Truths and Lies Duet

“Da-da-da-da.”

I freeze mid-kiss. When I hear an excited shriek, I yank away from Talia, my head darting around to find the source. My eyes land on a baby. A fucking baby. With bright blue eyes like Talia.

Talia steps toward me. “Kostas, listen—”

“A baby?” I growl, snapping my head back to look at her.

Her chin is tilted up and her watery eyes are fierce. “My baby.”

I stumble back, feeling as though she’s kicked me in the gut. A baby. Her baby. And Aris’s? The baby makes another sound and I can’t help but look over at her.

“Kostas,” she says, walking over to the baby and picking it up. “Her name is Zoe.”

All the air is sucked from my lungs as I snap my eyes back to the little girl.

Zoe.

Zoe.

Zoe.

“Zoe, zoí mou?”

Tears well in her eyes and she nods rapidly.

Holy shit.

Our baby.

We had a fucking baby.

All happy thoughts come to a screeching halt. I’m going to murder them. Slaughter both Aris and Selene. Right the fuck now.

“Kostas,” Talia says, her voice shaking as she rushes over to me. “We have to go. Now.”

The baby—Zoe—grabs the lapel of my suit and tries to pull it her way. I’m stunned for so many fucking reasons. All I can do is lean forward and inhale her dark hair.

Mine.

She’s fucking mine.

They both are.

I’m eerily calm as I say, “I’m going to kill them.”

“And I want you to,” she whispers. “But we need to get Zoe someplace safe. Selene has a gun and she’s not afraid to use it.”

My mind wars with what I should do. The mobster inside me craves violence and blood and vengeance. The husband—and father—in me has an overwhelming urge to protect what’s mine.

I can’t have both.

Not in this moment.

So I choose them.

Pressing a soft kiss to Talia’s lips, I murmur, “Let’s go.”

She hands me Zoe and I freeze. I’ve never held a damn baby. But Talia doesn’t give me a chance to argue. The moment the tiny flailing thing is in my arms, Talia starts throwing stuff into a diaper bag. I can’t help but hold Zoe close to me, kissing the top of her head.

Those motherfuckers kept this from me.

My wife. My baby. My goddamn family.

Rage surges violently inside of me, but I don’t unleash it. Talia’s right. I need to get them out of here and make a plan. I’ll get the full story of what’s happened and then shed blood when my family is safe. Within minutes, Talia is packed and we head out the broken window. She rushes over to my car and tosses the bag into the backseat. Then, she takes Zoe from me and sits in the front seat. As soon as I’m seated and the engine fires up, the reality begins to sink in.

They’re here.

I have them.

My first instinct is to call Melody. She doesn’t know she has a granddaughter. The fact I want to call her should be alarming, but it’s not. Not after spending the last year leaning on this woman for emotional support under the thin veil of questioning her on the whereabouts of my wife.

“Hurry,” Talia says. “I didn’t make it very far last time.”

Despite her words, I don’t gun it like I normally would. The baby doesn’t have a seat. I finally understand the term precious cargo.

“You escaped?”

“Today,” she breathes. “Finally. But he caught me.” A pained sound rattles from her. “I shot someone, Kostas. I was protecting me and Zoe. H-He’s dead. I’m sorry, but I’d do it again and again to protect her.”

Reaching over, I give her thigh a squeeze. “I don’t know what the hell has been happening right under my goddamn nose, but I want you to tell me everything.” I shoot her a hard look. “And don’t ever apologize for protecting our little girl.”

Our little girl.

I’m in fucking awe right now.

A dad. I’m a dad.

And I have my wife back.

Talia

For the first time in over a year, I can finally take a deep breath of relief. Oxygen can enter my lungs without a lump the size of a boulder blocking my airway.

Because Kostas is here.

He didn’t give up on me, and he found me and Zoe, and we’re finally safe.

Thunder booms and lightning strikes, lighting up the entire sky. The clouds open above us, and rain begins to pelt the windshield. It almost feels metaphorical, as if the rain is washing away every bad moment from this past year, hydrating the life back into us. For the last year, I’ve felt dead inside, but now, with Kostas here, I feel like my body is finally thriving once again. I was struggling to make it through each day, pieces of me slowly dying, but now I’m alive and can breathe easy.

Zoe’s head lands on my shoulder, her body snuggling into my chest. When she babbles softly, Kostas glances over at the two of us, and for a brief moment our eyes meet. His hazel eyes tell me everything I need to know. Everything is going to be okay. He’s going to make sure of it.