Chapter Forty #2
My heart plummeted to the floor, and my stomach rose up in my throat. “Collin,” I breathed, my chest heaving.
James looked to the door and then back to us. “Done. Next?”
A slow smile spread across my demon’s handsome face, showing his white teeth. “All the money in my father’s accounts will be transferred to me.”
“Absol—”
“You want me to work with you? Give you information and help you take down the rings? Then you give me what’s rightfully mine. I will need the funds in order to help you, and I will not be spending a dime of own money to do so,” he explained, his voice hard at the mention of Romano.
“Rightfully yours, huh?” James asked, raising a single brow.
Col tilted his head. “I am his son, after all. The mafia belongs to me. Surely, you've figured that out by now.” He smiled again, teasing the agent.
A heavy sigh left James, and he ran a hand through his hair before dropping it to dig into his pocket. He pulled out a pen and handed it to Collin. “Put it in writing, and I’ll sign it. But you need to hold up your end of the deal.”
Ten minutes later, James uncuffed us both and looked at me apologetically. “Sorry, Kay,” he murmured, looking at my wrist. His brows came together as something flashed across his dark eyes.
“It’s alright, James,” I said. “Are you alright?” He nodded and opened the door.
Hand in hand, my demon and I walked out of the room—free. We were greeted by dozens of eyes looking at us, all movement on the floor seemed to cease as everyone took us in. My eyes scanned the room quickly and stopped when I saw my family standing at the far end.
Sullie and Dom were against the wall talking to each other.
Haley was standing next to Gwen, both of them smiling at me.
Dean was behind Gwen, and he shot me a wink before pointing downward.
My eyes fell to find my nephew, Aiden, being spun around by Gwen’s hands to face me.
His little hazel eyes went wide, and he took off, darting through the small crowd of agents.
“Aunt Kay! Aunt Kay!”
I choked back on a sob and fell to my knees just in time for his little body to crash into mine.
His arms wrapped around my neck, and he buried his face in my shoulder.
My hand cradled his small head, holding him to me as I inhaled his scent.
He smelt like bacon, proof that he had been at the Jacksons’.
“Hi, sweet boy,” I breathed, looking up to find Collin watching me with a concerned look on his face. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stepped back. James told everyone to get back to work, and the crowd dispersed. Aiden raised his head up and grabbed my cheeks.
“Don’t you ever go away again. Okay?” His little voice trembled.
I nodded. “I’m so sorry, Aiden.”
I was sorry about a lot of things. I was sorry for not being as present as I should have been in his life because of my fears.
I let my fears control me, bury my ability to be happy.
I looked to the man who destroyed all my fears and allowed my happiness to blossom and grow.
“I—I had to find my prince charming,” I whispered to the little boy as I looked back at him.
His hazel eyes bounced up to look at Collin.
“Kay, that’s Batman,” he screamed and scrambled out of my lap. The little boy looked panicked for a moment and looked around the room. “I’m sorry!” he said, slapping his hand over his mouth.
Collin’s face was guarded, but his eyes were soft as he looked at Gwen and Dean’s son. A small smirk played on his lips, and he shook his head. “They already know, kid.”
Aiden looked up at him. “Why? Your secret is very import.”
“Important,” I softly corrected the little boy.
Aiden shook his head. “I don’t say big words on Tuesdays.”
My brows lifted as our family came up behind him, Sullie holding his hand out for me.
He pulled me up on my feet and into a bear hug. “Hey, pretty girl,” he quietly boomed in my hair. My bottom lip trembled at the nickname he used to call me when I was a child.
A big hand landed on my shoulder, and I knew it was Dom. He pulled me away from my uncle, mumbling something about how he was the favorite. He looked down at me with kind eyes. He pressed a firm kiss on my forehead and whispered, “He hurts you; I get to kill him.”
A laugh bubbled from me, and I wiped my eyes. “Collin would die before he hurts me again,” I admitted softly, knowing it was the truth.
Sullie put his hand out to my demon, his eyes filled with everything but judgement and hatred. Col eyed it for half a second before taking it. Sullie clapped a hand on his shoulder.
“You took a bullet for her. Do you love her?” he asked, his deep voice causing everyone in our group to fall silent. Collin looked from him to me, his ice melting as his features softened for me. Only me.
“She is the only one,” the man who'd my heart for the last decade said. Suddenly, it clicked.
I was the only one he had ever loved.
My jaw slackened and I stared at him through the tears. Sullie looked back and forth between us before chuckling. He clapped Collin’s shoulder, ushering him closer. “Then that makes you family. Welcome, Collin. You can call me Sullie.”
My heart was pounding in my ears. and brunette curls caught my eye. I turned to find Gwen staring at us, her ocean eyes shining as she smiled. She pushed passed Dom, who laughed softly, and crashed into me, just like her son did.
“Hi,” I huffed as she squeezed me.
“Scoot your big ass over, G. I need in on this,” Haley’s voice came from my side. She wiggled her way in, and we held onto each other.
“I’m not doing that,” Col said from behind me.
Dean laughed as James said, “Never.”
“I think we need a girls’ night,” I said to my best friends. Both of their eyes went wide, excitement taking over before Haley looked behind me. “Can we have a sleepover on the island?”
I started nodding, and all three of our men cut me off.
“Hell, no.”
“Absolutely fucking not.”
“I don’t do houseguests, angel.”
I gravitated to him, wrapping my arms around his waist as he looked down at me. “Your kitchen says otherwise.”
Recognition flashed under his wall of ice and a soft, and a slow smile formed. “That's one of my happiest memories,” he whispered, low enough that only I could hear. Heat crawled up into my cheeks as my brain decided to focus on what happened the next morning.
My demon must’ve read my mind, because his smiled formed into a cocky grin, one I hadn’t seen since college. My baseball man was showing himself more and more, which only caused my love for him to grow.
“Speaking of kitchen, I’m hungry.”
All of us turned to look at Aiden, perched on Dean’s shoulders. His father looked up at him, shaking his head. “Boy, we just fed you.”
“Daddy, that food is in the past,” he said with all seriousness.
That wasn’t the only thing in the past. The darkness, the pain, the torment…it was all in the past. It went up in flames and here we were, standing together, forgiving and healing as we were reborn from the ashes, coming out stronger than ever before.
There was only one problem.
My brother and Casey were nowhere to be found.