Page 108 of Misdeeds of a Billionaire
My eyes burned. Gosh, I never even understood how much my sister knew me. Probably better than I knew myself.
“I am going to miss you so much,” I muttered, pulling her into a hug. “So fucking much. But we’ll text and talk. And you’ll find your happiness, because you are the most amazing human being on this planet.”
Her body shook lightly as she chuckled. “I wouldn’t go that far. I don’t save people, although I’m pretty good at destroying them.”
I pulled away, finding her eyes. “You still planning on leaving tomorrow?”
She nodded. “It’s for the best. You work shit out with your husband. Find your happily ever after. It’s likely that the past six years were wasted. I was mad at him for knocking you up, but I’d be lying if I said I still felt that way now. I couldn’t imagine my life without that little bugger.”
I smiled, my chest feeling so much lighter. “I love you, Billie.”
She stood up and extended her hand. “I love you too. Now, let’s get you dressed in one of these gorgeous designs.”
And that’s exactly what she did.
Half an hour later, dressed in a beautiful, satin Givenchy dress in a pale yellow gold, I made my way out of the bedroom and down the hall. Billie left my room to make her way downstairs ten minutes ago.
Faint voices traveled from Ares’s playroom, and I followed the sound. I found Byron and Ares there together in serious discussion.
“They were really yours?” Ares asked curiously, his eyes gazing at Byron like he was God himself.
Byron was sitting on the floor next to Ares, wearing gray slacks and a black button-down shirt. Both of them worked intently on setting up the train sets and mountains with soldiers surrounding them.
“They were,” my husband said seriously. “They were my favorite sets. So when I was too old to play with them, I let my brothers use them. But I warned them if they didn’t take care of the soldiers right, I’d take it all away.”
I leaned against the doorframe and watched them.
“So they did a good job taking care of them?” Ares stated.
“They did,” Byron confirmed. “I had to keep an eye on them a little bit, but mostly your uncles did pretty good.”
I couldn’t help all these warm feelings dancing deep inside my chest at seeing them together. The way it should have been all along. Had I done wrong by not going back to see Byron again? When I saw him in the hospital and he told me I’d lost the baby, I was devastated. Too young to have a child, but I was still devastated.
I never quite forgot that moment at the hospital. The way his chest visibly shook. The way I held my breath as I watched him walk away. But I… I couldn’t go back and seek him out. Not after what had happened.
“My uncles?” Ares’s voice was soft and small and his eyes wide as he watched his father. “Because you married Maman?”
Byron’s hand came to Ares’s head, the touch almost reverent.
“Yes, Ares, they are your uncles. And your family. Both you and your mom.”
I didn’t think there was a comeback from this free-falling. I didn’t even want to come back from it.
I just wantedhim. Ares, Byron, and I. My own happily ever after.
“I like you,” Ares beamed. “You’re just like grand-père. Maman always says he was the best dad.”
My son’s words made my heart hurt, in a good way.
“I didn’t know your grand-père well, but from the little I knew, he was a very good man. He helped take care of my scars.”
Ares’s eyes widened. “You have scars?”
Byron ruffled his hair, his expression soft. “Yes, but they don’t hurt. Thanks to your grand-père and your maman.”
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss on Ares’s forehead. My breath caught, and my heart squeezed at the sight of my husband being this way with him.
The gesture was simple, but so caring.
