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She caressed his cheek. “No more looking back. From now on, there’s only the future. I want to go home, Vik. I want to have the life we had always pictured. You, me, Vicky, and our beautiful baby boy.” It was time to bring Vicky back home and become a real family.
He kissed her hand and nodded. “Looking forward. Us against the world, like we promised years ago. Well, us and a whole bunch of uncles.” He grimaced. “Not sure if the twins are babysitting material.”
“Not happening,” Elena said, nipping that one in the bud. “I heard about the snake incident from Vicky.” The twins’ place didn’t exactly sound like a baby-proof environment.
He smiled, but didn’t deny it. “Anything you say, beautiful. Just as long as you don’t run anymore. Not that you’d get very far. I will always chase you.” His eyes narrowed, but she could see the smile in them. “I’d rather have you pull a gun on me again, than you disappearing on me.”
Her cheeks flushed. “Deal. It was just…” Perhaps it was time to confess what had set her off. “Maybe I overreacted a bit. It’s just that the day I ran, Ricky had just visited me with Giorgia. She said she’d overheard you say you were going to take away my baby and I, well, when you didn’t deny it, I was gutted.”
She didn’t dare ask. They had just agreed to let the past rest. Still, he seemed to see the question in her eyes.
His eyes looked thunderous, but the anger wasn’t aimed at her. “I haven’t told her shit. I haven’t talked to her in ages.” He sighed, and scrubbed a hand over his tired-looking eyes. “I’m sorry, Lena. That day when you saw me with her, I barely remember it. I know it’s not an excuse, but after seeing you with Morelli, I was out of my mind with jealousy. I wanted to commit murder, go on a rampage.”
She understood all too well. It had felt the same for her.
“After that, I lived in a drunk funk for weeks, not caring who was in my bed. Until one day, Kristoff dragged me out of it and kicked some sense into me to sober me up.” He grabbed her hand and placed a kiss in her palm. “Forgive me, beautiful. Please, forgive me. If you’ll give me another chance, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”
There were a million things she wanted to tell him. So many things they had yet to discuss, but all she did was burst into tears and cry. A lot.
Like most men, seeing her in tears made Viking uncomfortable. He was out of his seat before she could blink.
He kissed the top of her head. “I’m going to get you some tissues and speak to the doctor.”
He disappeared before she could stop him.
She looked at her son, who was sleeping. “Guess we’re going home with your dad, after all, baby boy.”
Her baby really was the start of a new beginning, and with him came a miracle. For the first time since she’d found out about her pregnancy, she didn’t fear the future. She couldn’t wait to go home with Viking and start the rest of their lives.
When the door opened, it wasn’t Viking who came in. It was her brother. She’d forgotten she’d texted Ricky to come to pick her up. She felt ashamed that part of her hadn’t expected him to come through.
“Thank you for coming, Ricky.”
“Any time, sis.” He hurried into the closet and took out her bag. His one eye was on the door. “We need to hurry.”
Right. He still believed he needed to rescue her from Viking.
“Everything’s okay now,” she explained. “It was all a misunderstanding. Viking and I are good.” They had a lot of talking to do, but the first step had been made. “You can go. I mean, you don’t have to leave, of course, but—”
“I’m afraid I can’t,” Ricky said. His eyes kept darting back and forth between her son and the door.
A tendril of unease went down her back. “What do you mean you can’t?”
He dropped into the chair next to her and patted her leg.
“Don’t you see he is bad news? He was never good enough for you. That’s why I chose Lorenzo for you. Planted the idea in his head that you’d be the perfect candidate for his bride. It was a win-win. I mean, after I caught him with that busboy, it was only a matter of time before he would silence me to keep his secret. It’s ridiculous how conservative his family is. My plan was the ultimate solution to everyone’s problem. Lorenzo got a wife, and you got anything a woman could ever want.”
Elena was speechless. Her brother’s betrayal crushed her.
“Don’t forget yourself, Ricky.” He was the one who benefited most from her union with Lorenzo. It had lifted him from a smalltime junkie slash dealer to a brigadier in the Morelli ranks.
“I can’t go back,” he insisted, only confirming her words. “With Lorenzo dead and Pedro kicked out of the family, I was next. They took everything from me, Lena. My turf, my men, my money. I have nothing!” He sounded frantic. “I’m not going back to the streets.”
She took a deep whiff from her son’s rosy head to calm herself. She’d deal with her brother later.
“Guess you reap what you sow.”
A grim determination was etched on his face. “I thought so too.”
