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“I wanted to tell him, I was about to when my father and his latest paramour, who is a distant cousin or something, and seems quite decent, turned up and revealed that Benny wasn’t my birth son. Leo is understandably upset by being blindsided.” To her dismay a tear trickled down her cheek.

“Oh, Ella.” Evie rounded the coffee table and sat beside her, dragging her into a sideways hug. “Leo is a good man, give him time to digest it and he’ll understand.”

“I think it’s too late. There’s been too much I held back. I should have trusted him. I do trust him. I was just afraid.”

“You know you need to be telling him all this, don’t you?”

“Yes, and I intend to, but he’s not here.”

“He’ll be back this afternoon. Why don’t you let me look after Benny and Mia you go upstairs for a sleep. You look as if you haven’t slept in a week.”

Ella hesitated. She was utterly bone-weary. “I can take them home.”

“No, you look exhausted, the kids are having fun, and you’re not driving until you’ve had at least an hour-long nap.”

“Are you sure?”

*

It was late by the time Leo stepped into the kitchen to find the entire island counter covered in papers. He moved closer and realized they were some kind of official documents.

“What the heck is all this?” Though he muttered the question aloud, he didn’t expect anyone to answer.

“That’s everything pertaining to Emile, Benny, and me.”

“Why is it all over the kitchen?” A part of him wanted to just ignore the entire Ella-and-Benny situation and head upstairs, kiss his daughter, and get some sleep.

He hadn’t slept at all the night before, and a day spent inspecting his cattle and discussing plans with the manager of his other property as well as driving an hour and a half each way, had worn him out.

And that was without the mental gymnastics his brain had forced upon him; he was plum tuckered out and not in the mood for a verbal sparring match with Ella.

“Because I want you to know everything.”

Leo sighed and leaned a hip against the counter. “There’s more?”

Ella froze, her eyes huge in her pale face. “No, not more, just total transparency.”

“Bit late for that.” Leo didn’t even try to keep the bitterness from his tone.

“It may be too late, but it’s all here, in all its complicated entirety.

I wish I’d confided in you. I have no excuse and I’m not trying to justify my decision.

I don’t expect you to forgive me, but before I go, I want you to have the opportunity to know everything. It’s up to you if you read it or not.”

The only sound to follow her words was the receding pad of her feet as she left him with the array of paperwork. His eyes went to the sheet directly in front of him.

If Leo thought his head was spinning before he’d started in on the convoluted legalese spread out before him, he now knew that was just an appetizer.

It was complicated and it was simple. Benny was the sole beneficiary of both his father and his uncle’s estates, and the end result was the two-year-old controlled a family fortune beyond even Leo’s comprehension.

And Leo wasn’t sure what to do with the information, or where it left him and Ella.

Did he even want there to be a him and Ella ?

Deep down, he still feared he didn’t know her, but she’d laid not only her soul bare to him, but she’d also given him access to all the legal wrangling she’d been forced to endure.

And she’d done it all for Benny. A child she’d sworn to love and protect.

He got that. What right did he have to judge her decisions?

Would he have done something similar if he’d been in the same circumstances as Emile?

Married the one woman he could trust to keep his secrets and care for his son?

Without a doubt he knew he could trust Ella with Mia’s life, but could he trust her with his heart?

He began to put the scattered paperwork into a pile, his mind swamped with information. When the countertop was clear of all of Ella and Benny’s legal documents, he grabbed a beer from the fridge and propped a hip against the sink and stared unseeing at the stack of papers.

“Do you mind if I have one of those?”

Leo jerked his head up to see Ella standing in the doorway. “Sure.” He turned and grabbed her a bottle and opened it before handing it to her. Their fingers brushed and a tingle ran up his arm, straight to his heart.

“I’m sorrier than you can ever know Leo. I know I should have told you, but in the beginning, I didn’t know how my feelings for you would grow.”

His gaze flew to meet her beautiful hazel eyes, saw something in their depths that sent his pulse racing.

“Look, I get it. I understand why you had to protect Benny, but we were… something , weren’t we?”

“Yes, of course w-we were. I still am.” Ella sucked in a deep breath.

“If I could go back, would I do things differently?” She nodded and then shook her head.

Which only served to confuse him even more.

“I would still do everything within my power to keep Benny safe, but I’d have trusted my instincts and told you.

Because you’re everything I wish Emile could have been.

Because in a few short weeks, you have been more Benny’s father than Emile ever was.

You’re the man I wish I had met before I agreed to Emile’s arrangement.

But then I wouldn’t have Benny, and I’ll never give him up. ”

Leo’s pulse sped up as he took in her words. Where was she headed with this?

“Leo, you are everything any mother would want in a man to guide her son in life. You are caring, trustworthy, hardworking, honest, and loving.” Her voice hitched on the last, “And I know I’ve blown it, but I have to tell you that I love you, and I’m so, so, so sorry for not trusting you.

” Their gazes held, and then her lip trembled and she set the untasted beer on the counter, and picked up the stack of papers.

“I’ll, ah, leave in the morning if that’s okay. Benny is already asl—”

Leo placed his own beer on the bench and was around it before he even realized he was intending to move. He pulled Ella into his arms, squashing the documents she held between them.

He leaned back, plucked the papers from her fingers, and put them down beside her discarded bottle. “This stuff is never going to come between us again. And you are not going anywhere. Not tomorrow, or any other day. You and Benny belong here with Mia and me.”

Ella’s eyes swam with tears even as a tremulous smile curved her luscious lips.

“You want us, me , to stay.”

“That’s right. I ain’t ever lettin’ you go.” Then he lowered his mouth to hers and pulled her close. After a moment, he drew back. “Um, that is unless you have more secrets we need to get out of the way?”

Her eyes twinkled. “Nope, not a one.”

“Good, ’cause I do. But I don’t think it’s much of a secret.” His face softened. “I love you Gabriella Staunton Hawes, and I love Benjamin Guyon. And I want you both to stay here with me, forever.”