“Not as important as your criminal empire,” I spit back. “That’s what’s really important to you, isn’t it?”
“Not anymore.”
He reaches out with blinding speed and takes hold of my shoulders. I try to fight him off, but he’s simply too strong. He pulls me close and presses his forehead to mine as tears begin to flow from my eyes.
Our lips almost touch. I want to kiss him, but I also want to bite him too. I want him to hug me, but I want to smash my fists against him until my bones break.
“What…what are you talking about, Anton?”
“I’m out,” he says. “I gave it up. My father is back in control. I’m no longer part of the family business.”
Anton’s words strike me like a giant’s fist. I’m reeling, as though gravity itself has ceased to function. But I’m also wary. This could all be another trick. I want to believe—with all my heart I want to believe that the man holding me in his arms is a man I can trust. That the man I love is true and loves me as much as I still love him.
And that realization hurts me the most.
I still love him…
“Anton…” I whimper. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I never lie to you, Peaches. There is a plane standing by. I can take you, your mother, and your brother now. We will leave and never return. I will let my father decide what to do with the empire now.”
“But what about your brother, Anton? You said if he—”
“He will not be part of it either,” he says. “My father will find a new heir.”
I can’t speak. What is there to say?
Happiness and sadness grip me, mix through me like electric waves, seizing my body and paralyzing me. This is all too much to handle. I feel as though I’ve been stretched as far as a human being can be stretched.
His strong chest presses against me. His scent fills my nostrils. The warmth from his breath makes me feel like I’m at home again.
Home…where I’m supposed to be.
“I love you, Mia.”
He takes my hand and lifts it, examining the finger where my ring used to be. My heart sinks. “I’m sorry, Anton. I-I threw it away. I…”
“It is okay, Peaches,” he says. “It was cheap ring anyway. I brought you a new one. A much nicer one. Look.”
He produces a small jewelry box from his pocket. Inside is a beautiful silver ring with a flawless, sparkling diamond. Beside it is a wedding band. He slides the diamond band onto my finger first. Tears pour from my eyes onto the back of my hand. The wedding band is next, and I watch as he fits a matching one to his hand.
“You are mine, Mia, and I am yours. And I am sorry for leaving you. It will never happen again.”
It’s all too much. I begin to bawl. Tears of happiness flood down my face. “God, I love you too, Anton!”
My heart bursts with joy, and I throw myself into his arms. He catches me with ease and holds me there. I don’t know for how long, but I know that I could stay there forever with the man I will spend the rest of my life with. The man who gave it all up for me.
Epilogue
Anton
Five years later…
I never saw myself as anything other than a mobster. But Mia cured me of that. She made me into something more.
A good man.
An angel for the devil. How poetic.