Page 135 of Faded Gray Lines

She shook her head, her dark waves bouncing around her shoulders. “No.”

“Would you like to?”

She cocked her head, staring at me with inquisitive eyes. “Wif you?”

I bit my tongue, honoring Leighton’s request to ease her into the idea of who I really was. “Yes, and your mommy.”

“Awe you Mommy’s fwiend?”

I nodded. “Yeah, old friend.”

She seemed to consider that for a minute, rolling it around in her head. “Wanna be my fwiend too?”

She might as well had ripped my heart out and held it still beating in front of my face.

“Would you like for me to be?”

“Uh-huh.”

And just like that, we were friends. Apparently in kid world, an agreement could be forged by an acquaintance and an uh-huh. Maybe the cartel world could take a few lessons.

Still studying my face, Stella ran her tiny fingers through a strand of my hair. “Pwetty,” she said, offering me a smile. “Wike me.”

I laughed softly, never wanting this moment to end. “No, I think you’re much prettier.Te lo prometo.” I promise you.

She leaned away from the window and scrunched up her face. “Te...huh?”

I shifted in my seat next to her. “It’s Spanish, little star. Would you like me to teach you?”

Lowering her head to my shoulder, her cheek brushed against my shirt as she nodded.

“Something tells me you’ll be a natural,” I laughed.

EPILOGUE ONE

Leighton

Mexico City, Mexico

Three Months Later

I lay curled on my side and watched him sleep. His long, dark hair drifted over one eye and across the bridge of his nose. It’d grown even longer since we’d been in Mexico and needed a trim. Or maybe not. I kind of liked the added reckless look it gave him.

My fingers itched to touch him, but I settled for gazing upon him with my eyes instead. It felt like I hadn’t see him in weeks, but in reality, it’d been only a little over twenty-four hours. Since Eden was due soon, Val had handed over all day-to-day business to Mateo. I didn’t ask any questions as to where he went or what he did. I didn’t want to know. All I cared about was that he returned in one piece.

My husband.

I’d loved Mateo Cortes from the first moment I saw him as a teenaged girl, and nothing had changed. Actually, that wasn’t true. Everything had changed. I still loved him, but I saw him with new eyes. Stronger eyes. Eyes that viewed the world for what it was. Eyes that now knew the evil that resided in the hearts of ones trusted to protect us.

Eyes that saw him faced with a choice, and eyes that watched him protect me over all others. Just like he promised from the first moment we met.

He shifted in his sleep, and a lock of hair caught in between his full lips. I moved my hand to brush it away then gasped as his hand snaked out from under his pillow and wrapped around my wrist. Midnight eyes met mine, and he pulled his arm back, sending me tumbling on top of his chest. It wasn’t an easy landing. The toned and hardened planes rose and fell with even breaths as he studied me.

“If you wanted my attention, aim a little lower,mi amor.” His voice sounded rough as he ran a palm over my cheek.

“I thought you were asleep.”

The darkness in his gaze made me shiver. Sliding his hand down my arm, he entwined our hands and placed them over the growing swell of his erection. “I haven’t touched my wife in over twenty-four hours. What do you think?”