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“I hate that fucking nickname. No one has ever called me that without me cringing, until now.”
“Stop interrupting me,” I hiss.
“You’re about to say something I don’t want to hear. You can’t blame me for trying.” He grins, and I swear to God if he wasn’t injured, I would slap him.
“Interrupting me isn’t going to change the truth.”
“Do you want to know the truth?” He is getting angry. “I love you. I want you and my son in my life, permanently. You can be damn sure I didn’t risk my fucking life just so I can watch you walk out of it again.”
He sits up in the bed once more and I want to push him back down but I know he isn’t going to let me.
“Will you calm down?” I all but shout at him.
“No!”
“Matthias, you are going to hurt yourself, tear out your stitches.”
“I. Don’t. Fucking. Care!”
“But I do.”
He laughs loudly, smirking at me. “Exactly.”
“Yes. I love you. The idea of being able to give Ronin the chance to grow up with both his parents makes me so happy I can’t explain it. But how long will you be able to look past what I did? How long before you feel trapped and use it as a reason to get away from me?”
Matthias glares at me. “How long before you blame me for ruining your life? I knocked you up, bullied you, allowed Amber to physically abuse you, and basically forced you to tutor me. When will you use that as a reason to end what we have?”
“I would never…”
“And I would?”
We stare at each other, both of us breathing harshly.
“I’m scared,” I whisper.
“So am I. But I was miserable without you. I don’t want to do that again.” His words are soft and I can hear the sincerity in his tone.
I stare at him for long moments not sure what to say. My heart belongs to Matthias Delgado. It has since the first moment he kissed me.
Maybe it’s time for me to take a chance. We almost died. I could have lost him. I don’t want to spend my life regretting taking a chance at being happy, at being a family. It’s time to let go of the past, to build our future. Together.
“Am I safe with you?”
Epilogue
Matthias Delgado
(Five Years Later)
I never understood what my father meant when he said that doing what we do could take more from you than your life. Now I do. Today has been hell. Finding the shipment of trafficked women, and seeing the way they were treated, has taken my faith in humanity.
It’s been just over two years since I finished college with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. I stepped out of Birchleigh College and into my father’s second-in-command post.
Kaelie graduated a year later with a business degree, and we got married the day after. My father offered her a position in the organization, and she happily declined. Now she runs one of the most successful bakeries in the city, along with her grandmother and my mother.
My life is great. I have a wonderful wife, a beautiful son, and my family is with us every step of the way. But the cartels can take a lot out of a person if you aren’t careful to balance your life correctly. Today is one of the days I’m struggling more than usual to bring myself back from the darkness.
I’m tired and pissed off, and all I want is to go home and spend time with my family. I need to be surrounded by them so I can feel like me again. The problem is, when I get home, the entire house is dark. There is no sound, no laughter. Everything is silent.
