I could only imagine how militant my sister had been with the surgeons.
I looked to Gia, and she could see the rest of the questions on my face. I didn’t even have to ask.
“He’s gone,” she said.
My brow creased and I reached up for her cheek. She’d killed her husband. That had to be a mind-fuck for her.
“But I’m okay,” she added. Then she did that puffing her chest out move, trying to act taller than she was. I loved it when Gia was putting on her brave armor. It was sexy as hell. And she was the bravest woman I’d ever met; she just still didn’t quite realize it yet.
“Do you really want to talk about all this now?” She asked, clearly reading the rest of the questions on my face.
I nodded. I needed to know.
She turned to Tyler, speaking. My sister then nodded and began signing. They went on to explain to me that within minutes of Gia shooting Angelo, FBI agents descended on the property. G was immediately cuffed and taken out of the home and placed into the back of a squad car. What happened next for her was a blur of flashing lights, police, FBI agents, ambulances, and helicopters. Two men were taken out in body bags—her husband and his cousin Paulie. Two were medevacked to the trauma center in Burlington. One of them was me, the other was Miller. The goddamn fucker was still alive, but in critical condition.Archie was taken by animal control to the animal hospital. And Gia was taken in for hours of questioning while I was on an operating table fighting for my life.
A lot more had transpired while I was out. As we’d suspected when that ring turned up in south Texas, it would raise some flags.
What Gia and I had not known is that Brock, being the squeaky-clean guy that he was, had never taken it to his brother-in-law to pawn. Instead, he had gone right to the FBI and given them a full statement of where the ring had come from. Tyler was obviously still pissed as hell at him for that, but honestly, it was our saving grace.
Apparently, the serial number led them to some jewels they’d been tracking for quite some time that were stolen and smuggled out of Brussels. So, while Angelo was busy chasing Gia down in Vermont, the FBI had enough probable cause to do a search and seizure on their Long Island home and all of Angelo’s business partners.
Turns out that five carat diamond was enough to take down the entire crime ring.
Nobody else would be coming after my girl.
Well, I hoped she was my girl. She spent five days by my side, after all. That had to mean something, right?
Shortly after the lowdown, Mom and Dad said their goodbyes for the evening, as did Tyler. I made sure to have them give Archie my love and told them to give him extra treats. I owed my life to that dog, and Gia.
Once we were alone, I turned to her and motioned for a pen and paper. I needed to know if she was here to stay. Needed to make sure that when I woke again that she wouldn’t be gone.
“You should rest, darling,” she said. Darling. Such an old-school word, but it fit who she was. Young and vibrant at heart, but an old soul. Someone who’d seen way too much in her years on this earth.
Just. Like. Me.
“I’ll be here when you wake up, I promise,” she said, stroking my hair. “No more running.”
And with that promise, I closed my eyes, and rested easy for the first time in years.
FIVE YEARS LATER
Time is a funny thing. It doesn’t speed up or go slow, even though it seems that way. It’s all an illusion based on the company that you keep.
Sometimes, days can seem like months, and then, suddenly, you look back and wonder how the years have flown by in such a flash.
People are always shocked to find out how quickly I fell for Tanner, because it makes no logical sense. With the baggage both of us were carrying, we should have been doomed from the very start. But the moment I met him, time seemed to stand still. It felt as if I’d known him forever, as if we were destined for one another.
I hate the word soulmates because I’ve never believed in that sort of thing. A person may have many loves in their life, and one doesn’t negate the others before it. Tanner’s parents became my mother and father, but I still cherish the parents I lost. Tyler is my closest friend, but I never lost my love for my best friend, Hope.
I’m Tanner’s wife, and we have our babies, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t still love Alex and Olivia, the loves that he lost.
The heart is big enough to hold them all, and time marches on.
I stopped typing and re-read my words.
Glancing up over my laptop from my favorite writing spot, I stared at my babies. Hope was busy coloring away, making beautiful pictures that I’d hang on our fridge, if there was any room left. Yes, we named her Hope, after my best friend who gave her life so this little one could live. Also, because that’s what she had given Tanner and I…hope for the future. Hope in a life past our pain. Pushing her chestnut curls out of her amber eyes, she looked up at me and grinned.
“I’m drawing a puppy. I think Archie needs a little brother, like me,” she said. I loved listening to her talk, how her little Minnie Mouse voice would go up and down, up and down.
“Do you now?” I glanced over at our sweet Archie, sleeping soundly in his favorite spot by the fireplace. Our three-year-old son, Oliver, was climbing on top of him, tugging on his ears, trying to rouse him.
When we were considering names for our boy, I thought long and hard, and tentatively suggested to Tanner we name him Oliver, the male form of Olivia, as an homage to his big sister in heaven. He pondered it for a bit then looked to me and nodded. “I’d like that very much.” So that’s what we did.
“Play,” Oliver said to Archie, trying to shove a ball in his mouth.
Archie merely cracked an eyelid, releasing a hefty huff, mildly annoyed, but not enough to do anything about it. Not once had our dog ever snarled when the kids would climb all over him. Over the years, he gladly tolerated each and every one of their tail pulls and ear tugs.
Chuckling, I turned my face back to the words on the page.
A few moments later, the front door creaked open, and my handsome man walked through, carrying a very large box. He dropped it in the entryway with a thud, then lifted his hands. “It’s here,” he said with a beaming grin. He reached up and rubbed his left shoulder. He’d been outside splitting logs preparing for the fall. His shoulder would flare up from time to time if he overdid it, but thankfully he got nearly his full range of motion back.
I put down my laptop and jumped up from my chair. As I dashed over to the door, Hope and Oliver followed me, quite excited themselves.
Oliver immediately tried to dig into the package with his little fingers, to no avail. “Open!” he said, his tiny hands moved along with his words, begging Daddy to open it.
“Oooh presents!” Hope squealed at me, then looked to Tanner. Lifting her hands, she asked, “What is it?”
“Something we’ve been waiting a long time for,” Tanner said, then ruffled her hair and gave me a wink. Not once had that man ever treated her like she wasn’t his flesh and blood. Even I’d forget at times that Hope didn’t carry his DNA. Of course, there were occasional physical reminders, like when she’d narrow her gaze, scrutinizing something a little too intently that would give me a slight glimpse of Angelo, but those moments were few and far between. Her personality was Tanner and I, through and through.