“Then I’ll go too!” Aerin gasps suddenly and her grip tightens on me. “Let us leave together, Dad. Please! You don’t want him here and I don’t want to be here. Please!”
“Over my dead body,” comes a sharp, wavering voice from the doorway. Turning, Allegra stands there in a black gown with mascara running down her cheeks.
“Mom,” Aerin gasps.
“I will not lose another child,” she bites out.
“You won’t lose me. I can visit.”
“Don’t be so stupid.” Anger laces Allegra’s words as she walks into the office and another tear leaks down her cheek. “You are Aerin Paramatti. No matter where you go, you will always be a Paramatti. Out there? In the world? You and that child of yours would be nothing more than a tool against your father and this family and all those people you are saving by leaving will end up back in the gutter.”
“No,” Aerin gasps. “We’ll be careful.”
“I’ll protect her,” I say firmly. “Both of them.”
“Will you?” Allegra shoots me a cold look. “Look at the state of you. How much life do you have left? You lost one friend. Another got shot. How long until someone gets this close again? Who will protect her and your baby?”
I want to tell her that I will do it. I will keep them safe until my last breath, but the more Allegra talks the more it dawns on me that the only way I can guarantee the safety of the woman I love, and my unborn child, is to leave her here.
“Mom.” Aerin approaches her mother. “I would be safe. I would be.”
“Would you?” she snaps bitterly. “Can you look me in the eye and tell me you are willing to risk the life of your baby by leaving the safety of this family?”
“Never mind the damage you would do,” Guido speaks up after another cough. “As soon as word spread that my daughter fled, those loyal to us would see weakness and go for the kill. And all those families?—”
“I get it!” Aerin snaps and a sob escapes her. She spins to face me, her face wet with tears and utter panic in her eyes. It’s a horrible decision. We’ve survived everything only to face being torn apart at the last hurdle. She doesn’t know what to do, and the war will cut her up inside.
I love her too much to allow that.
“I will leave,” I say softly.
“No!” Aerin cries and lunges at me. “Not after everything. I just got you! We just survived everything, please don’t leave me…”
As she sobs over me, I gently clutch her shoulders and draw her in close. “Aerin. This is the only way I can guarantee you and ourbabywill be safe.” It’s strange to say that word, but it rolls off my tongue like honey. “Your family can protect you. You can rebuild. You must stay.”
“No.” Her face crumples. “Don’t leave me, please don’t leave me!”
“You have to understand.” Emotion scratches at the back of my throat and my grip tightens. “You and this baby…you have to survive for me, okay? Live for me. Be safe.”
“No!”
I lean in close and slide one hand up to the side of her neck. Her big, wide eyes sparkle at me exactly like the sugar glider I compared her to, and I kiss her. The moment our lips meet, my heart breaks.
If I stay, I die.
If we leave together, I will lose them both. It’s not a worry, it’s an eventuality.
This is the only way.
Aerin clings to me desperately, kissing me hard until a guard clears his throat and I’m forced to break the kiss.
“I love you,” I say earnestly, the words catching in my throat. “I have loved you since before the cabin. And I will love you for the rest of my days.”
“I love you too,” Aerin sobs and she clutches her hands to her chest. “I love you!”
Allegra steps between us, wrapping her arms around her daughter as I’m led out of the office by a guard. Guido stops me just in the doorway, his glare hard but his words honest.
“You saved my daughter, and by leaving her here, you help save my reputation. But I cannot forgive the betrayal of your oath or the murder of my son. You understand this, don’t you?”
