Chapter 36 Flynn
FLYNN
The Irish storm that hit that night wiped the Yudkin family and any trace of their existence off the face of the earth.
While I led the team that blew open the wall of Antov’s home and charged in to rescue Kaia, three other Irish families settled their debts with me by scouring New York City and destroying every Yudkin-associated gambling den, casino, and money laundering business they came across.
Any museums, galleries, and hotels that displayed Yudkin forgeries were also raided, and the items were removed and burned in the streets.
Anyone loyal to the Yudkins ended up dead and buried in unmarked graves and anyone who dared utter that foul name ever again would meet the same fate.
The underground black market skin trading was more difficult to handle, but after reaching out to an Italian associate who was already dealing with the skin trade, we worked out a deal that would poison the market, and anyone associated would meet a swift death, either by Irish or Italian hand.
The cleanup took weeks, and during those weeks, tensions were incredibly high in New York City.
No family dared speak out for fear that I would turn my fury onto them, and anyone loyal to Yudkin who managed to survive vanished out of state, never to be seen or heard from ever again.
Vic’s corpse was burned to ash on Antov’s estate along with Antov’s body, and there their bones remain to be buried under the Yudkin estate as my teams rip the buildings to the ground and flatten everything.
Once flat, I plan to hand it over to a reputable nature conservationist, who will turn it into a flourishing nature reserve in Anya’s name.
Frank’s investigation into Anya came up clean and she was, unfortunately, the only innocent person to die the night I raided Kaia’s home.
Through it all, every day tearing up the city and every week watching the landscape change, Kaia remains unconscious to the world.
The extent of her trauma and the severity of her injuries had doctors placing her under a medically induced coma to give her and her body the time and energy it needed to heal.
I visit her every day and sit by her bedside reading the news to her, keeping her updated on the antics of my daughters and Frank’s attempts to learn about plants after developing a crush on the muscular nature conservationist.
Angie and Eva visit every evening and pile drawings at Kaia’s bedside, tell her stories about school and cartoons they’ve seen, and then, more often than not, fall asleep at the foot of her bed and I have to carry them away.
I hire the best specialists money can buy to treat Kaia’s broken hand and care for her, and through the testing comes the momentarily terrifying news that she’s pregnant.
Given the state of her and her uncle when I found her, there’s a single cold moment when I fear he did something horrendous to her, until the doctor reassures me that the baby inside Kaia is almost two months old.
Which makes it mine.
“Pregnant?” Frank stands next to me with a deep frown. “Are you sure it’s yours?”
“Positive.”
“Do you think she knew?”
Behind me, Kaia’s soft breathing fills the room and my heart clenches. “I don’t know what’s more painful; that she knew and went after Eva anyway, or she has no idea.”
Frank’s head hangs as he rubs at his jaw. “What are you going to do?”
“Whatever she wants,” I reply immediately.
“We only have a brief idea of what she went through, but the story her body tells? All of that was because she went to get Eva back and I can’t…
I can’t ever thank her enough for that. So whatever she wants, she will get.
For the baby, for her life, for her future. Whatever it is…”
Frank’s gaze softens as he looks at me and his hand lands gently on my arm. “You really love her, don’t you?”
I scoff softly and roll my eyes. “Same goes for that. If she still hates me when she wakes up then I’ll take it. If she wants to kill me, I’ll take that too. Whatever she wants…” My attention wanders back to her sleeping form. “I’ll give it to her in a heartbeat.”
The tests that informed me of her pregnancy are the same tests that tell me I’m clean, and being stabbed by the hairpin already embedded in Antov didn’t harm me in any way, other than the initial stab wound.
Two weeks turn into nearly three with the doctor keeping Kaia under as long as possible to be on the safe side with her internal trauma, but soon I get word that they’ve started to wean Kaia off the sedatives and let her wake up naturally whenever she is ready.
The news sends me right into the shower where I scrub myself from head to toe as hard as I can, slather myself in my best scented moisturizer, and trim my beard close to my jaw until I’m satisfied that I no longer look like the haggard man who lovingly haunted her bedside.
There’s no telling what state or mood she’ll be in when she wakes up, but one thing is clear: I will be there for her.
If she wants to yell, I’ll listen. If she wants to curse me out, I’ll take it.
If she wants to cry, I’ll soothe her.
Whatever she needs. I owe her more than I can ever repay.
And I love her.
Walking out of the ensuite, I approach my dresser and slowly pick up my locket.
It hardly feels like time has passed since I caught Kaia in here trying to open it.
The silver rests heavily in my palm as I turn it over and slide my thumb over the engraving, then I fiddle with the clasp and return the locket to its safe home around my neck.
I gaze at myself in the mirror.
Kaia could wake up at any point. She could even be awake now and a guard might be messaging Frank to tell me.
Either way, the chance at a future suddenly feels palpable at my fingertips and my heart, previously weighed down with the sheer strain of the past few weeks, hell months, suddenly feels lighter.
Even if she hates me, I’ll be happy she’s alive and awake to tell me so.
Running a comb through my hair, I drag open the top drawer and search out my best shirt but as it slides free from its cover, a small box tumbles out of it and lands back in the drawer.
It’s a small black box that I haven’t seen in seven years, and the sight of it makes my stomach lurch.
Is this a sign? A blessing?
Setting my shirt aside, I pick up the box and slowly open it. Inside sits the engagement ring I picked out and lovingly gave to the mother of my children long before I had children to love.
I haven’t seen or thought about this box in years and now it suddenly shows itself.
An engagement ring.
I lift my gaze and study myself in the mirror, then glance down at the locket sparkling around my neck.
Gazing at it sparks a small, exciting idea in my mind, which quickly snowballs into a huge, incredible one I scarcely understand.
I’m not one to believe in anything other than what’s in front of me at each moment, but the ring feels important.
Like something is trying to tell me something, maybe even my subconscious.
Or I’m crazy.
Either way, as I slide my best shirt onto my shoulders, I know one single truth in my heart.
I want Kaia by my side for the rest of my life.