Page 152 of The King of Hearts

My father holds out his hand, and I clasp it.

“Congratulations. We heard you had a boy,” he says, his voice unusually deep.

“Thank you.”

I’ve forgiven my father for his absence in my life. After hearing the full story of what happened that night and how he was forcefully kept from us, my anger faded. Knowing what happened to my mother after he fell unconscious broke my father. He cracked even more when I gave him the details of what Aunt Rosa did to me for those few years. There’s no way to know for sure because both parties are dead, but his guess is that Theodore abused Rosa at a young age, like he did Aiden. Growing up, my father never suspected anything, and he assumed neither did their parents, but people like Theodore are good at hiding their true colors.

We both decided not to tell my mother what happened to me. It would only hurt her, and there’s no point of putting her through that. She’s been through enough, and neither of us want to take the chance of pushing her back into a state where she feels she needs to protect her mind.

I turn my attention to my mother. Her beautiful blue eyes are filled with tears, and her bottom lip wobbles the slightest bit. She’s one of the strongest women I know, having gone through so much in life. She endured two of her children being ripped away from her. Brutally raped in her own home. Watched as her husband was beaten to near death and believed he was dead for years. Fell into a catatonic state and worked her way out of it. And then found out the son she thought had died was a sadistic bastard who repeatedly hurt the daughter that she’s never met.

This woman fucking amazes me, and I’m so glad she’s back to her old self.

I reach out and pull her against my chest. She’s short enough that my chin rests on top of her head. Her floral scent fills my nostrils and it reminds me of my childhood before it went to shit.

I let her go, but keep her close. Using my thumbs, I wipe away the few tears on her cheeks. My father hovers behind her, twitchy to have her back by his side. He’s protective of her and her well-being, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Come meet your grandson,” I tell her.

She smiles, and it lights up her whole face. “Our first grandson,” she says, looking at my father. “Can you believe it, Tony?”

“Yeah, honey,” he returns her smile, “since he’s right over there.”

I grab her hand and lead her over to Savina’s bed. Caroline turns when she sees us approaching. She’s still in possession of my son, but offers him to my mother. Fresh tears gather in my mother’s eyes as she stares down at the tiny bundle in her arms.

“Perfectly precious,” she murmurs. “So handsome, just like his father.” She looks up at me, her eyes filled with adoring love. “It looks like he’ll have you and your father’s eyes.”

“Ryker says they may change,” Savina says from the bed, “but I told him that won’t happen. They’re too eerily similar now.”

Mom steps closer to the bed and uses her free hand to grab Savina’s. “He’s beautiful, Savina.”

My wife beams in pride. “Thank you.”

“Have you decided on a name?”

Savina looks at me. “Do you want to tell them?”

“Go ahead, baby.”

She reaches out and cups the top of our son’s head and announces proudly, “Everyone, we’d like you to meet the newest member of our family, Ryker James West.” She leans over and presses a kiss where her hand was just laying.

There’s a collection of awes and some sniffles from the females. I watch my father’s face, gauging his reaction. We discussed changing our last name back to Romano, but decided against it, choosing to honor my father by giving our child his middle name. It was Savina’s idea. He was as much of a victim, although in different ways, as my mother, Savina, and myself.

My father looks at me, clearing his throat, struggling to keep his emotions in check. “I’m honored. Thank you, son.”

“It was Savina’s idea,” I tell him.

Mom moves to the side to allow my father to step up to the bed. He leans over, says something too quiet for me to hear, and kisses her forehead. The familiar prickling in my skin at seeing another man so close to my wife, witnessing his lips touching her skin, hits me, but for once, I shove it to the side. This is a touch of intense gratitude, and I’ll allow it.

I look around the room, seeing all of the people Savina and I care about the most. There’s only two people missing.

Lili and Harper.

Two weeks after she and Savina tortured Aiden to death, she took Harper and disappeared. Except for a short note that she left for Savina, stating she needed to get away and be with only Harper, no one has seen or heard from her since. Those first few weeks, Savina was distraught and nearly inconsolable, worried about her friend and my newly acquired sister. My mother, once she came around and learned she had a daughter, was upset. My father hasn’t taken it well either. He may not be Lili’s biological father, but he feels just as responsible for her as if he were, because she’s my mother’s daughter.

I’ve asked Emo to do what he needs to do to find her, but so far, he’s come up empty. Bishop also has men looking for her. He claims he’s doing it for Savina’s benefit because his sister grew to care for Lili, but I think he’s mainly doing it for himself. There’ssomething going on there, and I intend to find out exactly what it is.

“Ryker James,” Mom says as she stares down at my son, utter captivation softening her features. “Such a handsome name.”

---