“I love you. I won’t leave you.” I give him the words he needs to hear.
We wash up and head to bed. Before we climb in, he stops me.
“I have something for you.”
He hands me a box, and I open it. Inside, wrapped in tissue paper, is a butter-soft leather vest with my name on the front.
Sugar
I smile, but when I flip it around and see the property patch on the back that readsProperty of Kodiak, I jump at him.
“Yes, I’ll be your old lady.” I kiss him all over his face, but he pulls back.
“I wasn’t asking, baby. You’re both mine. Keep looking in the box. I have a gift for Oly too. We don’t do property patches for kids, but I had a protected by vest made for her. Just so she wouldn’t feel left out.”
I slide down his body and peer into the box. In the bottom, wrapped in more tissue, is a small vest that says Protected by Kodiak. I can’t stop the tears. Ugly ones spill over at the joy that he wants her to be a part of his life too.
“I want to adopt her as soon as I can.” Rylan shocks me even more.
Now is the time. He helps me climb into bed and lies beside me. We’re facing each other.
“Her birth certificate doesn’t have a father listed. I can have you added to it, but Holden had new birth certificates made for both Oly and me.” I pause.
“I was born Mariah Afton. I hadn’t had a chance to change my name to Jean-Louis’s before he was murdered.” The rest catches in my throat, and it’s as if I’m right back there in that alley.
“We’d just left the bistro where Jean-Louis was the manager and were heading home to our small flat. Silas stepped out of the darkness and directed us down an alley.” I swallow the spittle in my mouth, and my breathing picks up.
Rylan pulls me into him. I hold on to him like a lifeline. I’m drowning in my emotions and memories. I realize I’ve never really had a chance to mourn Jean-Louis or my innocence.
“I begged Silas to leave Jean-Louis alone. He told me it was too late, that he must have loved me already.” My voice trails off for a moment.
“He shot Jean-Louis in the chest. I screamed for help, but no one came. I remember his blood seeping from his body through my fingers. Silas just laughed and said he lost his heart for loving me. No man was ever going to love me. He said that even though my father sold me to a billionaire in Dubai, he wouldn’t get me. I was meant to be Silas’s because he couldn’t have my mother.” I pause as I wait for him to say something, anything.
“He’ll never have you. You and Oly are mine.”
I look up at him. “My father sold Olympia to some other family. He said we were worth more sold separately. That was the day I ran the first time. They caught me before I had her. She was born Olive Afton. The next time I ran, I made it to Sparrow House. The family that wanted Oly didn’t want her until she was closer to five. It’s the only reason my father let me keep her.”
“I’ll fucking kill him for trying to take our baby from us.” Rylan pulls me in close, and we fall asleep in each other’s arms.
CHAPTER
TEN
MARNIE
“Baby, wake up.” Rylan shakes my shoulder gently.
Opening my eyes, I realize he’s fully dressed. The room is completely dark.
“Power is out. I’ll kick on the generator when I get back, but you should be warm enough until then. I have a fire going in the fireplace. Icarus is on his way to sit with you.”
I sit up and look around. “Where are you going?”
“I have a building that is damaged from the wind. You stay here. The shop is going to have to be closed for the day. There is no power is parts of Wasilla.”
“Are you sure?”
“They are calling for people to only be out as necessary, so don’t chance it. If you have to go, have Icarus stay with Oly here and you take Juneau. Have him call in an officer to go with you. Okay?”
