“And that was enough for you to tell me he was dead?”
“It was so long ago I can’t remember.”
“Please, think,” I practically beg.
He’s silent for a minute, then he coughs again. “I asked around. I even called the DA.”
“And . . . ?”
“Eventually, I was told that the boy had gone missing and that he was most likely dead. The hit was for his father . . . so everyone assumed they got to him, too.”
“And you didn’t look into it?”
“Things were crazy then. I had more important things to do than look for a criminal’s kid.”
“Dad.” I stop him because I don’t want to hear any more about how everyone failed Tobias.
“I had you, Skye. You needed me.”
“Maybe he needed someone,” I whisper, and I’m not sure my dad hears, but I know Tobias does.
I pull back and look up into Tobias’s blue eyes. They are endless ocean and forever skies; they are home. “I’m sorry,” I mouth to him, and he gives me a small smile.
“I have to go, but I’m going to come visit soon.” I feel defeated, and my heart is breaking. “I love you,” I say.
“I love you, too.”
Once off the phone, I can’t help the tears that fall. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. At least we know now.” Tobias is trying to hold it together, but when I look at him, I see the real him. I see beyond the façade he portrays. I see a man who’s hurting and needs closure.
That he still doesn’t have.
“Come here.” He moves away from me, then stands from the bed. I stand as well before he is taking my hand in his and pulling me with him.
“What are we doing?” I ask as I follow by his side.
“We’re going where I go to think.”
“The tree house again?” My cheeks feel warm about the way he kissed me, the way he touched me there.
He halts his steps and looks down at me, and I can’t help but marvel at the twinkle in his blue eyes. “Nope,” he responds. “We’re going on the roof.”
“You go to think on the roof?”
Tobias’s expression stills and grows more serious. “I do.”
“Why?”
“Let me show you.” The deep timbre of his voice has butterflies fluttering in my stomach.
“Okay,” I respond.
Holding my hand, he leads me toward a door and then up a flight of stairs. Like the ones in his office, they are wide and open. But now that I have found Tobias again, I don’t think I’m claustrophobic anymore. Having him with me anchors me.
He throws open another door at the top of the stairs, and this one leads outside.
The fresh air smells different than in the city. It smells of salty water and trees.
It smells like freedom, and I can understand why he needs the air.
We take a step farther onto the deck, and that’s when I see Tobias tip his head back to look up. I follow suit.
Stars illuminate the night sky. Like little tea lights, they flutter and flicker from above.
Once on top, my mouth hangs open.
“I have never seen anything so beautiful,” I say in awe.
“I have.” He’s not talking about the stars.
“Why do you come here?”
“I like to look at the sky,” he says, but I know there is a double meaning there.
Flashes of the last month flutter through my mind of all the times I have caught him looking up. “It’s because of me?” I whisper.
“Yes.”
Like a freight train, it hits. My knees buckle beneath me, but Tobias’s arms bracket around me and catch me.
“I’m what calms you?”
“Like I’m what calms you.” He motions toward my tattoo. Taking my wrist, he places his lips over it. Then he lays me under the canopy of stars and kisses every inch of my body. Telling me with each press of his lips what I mean to him.
How he’s always loved me from the beginning.
How our souls were always entwined.
And then, underneath our sky, our mouths touch. Our tongues collide. His arms wrap around my back until there is no space separating us.
He kisses me, and I kiss him. This kiss tells of promises and futures of a shared past and love.
Beneath the canopy above, he tells me over and over again that we were fated. That we are whole.
That we are the other part of each other’s soul.
He kisses my lips.
Spreads my thighs.
Then he makes love to me.
And with each thrust of his hips, I’m lost.
But then, most importantly, I’m found.
46
Skye
The next morning, I wake with a need to show Tobias the spot where I go to think. He showed me a part of himself, and I want to do the same.
I look over at him. He’s still asleep on his stomach. His back muscles are exposed as the sheet has crept down to only cover his lower body.
Leaning in, I place a kiss on his cheek, and he stirs at the contact.
“Morning,” he groans. “What time is it?”
“It’s still early.”
“You leave today.”
I feel those words in my bones.
Today I leave.
Today I’ll be separated from Tobias.
“I do.” I nestle into him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “I’m not ready to go.”
“I know.” He places a kiss on my head. “But it will be over soon.”
He’s not wrong. It will be over soon, but who knows what the outcome will be.
There are so many things to say, but I don’t know where to start. I can’t think. All I can do is listen to the thumping of his heart as we both grow silent.
I don’t know how long I hold him, but I eventually feel restless of the unknown. “When do I have to head home? Do we have time to make a stop?”
“I wasn’t going to take you.”
It feels like I’m punched in the gut. I go to move, but Tobias’s arms won’t let me.
“I can’t be seen, Skye.”
He’s right. The whole plan rides on him not being found.
“I know. You can’t. That being said, are you able to sneak away from here for a bit?”
Please say yes.
“I think we can work that out.”
“Good. Get up.” A smile breaks across my face, and I place my hands on his chest and push up.
“You’re not the boss.”
“No?” My lips spread wide and then I wink at him.
His own smile plays on his face. “You know, that’s how I knew.”
My eyes widen. “Knew what?”
“That it was you.”
His comment shocks me and makes no sense. I shake my head in confusion.
“I don’t understand. I thought you did some crazy background check and that’s how.”
“I did.” Tobias’s hand reaches out and swipes the stray piece of hair that has fallen in front of my face. “I searched for you for years, but I didn’t know you changed your name or that you were adopted. It wasn’t until I got Jaxson Price to look into you that I saw the closed adoption papers.”