“The patron,” she says with a smile.
Something strange happens inside of me. Reina’s smile is disconcerting—the girl never fucking smiles—and my heart starts to race. The Jeep’s door opens, and a woman steps out. She stands there, staring at me.
Adrienne.
I drop my gun. It hits the ground with a clatter. I rip off the Velcro holding my blood-spattered Kevlar vest and toss it aside. I take a step forward and she stands there, wearing black jeans and a simple sweater and looking like heaven and hell and everything I’ve always wanted. My hands tremble and I don’t know if I’m going to collapse from joy or crush her mouth with mine. She stares at me with those perfect eyes and lovely lips and doesn’t move.
I take another step forward.
“You did this?” I say.
She nods, holding back a smile. “I came back.”
“The money. You used your family’s money.”
“Are you surprised?”
“You perfect fucking woman.” I stride forward now, eating up any distance between us. She laughs as I wrap my arms around her and pull her tight against my chest. I embrace her like I’ll fall to pieces if I don’t hold her tight, and fucking hell, I think I might. I could crumble to dust and ash if I don’t kiss this girl right here, right now.
I press my lips to hers and drink her in.
It’s everything I’ve dreamed about since she left. I’ve been a shallow, hollow mess of a man without her, and now that she’s here, standing at the head of a goddamn German militia army, I realize I was a fool to send her away. Adrienne didn’t need my protection. She didn’t need to be coddled and babied.
She needed to be encouraged.
Because this is what she could become if only she had the strength to stand on her own.
“Are you happy I’m back?” she whispers, grinning as she stares into my eyes.
“Happydoesn’t describe it. I missed you so badly it was like I woke up missing my limbs every morning. I dreamed about you. I thought I could taste you in those hours in the night when I was still half asleep. I needed you like my blood, Adrienne.”
“Yeah, I missed you too.” She kisses me gently. “Everyone’s staring, you know.”
“Fuck everyone. I love you, Adrienne. Agapi mou, my little killer, I love you and I’m never going to be apart from you again.”
Her eyes shine like beacons in the moonlight. “Assuming that’s what I want?”
“Fuck what you want.”
“That sounds right, but we’re in luck, because I love you too.”
I kiss her hard and hold her tight and wonder how the hell I got so lucky, so damn lucky, to have a woman like this.
Adrienne greets Reina and speaks briefly with Dieter as the Germans clean up and get ready to move out. They release the staff with stern warnings and the people scatter into the night. “I’ll drive back with her,” I say and get behind the wheel of the Jeep. Adrienne sits in the passenger side and leans her head on my shoulder.
Reina leans into the passenger side window, not smoking for once.
“Will you two be okay?” she asks. “Rastus is dead and the Filos are mostly finished, but we’re not out of the woods yet. There are more deals to be made.”
“We’ll be okay,” I say and Adrienne nods.
“Better than okay,” she says.
“Right. Good. Enjoy all the fucking you’ll do.” Reina lights a cigarette and walks off.
“Too damn French,” Adrienne says with a sigh.
I take her hand in mine and start driving away. Instead of heading to the city, I decide to make a detour toward my family’s house. “We’ll hole up there for a few days.”