"You helped me decide. I feel better about it now."
"Then you're welcome."
His gaze never strayed from Finn as he began to talk. “I know I told you already I didn't expect to have this; a family of my own. I don't know what I would have done if I'd gone through with his plan for me to marry Pepper White. Carson would have been happy, but I would have been miserable. I wouldn't have enjoyed the idea of having children, and might even have talked her out of them.”
Not knowing what to say, I remained silent while Burke rambled.
"But this, having a miniature version of myself . . ." Shaking his head, he looked back up at me. "I don't know what I'm trying to say."
Neither did I, but obviously he was grateful to have his son in his life. Even when it seemed as if it was the worst idea in the world, I'd given that to him. That was what I couldn't convince my parents of, or Danny. They didn't understand this perfect piece of heaven we'd created together, even if it only existed in the quiet moments. My parents knew they had a grandson, but they continued to ignore my attempts to reach out. It was easier to paint Burke as ruthless and cunning than to stop and think of the consequences of shutting their only child out of their lives. Never in my wildest dreams had I expected to wind up on the other side of that coin, though I'd readily flipped it.
Finally, I asked, "Do you want answers from him? Do you want him to admit that he meddled, deleting my calls and acting as though I didn't exist? Or do you want to take him out without a moment's hesitation?"
"Nothing he could say would make a difference. I knew he'd been in my phone when he replaced it with a new one and every trace of you had mysteriously disappeared from it. I assumed he wanted me to focus on the business after my miscalculation, but I didn't know at the time that he'd seen you and knew you were pregnant with Finn."
I shivered at those memories. "Nothing he could say would be an adequate excuse for what he did to us."
"No." Burke sighed, but Finn reached out, and my stern husband's face morphed. He grinned, nipping at Finn's fingers until the baby squealed with laughter. "I should have done more when I realized he tried to take this from me. He tried to take my son away from me."
"Yes, he did. And don't forget your mother abetted him."
"I can't punish her as harshly, Kinsley, even though she deserves something more than what she's gotten. She's my mother, and she fears him."
"She's blindly devoted to him," I countered.
Frustration bubbled out of him. "What would you have me do to her?"
As much as I wanted to be nasty, I couldn't. "Allow her to see Finn whenever she wants. Let the embarrassment of Carson's deceit and the resulting punishment be her cross to bear."
"Is it enough?"
"Will any of it ever be enough?" A new thought occurred to me. "Will any of Carson's men retaliate?"
"I made sure the men who were spying for him were eliminated."
Of course he did. "I think all that's left is picking a name out of a hat. Any of them can do what's needed."
"Maybe I'll let them decide who, how, and when."
"If it makes it easier for you, then do that. You don't need to feel guilty; his actions forced your hand. He had to know you'd find out and that it would seal his fate."
Burke winked at me. "I can't believe I ever thought you wouldn't be devious enough to be my partner."
It was probably as close as he would come to paying me a compliment. "Yes, well. Thanks, I guess."
One side of his mouth lifted. "Did Maddie tell you the news?"
"Yes." Frowning heavily, I took a second to phrase my thoughts properly. "I need one promise from you."
"I can guess. Anna?"
"If she even contemplates ruining this for Maddie, I get to come up with her punishment."
Burke chuckled. "It's a deal, wife."
I thought about the lonely island I used to be. I knew Burke was more like the ocean, a vast and powerful entity capable of drowning a tiny spit of land with its overwhelming force. Now we were a united island with almost everyone around us trying to sink us. Very few others understood or respected our position, or were willing to give us the benefit of the doubt. My friends, our families . . . we were left with a few loyal people with which to create our own family.
It occurred to me that Burke once said family was everything. He wasn't wrong, but it wasn't always the family one was born with who meant everything. For us, it was the one we created, the one we chose. Those who stood beside us no matter what. Despite all the missteps I'd made, I had more to be grateful for than I did before I entered Burke's world. As I loved to remind him, it was my world, too, and I would do whatever it took to keep it secure.
