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The irises of her eyes sparkle like stars as I stare deeply into them, willing her to feel the honest truth in my words.
Because shedidsave me in all the ways that make a life worth saving. Worthliving.
“Besides, life wouldn’t be worth living without you, little bird. It’s as simple as that.”
Wren’s smirk is dubious as she gives a wry shake of her head. “You’re clearlycrazy.”
One side of my mouth tugs upward. “Crazy for you, beautiful girl.”
Her smile lights up the room, and I’m grateful to have distracted her when she pulls back and palms her forehead. “Did that bullet do something to your brain too, because that was next-level cheese.”
My smile grows as I wink. “What can I say? Life’s just sogoudawith you.”
She chuckles lowly, quirking a playful brow. “And it always willbrie.”
I wince as I stifle a bark of laughter, pain ricocheting through my torso, and Wren sits up straight, smoothing her hands across my chest. “Don’t overdo it, Vaughn.”
Her lip twitches suspiciously before she tugs it into her mouth, suppressing a naughty grin. “You’ve got to take itcheesy.”
My nostrils flare as I quash a chuckle. “At least until I getfeta, right?”
I follow it up with a wide yawn that makes me wince, and Wren smooths her hand across my brow with an amused huff. My eyes feel more than a little heavy as she continues to hold my gaze, fingers threading through my mussed-up hair.
“You need to rest now. I’ll be here while you sleep. I’m not going anywhere.”
She slowly brings her mouth to my ear, whispering across the shell words I’ve spoken to her in the past. “You’re safe with me.”
A sense of completeness fills my chest as the need for rest overtakes me. I feel as though, in this moment, our roles have changed, and I wilfully fall headlong into a healing sleep, safe and whole at last in the arms of the woman I love.
CHAPTER41
WREN
TWO YEARS LATER
“Are you sure you’ve got her paci in there?”
Mom swats my hand away from Alessia’s diaper bag. “I’ve got spares, my love. This isn’t my first rodeo.”
I expel a heavy breath as my mother watches me with a patient smile. “I’ve never been away from her overnight, that’s all.”
Sia will be spending the night with her adoring nonna, who helps out most days if I’m painting and Vaughn is needed at Rogue for something or other. But this will be the first time one of her parents won’t be within an arm’s reach, and the thought makes anxiety churn in the pit of my stomach.
Mom cups my cheeks in her hands, focusing on me with kind eyes that make my heart lighter. “Every step toward letting your daughter become her own person is hard, but it’s a thing of beauty when you see her spread her wings andfly.”
My bottom lip trembles, knowing she’s referring to our own mother-daughter relationship as much as mine and Sia’s, and when she pulls me into a gentle embrace, I slam my eyes shut against the sudden onset of tears.
“Thank you, Mom.”
We stand for long minutes, relishing the closeness, until a cry over the baby monitor alerts us to the fact that my sixteen-month-old daughter’s nap is apparently over.
At the exact same time, a key rattles in the front door, and butterflies replace the knot of anxiety in my stomach, knowing Vaughn is finally home after a long week of giving testimony at the trial of Nolan Fritz.
Unbeknown to everyone, Vaughn had come up with a plan to see Fritz not only pay for my father’s murder, but also face trial for the wrongs he’d committed against hordes of women he’d used one way or another over the last two decades.
Jo Fratelli had a contact who’d been able to set the ball in motion for Vaughn to receive total immunity in exchange for his testimony and all the meticulous records he’d kept for over twenty years inRavish.
His case was also being linked to several other missing persons cases, and it was looking promising that karma would extract at leastsomevengeance for us.
