Chapter 10 #3
“Good morning, beautiful.” Rio’s voice carried from the kitchen as he leaned against the counter, shirtless, tattoos dark against his golden skin. He held out a steaming mug for her. “Extra cream. Just how you like it.”
Kylee smiled, her heart skipping as she took it. “You’re learning.”
He winked. “I plan on learning everything about you.”
Before she could respond, the sound of little feet thundering down the stairs filled the room. Jake Jr. came first, hair sticking up in every direction, followed by Macy and Kayla in their pajamas.
“Can we go swimming again today?” Macy chirped, already tugging at Kylee’s hand.
“After breakfast,” Kylee laughed, kissing the top of her head.
Rio crouched down, letting Macy climb on his back while Jake Jr. tried to wrestle him from the side. The rockstar who commanded stadiums now knelt on the living room floor, laughing as he let the kids “pin him” to the ground.
Kylee stood back, watching, and her chest swelled. For so long she had prayed for stability, for a partner who made her feel seen, for a home that didn’t feel like a cage. And here it was loud, messy, and joyful.
After breakfast, they piled out to the pool. The kids splashed in the water while Rio wrapped his arms around Kylee from behind, his chin resting on her shoulder.
“You did it,” he murmured.
“Did what?” she asked softly.
“You survived him. You chose yourself. And you found your way to me.”
Her throat tightened, but this time it wasn’t from sadness. It was from gratitude. From love. Kylee leaned her head back against his chest, watching her kids laugh in the sun. “Feels like a dream.”
Rio kissed her temple. “Then let’s never wake up.”
For the first time in forever, Kylee believed in a happily ever after.
A month had passed, and Kylee still hadn’t asked what happened to Jake.
A part of her wondered, late at night, if she should but every morning she woke up in Rio’s arms, with her kids smiling and safe under his roof, the question slipped further from her lips.
Some truths, she decided, weren’t worth reopening.
Now, they were thousands of miles away, the chaos of everything left behind.
Rio surprised Kylee and the kids with a getaway house in Hawaii.
The private island was something out of a fantasy: palms swaying in the ocean breeze, waves lapping gently at the white sand, and a villa perched high on the rocks overlooking it all.
And it was all for them anytime they wanted it.
Rio had whisked them away as if he’d been planning this escape for years. Macy and Kayla squealed as they played on the beach, splashing into the turquoise water. Jake Jr. tried to build a sandcastle fortress strong enough to withstand the tide, his tongue poking out in concentration.
Kylee stretched out on a lounge chair, oversized sunglasses shielding her eyes, a cool drink sweating in her hand. The sun kissed her skin, but it was the peace that warmed her the most.
“Paradise looks amazing on you,” Rio’s voice teased.
She turned her head to find him walking toward her
From the villa, barefoot, a loose white shirt open at the chest. He set down a plate of tropical fruit beside her and leaned in to steal a kiss.
“Maybe it does,” she murmured against his lips.
He sat beside her, pulling her legs across his lap, and watched the kids play with a contentment she’d never seen on his face before. “This,” Kylee whispered, scanning the horizon, “is everything I never thought I could have.”
Rio brushed his thumb over her ankle, eyes locked on her. “It’s only the beginning, Kylee. I promised you forever… and I meant it.”
For the first time in years, Kylee wasn’t haunted by her past. She didn’t feel broken.
She felt whole. Loved. Cherished. Free. As the sun began to dip low, painting the sky in streaks of orange and pink, Kylee closed her eyes and let the sound of her children’s laughter and the rhythm of the waves carry her into the life she always deserved.
The villa buzzed every morning with a rhythm Kylee had grown to adore. Rio had transformed one wing of the vacation house into a schoolroom just for the kids: polished mahogany desks, walls lined with maps and bookshelves, a sleek whiteboard, and even a globe that lit up at night.
A private tutor flew in weekly, but Rio often slipped in during lessons, pretending to be “just checking in,” only to end up helping Jake Jr. with math or listening intently while Macy read out loud.
For a man who once swore he’d never be tied down, Rio wore fatherhood like he’d been preparing for it all along.
He cracked jokes over breakfast, dove into the pool with Macy and Kayla until their shrieks of laughter echoed through the villa, and let Jake Jr. shadow him during workouts, building the boy’s confidence.
Kylee would watch them sometimes Rio with a kid on each arm, splashing in the surf or roasting marshmallows at sunset and her chest would ache.
Not with sadness, but with a joy so sharp it almost frightened her.
The kids never asked about Jake. Not once.
It was as if they’d instinctively chosen to let Rio fill the role their father had so carelessly shattered.
And Rio…he was rocking this life. For all his tattoos, stage swagger, and raw edge, he had become her anchor. The man who had picked up her broken pieces and built something better. Something stronger.But happiness had a way of stirring old fears.
That night, after the kids had gone to bed and Rio had slipped into the studio to play with a new riff, Kylee found herself pacing the master bathroom. Her hands Trembled as she tore open the small pink box she’d hidden under the sink.
Her heart pounded. She hadn’t told Rio about the missed cycle, the creeping suspicion that her body was different, alive with a secret it hadn’t shared yet.
She set the test down on the counter, the seconds dragging like hours as the world outside carried on waves lapping the shore, Rio’s guitar echoing faintly from the studio.
Finally, she dared to look.
Two red lines.
Clear.
Bold.
Unmistakable.