Page 141 of Redeeming Vow

They both suspected mine and Kendra’s affair growing up, but neither one has ever mentioned it. When I told them she was pregnant, they weren’t the least bit surprised or angry. I was afraid they would see it as a betrayal to their mother’s memory.

My phone rings, the shrill sound causing me to start slightly in my agitated state. Fucking hospitals.

Pressing the green button, I bring the phone up to my ear. “Yeah?”

“It’s me,” the voice on the other line sighs. He sounds exhausted and worn, like he has been up all night. “I’ve got her.”

“Maleah?” I question just to be sure he isn’t talking about Kenzi who disappeared without a trace several months ago aftershe nearly attacked her sister. If I ever get my hands on the arrogant asshat who calls herself Caesar?—

“Yeah,” he responds tightly. “She’s in bad shape. Sick fucker had her strung from the ceiling. She’s got a dislocated shoulder, broken leg, several cracked ribs. Her body is wrecked with scar tissue. I don’t know what to do.”

Running a hand down my face, I groan in frustration. This is not what I need right now. “Take care of her,” I tell him.

I am met with silence. There was once upon a time that Neil was head over heels for the Ford girl, but rough times changed him as much as they undoubtedly changed her.

It doesn’t matter though.

The moment I laid eyes on Maleah Ford she became mine. My obsession and I am not going to stop until she is begging to be mine and only mine.

“I don’t know—” he trails off, no doubt hesitant about the job I am giving him.

There is a reason I tasked Neil to find her. He needs redemption and this is how I am going to give it to him. “You owe her this much,nipote.”

“Mr. Romano?” The doctor strides through the double doors holding a small bundle in his arms. I hang up on Neil without saying goodbye and shove the phone in my pocket as I approach the doctor.

“Congratulations, Mr. Romano,” the doctor hands me the infant, swaddled in a pink hospital blanket. There is a smile on his face, but it doesn’t reach his eyes, which are drawn with sadness and regret. “It’s a girl.”

I stare down at the bundle in my arms and my heart fills with a warmth that it hasn’t felt since the birth of my daughter. That day, as happy as it was, is tinged with sadness. Sestra still refuses to celebrate her birthday on that day, opting instead for a Halloween celebration each year instead. The doctor’s nextwords barely filter through my ears as I continue to gaze at the baby girl I hold tightly to my chest.

Kendra is dead. There is no saving her.

It doesn’t matter.

No one will miss her.

“Congratulations, dad.” Armando walks into the room with a large smile on his face and the car seat in his hand with his sister trailing just behind him holding the hospital bag I pack.

“Papá.” Sestra places the bag on a chair and strides over to give me a kiss on the cheek. She looks down at her new sister and coos, “She’s so beautiful.Bella.” The infant in my arms yawns and opens her dazzling blue eyes, peering up at us curiously.

“Bella,” I repeat thoughtfully, and the baby coos. Kendra didn’t bother to think up a name for her own child. Over the past few months, she became withdrawn and frustrated at once again being pregnant. She never wanted the child and originally planned on doing away with the pregnancy until it became the only thing keeping her alive. I chuckle at the girl’s reaction. “Do you like thatpiccola?”

The bundle smiles.

“I think she does,” Armando chuckles as he leans in to catch a glimpse of her.

“Then little Isabella it is,” I whisper lovingly. “My beautiful girl. You will always be loved and cherished and protected.”

The siblings look up and smile at me.

“Forever.”