“What happened?” I ask because I know my father did something to stop her.
She drops her hand into her lap, and I let mine fall to my side. “I was packing my weekend bag the following morning when I received a text. It was from an unknown number, but I knew it was Greg.” She worries her lower lip between her teeth and her brows scrunch up. “It was a picture of a pregnant woman lying on the ground in a pool of blood with a bullet hole in her skull.” Her lower lip wobbles, and I pull her into my arms, unable to quell the urge to comfort her. “I was terrified, Vander. I threw up repeatedly, and I couldn’t stop shaking and crying.”
I smooth my hand up and down her back, loving the feel of her against my chest but hating the pain emanating from her every pore. Even now, after all this time, with the threat passed, I feel her distress. “I couldn’t get on the plane, Vander. I couldn’t take that risk.” She pins troubled eyes on me. “I wanted to tell you but not at the expense of my life and our unborn child’s life. I knew Greg was psychotic enough to go through with it. The fact he even sent me that picture confirmed he didn’t care about his grandchild. Nothing mattered more to him than hurting you. I will never understand why he was hell-bent on hurting you or how someone can be so evil.”
“No sane person can understand the mind of a psychopath. There’s no way of comprehending how people can do such evil things. I lived with him a long time, and I spent most of my college years in therapy trying to figure out why he hated me so much, but we’ll never have the answers because we’re not evil. We’re not devoid of empathy or normal human emotions. We’ll never be able to relate to a monster like him.”
“The only good he ever did was bring you into the world.” She slides her hands up my chest and circles them around my neck. Her spicy, floral scent lingers in the air, and I tighten my arms around her and squeeze my eyes shut.
This, us, is all that matters.
My father tried to deny me a life with Kendall and my daughter, but he hasn’t succeeded.
“West tried too,” she adds, brushing her lips against my cheek. “It was three years ago. He flew to New York for the opening of your gallery there. A lot like your experience, he was ambushed, kidnapped, and beaten within a block of your studio.” She eases back so she’s looking into my eyes. “I’d hoped he might have forgotten about me, but he hadn’t. I felt so guilty for agreeing to let West try.”
“I’m sorry, Kendall.”
“It’s not your fault. You don’t ever apologize for what that man did to us.”
I tip her head back. “That’s not what I’m apologizing for. I’m apologizing for last night. For doubting your actions. All you’ve ever done is protect those you love.” I hold her face in my hands. “You couldn’t have done anything else. You tried, and I can’t fault you for prioritizing your safety and Iris’s.” I press my lips to her brow. “I love you,” I say against her soft skin. “I never stopped.”
She eases back, tilting her chin up, fixing me with glassy eyes. “I love you too, Vander. I never stopped either. I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve been counting down the days until we could be together again. Even during my darkest days, I still believed in us.”
My eyes lower to her lush mouth, and I can’t wait a second longer to taste her. I kiss one corner of her mouth, silently fist pumping the air when she visibly shivers. My heart beats steadily against my rib cage as I kiss the other corner of her mouth. She whimpers, melting against me as I glide my lips against hers, just as the door to the office bursts open.
“Mommy! I got student of the week!” a girl with a cute little voice says.
A messy ball of emotion lodges in my throat as I drag my lips and my arms away from Kendall and look over at my daughter.
Stella stands behind Iris with her mouth hanging open and her eyes out on stalks.
Iris stares at me, and I’m rooted to the spot as I look at my daughter for the first time. My heart is pounding furiously, and the vein in my neck is throbbing like crazy. Iris is even prettier in the flesh, and she exudes goodness and light and everything right in the world. Her blue eyes get bigger as she stares at me, neither of us breaking eye contact. Kendall hasn’t budged beside me, waiting to see how Iris reacts before she makes a move, I expect.
“Daddy?” Iris says as a huge smile breaks out on her face. “You came home!” I barely have time to register my shock at her words before she runs at me and throws her slim arms around my neck.
My arms encircle her automatically, and I hug her close, inhaling the scent of strawberries and peaches from her hair, basking in the warmth of her little body clinging to mine. My eyes meet Kendall’s over our daughter’s head, and I’m not surprised to see she’s crying. Very gently, I lift Iris onto my lap so I can slide one arm around her mother. Stella discreetly exits the room, closing the door. “Does it hurt?” Iris says, tugging not too gently on my eyebrow ring.
“Sweetheart, be careful,” Kendall says. “It will only hurt if you pull on it.”
“Oops.” She giggles, and it’s the best fucking sound in the world. Her small hands land on my cheeks, and she smiles. “Hi.”
I can barely make my vocal cords work. My daughter is putting me to shame. “Hi, Iris.” I press a kiss to her hair, and when she rests her head on my chest, I have an uncharacteristic urge to burst into tears like a teenage girl. Kendall is barely holding it together either.
“Daddy,” Iris says, and I’m practically a puddle of goo on the floor at this stage.
“Yes, princess.” I dust more kisses into her hair as Kendall leans her head on my shoulder, and I tighten my arm around her.
“I have an art studio in my new house, just like the one Mom says you used to have.” She lifts her head, staring at me with so much trust and confidence in her eyes I am completely blown away. “Can we paint together when we go home?”
Kendall opens her mouth to say something, but I get there first. “Absolutely. As long as it’s okay with Mommy.”
She jumps around on my lap, turning to face her mom. “Can we, Mom? Pretty please.” Her eyes dance with excitement as she claps her tiny hands together and pins pleading eyes on her mother.
“Sure.”
“Yay!” Iris flings her arms around Kendall. “You’re the best mommy in the whole wide world.” Turning to me, she throws her arms around my neck and plants a wet kiss on my cheek. “And you’re the best daddy ever. Now you’re here does that mean you won’t be traveling for work ever again?”
I don’t know what Kendall has told her, but the fact my daughter knows things about me warms my heart. I should not have doubted Kendall would tell her who I am.
“Sweetheart.” Kendall interjects before I can speak this time. “Let’s not bombard Daddy with questions until after you’ve done your homework. Daddy and I are going for a walk, and Stella will help you.”
She frowns. “My daddy’s coming with us though, right, Mom?”
“Right,” I say because this isn’t in any way negotiable. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.
Kendall pins me with warning eyes, but I stare back at her, letting her see everything I’m feeling. Iris babbles away to me as she takes books out of her book bag while Kendall calls Stella. I can’t stop staring at my bright, beautiful, confident, little girl, marveling at this perfect little creation crafted from unflinching love that has survived successive lifetimes. If there is anything I have done right in this world, it’s contribute to her existence.