“Who’s that?” A news broadcast is playing on the screen. It shows a handsome, yet older gentleman being escorted out of an official-looking building by riot officers who look oddly similar to the ones Enrique was arrested by over a year ago.
My pulse quickens when Isaac holds out his hand for me. The violet gray diamond I had inserted into his platinum wedding band sparkling in the light increases my pace. It matches both the diamond in my engagement ring and his eyes to perfection.
When my hand slides into Isaac’s, he pulls me down until I’m sitting side straddled on his lap. Yearning surges through me when his cock braces against my backside. He’s not hard, but he doesn’t need to be for my inner vixen to pay attention. He’s naked. That’s enough to awaken her from the deepest trench.
I’m tempted to stomp my feet like a child when Isaac thwarts my attempts to feel him thick and heavy beneath me by saying, “That’s Vincent McGee, soon to beex-governor.”
When pride flares through his commanding gaze, a smile tugs my lips high. “You did it. You took down Brandon’s father.”
I’m not shocked. I’m just stroking his ego. Isaac doesn’t understand the word ‘failure.’ He fought for everything he has, including me, so I’m not surprised he fights just as hard for those victimized unjustly by greedy, condescending men like my father and Col Petretti. Although I believe justice would have eventually prevailed, there’s no harm giving it a push every once and a while. The McGees never held back using it to their advantage, so Isaac merely evened the chessboard.
Talking about McGees, other than reading a report about Brandon assisting in the coup that released Katie from a decade of hell, I haven’t seen nor heard from him. He once again vanished off the face of the earth. If I were to believe the rumors, he’s still a part of Grayson’s team in New York. Regrettably, for all involved, I learned the hard way what happens when you don’t stop to evaluateallthe facts. Brandon’s dossier didn’t do him any favors.
Hating that I’m letting outsiders dampen my mood on our honeymoon, I snuggle into Isaac’s side before sucking in his delicious scent. “I’m so proud of you, Isaac.”
Still incapable of accepting praise, Isaac defers the focus of him by bringing up a video of a little boy who stole my heart as effectively as Isaac did when I crashed into him. With Ravenshoe’s growth occurring at a rate quicker than anyone could perceive, the sturdy walls Isaac has been endeavoring to keep erect has had the occasional tumble. It isn’t more than Ravenshoe PD can handle, but there have been a few cases that tested my investigation skills.
Nolan was one of those cases.
The chubby cheeks, dimple-blemished grin, and wild black hair reflecting back at me from Isaac’s tablet doesn’t compare to the almost lifeless newborn Ryan and I stumbled upon while seeking evidence in a dumpster almost six months ago.
Nolan’s diaper was soiled, his stomach malnourished, and he was so dehydrated, his cries were tearless. Seeing him like that broke my heart, so much so, I refused to leave his side. I stayed with him during the numerous medical tests Dr. Jae put him through and held him when his body shook as it struggled through the side effects of being born to a drug-addicted mother.
Since I was at the hospital twenty-four seven, you sure as hell can be guaranteed Isaac was there just as much. He even brought Callie in to meet Nolan, and thus commenced our fight to extend our family from three to four. It’s been an uphill battle because Nolan has to be abandoned for a year before the normal adoption process can be pursued. It’s quicker in standard adoptions because the parental rights of the biological parents are terminated before care is awarded to the adoptive parents. Since we didn’t know who his parents were, we couldn’t legally file for adoption.
With Nolan thriving and under the watchful guardianship of Dr. Jae in our home, Isaac’s security team commenced searching for his parents three months ago. Even with Alex’s help, they’ve yet to find a shred of evidence. Regan assures us that increases our chances of adopting Nolan, but we don’t want to wait until his first birthday to officially introduce him as our son. He’s our son now, we just need the paperwork to prove it.
I laugh at how crinkled Nolan’s nose gets when he does his infamous toothless grin just before the video ends. “Did Jae send you that today?”
Isaac places his tablet on the coffee table before slouching deeper into the couch we made sweet love on last night. “No, Hugo did. Elouise supposedly wanted a playdate.” His clipped tone makes me smile. Much to Isaac’s disgrace, Callie’s fascination with Joel didn’t wane with time. She’s as smitten with him now as she was at his parents’ wedding months ago. “He also sent me this.”
My nose tingles when Isaac brings up a sheet of paper I’m all too familiar with. It’s for the dissolution of parental rights. Except it’s no longer blank as I’m used to seeing it. It’s filled in with an obvious signature at the bottom.
As goosebumps race across my skin, I raise my watering eyes to Isaac. “You found Nolan’s parents?”
The glimmer in his eyes when he says “yes” is almost enough to put me on my ass.
“And they signed?”
He nods only once, but it causes the dam in my eyes to spillover. “Only his mother. His father passed away three months before he was born.”
I’m pained for Nolan, but my tears are ones of happiness. “Does that mean he’s our son…officially?”
Isaac throws his head back and laughs at my daftness. “Yes, Isabelle. He’s our son. He’salwaysbeen our son.” After clearing away the tears careening down my cheeks with his thumbs, he drops one of his hands to my lips. “Just like you’ve always been mine.”
I playfully bite the tip of his thumb when he tracks it across my nude lips, loving the sharp inhalation he does from my frisky tease. “I’ve always been yours. I will forever be yours. But can I be yours anywhere but here?”
A flare ignites in Isaac’s unique gray eyes. “Did you have somewhere else in mind?”
“Home.” He groans when I leap up from his lap. “Withourbabies.”
He acts frustrated by my request, but the faintest chug of an engine foils his ruse. The boat that brought us here four days ago moored at the dock, and our luggage is packed and waiting by the door.
My breath leaves in a hurry when Isaac bands his arm around my waist and pulls me back until I’m snug into the firm ridges of his body. He snuck up on me so agilely, I didn’t hear his approach.
“As ravishing as you look right now, I don’t like other men eyeing what’s mine.” He grazes his teeth down the fleshy section of my ear before sucking it into his mouth. “There are spare clothes in the wardrobe. Go get dressed, then I’ll take you home.”
I swoon like crazy, adoring that he used the same words he spoke to me before taking me to his private residence for the first time. After spinning around, I slap each of his cheeks with my hands before placing a dramatically sloppy kiss on his mouth.
