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I shake my head. “I don’t think it is,” I tell her. “I think he’s looking down on us and can see how happy you are. He’s not around anymore, and no one expects you to just sit back and continue pining over a man who you will never be able to see again. Live your life and be happy. That’s what he’d want, and it sure as hell is what I want.”
A soft knock sounds at the door, and we look up and find Colton standing there, watching us. “I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he murmurs. “If you’re having a moment, I can come back.”
“Oh, no, no, no,” Mom says, pulling herself off the couch. “She’s all yours. It’s getting a bit too late for me, and I have a lot to get through tomorrow. I think it’s time for a shower and bed.”
“Good plan,” I smile, getting up beside her and instantly giving her a big hug. “It’s going to be okay. You’ll figure out what’s best for you.”
“I know, sweet girl,” she says. “I just hope it’s not something that I regret a year or two down the track.”
“You won’t.”
With that, she pulls out of my arms and slinks down the hallway towards the bathroom. I make my way over to Colton, and he instantly puts his hand in mine before tugging me out the door. “Where are we going?” I ask.
“You’ll see.”
I follow Colton as he leads me into the mansion and through the maze of twists and turns before we’re finally walking through to his office. The door gets shut behind us, and for a brief moment, I think he’s about to throw me down and get a little kinky on his desk, that is, until he walks around and sits in his desk chair, pulling me down on his lap.
“Seriously, what are we doing?”
He shakes his head and reaches across me to type in a password for his computer, and not a second later, his screen comes to life. He opens an email, clicks a secure link, and before I know it, we’re watching live footage of the FBI storming through someone’s home.
“What is this?” I ask, my brows furrowed.
“Luca DeCarlo, the eldest of Vincent’s sons.”
“What?” I breathe, leaning in a little closer to the screen, wishing that we could somehow put this up on his flat-screen TV rather than the small desk computer. “What’s he being arrested for?”
“There’s a whole fucking list of things,” he says. “But nailing him down has been the hardest so far.”
“What’s the worst of it?”
“Kidnapping of minors and trading them on the black market,” he tells me, looking sick and pissed off with himself at the same time for taking so long to make this happen. “He’s been selling children to fucking wealthy businessmen across the globe. I can only imagine what’s been happening to these kids.”
“Fuck,” I gasp, watching with wide eyes. “Where are the kids now?”
Colton shakes his head before resting his chin against my shoulder. “Gone, Jade. We couldn’t save them in time, but you fucking bet that he’s going to pay for his crimes.”
A single tear rolls down my cheek as I watch the screen, seeing the exact moment that Luca DeCarlo is found and arrested. Usually, in times like this, I’d be thrilled to see the bad guy being arrested, but the heaviness sitting against my chest is just too great.”
“Is there anything we can do to try and find them?”
He shakes his head as his arm circles my waist. “I really don’t know,” he tells me. “It’s a long shot, but I can look into it. Maybe there’s a paper trail. These guys had to pay him somehow, and where there’s money, there’s a trail.”
I nod, feeling the smallest bit of hope beginning to rise within me. “Do you think Vincent knew about this?”
“Yeah,” he scoffs. “I don’t doubt that Vincent was one of his first customers. Besides, an operation like that doesn’t come cheap, Luca would have been funded somehow.”
Fuck.
I tear my eyes off the screen, having seen more than enough of this bullshit. I curl into Colton, crushing my face into his chest as he sits silently, watching the screen over my shoulder, making sure that everything goes as planned.
As we sit in silence, I can’t help but think about the baby growing inside of me. I’m going to be this child’s mother, and unfortunately, things like kidnapping and child abuse happen on the regular. How would I feel if that was to happen to my child?
A fierce protectiveness comes over me, and while I still don’t know how I actually feel about having this baby, I know that it’s my job to keep it safe. And just like that, I know exactly what I want to do with my life, and I won’t stop until I make it right.
