, my reason for breathing, and once the ceremony is over and people slowly leave, we keep standing by the graves, saying our goodbyes.
Exhaustion weighs a ton on my muscles as I glance at Athina and Basil. “I don’t have energy for the wake.”
It’s being held at the Stathoulis mansion that’s been cleaned up after the attack.
“That makes two of us,” Athina mutters before letting out a sigh.
Nikolas turns to search for Andreas, and because he’s standing by an SUV with crutches, we make our way to him.
“It was a nice service,” Andreas says when we reach him.
“Will you represent us at the wake? The women are tired,” Nikolas asks his friend.
“Sure.” He leans in to kiss my cheek, earning a glare from Nikolas. “Get some rest.”
While Andreas climbs into the back of the SUV so he can head to the mansion, Nikolas calls out to Athina, “Follow us to the penthouse. We’re not attending the wake.”
She gives her brother a grateful smile.
It will just be the four of us, Athina, Basil, Nikolas, and I. As it should be. No one else will fully comprehend the loss we’ve suffered.
Once we reach the penthouse, I prepare coffee for us, and curling up on a couch, I sip on the beverage, relieved that I don’t have to interact with all the strangers who attended the funeral.
I look at my family, who three months ago, I didn’t know at all.
Now they’re my world.
