Page 25 of Flawed Revenge

“Shh,” he cut off her pained whisper. He didn't want her to feel bad for him, it was his own fault he’d never been there for Ariella or for Kate. He wasn't after pity, he just wanted her to know that this might all be new for him, but he was jumping all in. “It’s okay, Katie-Bear. This is all on me. But I won't ever abandon you and our daughter again. That’s a promise.”

Doubt lingered in her eyes, but she didn't voice it, and he had to believe that was because she was trying hard to accept what he’d told her, and understand that he hadn't left by choice. Not a real choice, more like a best out of a whole bunch of awful choices when he was backed into a corner. Just because he didn't deserve her forgiveness didn't mean he wasn't going to spend the rest of his life trying to earn it.

“I'm ready,” Ariella called out, somewhat impatiently, as he and Kate made their way down the hall. When they stepped into her room, they found her sitting in the bed, a book in her hands.

“Impatient little thing,” Kate teased as she ruffled Ariella’s hair, and he loved the easy way they were around each other. There was no one in the world he would have wanted to mother his child more than Kate Gage.

“We’re up to the trial, with the Queen of Hearts, after Alice gets in trouble,” Ariella explained to him. “It’s my favorite part. I love the voice my mom does for the Queen.”

“I can't wait to hear what she sounds like,” he said, stretching out on one side of his daughter while Kate took the other.

Was that a blush on her pretty cheeks?

What was running through his girl’s head right now?

Lion knew what was in his. There were a whole lot more sounds he couldn’t wait to hear Kate make again, even as he knew he might never get to hear them, but he couldn’t give up hope. Those breathy moans she’d make as he edged her closer to an orgasm, the way she cried out his name when she tumbled into a chasm of bliss, the way their bodies worked together to bring each other pleasure, the contented sigh she always gave after sex when she snuggled in his arms to fall asleep, happy and sated.

It was wrong to think about all of that now, while Kate had so many insecurities when it came to them as a couple, and their dying daughter lay between them waiting for her to read to them.

Clearing his throat, he gave thanks that Ariella was way too young to even guess at the dirty thoughts running through his head. “Okay, well, let’s get started. How about I do the White Rabbit and the King, and your mom can do everything else?”

“Okay,” Ariella agreed.

Passing the book backward and forward between him and Kate, the next thirty minutes flew by, and by the time they were reading the final pages, Ariella was more asleep than awake.

“The end,” Kate whispered.

“Night, Mommy,” Ariella slurred, her eyes already closed.

“Night, my sweet forever baby.” Kate kissed Ariella’s pale cheek and smoothed her hand over the silky blonde locks spilling out on the pillow.

“Night, Daddy,” Ariella murmured on a yawn.

“Night, my Ari-Bear.” Lion kissed Ariella’s other cheek, using the warmth in it to remind him that he hadn't lost her yet. She was still alive, and there was still hope.

“Sweet dreams, sweetie-pie,” Kate said as she somewhat reluctantly climbed off the bed, arranging the covers around her daughter before tiptoeing to the door.

Once they were in the hall with the door closed behind them, she let out a half sob. Hesitating for only a moment, Lion wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. If she didn't want his comfort, she was going to have to tell him, otherwise he was giving it to her.

“I wish I could be like Alice. Wake up, and this was all a bad dream. Ariella was strong and healthy, and I wasn't thinking about planning a funeral for my nine-year-old. How am I supposed to go on living if I lose her, Leo? How?” There was so much ragged pain in that word that it undid him. All he wanted was to make this better for his girls, but he couldn’t.

Maybe if he’d been around from the beginning, things would be different. He would have been tested right away to see if he was a match, and Ariella could have gotten the transplant before her illness took such a toll on her body. They were all worried that even if he was a match, Ariella would be too weak for it to work.

“She’s worried about you,” he whispered into Kate’s hair as he breathed in her sweet lavender scent.

“Who is?”

“Ariella. About what happens after. To you.”

Kate lifted her head. “She is?”

“She asked me to promise her that I would always be there for you, so you wouldn't be alone. I told her I would, but I would have been anyway. By your side is where I always should have been.” Maybe if he had kept Kate in his life, he and his teammates wouldn't have spent so long believing they were monsters.

Monsters couldn’t fall in love, and his heart practically burst from his chest because it was so full of love for this woman and the little girl asleep in the room behind them.

“I didn't know she was worrying about that. I should have done a better job of hiding my pain from her,” Kate said, self-recrimination in her tone.

Smoothing her hair behind her ears, Lion framed her face and angled it so she had to either look at him or close her eyes. Thankfully, she didn't do the latter. “No, Katie-Bear, it’s good she knows, because it means she knows she’s loved. If … if the worst happens, then I want my daughter to go knowing with absolute certainty that she is utterly loved and adored.”