Page 128 of In the Dark

He hummed. “And nothing will, Jas.”

“I’m not so sure, Callahan.” I glanced at the dark window where the sea had swallowed up my uncle.

“I am. Nothing on that card is going to change how I feel about you.”

“And how is that?”

“Like I’m in love with you. Like I want your belly full of my babies for years to come. Like I can’t live without you, and I’ll take down a whole coast if they try to make me do that.”

I sighed and felt the emotions bubbling up inside me again. Tears sprang to my eyes. “What am I going to tell Tía and my cousins?”

“Whatever the hell you want, baby.” He pulled me close and rubbed my arms up and down. “Tell them I did it and you had no say, if you want. Tell them, and I’ll be there with you every step of the way.”

For some reason, him there with me every step reminded me that I was safe. Safe to feel the pain of betrayal, safe to feel sadness, safe enough to cry.

I broke down in his arms, and he let me. I cried for minutes or maybe hours, but it didn’t matter. I cried.

I let myself feel.

And I hadn’t done that since I was a kid who’d lost her parents in the most gruesome way.

I finally sniffled and looked up at him. “We should probably look into the SD card.”

“If you want. Or we can wait until we’re home.”

“What if I never want to look?”

“Then we won’t. We have everything we need here, Viper.” He put his hand on my belly as he kissed me. “What’s on a card won’t change a damn thing.”

My eyes welled with tears again. “I can’t stop crying, and I don’t cry. I think being with you broke me.”

“Or saved you.” He chuckled and pulled me into his lap. “It’s okay to cry, Viper. Shows you care, and caring is the biggest strength of all.”

“I think you’re right.” I pulled him in for a kiss. “Maybe I really did need a knight in shining armor, and maybe you might just have saved me after all.”

Epilogue

Jasmina

THE SD CARD WAS full of evidence against my uncles, and the only code I needed was the numbers in the lullaby to sign in with the password.

Callahan was right that there was nothing in there that would change our lives except for the fact that the trust was real.

That my baby was well taken care of.

But really, the money wasn’t for my child.

It would be for the women who’d been hurt by the business all the years prior.

Callahan worked with his brother to make sure we continued to do right by them, and I did all I could too as my belly grew and grew.

I was twenty weeks pregnant, according to the doctor who’d just stopped by our estate.

“I’m firing that man,” Callahan grumbled after he left while I hummed around the spare bedroom that used to be mine.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“He touched your belly one too many times.”