As crappy as her existence had been and the apartment was hardly the epitome of living large, it’d been her sanctuary.
Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t realize Christian was beside her until he reached out and touched her shoulder. She jumped and when she saw it was him, she tried not to show how much she wished things were different between them.
“I’m glad you came,” he said.
“Well, you said it was important,” she replied stiffly. God, why did it hurt so much just to be near him? This love crap was for the birds, she thought to herself. Love? Yes, she thought with a sinking heart. She’d gone and fallen in love with the man and he likely couldn’t stand her. “What is so important that you couldn’t just tell me over the phone?”
He reached behind him and pulled out a fat envelope. “Well, for one, it’s hard to pass a wad of money through the phone and two, I needed to see you before you disappeared.”
She stared at the envelope, not quite understanding, but when he insisted that she take it, she did with great reluctance. In her experience big sums of cash didn’t just fall into your lap without strings attached. “What are you talking about?”
He gestured to the spot beside her. “May I?”
“I suppose,” she allowed, scooting just a little to give them more space. She opened the envelope to peek inside. Holy hell. She gaped at Christian. There’s got to be thousands of dollars in here. What’s going on?”
“That skinny, creepy woman that hustled you and Nico out of Mama Jo’s showed up at my loft this morning. I don’t even want to know how she knew where I lived but, anyway, she shows up with this envelope saying it belonged to you. She said it’s ten thousand plus a little extra for your trouble.”
“That’s how much Belleni took from me,” she murmured, unable to believe it was now clutched in her hands. “How? Why?” She had too many questions. “What else did she say?”
“For one, she said that Frank Rocco/Belleni, whatever name he goes by, is dead.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I don’t know all the details, don’t really care to know the details, but suffice to say he’s not going to be chasing you down for custody anytime soon.”
She nearly sagged with relief and if she was judged for being thankful of Belleni’s death so be it. “And Vivian brought you the money, just like that?”
“Not exactly. She said you are no longer her burden. She doesn’t like you very much,” he added.
“No, she doesn’t,” Skye agreed, still reeling from the news. “Was that all?”
“In essence, but I have some bad news. Nico isn’t going to inherit any of Belleni’s money or assets. According to Slim, everything goes to her because there’s no proof that Belleni had any heirs. You could get a DNA sample and take her to court—”
“No, thank you,” she breathed, becoming giddy with relief. It was over. “God, I’ve dreamed of this day but I never truly thought I’d live to see it.” She closed her eyes briefly and whispered, “Thank you, Vivian.” Even though she was under no false illusions as to Vivian’s motivation, it freed her just the same and she’d take it any way she could get it.
She knew her eyes were sparkling when Christian’s gaze locked on to hers and seemed to get lost in her unadulterated joy for a moment. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing your beautiful face,” he murmured, his stare turning serious.
She startled at his statement, afraid she’d heard him wrong. “What do you mean?”
He took a risk and reached out to caress her face. “You know what sucks about knee-jerk reactions?” he asked and she shook her head. “You usually end up nailing yourself in the face and feeling pretty stupid about it afterward,” he answered with a soft grin.
“Are you saying, you didn’t mean what you said earlier?”
“No. Yes. Well, sort of.” Christian sighed, pulling away. “Skye, I can forgive you for the things you had to do for survival. I know all about that having watched my mom. What killed me was the lies. If you had leveled with me from the beginning—”
“You would’ve walked,” Skye cut in flatly. Then she looked away, adding with a shrug, “But I should’ve told you anyway. You’re right. It’d been so long since I’d done anything resembling normal I craved just a taste with you. I wanted to pretend that I was like anyone else, free to date, to experience a relationship because I wanted to, not because someone was paying me. But it wasn’t right and I’m sorry I dragged you into a mess.”
“I get it, I do. I just wish you could’ve trusted me a little more,” he said.
She nodded. “Me, too.”
They held each other’s gaze as the open air cleansed the wound festering between them and then Christian reached out and gently pulled her to him. She didn’t resist and tears pricked her eyes as he pressed his lips to hers in a tender kiss that spoke volumes to her heart.
“I feel there’s something special between us, Skye,” he said as the kiss ended. “And I don’t want to see this end until we know we’ve taken it as far as it can go.”
“No matter where it takes us?” she asked, a bit fearfully. “What if it ends up in a small house with a fenced yard in West Virginia or Iowa for that matter? I don’t think I can live in the city much longer, Christian,” she admitted. “There are too many memories, and most of them I’m ashamed of.”
“I’m not afraid,” he said, and he meant it. He realized in that moment that he’d follow Skye anywhere she wanted to go.
“What about your nightclub deal?” she asked, not quite ready to trust in the good fortune. “And your plans for the warehouse? You’ve already invested so much of your time and money on that particular spot.”
“I haven’t given up,” Christian said. “Hey, I’ve got Vivian wanting to be a silent partner.” Skye’s eyes widened and she gave a minute shake of her head causing him to laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m not taking her up on the offer but it made me think. Hey, if I can get two people interested, I can get another two people and if those don’t pan out, I’ll just keep going until I do. There’s another perfect spot out there somewhere. I just have to find it. I’ll open the club somehow and maybe it’s not here in the city but somewhere else.” He gazed at her meaningfully. “Like somewhere within driving distance of a small house with a fenced yard.”
“Do you mean it? Don’t play with me if you’re not serious,” she warned, sucking back a watery cry.
Christian sobered and she knew he was speaking from the heart when he said, “I’ve never been so sure about anything else in my life. Skye D’Lane, I want to build a life with you and I’ll take you any way I can get you. I want to make babies and raise Nico with you. And I know this is the real deal because I’ve never felt like this about anyone in my entire life. If you’d said two years ago I was going to fall in love and want to settle down I’d have told you you were crazy but here I am, ready and eager, as long as it’s you I’m doing it with. All I ask is that we stay long enough for me to get Mathias through baseball season and then we’ll figure things out.”
“I think that’s doable,” she said, smiling. “And in the meantime I’ll teach dance at the group home if they’ll take me back.”
“Sounds like a plan,” he said, the corners of his luscious mouth curving in a warm smile. “I’m sorry,” he added, causing her to frown.
“Sorry?”
He ducked his gaze but then said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to see who you are. I was too caught up in who you
were
to take that chance. And I’m sorry I didn’t do anything to keep you from getting into that limo. For the rest of my life I’ll regret it.”
Tears streamed down her face and she didn’t try to stop them. She cupped his face. “Don’t waste another moment on regret. Mama Jo said everything happens for a reason. Maybe she’s right. I’m here now and Belleni is out of our lives for good. I’ve put my life on hold for the past five years. I’m ready to start living again.”
“Sounds like the best damn news I’ve ever heard,” Christian murmured, leaning over to press a soft, sweet kiss on her lips that made her toes curl in the nicest way.
She never dared to hope that someday she’d find a man as kind, strong and amazing as Christian but here he was and she wasn’t going to turn him away. She was going to love him for the rest of her life and give him lots of babies to hold and adore and she was going to watch with pride as Nico learned how to be a man under Christian’s guiding hand.
But first, she had one more thing to tell him…
She smiled up at him and caressed his beloved face, taking in every minute detail so that when she closed her eyes she could always find him in her mind and then whispered her final secret into his ear.
“My name’s not really Skye D’Lane. It’s Mary Jane Hosker.” She giggled when he stared in astonishment and then she shrugged. “What can I say…I’m a farmer’s daughter from Iowa, remember?”
“Come here, whoever the hell you are,” he growled, grabbing her to pull her squealing into his arms and she knew it didn’t matter what he called her as long as he said it with love for the rest of their lives.
Copyright © 2011 by Kimberly Sheetz
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