Darragh looks at J.P., then at me. “My wife wants that, too.”
My pulse goes crazy. “My wife does as well, apparently.”
We share a look like we never expected to be here. But we are. And it’s good.
“Soph and I will be back soon.” Darragh squeezes my arm. “Stay with him. As long as you want, Cormac.”
Then he does something I was not prepared for. He leans down and kisses my forehead.
I nod, unable to speak from the weight of his love. But without that, I never could have gotten out of my own way to love Scarlett.
“Hey, buddy,” I murmur when the house gets quiet. “It’s just you and me.”
J.P. buries his face in my chest and gives a long sigh. God, I had no idea it would ever feel like this. I head into the sunroom, overlookingthe manicured grounds.
I sink into a wicker armchair and face him that way too, so we can both enjoy the sharp angle of the winter afternoon. J.P. smells like soap and lavender. He breathes the type of innocence I didn’t think I deserved.
I just sit in the chair and hold my son, letting him squirm and play with his rattle, learn to make it make sounds. And just breathe.
He’s the perfect proof that second chances exist.
For the first time since I saved that one little boy, my son and my wife make me feel whole.
Chapter 49
Scarlett
Iexpected I’d be nervous to be all alone with a Bratva underboss and her enforcer. A powerful woman who can order the end of a life, and the man hired to follow her orders. As dark as it is, it’s exciting to be on this trip with Ana, but it’s also sparking some heavy questions for me as a physician. It’s a tough needle to thread. Can I stand by and watch a man die, even someone who’s evil?
This part of medicine is ugly. Deciding who lives and dies when it can’t be both. Or when someone is unredeemable.
Pierce? He is unredeemable in his selfish, godly conceit. But making him pay is not worth it if it comes back to hurt Cormac. I’m certain that whatever punishment Ana will inflict on Pierce, it will hurt him plenty.
Ana sits in one of the captain’s chairs behind the driver in a charcoal pantsuit, legs crossed, chin lifted, and eerily calm. I sit in the seat next to her, and Sergei sits in a rear-facing, fold-down seat behind the front passenger.
I consider my ex’s anal-retentive schedule. Like clockwork on Sundays, he has brunch with Barron and their friends from college. Some are doctors, one is a lawyer, and the other is a CEO.
“There.” I point to the private club with an ornate oak door and black hammered fixtures.
We park at the curb and wait less than ten minutes, when the door opens, and Pierce’s brother Barron emerges.
I tap Ana’s hand. “That’s his brother. Pierce will be outside any second.”
“Go,” Ana gives her one-word command.
Sergei is out of the SUV in a blur, his massive body shooting forward like a stealth missile. The opening and shutting of other car doors sound out behind me. I look out the back window. Tall, scary men in sharp suits position themselves in front of the matching black SUVs lined up behind us.
What a show of force.
Ana turns to me. “When he gets in this car, don’t show any fear,” she says. “He only wins if you fear him.”
I swallow. “I’m not afraid.”
She studies me. “Good.”
The rear door flings open, and Sergei throws Pierce into the fold-down seat. He keeps my ex there with a thick forearm pressed against Pierce’s neck.
He sputters, fighting off Sergie’s hold to breathe. “Are you insane? Do you know who my father?—?”