Elena POV
The scent of peaches was so strong it made my mouth water, heavy and sweet in the air.
I was back in the orchard on the Vitiello estate.
The sun was high and hot, baking the earth, releasing the heady perfume of ripe fruit and dry grass.
I was twenty-one.
My white sundress danced around my legs, catching the warm breeze.
Dante was walking toward me between the rows of trees.
Gone was the tailored suit.
Instead, he was dressed in tactical gear, black and heavy, smelling of gun oil and leather.
He had just come from the shooting range.
He looked dangerous.
He looked like a god of war who had stumbled into a garden.
He stopped in front of me, blocking out the sun, casting me in his shadow.
He didn't smile often, but his eyes were warm when they landed on me.
"What are you looking at, Principessa?" he asked, his voice a low rumble that vibrated in my chest.
He reached out and tapped the tip of my nose with a calloused finger.
A silent, playful gesture.
I laughed, swatting his hand away, but the humor faded quickly.
"I'm looking at my husband," I said. "You're leaving soon."
His face grew serious, the warmth in his eyes dimming slightly.
"Just a dispute in Chicago. I'll be back before the peaches rot."
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the silver locket.
It was cool against my palm.
"Take this," I said. "So you remember who is waiting for you."
He took it.
His thumb brushed over the engraving.
E & D.
"I don't need silver to remember you, Elena," he said.
"Take it anyway."
He opened his hand.
In his palm sat a ring.
It was thick, silver, matching the locket's design.
"I had this made," he said. "A matching set. One stays with you. The other goes with me."
He slid the ring onto my finger.
It fit perfectly.
"This is our promise," he whispered, leaning his forehead against mine. "Wherever I am, this brings me back to you. Until death."
"Until death," I repeated.
He kissed me.
It tasted like peaches and gunpowder.
It tasted like eternity.
