Chapter 9 - THE WIDOW’S GAMBIT
While Luca was finalizing his affairs in Quebec, Ramona stood on the snow-covered ridge where her cabin had once sat.
The blackened ruins of the chimney stood like a lone stone monument against the winter sky, surrounded by four feet of fresh, pristine powder. Beside her, sitting on a wooden bench Neil had built twenty years ago, were the two puppies. They were three times their original size now, their thick winter coats shining, happily chewing on a dry birch branch.
A heavy diesel engine hummed down at the culvert.
Ramona turned around.
A sleek, broad-track GMC sierra truck pulled up to the clearing, pulling a broad flatbed trailer loaded with fresh, scented timbers of kiln-dried white pine, heavy stone blocks, and double-paned insulated glass windows.
Out of the truck stepped Luca Falco.
He had shed his expensive charcoal suit, wearing his heavy wool work coat, leather boots, and a wide-brimmed winter hat.
The two puppies immediately dropped their birch branch, barking joyfully as they bounded through the deep snow toward him. Luca dropped to one knee, letting the broad brindle girl lick his jaw as his big hand stroked their backs.
He stood up, walking toward Ramona across the snow.
"You're late, Mr. Falco," Ramona said, her hands tucked deep into her canvas coat pockets, her eyes shining with an emotion she no longer tried to hide.
"I had to pick up three timber trucks in Plattsburgh," Luca said, stopping two feet from her, his dark eyes taking in every inch of her face. "And I had to make sure the foundation crew was right behind me."
"A foundation crew?" Ramona asked, raising an eyebrow.
Luca stepped closer, reaching out to wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her soft, curvy body tight against his.
"I promised you a new house, Ramona," Luca whispered, his thumb gently tracing the line of her jaw. "A bigger house. With four bedrooms, a stone fireplace that doesn't leak smoke, and a broad front porch where we can sit and watch the lake freeze every autumn."
Ramona looked into his eyes—eyes that no longer held the cold, lethal shadow of a mob boss, but the warm, steady devotion of a man who had chosen his home.
May you like
"Four bedrooms?" Ramona murmured, a soft, teasing smile touching her lips. "That's a lot of space for two people and two dogs."
"We might need the extra room," Luca whispered, leaning down to press his mouth against hers in a long, deep, passionate kiss that made the cold mountain wind disappear completely. "Mountain winters are long, Ramona. And I intend to spend every one of them keeping you warm."
