Luke watched Isabella pace his hospital room restlessly. Her hands were on her hips, and her hair was shoved into a careless knot on top of her head. She was wearing jeans and a pair of sneakers. None of the perfection of when she had first arrived, and yet she carried it off perfectly.
Around her neck was the pendant from her mother. A symbol that had been a threat when he’d first met her, because it had been an indication that she was the type of woman who cared too much. But now, he saw it only as his anchor, a reminder of the importance of believing in those you love. “Isabella.”
She spun around. “You’re awake!” She ran across the room and flung herself onto him.
Luke grunted and caught her, well aware she had been careful not to come near his injured side. “You do realize I’m only a few days out of major surgery, don’t you?” He caught her face and kissed her. It was the first time he’d had the energy to do more than a light peck, and he cherished the feeling of her body on top of his, of her lips against his.
She made a small noise of pleasure, then pulled back. Her eyes were dancing. “Kaylie called. Cort woke up.
He still pretty weak and has a lot of recovery ahead, but he’s going to be fine.”
Something stung Luke’s eyes. “I knew that bastard was too tough to die.” He hugged Isabella fiercely. “Hot damn!”
“I know.” She grinned at him. “Kaylie says to tell you that you owe them, though.”
Luke nodded. “I know.” It was time to bring up the topic he hadn’t been willing to address until now. “Leon and Nate are dead, but as long as Marcus is alive, I won’t be safe, and those I’m with won’t be safe.”
Isabella propped her elbows on his chest and rested her chin on her hands. She gave him an impatient look.
“What’s that for? I’m being serious.”
“You really think you can scare me with all that mumbo jumbo? I am already involved.”
“No.” Luke trailed his hands through her hair. “I can’t go back to Alaska. I need to disappear again, and I can’t ask that of you.”
“Ask anyway.”
Luke scowled. “Isa. This isn’t a joke.”
“Do you love me?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Of course I do.”
She grinned, a brilliant smile that made her face light up. “I love you, too. Thank you for not killing Marcus.”
“It was my only option. I had to take out Leon first.”
“Was it?” She cocked her head. “I don’t think you wanted to kill him. I think you’ve finally realized he’s not a bad guy.”
“Isa—”
There was a light knock at the door. Luke turned his head as Marcus walked into the room. The bruise on
his face had faded somewhat, and he looked more like the Marcus of old. His suit was immaculate, his hair perfectly coifed, and he had that persona of confidence and power.
Luke stiffened. What? Had he expected the humbled Marcus to still exist now that his oppressors were eliminated?
“My son.”
Isabella rolled off of Luke, and Luke forced himself to let her go. There was no way he was showing how he felt about her in front of Marcus. “What do you want?”
Marcus gestured at the seat next to the bed. “May I?”
Luke shook his head. “I’d rather you not.”
Marcus sat anyway.
Luke scowled, then some of his tension eased when Isabella took the seat on his other side. She rested her elbows on the bed so her arms were brushing against Luke’s shoulder. The slightest contact, but it felt good.
“Adam—”
“My name is Luke.”
Marcus nodded. “Luke. I want to apologize.”
“For what?”
“Your life.”
Luke couldn’t hide his surprise. “What are you talking about?”
Marcus removed a framed photo from his briefcase and handed it to Luke.
It was the photo Isabella had described. Luke and his mother on a beach. “Mom.” He hadn’t seen a photo of her in so long. His chest tightened and he ran his finger over her laughing face. “I forgot how beautiful she was.”
“I haven’t.” Marcus leaned forward. “I don’t know if
Isabella told you, but after she died, I went after the men responsible. I killed every single one in cold blood.”
Luke shot a surprised look at his father. “You didn’t even seem to care.”
Marcus managed a tense smile. “I was raised to believe that men didn’t show emotion. I responded by taking revenge. Leon helped me. He was at each killing. I didn’t know it at the time, but he videoed them, and he later used them to force me to run the business as he wanted. After your mother’s death, I decided to leave the business. I wanted to take you and walk away. Leon had other plans.”
Luke set the picture on his lap. “You could have disappeared.”
“Like you did? You can be found, Luke. You should know that. I’d murdered seven men. If the feds found out, how long do you think it would have been until they took me away? And then what about you? No one to take care of you. You’d have ended up in foster care at age eight.”
“Maybe that would have been better,” Luke muttered, then regretted his words when he saw Marcus flinch.
“Perhaps.” Marcus leaned forward. “I couldn’t get out of the business, and so my choice was to make you so strong that it couldn’t hurt you. That’s why I brought you in and taught you everything. I wanted you to be strong enough to survive what I brought into your life. When you left, I covered your trail. Leon wanted to find you and get the earrings back, and I protected you.”
Luke frowned at the earnestness in Marcus’s face. Felt the truth of it. But he couldn’t accept it. “Why?”
“Because I wanted you to live.” Marcus shook his
head. “When Leon killed Anna…I couldn’t stop thinking of Rebecca.” His voice cracked, and he pulled out a handkerchief. Wiped at his eyes.
Luke averted his gaze to give Marcus privacy.
“I realized the past would keep repeating itself. I felt your anguish at the funeral. It was like mine. I had visions of you reacting the way I had, of ruining your life forever by doing something rash, and then you did it. When you shot that decorator and I realized you were becoming like me—” He swore softly. “I would have done anything to get you out of there, to give you a chance to start over. I realized I had utterly failed to keep you safe. So, when you left, I let you go. I prayed for you to get a chance to start over. It was what your mother would have wanted. I was so glad when you got out.”
Luke shifted, suddenly feeling uncomfortable and trapped in the small bed. He wanted to get up, get away from the tightness in his throat.
“The buyer was furious, but I negotiated a substitute.” Marcus gave a tired smile. “Then a few weeks ago, we found the necklace, and Leon made a deal for the whole set. He thought I’d been holding on to the earrings all that time. When he learned I didn’t have them, he gave me a deadline to get them back.”
Luke held out his hand, and Isabella put her hand in his. “So you sent Isa after me.”
“She didn’t know.”
“I know.” Luke squeezed her hand. “I know she didn’t.”
She smiled.
“I figured she could get the earrings from you and bring them back. She was the only one who knew where you were, or your new name.” Marcus shook his head.
“I was so naive, thinking I could trick Leon.” Marcus looked at Isabella. “When I heard he’d shot you…” Tears welled up again. “Jesus, Isa. I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, Marcus.” Isabella released Luke’s hand and ran around the bed. She threw her arms around him and hugged him. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Marcus hugged her fiercely and didn’t bother to hide his tears. “I had to hide my feelings for you when Leon was alive, because I knew he’d use you against me, just as he’d done with Anna.” He pulled back and framed her face with his hands. “You were my shining light these last six years. You gave me hope that maybe there was still some good in the world. No one had loved me since Rebecca, and I’d forgotten what it was like.”
Luke was stunned by Marcus’s obvious love for Isabella. He hadn’t thought Marcus had the capacity to feel like that, but it was so apparent Isabella had broken through his veneer.
Still holding on to Isabella, Marcus turned to Luke. “I’m shutting down the business. The public announcement will be that with Leon and Nate dead, I can’t continue. I have enough money to retire, and I’m going to walk away.”
Too many years too late. “Congratulations.” Luke couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice.
“No.” Marcus touched his arm. “What I’m trying to say is that it’s over, Luke. You don’t have to hide anymore. No one is left to come after you or your friends. I’ve already sent a bunch of money to Alaska to pay for your friend’s care, and I will continue to support him. It’s over, Luke. You’re free.”
Luke stared in disbelief at the old man as the implications of Marcus’s words settled on him. Jesus. Marcus
was telling the truth. He was free. After a lifetime of looking over his shoulder,
he was free.
He couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face, and he wanted to stroll down the middle of the city of Boston in broad view, just because he
could.
“And you.” Marcus turned to Isabella, who was beaming at Luke from her place on Marcus’s lap. “I owe you, as well. For that reason, I’m turning over the legitimate side of my business to you. The store, my connections and all the contracts with the museums and universities. They’re yours, plus I’ll fund all your start-up costs.”
Isabella was visibly stunned. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. My house is yours as well. You can redecorate it. It’s your home now, Isa.” He smiled. “I just hope you’ll let an old man come by for dinner on Sundays, just so he can tell you how much he loves you.”
Isabella’s eyes filled with tears, and she flung her arms around Marcus. “Thank you!”
Luke ground his jaw and pulled his gaze away from Isabella. Marcus had just given her everything she wanted. A home. A career. Financial security. And a father.
“But I can’t accept it.”
Luke jerked his gaze back to her.
Marcus was frowning. “Why not?”
“Because I want more.”
Luke looked sharply at her, but she didn’t acknowledge him. She removed herself from Marcus’s lap and walked across the room. She sat down on the windowsill, resting her palms by her hips. She still didn’t look at Luke. “I love you, Marcus, but I don’t want to be a part of that world anymore. That house isn’t home for
me, and I don’t want to spend my life searching for antiquities.”
He frowned. “But I thought you loved it.”
“I loved it because you came to me when I was in college and offered me a future. You offered me a PhD and a home and a career, and a place to call my own in this world.” She smiled. “For that, I thank you.” She finally looked at Luke, a passing glance that told him nothing. “But that was your dream, not mine. I want my own dream now, and I believe I can do it on my own.”
Pride shone on Marcus’s face. It was a father’s pride to see his child finally stepping into her own skin. It was the look Luke had always wanted to create on his father’s face, the one he’d never gotten. To see him give it to Isabella…no one deserved it more than she did. He wanted to thank his father for that, for giving her that gift. He knew how much it would mean to her.
“What are you going to do?” Marcus asked her. “Where are you going to live?”
Isabella shrugged. “I don’t know yet, but I’m okay with that.” She grinned. “I feel free now, and I know I can create the life I want. I’m not going backward.” She held her arms up over her head and lifted her face to the sun creaking through the windows. “The world is mine.”
“That it is,” Marcus said softly, and Luke heard the envy in his voice.
And for the first time, he looked at his father as a man. Not as an enemy. Marcus had given Isabella the gift of his love, an incredible thing. Luke couldn’t deny the pain his father had lived with for so long. He didn’t forgive his father, but at the same time…he was tired
of hating the man. He wanted to let it go. He wanted to feel the love that Isabella had so generously given to both of them. He wanted to learn from Isabella and her relentless pursuit of love and those worthy of it.
“Dad.” The word stuck in his throat, but at the same time, it felt good. Really, really good.
Marcus shot a disbelieving look at him, and Isabella gasped.
“You get to start over as well,” Luke said. “Where are you going to go?”
Marcus hesitated and his shoulders became hunched, as if he were a little, timid boy. “If Isa isn’t going to be in Boston, then there’s no reason for me to be here.” He peered hopefully at Luke. “I was thinking of moving to Alaska. Learning how to fish.”
Luke smiled, and something heavy fell from his shoulders. “Somehow I knew you were going to say that.”
Hope flashed in Marcus’s eyes. “You wouldn’t kick me out?”
Slowly, Luke shook his head. “No. I don’t think I would.”
Tears filled his father’s eyes, and Marcus didn’t bother to hide them. “Adam—I mean, Luke. I have always loved you. I did a crappy job as a dad, I know I did.” His voice became raw. “But I did the best I could, I swear.”
Luke nodded. “I know.”
Marcus started to raise his arms, then dropped them. Luke grabbed his dad’s wrist and yanked him over.
And for the first time in thirty years, he hugged his father.
Isabella pressed her hands to her chest as she watched Luke and his father embrace. The hug was so awkward, she almost wanted to laugh, but she knew if she opened her mouth, she’d start bawling.
She wrapped her fingers around her mother’s pendant. “I love you, Mama,” she whispered.
She and her mother had been stripped of their chance for a life together because an awful man had broken them apart. They hadn’t had the chance to recover, to come back together, but Luke and his father had. They would have a lifetime of the love she’d lost.
But she had Marcus now, too. A father who would always be there for her, just because of who she was. There would always be a hole in her heart from the loss of her mother, but now, it was a little less empty.
The men stopped embracing, and Marcus stepped back. His face was flushed, but there was a light in his eyes she’d never seen before. “Well, I’ve got to run. If I’m not going to hand the business over to Isabella, I need to make arrangements to sell off everything.” He grinned at Isabella. “I love you, sweet thing.”
She smiled. “I love you, too, Marcus.”
He gave a giddy little wave so incongruous with his staid suit, and then he turned and nearly skipped out
the door. The door shut behind him, leaving Isabella alone with Luke. “How do you feel?” she asked.
He turned his head to look at her, and her heart nearly melted at the tender look on his face. “Come here.”
She rose from the window and walked across the room, stopping just beside the bed. “I’m so glad you’re letting your dad back into your life.”
He took her hand and tugged her onto the bed. She eased beside him, aware that his injury was on that side. “I owe you for bringing my dad and me together again.”
“Don’t say that.” She pressed her fingers to his lips. “I worked so hard to force Marcus to need me so much he would love me, but I don’t want to do that anymore. I don’t want anyone to owe anyone for anything. Let’s just let the past go. Live in the present, because we want to.”
“Fine.” He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. His touch was gentle, but seductive at the same time. Her stomach tightened, and anticipation pulsed through her. “I don’t owe you anything then. I just want to—” He swore suddenly. “I can’t do this lying down. Move.”
Isabella quickly stood as Luke struggled to his feet. She caught his arm and helped him up, and he didn’t argue. The moment he was up, he pulled away. “Sit.”
She raised her brows. “You’re awfully bossy when you’re hurt.”
He winced with pain, and she quickly sat, not wanting him to push himself. “Okay, I’m sitting. What—”
He lowered himself to one knee, grunting with pain.
“Luke, don’t hurt yourself—”
“Shh.” He took her hand and pressed his lips to the
back of it. His dark eyes were fastened on hers. “When you showed up on my doorstep, you brought hell back into my life.”
She nodded. “I know.”
“You drove me nuts, with all your talk about how great my dad was.” A small smile played at his lips. “You have to admit I wasn’t wrong. The man’s a bastard.”
She inclined her head. “He did murder seven men,” she admitted. “But
you
have to admit, he’s also a good man.”
“Weak.” He thumbed her palm. “But he did the best he could. I see that now.” He searched her face. “I thought my life was great in Alaska. I thought I had everything I needed. Then you showed up babbling about love and loyalty. You broke apart all I’d so carefully set up.”
She smiled at his aggravated tone. “Do you want an apology?”
“Hell, no.” He moved closer so he could wrap his hands around her hips. His body was warm and strong between her legs, even with his injury. “My soul died on that beach when I was eight, when my mom was killed. I worked so hard not to feel anything. Even with Anna, I never really let her in. I felt guilty as hell when she was killed, and I was pissed, but I wasn’t broken.” He tightened his grip on her waist.
Isabella stiffened. Anna, the pure and innocent daughter of a minister. There was no way Isabella could ever compare.
“But when Leon put that gun to your head, I knew the kind of rage that had made my dad murder seven men. Leon had to die, Isabella. So did Nate. They had to.” He searched her face. “I didn’t kill them just to
save us. I killed them because they had to die for hurting you, and as much as I wish I felt bad about it, I don’t. I’m not a good man, Isa. I’m more like my father than I want to be. Do you understand that? I tried to be Luke Webber, and I failed at it. I’m Adam Fie, down to my core. I—”
She placed her fingers over his lips. “I know there is some Adam Fie in you. But there is also Luke Webber. I love them both, just like I loved my mother and her flaws, as well as Marcus and his. I’m okay with all of you, Luke.” She bent down and kissed him lightly. “I accept you as you are,” she whispered. “Because I can see into your heart, and there is a good man in there. A man who is worthy of my love.”
Luke caught her face and kissed her hard. Not a light kiss like she’d given him. An aggressive, possessive kiss that thundered through her soul. He pulled back, his hands still framing her face. “I love you, Isabella Kopas,” he said fiercely. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
She nodded. “You became Adam Fie for me,” she said. “You became the man you didn’t want to be to save me.” She knew what it had cost him, and she understood what it said. What it meant. She felt the strength of his love in every cell of her body.
“And I’d do it again.”
She laughed. “God, no. I think nine dead bodies between the two of you are plenty.”
He managed a small laugh. “I can’t believe you can laugh about it.”
“We have to laugh,” she said. “It’s the only way to survive.”
“And that, my dear,” Luke said, “is why I’ve decided I can’t live without you.”
Her heart caught. “Really?”
Luke pulled back so he was on one knee again, and he took her hand. “Isabella Kopas, I’m flawed, I have a crazy family and a strong affinity for living in a godforsaken state with crappy coffee, but I swear on my mother’s spirit that if you’ll have me, I will love you every day of my life. I want to make a home with you. I want to wake up every morning with you in my arms, and watch the sunset from our porch every night.” He wrapped his other hand around hers. “I want to give you the home and the love you’ve always wanted. I’m not the fairy tale you dreamed up, but I swear I will love you every second of every day.”
Isabella stroked his jaw, her heart feeling so full it seemed as if it would explode right out of her chest. The intensity of his voice, of his face, of his words…“The way you love me is exactly what I’ve always dreamed of,” she said. “You
are
my dream. Every last bit of you.”
Luke’s mouth tightened, and his hand began to tremble where he held hers. “So, you’ll marry me?”
She smiled. “You haven’t asked me to marry you.”
He stopped and took a breath. “Isabella Kopas, will you marry me?”
She beamed at him. “Yes, I will.”
He finally grinned, his whiskered face stretching into a huge smile that lit up his eyes. He looked a thousand years younger than he had the day she’d met him. “Yeah?”
“Most definitely.” She held out her arms and he came into them. She buried her face in his neck, in the strength of his arms as he held her tight, and she knew she had finally found the home she’d been searching for her entire life.
Her mother’s turquoise pendant burned against her
skin, and Isabella smiled.
Thank for teaching me to believe, Mama. I love you.
She’d found her place, and her new, wonderful journey was finally beginning. She lifted her face and smiled at the man who had finally brought love into her life, the kind of unconditional, pure love she’d always wanted. “I love you, Luke.”
He smiled. “And I love you, Isa. Always and forever.”
And then he kissed her, and it was the most perfect kiss ever.
And there were many, many more to come.