Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

Stefano leaned over the blueprints for Santo's house, pointing out every entrance and exit, every possible window that could be used as an escape. He showed the tactical team what room Santo would most likely be sleeping in and the safe room he had off his bedroom.

He left out nothing. He didn't want there to be a single chance that Santo would escape capture. The man was going down. Knowing he would be arrested and convicted for human trafficking was even sweeter than Stefano's plan to rob the man blind and leave him destitute.

In the end, that would have been a lonely existence for Stefano. He might have been rich but would have lived on the run from Santo for the rest of his life.

Stefano was exhausted and living on coffee fumes and adrenaline. He'd been grilled all day. He'd told Diane, Jagger, and everyone else everything he knew. He was a fount of information after spending four months scouring emails. While searching for the identities of the women and their possible locations, he'd stumbled upon damn near everything Santo had ever done.

He'd read dozens of emails every evening. Santo had done a shitty job of securing his passwords and information. In addition, Stefano had taken screenshots of hundreds of damning communications.

Santo was so negligent that even though Stefano had vanished ten days ago, the man hadn't changed any of his passwords. Not that it would have made a difference. Stefano had always been a brilliant hacker. He could break into just about anything.

A team of FBI agents had spent the entire day scouring emails in an effort to establish a paper trail to as many people involved in this human trafficking ring as possible so they could move in to arrest them all in a coordinated effort.

When it was go time, Stefano was grateful to Diane that she trusted him enough to allow him to watch from a distance as Santo's compound was stormed and the man was brought out in handcuffs. It was a beautiful sight.

Also arrested were the fake police officer who had kidnapped Grace and Summer, the men who had kidnapped Kalinda from the strip club in Vegas where she'd worked, the men who had abducted Roselia from her apartment, as well as at least a dozen men who'd frequented Jovani Russo's home where he'd trained the women to serve a future Master.

It was after midnight when they all reconvened at FBI headquarters to debrief, and shortly after that, Stefano found himself sitting in Diane's office across from where she sat at her desk.

This was it. She was largely in control of his fate. He'd known that from the moment he'd entered the building fifteen hours ago.

She tapped her fingers on her desk and stared at him. "The list of things I could use to nail you to the wall is long."

He nodded. A knot formed in his throat. He would accept her decision without argument. He'd made a lot of mistakes. Too many to count.

She leaned forward and set her forearms on her desk. "Faking your death was a stupid move. You should've come in, shared what you knew, and let the FBI handle Santo."

He nodded.

"However, it wasn't illegal. You didn't cause anyone to claim insurance benefits, and you aren't wanted for a crime." She sighed. "It was a crazy hair-brained idea to siphon that asshole's money into offshore accounts for fifteen years, but I'm not sure what you could be charged with for stealing blood money, and technically, you never touched any of it, so it's really just…misplaced. One could even argue that you moved it to protect your boss."

He couldn't breathe. Was she going to let him go?

"You've proved invaluable to the efforts to solve this case. Without you, we might never have found Santo, which would've meant no peace for the women who've been rescued, and Santo likely would've continued to traffic women for years to come. Without your intel over the last few months and today, we would have nothing."

Stefano's heart raced. Jesus .

She smirked. "You know…I thought about you once when we were first opening this case. When I saw the brilliance that was your communication system through those chips, I thought, Diane, you've only met one person who could've created such an elaborate plan to take down a trafficker. Too bad he died eighteen years ago in a boating accident ."

Stefano's chest began to ease.

She leaned farther forward. "It was brilliant, and the FBI can't thank you enough for your service. If I didn't think you were slightly unhinged from living eighteen years basically undercover with a solitary mission of revenge, I'd offer you a job. Instead, I think you better look for work doing backdoor hacking for one of the major credit card companies or as a private investigator. Your days working for the government are done."

Stefano drew in a breath. She was dismissing him? He didn't want to fist pump, but he was antsy. He wanted to get back to his woman. She had to be out of her mind by now.

Diane stood and waved toward the door. "Go on. Get out of here. I'm sure Roselia is pacing Jagger's house and freaking the fuck out."

Stefano rose to his feet. "Thank you." He didn't know what else to say.

She rolled her eyes. "Stay out of trouble, and don't get dead again. I'd never believe it, even if I saw your body with my own eyes."

He smiled and nodded before turning to flee the office.

Luckily, he found Jagger waiting for him in the hallway. The man grinned. "Done?"

Stefano inhaled deeply. "I think so."

"Everyone else went back to my house. You're going to need a ride. Colter drove your SUV with all your luggage to my place with Roselia earlier." He shoved off the wall. "Ready?"

"Definitely."

Stefano slowly opened the door to the room where Roselia was supposedly sleeping. He knew that was highly unlikely, but he entered silently, just in case.

She was curled in a ball under the covers. A nightlight illuminated the room enough for him to make her out. Even her head was covered, and he could hear her sobbing. It broke his heart. Hopefully, he could fix the damage he'd caused. Hopefully, she would forgive him for the million things he'd basically done to deceive her or at least keep her in the dark.

He quietly removed his shoes before moving on to his pants, shirt, and socks. In his underwear, he pulled the covers back and slid under them.

Roselia gasped when he wrapped his arms around her. She nearly pegged him with her elbow as she rolled onto her back, tugged the covers off her face, and looked at him.

For a moment, she stared wide-eyed, and then she twisted around and threw herself at him. She cried harder as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I was so scared," she cried out. "I didn't think you were going to come back to me."

"I'm right here, sweetheart." He pulled her as close as he could and rubbed her back. "I'm sorry it took so long. There was a lot to explain and then a lot of people to arrest."

She bolted upward to sit and looked down at him. "Did they arrest Santo?"

He nodded. "Yes, as well as several other people, including the men who came into your apartment and kidnapped you in your sleep."

Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. "How did they manage all of that in one day?"

"Time was imperative. Eventually, Santo would've fled. I was able to provide a lot of information because I got into Santo's emails. Weeding through them alone at night for the past few months was tedious, but today, a large team of people worked on gathering intel as fast as possible until we were finally able to make arrests in a coordinated fashion."

She reached out and touched his lips. "You're here. Do you have to go back?"

"No, sweetheart." He wrapped his fingers around hers and kissed the tips. "I've been excused."

Tears ran down her cheeks as she continued to stare at him.

He sat next to her and pulled her into his arms. "Can you forgive me for keeping so much information from you for nine days?"

She sniffled, her fingers gripping his shoulders as she nodded against him. "I know you were trying to protect me."

He leaned her back and cupped her cheeks so he could look her in the eye. "How are all the other women?"

"Good, considering. We spent a lot of time today with the psychologist, Carol. I promised to set up regular appointments with her next week. She seems very understanding and nice. I liked her."

"How was Gemma?" he asked softly.

"If you're wondering if she wants to kill you in your sleep, you're safe. She was shocked and upset when she realized you'd been in a relationship with her mother. Granted, so was I. You failed to tell me that."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. There was so much to tell you. I couldn't cover it all this morning. We didn't have time." He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs.

"Gemma will forgive you. She was very young when her mother died, but she knew her mother was unhappy and felt trapped. She wasn't really all that shocked to find out she'd been having an affair."

"It was eighteen years ago, Rose. I was so bitter and angry at the time, but as the years passed, I continued on my mission anyway. I knew Santo was a very vile human being, even though I wasn't aware until recently that he'd been trafficking women. I knew in my gut he was a bad person, so I had no remorse when I stole all of his money."

She gasped, eyes wide. "You stole his money?"

He chuckled. "Yes. I gradually moved it all to offshore accounts that weren't in his name. He has no access to anything. He didn't even realize it. I turned all the account information over to the FBI today."

She blew out a relieved breath. "Good. I was afraid you were going to tell me you still had it."

"I never cared about the money. I only cared about ruining Santo."

"And Diane let you go?"

He smiled. "Not gonna lie. I was scared she would have me arrested for a while, but she thought the good I'd done outweighed the bad, and she let me leave. She suggested I seek work in the private sector as a hacker or in security." He smiled broader. "I'm not exactly going to be welcome in government positions."

"Now what?"

"Now we find a place to live in this area so you can be close to the other women. You'll need them. They have a strong bond and a solid friendship. I'll get a job, and you can go to college."

Her eyes widened. "I can't afford college."

"I can." He held her closer. "We can't live a lifetime on my savings, but we'll be fine for several years while you go to school and I figure out what to do next."

"Some of the girls were talking about opening a non-profit to fight human trafficking. Maybe they need a good hacker?" she teased.

"Maybe they do. It's not a bad idea," he responded.

Several seconds ticked by before she whispered, "Are you really going to stay with me?"

He didn't hesitate. "Until I die, sweetheart."

"I need you inside me." She glanced at the door to the bathroom. "That damn bathroom connects to another room. I'm not very quiet when you're inside me."

His entire body shook as he chuckled. "That's true. Whoever was sleeping in there got picked up a few minutes ago when we all got to the house. Plus, I don't really care who hears you as long as I do." He plucked at the shoulder of her T-shirt. "If I bought you sexy lingerie, would you wear it?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Probably not. I like your shirts because I like the way they smell like you."

He reached for the hem and pulled it over her head before tossing it to the floor. "I like the smell of you, too, preferably naked with my mouth on your pussy."

She whimpered as she dropped onto her back. "I'm not opposed to that idea."

He pushed the covers out of their way, climbed between his woman's legs, and stared down at her. "You're so fucking gorgeous. You have no idea." He set his hands on her inner thighs and pushed them wider.

She glanced down. "Except for the tattoo. Everyone else has gotten theirs removed. I want to do that as soon as possible. I hate it. There's a female doctor they all used."

"We'll make an appointment first thing in the morning." He scooted down her body, leaned over her pussy, and inhaled deeply. "Your scent is intoxicating."

She grabbed his shoulders. "Stefano…"

"I love the sound of my name on your lips."

"Is it? Your name, I mean? You seem to have had a lot of aliases."

He grinned. "That's true, but yes, Stefano is my name. That's why I asked you to call me that as soon as I found you. I at least wanted our relationship to start off with my real name coming from your lips."

"Put your mouth on me, and I'll moan it for you."

He didn't waste a second honoring her request. The moment he dragged his tongue through her folds, she lifted her hips off the bed and moaned out his name as if it had ten syllables. " Stefano …"

He loved the way she writhed beneath him, making it difficult for him to keep his tongue aimed at his target. It didn't take long for her to cry out her release, her hips bucking against his mouth as she dug her heels into the mattress.

As she floated back down to earth, he realized he needed a condom. "Be right back." He shoved from the bed, located their bags against the wall, and quickly grabbed a condom from their combined toiletries. He even stopped to stare at the contents of the bag for several moments.

His chest felt tight as he realized how much they'd blended their lives in such a short time. His shaving cream was tossed in the bag with her tampons. Her brush was in there next to his deodorant. Call him kooky, but his heart swelled. God, he loved her.

"Stefano?"

He hurried back to her, already rolling the condom on his cock.

She reached for him.

He climbed over her. "I love you, Roselia."

"I love you, too, Stefano, but I'll love you more when you stop stalling and slide into me." She spread her legs wider and arched her hips off the bed.

Fuck, but she was sexy. He could look at her all night. But she was also needy, and he would never deny her, so he climbed up her body, dropped onto his knees, and watched her expression as he thrust into her tight body.

Her head tipped back, and all the air left her lungs. She'd never been so beautiful. He would remember this moment for the rest of his life.

She's mine. She wants me, and she's mine .