And I wanted to be Rix’s.

Did his name matter when I knew his heart?

Did which side of the line he stood on matter when he made me feel safe either way?

I gave myself a mental slap. He was one of the good guys. Someday, maybe we could be seen together in public. We wouldn’t have to sneak around anymore. We could have a normal life. Together. Out in the open. I could introduce him to my parents. I could have it all.

The epiphany washed over me.

I can have it all.

I opened the door and stepped out to find my future.

VALENTINA AND HER MOTHER WALKED into the lobby side by side. Harold Noble stopped midsentence.

“There’s my girls.” He crossed the room to them and hugged Valentina.

I wanted her in my arms. Needed her in my arms.

Fuck, I just needed her.

When her father released her, her eyes finally met mine. For long moments, no one spoke.

Noble broke the silence. “Valentina, have you met—” He paused when she ran to me and threw herself into my arms.

I wrapped them around her. Thank fuck. So good.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Noble murmured.

Tears wet my shirt, and I pulled back to see her dark eyes shining with them. Using my thumbs, I wiped them away.

“No more tears, duchess. It guts me to see you cry.”

She sucked in a breath. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have gone outside. I thought it was you. I’m such an idiot. It was all my fault.”

Her words didn’t make sense. “What are you talking about?”

“The Escalade. It stopped in front of the house. I thought it was you. I went outside. You told me not to, but I didn’t listen.”

That answered the question of how they’d nabbed her, but I didn’t care anymore. Not when she was back where she needed to be. “Doesn’t matter.”

But she kept going. “And I’m sorry. I—I let them break me. I lost my grip, but I don’t want to lose you.”

“Shhh, duchess. You can’t lose me. I’m here. No matter what. And they didn’t break you. No one can break you. You’re the strongest woman I know.”

“But I walked away from you.”

I shook my head. “You threw yourself into my arms just now. Does that sound like you walked away from me?”

“I love you,” she whispered. “Don’t ever let me go.”

“Never.”

“Does someone want to explain what’s going on here?” Noble asked, his confusion obvious.

Valentina’s mother tugged at his arm. “I think it’s obvious, dear.”

I PRESSED PLAY ON THE voice mail for the fourth time.

“I’m gonna get you home safe. Stay strong, duchess. I love you. Just hold on, and I’ll be there. I’m coming for you.”

Squeezing my phone tight, I blinked back tears. Happy tears this time.

He loves me.

I’d finally said the words to him at the hospital, but he hadn’t said them back. I’d been in the shower when that realization had struck. I’d been drying my hair, robe wrapped around my waist, when I’d seen my phone on the dresser next to my purse. The voice mail icon had lit the screen when I touched it.

Rix pushed open the bedroom door, a white take-out bag in one hand. “You feeling better now that you’re cleaned up?”

I did. There was something cathartic about watching the remnants of dried blood wash down the drain. I might have cried a few more tears, but with the rush of the water, you couldn’t ever tell.

I nodded. And then my words came out quietly, colored with wonder. “You love me.”

Rix eyed me, confusion on his face. “Of course I fucking love you, duchess. I would’ve taken every bullet fired in that house today if it meant they never would’ve touched you.”

“But . . . you never said it.”

He lowered the take-out bag on the dresser and walked toward me. “I’ve been living it. Feeling it with every breath I take. Always on my mind. In every beat of my heart in my chest.”

I bit my lip as his words washed over me. “We should probably send a thank-you to D-Rock.”

Rix huffed out a laugh, shaking his head. “I’ll pass. That punk isn’t coming around your girl again.” He pressed a knee to the bed and leaned forward until his lips brushed mine. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

One less thing to worry about was certainly welcome. But what about the rest of it?

“And you being undercover? What happens next with that?”

Rix pulled away and stared down at me. “NOPD crushed the FND ring. I’ll stay under long enough to wrap up anything else I need to, and then I’m out. Done.”

“How does that work? Is it safe? Do you . . . have to leave town?”

I thought of the gallery and everything I’d have to leave behind to follow him. I would. I pictured living on a beach somewhere, a paintbrush in my hand as I stared out over the sparkling water of some tropical vista. I could do that.

He didn’t answer me immediately. “Depends on what you want. I’m not walking away from you. I can stay with the department. I got an offer to head up the gang task force when I’m ready for it.”

I can have it all.

“Do you want to stay?”

“I want to be where you are. If that’s NOLA, then I’ll stay under until the enemies I’ve made are off the streets and you’re not gonna be in danger.”

“How long will that take?” I couldn’t help but wonder if we were talking weeks, or months, or years.

A smile curled the corner of Rix’s mouth. “I got a hell of an incentive to wrap it up pretty fucking fast.”

“And then?”

“And then we start the next chapter. You and me. Out of the shadows and into the light.”

“That sounds perfect to me.”

“Good. Because it’s happening, duchess. You’re mine. Not giving you up for anything.”

“I’m not giving you up either.”

He leaned down and pressed another kiss to my lips. “I love you, Valentina.”

The words glued back together my remaining cracked pieces. “I love you too. Rix or Beau, or whoever you are.”

“Yours. That’s who I am.”

One week later

I LAID MY BADGE AND gun on the deputy chief’s desk, and it took only seconds for me to feel wrong without them. I’d only ever wanted to be a cop, and now I didn’t know what the fuck I was going to do with my life. But one thing was certain—I couldn’t stay with the NOPD.