WHEN ADRIAN AND VANESSAstepped into the foyer of their home, they found Gabriel sitting halfway up the curving staircase, his arms curled around his knees. He’d obviously been waiting there for some time, and his eyes lit up at the sight of them.
“Mama!” he cried, launching himself down the stairs and into Vanessa’s arms. “I was so worried ’bout you!”
Adrian looked on, feeling a gut-wrenching sense of responsibility and shame. This was his family, and he’d put them all at risk by continuing his masquerade long after it had become dangerous, long after Roger had put the pieces of the puzzle together.
“It’s all right,” Vanessa whispered, holding their son. “Your papa rescued me, and we’re both fine, sweetheart. We’ll never leave you again.”
She met Adrian’s gaze over Gabriel’s shoulder, and the concern and love he saw in her eyes humbled him. He dropped to his knees beside them and gathered them both in his arms. For so long, he’d had so little regard for his own life, but now he finally had someone to come home to, people he needed to take care of. He couldn’t keep living his life the way he’d been living it.
Prometheus had been less about rescuing the unfortunate than it had been about making Roger pay. He saw that now. He’d done good work, but his motives had not been what they should have been. He needed to refocus his energy on helping the ones he’d already rescued and taking care of his family.
“I’m done,” he whispered, stroking Vanessa’s back, thinking of how close he’d come to losing her. “I’m putting up the mask, my darling. I don’t want to do this anymore. I just want to be here, with you and Gabriel.”
She gave a shuddering sob and held him tighter, and he knew how much she’d want that. The fact that she’d never once asked for it made him love her even more.
I love her.
It suddenly occurred to him that he still hadn’t said the words. She’d almost died, and he’d never told her that she was his entire life. Yes, she’d hurt him, but he understood her reasons now, however misguided they had been. She’d made her proposal out of love, and he’d punished her for it for far too long already.
“I love you, Vanessa,” he whispered, pulling away to look in her beautiful dark eyes. “I’ve loved you since the first time I kissed you. When I thought I was going to lose you, it nearly destroyed me.”
“I love you, too,” she breathed, leaning forward to kiss him softly.
“I love you, too, Mama and Papa,” Gabriel chimed in, obviously needing the words as much as they did.
“Ah, Gabriel, my boy, I love you, too.” Adrian pulled the boy into his lap and kissed the top of his head, meeting Vanessa’s shining eyes as he did so.
“We both do,” she affirmed, and for a very long time, the three of them sat huddled together on the stairs, just appreciating the fact that they’d found each other.
At last, Vanessa went to take a long, hot bath to soak away the filth and pain of her ordeal, and Adrian took Gabriel up to his bedroom and tucked him in, reading him a book and staying with him until he fell asleep. Then he sat there for a while, love, pride, and guilt warring within him.
He’d taken on the responsibility of this child, yet this was the first time he felt like he’d been a father to the boy. Gabriel needed to know he was loved. The last thing in the world he wanted was to be the sort of father to Gabriel that Winters had been to him. He needed to do better.
Realizing he was famished, he went downstairs and ordered a late dinner for himself and Vanessa, wondering how long it had been since his wife had eaten. Just as he finished conferring with the cook, he heard a commotion at the front door and went back out into the foyer.
Clinton had arrived, and he’d brought a policeman with him.
Giving Adrian an apologetic look, Clinton introduced them. “My lord, this is Inspector Quinn O’Brien from Scotland Yard. He has been to the warehouse and would like to speak with you before you retire for the evening.”
Adrian sighed and held out his hand.
To the man’s credit, his direct green eyes didn’t linger on Adrian’s scars. “I’m sorry to bother you so late, sir, especially after the day you’ve had, but I have a few questions for you and your wife.” O’Brien was tall and lean with burnished blond hair and the unmistakable bearing of a military man, perhaps a bit younger than Adrian.
“Of course,” Adrian replied, ushering him into the sitting room. “How can I help you? My wife will be down shortly, though I’d prefer it if you keep your questions to her brief. She’s had a rough time of it.”
O’Brien took a seat, refusing Clinton’s offer of a drink. “I understand. My condolences to both of you on the loss of your sister-in-law.”
Adrian nodded, clenching his jaw at the thought of Anne’s broken body and Morgan’s grief.
For the next half hour, Adrian recounted what he knew of the situation, including how he’d killed Roger’s two henchmen. Near the end, Vanessa came down, and Adrian listened, his heart aching, as she gave an accounting of all that had happened to her and Anne from the moment Roger’s men had stopped them on the street.
Cook brought them a tray of sandwiches and fruit, and even O’Brien partook as they continued to talk.
At last, O’Brien stood and closed the notebook he’d been writing in. “Thank you so much for your time. As far as the two dead men, it’s clearly a case of self-defense, and I doubt you’ll have to answer any more questions about that once I file my report.”
Adrian sighed in relief and rubbed his eyes, the stress and exhaustion of the day finally hitting him.
“Thank God.” Vanessa, who sat beside him on the sofa, squeezed his knee. “Adrian saved my life. If it wasn’t for his quick thinking, I wouldn’t have made it.”
