She should’ve stayed put. She should’ve let me take care of her. I could’ve protected her. However, what happened to her is my fault. She made her decisions, wrong as they may have been, based on my actions. I’ve never shied away from taking the blame when it’s mine. I can’t bring her mother back, but I will make those men pay for what they did to her if it’s the last thing I do.
She rounds the table, but I catch her around the waist before she can escape.
My words are teasing, yet underneath the surface, their meaning is serious. “Don’t I get a goodbye kiss?”
Arching her back, she leans away. “Kisses are for people who care.”
It’s true. Since I’ve found her, I’ve fucked her twice, but we haven’t kissed once. The peck I stole in front of Noah doesn’t count. That was just to make a point, staking my claim. Kisses show affection—real kisses, that is.
I cup her jaw, holding her in place when she tries to look away. If my words carry a hint of cruelness, it’s because her rejection gets under my skin. “Sooner than you think, you’re going to beg me to kiss you.”
She laughs through the pout in which my grip forces her lips. “In your dreams.”
I let her go because I’m too close to slamming her chest against mine and shoving my tongue down her throat. The need is a tsunami building inside me, threatening to wreck everything in its wake once that destructive wave breaks.
Noah and Jasper appear in the doorway.
Noah runs over. “Can I play outside, Mommy?”
“Sure, sweetheart.” Her voice sounds a little hoarse. “As long as you don’t go into the street.”
Jasper drops her bag on the table. “The men are in the yard.” She cuts an accusing look my way. “None of us will go far.”
Oblivious to her meaning, Noah takes my hand. “Do you want to play soccer with me?”
A smile tugs on my lips as unfamiliar warmth spreads through my chest. I go on my haunches. “I’d like that, but I have to take care of important business first. How about this weekend? I promise I’ll teach you a few new moves.”
Throwing his arms around my neck, he hugs me with all his might. “Thank you, Dante.”
Emotions overwhelm me. This must be the sweetest moment of my life. I hug his small body back, holding my son against me until he lets go.
Kissing his forehead, I say, “I’ll come by later when I’ve finished my work.”
His whole face lights up. “Promise?”
I remind myself to never disappoint the unconditional trust he’s giving me. I vow here and now not to lie to him or break a promise I make him.
When I straighten, I catch Tatiana’s gaze on us. The look in those green eyes is tender and sad, yet also frightened. If I could, I would’ve given her the reassurances she craves—that she won’t get hurt and that she’ll be fine—but how the future turns out depends on her. All I can promise her is that I’ll keep her safe and that she’ll never need for anything, neither money nor a man who’ll avenge her scars and kill for her.
I can however assure Noah that I’ll keep my word.
I hold out a hand and shake his. “On my honor.”
Leaving Noah and the women with Reino and Ulysses, I take Kent and drive back to the hotel where I email my investigator, giving him the information Tatiana shared with me about the other man who came after her. Then I work until the afternoon. Or rather, I try to work. My mind isn’t on the business, though, at least not the legal part of it. My thoughts are with Lee as the hour of reckoning creeps closer… and with an adoring, trusting four year-old and a feisty, unforgiving woman.
At four, I give up on trying to concentrate on the new liquor supply contracts that came through. Even though I busted my balls to secure those deals for Sav, I’m not invested in making sure our potential business partners sign them. I’m much too eager to get back to the humble house where Tatiana is working.
I park in the driveway and go around the back. Jasper sits on a garden chair under a tree with a magazine in her lap. Reino stands on the side with his hands folded in front of him, a pair of aviator sunglasses obscuring his eyes, but I have no doubt he’s enjoying the view. He’s made no secret about liking Jasper.
Good luck to him. Jasper has always walked the straight and narrow. Maybe that’s why she and Tatiana got along so well in school. She’s not a one-night-stand type of girl. She’s more the solid relationship kind who wants a ring, a good man, and forever. Guys like us are a big red flag on her list for husband material.
Noah is flying a paper plane around the yard that he lands on shrubs and branches. He comes running when he sees me. When he bounces off again with his plane, I pull Reino aside.
“How did it go?”
I’m not expecting trouble, but I keep guards on the property around the clock. It never hurts to be cautious. As far as my intel goes, Teszner doesn’t know I’ve found his sister. He’s still gambling and drinking away his inheritance in New York City, making debt and enemies as far as he goes.
Reino tells me now that Noah can play freely in the yard, he’s always outside. Jasper keeps an eye on him while Tatiana works inside the house. My men do the heavy lifting.
