“You didn’t know?” I arch a brow in disbelief as we walk up the steps. Sierra has Rowan in her arms and joyful tears are streaming down her face.
“Not until the engagement announcement was made in the paper.” Georgia folds her arms around her body. “I knew he was lying to me, and I wanted to call you, but he forbade it. I’ve been sick with worry all week. Serena was too. I was so scared he had killed Sierra,” she cries, sniffling and swiping at tears as they form in her eyes. “We knew we’d see you tonight, and we planned to corner you and demand answers.”
“Daddy! Look, Mommy is home from vacation!” Rowan yells as I approach.
Leaving Georgia, I jog forward, closing the distance with a few long strides. “I told you she’d be home soon, buddy.” I ruffle his hair as my arms encircle my family.
“I missed you, Mommy.” Rowan rests his sleepy head on her shoulder.
“I missed you too, Firecracker.” Sierra peppers kisses into his hair as she smiles at me with glassy eyes.
“Did you miss me too?” I murmur against her ear.
“So damn much.” Holding Rowan on her hip, she stretches up, whispering in my ear. “I’ll show you just how much later.”
55
BEN
“Is he okay?” I ask when Sierra materializes in the main living room a short while later. After the doc set Sierra’s hand and wrist in a cast, we took quick showers and changed while Rowan told his grandma all about his new house and his new tutor. Sliding my hands over Sierra’s naked body as I washed her in the shower had me longing to bury myself deep inside her, but with a full household and a sleepy child waiting for his mommy to put him to bed, there was no time.
“He’s fast asleep though he fought it,” she says. Her bright smile reassures me she will be okay, and I’m grateful she is so strong. She has endured a lot tonight and this past week. That she is still standing, let alone smiling, is a testament to her resilience. To think there was a time I doubted she could exist in my world. She belongs in it with me, and I know, no matter what the future brings, we will face it head-on together.
Rowan insisted on sleeping in our bed, and neither of us could refuse him. I guess our proper reunion will have to wait a little longer. But I don’t mind. I’m just glad to be going to sleep with my fiancée and son safely tucked into bed alongside me.
“Come here,” I demand, pulling her into my arms, because I can’t seem to stop touching her.
“You two are so sweet together,” Georgia says from her chair in front of the roaring fire.
I snort out a laugh. “I think that’s the first time in my life where anyone has referred to me as sweet.”
“Own it, my love,” Sierra says, swaying in my arms. “Because Mom is right. You are sweet.” She stretches up, pecking my lips. “I love you. Thank you for rescuing me.”
I brush her nose with mine. “I love you more, and I will always rescue you, Sierra, though I hope you will never need saving again.” It’s on the tip of my tongue to apologize for getting her into this mess, but I hold back because I didn’t do this.
This was all on her father and Saskia, which brings us back to why I’ve insisted on this little heart to heart.
“Amen to that,” she says, taking my hand and dragging me toward the couch across from her mother. “How is Serena?”
“Sleeping,” Georgia says. “And that nice man Alessandro is watching over her.”
Sierra lifts a brow, posing a silent question. I shrug because I’ve no idea where Alessandro’s sudden interest has come from. He held Serena in his arms the entire journey from the city, gently tending to her wound and helping the doc once he got in the car. Now he seems reluctant to leave her side. Not that I’m complaining. I know Sierra will worry about her sister, and she trusts Alessandro, so she’ll be happy he’s guarding her.
“Doc removed the bullet, and he said she’ll be fine,” I explain. “Romeo and Elisa are under Barretta’s protection, and he’s going to personally travel with them to New York tomorrow. I will have Leo pick them up from the airport. We can go too, and bring Rowan, if you want.”
She nods. “I’d like that. They are probably scared, and familiar faces will help. Rowan is going to be so happy to see his cousins.”
I top off Georgia’s glass with red wine before pouring a glass for myself and Sierra. I don’t usually drink wine, except at dinner, but I’m afraid if I hit the bourbon tonight I won’t stop. I’d like to have this conversation and take my woman to bed. It’s been a long day, and we’re all shattered. Sierra especially because she’s been sleeping on a cold, hard floor for almost a week.
A pang of guilt slaps me in the face, and I make a silent vow to do everything in my power to make up for the six days of hell she’s been through.
A contented sigh slips from my lips when I sit down on the couch and Sierra snuggles into my side. I press a kiss to her temple, closing my eyes and relishing the feel of having her pressed up against me. We sip our wine, and I can literally feel a layer of stress rising from my knotted shoulders.
“I’m so happy you found love,” Georgia says, her eyes glistening with fresh unshed tears. “I still remember how amazing it felt though it’s been a long time for me.”
“Is it true, Mom? That he wasn’t really my father?” Sierra asks, beating me to the punchline.
Shock splays across her face. “He told you that?”
Sierra shakes her head. “Saskia did.”
Sadness creeps over Georgia’s face at the mention of her daughter’s name. I don’t know if she knows I’m the one who inflicted the fatal blow, but I won’t apologize. Saskia would have killed Sierra if I hadn’t pulled the trigger.
Going into tonight, I had planned to keep her alive. No matter how she treated Sierra, I know Firefly did not want her sister to die. Barretta was always going to kill Giuseppe, and that had to happen. Part of me considered handing Saskia to the cops, to let her take the fall for Felix’s death, but giving her to the authorities would have been too risky. She was cunning enough to try to make a deal, and she knew too much. Pity, because the thought of her rotting in a jail cell for the rest of her life held a certain appeal. No, my plan had been to incarcerate her in my dungeon until Sierra decided what she wanted to do with her.
Can’t say I’m unhappy with how it turned out.
I’m glad she’s dead. She was a crazy bitch, and the world is a safer place without her in it.
Still, it must be hard for Georgia. She was her mother. Georgia has lost her daughter and her husband tonight, and I’m not unsympathetic even if I believe she’s better off without them in her life. I always remember Saskia didn’t have much time for her mother—she was a Daddy’s girl, through and through.
“I’m not sorry he’s dead,” Georgia says as if she’s read my mind. “But I hate that Saskia died.” Tears spill down her cheeks. “I know she was cruel and vindictive and selfish. She had too much of Giuseppe in her, but she was still my daughter.”
“She tried to kill me, Mom,” Sierra softly says.