Page 146 of Thorns of Silence

“Let me work out a plan and we can go from there.”

She nodded and I cupped her face and wiped her tears before pressing my lips against hers. This one hit differently. It was filled with promises and apologies. It was filled with love.

“I love you so much,” she mouthed against my lips.

It was all I wanted to hear. A desperate groan vibrated in my chest, and I threaded my hand through her curls, fisting them in my hand to pull her closer. I deepened the kiss, needing her with an urgency unlike ever before. Five years of loneliness had caught up to me.

The sound of the door opening pulled me apart from her, and we both turned to find Cesar and Skye standing there.

“Did you two figure it out finally?” Cesar asked, and I narrowed my eyes at my right-hand man. “I only figured it out when you brought them to the castle.”

“You knew I had a thing with her five years ago?” I growled.

Cesar shook his head. “I knew you had a thing withsomeone. I didn’t know who. It wasn’t until I saw Skye that I realized.”

Skye’s eyes darted from her mamma to me, then to Cesar, only to return to me. I lowered to my haunches and called her over. The fact she ran over to me without hesitation almost had me bawling like a baby.

Jesus, what was happening to me?

“You’re my papà, aren’t you?” she signed, her eyes filled with hope.

I nodded and my throat squeezed painfully.

“I’m your papà.” My voice trembled and so did my hands.

Phoenix took her bottom lip between her teeth, trying to stay strong. I lost that battle. I pulled Skye into my arms and held her tight while my chest twisted with memories. My hands shook as I brushed the hair off my daughter’s forehead, my attention divided between my wife and her.

I had found them again, in more ways than one. Five years lost.

Our beginning was a series of almosts and what-ifs, but our ending wouldn’t be. I wouldn’t allow it.

FIFTY-EIGHT

PHOENIX

Skye was tucked in bed for the night while Dante, Cesar, and I sat in front of the fireplace. They sat on either side of me, Dante’s hand on my thigh. I found that since his memories had returned, he needed to be touching me constantly. Almost as if he needed reassurance that this was all real.

It’d been a week since we arrived at the cabin. Amon had been anointed as the head of the Romero family, and much to my shock, he was also my half brother. That hadn’t shaken me as much as the knowledge that Reina had been captured and tortured by the same man as Dante. That I wasn’t there for her.

I had to be the worst sister to ever walk this earth.

“She’s better,” Dante assured. “If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t have sent me all those messages once I told her we eloped. Trust me, she found her fighting spirit.”

He was right. Underneath her sunshine personality and wide smiles, she had always been a fighter.

“I should have been there for her.”

Cesar smiled, then spoke slowly so I could read his lips. “You need a breather. Focus on your kid and this schmuck.”

I laughed while Dante narrowed his eyes at him. It was nice to laugh. Taking one another through our painful experiences since Dante’s memories came back had been exhausting, both mentally and emotionally. If it weren’t for Skye entertaining us and Cesar keeping an eye on her—and jabbing us with the occasional taunt—the tension would’ve been too heavy to bear. I wasn’t sure how long we could ignore the Nikolaev threat, but this week had been magnificent.

I was glad Dante had insisted we remain here despite the threat. The days were almost normal. We’d wake up, have breakfast together, take long, lazy drives out to Dante’s vineyards. He and Skye would walk hand in hand through rows of grapes and he’d talk to her all about the winemaking process. It was comical and sweet as hell. The afternoons we’d spend exploring the woods around the cabin and then we’d all pile into the kitchen, including Cesar who claimed he wasn’t good with knives, and prepare dinner.

It was magical. Until someone would inevitably mention the Nikolaevs.

“You need to call in the forces,” Cesar said, attempting to reason with Dante again.

My happiness dampened slightly at the exchange, and I tried to focus on the roaring fire and how sleepy the radiating heat was making me.