“We are letting her go.”
I glare at him. “You aren’t the boss. I am. You can thank that stupid little cunt in there for that.”
“She ripped out my heart, too, but keeping her would make us as bad as Enrico. We aren’t the best people in the world, but we are better than him.” He pauses. “But, ultimately, that decision is up to you.”
I look at him with a raised eyebrow. “So, you are going to respect that I am the new head of the family?”
He nods. “Do I still have a job, working for you, or do I need to find employment elsewhere?”
I smile as Arlo and I shake on our new arrangement. I turn my attention toward my heartache in the hospital bed on the other side of the door. I don’t want to keep being a monster, so I’ll let her go. But I feel my heart harden as I think about Nina. My heart closes off a little more to the world.
My father used to always say that my mother betraying him was what he needed to become the leader that he was. He needed that heartbreak to become a stronger, more powerful leader. And I think, for the first time, that he might be right.
36
Nina
My heart races much too fast as the plane lands in Miami. In just a few minutes, I will get to be in my husband’s arms again. This is the moment I never thought would happen. But somehow is.
It seems like forever passes, but finally, it’s my turn to depart the plane. I stand up, my body still aching and painful from my injuries. I’ll have scars the rest of my life. Not all of them visible, but they will always stay with me and remind me of my time in Italy.
I walk off the plane, following behind the people in front of me. I don’t have a bag, nothing but the clothes on my back, and my nerves make me want to run past the slow people in front of me, but I don’t. I’m patient. I’ve waited this long. I can wait a few more seconds.
But, when I walk off the plane, I can’t hold back any longer. I quickly run through the airport, scanning the signs so that I can find the way out of the secure area and to where I know Heath and Eden are waiting for me.
The stupid signs are confusing as hell, but I finally start running in the right direction. Minutes pass as I run through the airport until I finally see them standing there.
They start running toward me at the same time that I run toward them. Alarms start going off as they run into the secured area without permission. A security guard stops Eden, but Heath gets through.
We collide together. My arms go around his neck while he lifts me up into his arms.
Tears stream down both of our faces.
And we have no words.
None are needed to express how we are feeling.
We are back together, and that’s all that matters.
Eventually, Heath starts carrying me back to the unsecured area where we are met with guards giving Heath dirty looks.
“You would do the same if you’d just gotten the woman you loved back after thinking she was dead,” Heath says.
The guards slowly back off. That’s when I see Eden trying to hold herself back because she wants me and Heath to have a moment together. But she can’t.
She throws her arms around both of us.
“I’m so glad you are safe,” Eden sobs.
We all sob.
“We tried so hard to get to you. But we weren’t even allowed into the country,” Eden says.
I wipe her tears and Heath’s and then my own. I shake my head. Of course the Carinis told the government to keep them out of the country.
“I’m glad you didn’t succeed in getting into Italy. I just wanted you both to be safe. You couldn’t have saved me anyway. I had to save myself.”
They don’t question me. They just hold me, wrapping me in their love.