Page 124 of The Devil’s Lair

I guess I should’ve expected her to reach out sooner or later. Sighing, I open the message.

Felicity

I don’t want to put pressure on you, but have you thought anymore about letting me see Isla?

It’s nothing like the Felicity I used to know. For one thing, it’s polite. The mother in me can’t help feeling a bit of sorrow for her loss. Despite Marcus’s cruelty to me, he was her son, and he’s dead. If Marcus had any good parts, then every one of them is stitched into Isla. Would it hurt to let Felicity see her granddaughter? Especially now I have Tobias’s support and protection?

“Haven’t you finished yet, slowcoach?” Tobias stands by the door to our bedroom, one hand casually slipped inside his trouser pocket, his boyish grin making my insides twist.

I brandish my phone in the air. “Text from Felicity distracted me.”

“Ah. Chasing you for a decision?”

“Yeah.”

“And have you made it?”

“I think I have.” I look down at her message again, then up at the kind eyes of my husband. “I’m going to let her see Isla.”

He pulls in his lips, rubbing them together. “I thought you might come to that decision.”

“Why?”

He’s quiet when he answers, his reply preceded by a quick glance at the bedroom door where Isla is. “Because, unlike your dead piece of shit husband and your vile former mother-in-law, you are a good person. You think of others and their feelings when making decisions.”

I rub the back of my neck. “You think it’s the wrong one?”

“I think it’s the right one. For you.”

“You’d choose differently?”

He chuckles, moving farther into the living room. “Oh, yeah, I’m far more vengeful. I’d tell her to fuck off and smile while I did it.”

“It just feels like the right thing to do for Isla. You’ll come with us, won’t you?”

He crouches beside me and tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. “I’ll be right by your side.”

I prop my forehead on his shoulder. Having his unwavering support means everything, especially with my background, where I’ve always felt alone. I’m not alone anymore. “Thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank me, Wren. I’m your husband. By your side is where I’m supposed to be. Always.”

“I… I’ve been thinking about something.”

“Uh-oh. I wondered what the grinding noise was.”

I stick out my tongue. “Funny.”

He rises to his feet and throws both arms out to the sides. “That’s me.”

I get up, too, wincing at stiff legs from sitting on the floor for too long. “I want you to adopt Isla. Only if you want to, of course.”

His lips part, and he looks at me, then behind him into our bedroom, where the sound of Isla humming drifts through the door. When his gaze returns to mine, his eyes are glistening. “It would be the greatest gift of my life, and the greatest honor. I’ll do my best to be a good dad to her.”

“She couldn’t wish for anyone better.” I press a kiss to his cheek. “Love you.”

“I love you. So much.” He stares into my eyes, his soft and warm and all Tobias. “Now, get back to work, lazy arse. You have boxes to unpack.” I grab a cushion and toss it at his head.

He easily palms it away. Laughing, he returns to the bedroom. Five minutes later, I’m still staring at the empty doorway, thanking God for good fortune and Tobias De Vil.