What's Your Price

“Oh.” She stood and shook her head. “I don’t want to know. I told you this. I told you I didn’t need to know. They abandoned me.” She walked away, and he got to his feet, following her into the kitchen. She took out a bottle of water and sipped at it.

“Someone lied to you,” he said.

Laura spun around and frowned. “What?”

“I wasn’t going to say anything until I knew for sure. Your parents, Laura, were a happily married couple. They were high school sweethearts.”

“Were?”

He licked his lips. “They were heading for a big life. Your father was a scholar and your mother considered one of the nicest women in town. They were the dream couple. Your dad, Michael, got a job in the city straight out of college. Your mother had recently given birth to you, and they had a home planned. A life.”

He saw tears fill her eyes. “You’re lying.”

“No. I’m not lying. The details of how you came to be in the orphanage are a little hazy. On the way to their home, a drunk driver ran them off the road. You were found in the car, the only survivor. From there, you went to your grandparents, on both sides. However, the grief was too great for your mother’s parents, and they died not long after. Your grandparents on your father’s side were shot in a garage shooting.”

She covered her mouth.

“Through that, you ended up in the orphanage, but you were very much loved.” He pulled out his cell phone. His guy hadn’t given up on finding Laura’s information. He found the picture that confirmed she was a loved child. He held it up for her to see. “Look.”

Laura took his cell phone and tears fell down her cheeks. “I was loved?”

“And wanted. You were everything to them.”

He took his cell phone and showed her some more pictures, including a newspaper article announcing her birth.

She laughed. “Oh, my. How did I not know any of this?” she asked. “Their names are on the birth certificate.” She pressed her lips together with a sob. “I thought … one of the foster moms told me how I came to be there. They lied. I should have known.”

“I don’t know why anyone didn’t adopt you, Laura. But you were a wanted child, and now, I want you more than anything else. I didn’t care if you were a foster kid, or a loved child, because I love the woman you are. No one else.”

Laura threw her arms around him. “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

“No. Thank you for finding it. Thank you for everything.” She held him tightly to her. “Thank you so much.”

He ran his hands down her back, happy he’d been able to find her any kind of peace. It wasn’t often people got to have a happy ending to their pain, but he’d been able to find something for Laura.

“How is everything going with work?” she asked, pulling away. Her hands rested on his waist.

Rather than continue a war neither of them could win, Gabe had opted to have a tense meeting with the Boss himself.

“We’re learning to compromise.”

“Does that mean you can get along amicably?”

“Not quite. They’re going to stop trying to take my city from me, and we’ve negotiated transport of product.”

“I don’t want to hear this, do I?”

“No. You don’t. All I’ve got to know is if you trust me.”

“Yes, I do. I trust you. I love you, and we’re going to have a very long and wonderful life together.” She pulled him down and kissed his lips, hard.

Epilogue One

Three years later

“I hate you. I hate you. I hate—” Laura screamed and Gabe held her hand, gritting his teeth at the tight grip.

He couldn’t stand to see his wife in any kind of pain, but their first child was proving to be difficult.

She collapsed against the bed with a sob, and he leaned over her.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I don’t hate you.”

“I know,” he said.

“I love you.” She sobbed out.

“I know, baby. You’ve got this,” he said.

“This child is going to kill me,” she said.

“Don’t say that. You’re the strongest woman I know.”

She pressed her head to his and started to cry. “It hurts so much.”

“You’re nearly there, Mrs. Moore,” the doctor said.

Laura looked at him. He wiped the tears from her eyes and used the cloth to dab the perspiration across her brow. “Another big push, baby. You can do this. You got this.” He held her tightly, refusing to let go.

During her pregnancy, Laura had changed her mind so much on whether she wanted him in the room or not. Finally, they had agreed to him being there, holding her hand.

One of the birthing videos they watched had terrified her, and the truth was, it had scared the living daylights out of him.

He’d rather face off with a maniac with a gun any day than this. Laura was in so much pain, and there was nothing he could do but to hold her hand and hope she didn’t castrate him.