Page 107 of Modern Romance September 2026 Books 5-8

“A deal has been brokered with five of the nine families that I need to make bargains with. Agreements set in place. But the last four… One of them is Renzo’s family. And the remaining three…they have the closest alliance with him.”

“You need to call Renzo,” I say.

“I do not need advice from you for how to manipulate a crime empire, I thank you.”

“I didn’t say that you needed me, but I’m right here with great advice, so withholding it would be a little bit selfish of me.”

He stands there for a moment, a muscle twitching in his jaw. Then he picks up his phone and punches a spot on the screen. “Renzo. You have my solemn promise that I will leave you and Vittoria alone, never pursue you, never attempt to split you apart, as long as you fulfill this one thing for me. We need the Suzuki, Pavlov and Reddy families to agree to a cease-fire. And a treaty. I know that you have the connections to make that happen.”

I can’t hear what is said, but I do hear the timbre of another man’s voice on the phone.

“Call me when it’s done.”

“So just like that, you’re going to get a bunch of crime families to agree to lay down their weapons?”

He looks at me, a bleak sort of expression on his face. “There were active members who needed to be neutralized in order to bring us to this point.”

“Your men had… They killed people.”

“Very bad men. Who needed to be put down.”

“And you kept your hands clean this time.”

“If you give the order to pull the trigger you might as well have done it yourself. And I have no attachment to having clean hands. It is simply not a concern of mine. Now. If we are able to pull this off, you will be free.”

My body is still humming with the effects of what just happened. I can hardly process what he’s saying. “What do you mean I’ll be free?”

“It means that your life is no longer in danger, and you don’t have to stay on the island.”

I notice he doesn’t say I’ll be free of him.

I feel relieved by that, which is wrong in so many ways. I should want to go back to my life. But he has become so much of my life; this baby has become so much of my life.

I’m not sure who I am or what I want anymore.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Ciro

IT’S IN THE early hours of the morning that the call comes through. The final three agreements have been signed, terms have been laid out and everything is neutralized.

The truth is, the younger generation is tired of looking over their shoulders. Tired of having their necks on the chopping block. The removal of many of the patriarchs has created this freedom. And we owe special thanks to the youngest family leader, and only female crime lord—Angélica Montes. Her father was brutal. Ruthless and one of the most dangerous men in all the world.

Angelica neutralized him herself.

And now she sits on his throne, ready to change everything. To release all the women in bondage that he sold during his tenure, and to make sure that these things don’t continue to happen.

It’s an alliance now, of people invested in ending the old ways. And now that that’s settled, I’ve made my decision.

What happened last night settles it.

Lindsay is mine. The child is mine. We will leave here, and we will start a new life.

The idea of sending her away is now impossible.

From the moment I entered her body, I knew she was going to be mine. Regardless of whether or not she’s trying to manipulate me. Regardless of anything.

I was her first. And I will be her last.