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“Babe,” I whispered, getting off the bed and going to him. “This is only temporary. We will get our boy back. We will get our life back. But now it’s time to admit that we need help. It’s time to use all those connections we’ve created.”
A small nod was all I got from him before he turned around, wrapping his arms around my middle and burying his face into my chest. A dark cloud hovered above us, feeding off our pain, but we would survive this. We were stronger than this, and at the end of the day, we were doing the best possible thing for our kid.
At least I needed to believe in that, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to get through the next couple of hours.
My hands landed on Lazarus’s back, rubbing circles, and hoping it would soothe him, well, both of us, to go through all this.
“We will be okay,” I murmured, looking down at Casimir who kept playing with air. “We will survive this.”
We had to. There were no other options.
* * *
Lazarus
I never thoughtI would see the day when there would be another person more important to me than Danika. But it happened.
A year ago it happened.
The moment Casimir was born, I knew I would destroy Heaven and Hell to ensure his safety, but I never thought I would have to do it by handing him over to a man I didn’t like. As a matter of fact, if it was up to me, Gabriel Lacroix would’ve been dead a long time ago, but Danika stopped me.
I guess she had a point when she said that Gabriel could be an ally instead of an enemy. I had to admit that the man standing in front of me right now was not the same person who stood in front of me seven years ago, following every single order Judah issued.
The shadows in his eyes told me as much, and whatever it was that he had witnessed, or even did, made him jaded. Even a blind man could see that something terrible must have happened for him to change like this. The old Gabriel was ready to right the wrongs and to defend even those who called themselves villains. But this Gabriel… This Gabriel didn’t even bother defending the people of Winworth.
This Gabriel had no life in him anymore, and even the way he looked at Danika now didn’t scream want or need. It screamed desperation, but not the kind that wanted her in his bed.
This was a man who needed a friend. This was a man who needed someone in his corner.
Casimir squirmed in my arms while Danika enveloped her arms around Gabriel. While I expected him to look at me and smirk, I didn’t expect to see the moment of weakness when she squeezed him as tight as she could. There were demons he wasn’t ready to talk about, but when he hugged her back, I saw the weight of a thousand lives pressing down on him. I almost felt bad for being an ass toward him all those years ago.
“It’s good to see you,” I said the moment they stepped away from each other, extending my arm toward him for a shake. But Gabriel wasn’t shaking any hands today, apparently. Within seconds, he had his arms wrapped around Casimir and me, releasing us faster than he had Danika.
“I would say it’s good to see you too, but given the circumstances…” he trailed off. “I don’t think it’s a happy reunion.”
No, it wasn’t happy. Nowhere near close to happy, but we would manage.
I had Danika. We had plans, and Casimir had to be safe for those plans to be fulfilled.
Gabriel looked down at Cas, his eyes misting from the emotion passing through his body. “He’s perfect.” An invisible force squeezed its fingers around my throat, making it hard to swallow the emotions I thought I had a good grip on. “I’m sorry you have to do this.”
“It isn’t your fault,” Danika said, rubbing his arm. “I brought this on myself.”
“No.” Gabriel shook his head. “Judah has an obsession.” He looked at Dani. “And he won’t stop. Trust me, no matter what we tell him, he simply won’t stop. Since his father stepped down, it’s been…” A shuddering breath tore out of him. “It’s been hell. Trust me, you don’t wanna go back there.”
Danika looked at me, her eyes revealing more than words ever could, but Gabriel didn’t need to know what the plan was. He shouldn’t be involved in what came next.
“Gabe,” Danika spoke first, turning him toward her. “I want you to promise me…” she hiccuped. “Promise me he will be taken care of. Promise me he will be happy.”
“Dani—”
“Please,” she cried. “I want him to be the happiest baby who ever existed. He is the most important person in my life, and I want him to be happy. I want him to have the best life possible until it’s time for us to come back.”
My own vision blurred, her words hitting a spot inside of my heart I never even knew existed until I held Casimir for the first time. Until everything I ever was disappeared, creating a completely new person that would do anything for this tiny little human.
“Here.” Danika shoved the backpack we’d arranged with all of Casimir’s things, breaking my heart all over again. “Do not contact us until we contact you. Okay?”
“Okay.” Gabriel simply nodded. He tried talking us out of this. He tried so hard to show us that it would be better for Casimir to be with us, but he didn’t know about the plan. He didn’t know about the things that were about to come in the next couple of months.
