I had to change my priorities and work out in the evenings since I needed to take care of her in the morning, but being a parent was about making sacrifices. “It’s a lot easier than I thought it would be. I guess it’s because she’s my daughter…so I don’t mind taking care of her. And I have it easy. Siena is the one who takes care of her all day while I’m at work.”
Bates nodded. “Do you want to have more kids?”
“As many as she wants to have.” She’d told me she wanted to marry me and make more babies with me, even before Martina had arrived. Now that I’d admitted my feelings to myself, I knew that was exactly what I wanted.
“It’s crazy to think that just a year ago you were the asshole playboy who only believed in threesomes.”
“Yeah…it is.” I was a different man until that woman walked into my life and told me off. I got her pregnant by mistake, but Martina ended up being the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Without her, I would have killed Siena that day…and never would have what I had now.
“But you’re happy…so I’m happy for you.”
“Took you long enough.”
He shrugged. “I’m a little slow. But you already knew that.”
I had to work late that night. My clients flew in from China, but their flight got delayed for bad weather, so I had to stick around for a few extra hours.
When Siena got worried, she called. “Hey, you’re usually home by now…” She didn’t outright ask for an explanation, probably because she didn’t want to seem jealous like she’d been in the past.
I liked it when she got jealous, so I didn’t care. “I had a meeting that got pushed back. Bad weather delayed their flight. I just finished with them, and I’m going to be heading home soon.”
“Good. It’s dark already.” It was almost summer, so the days were getting longer. It seemed like just yesterday when winter made the sun go down by five.
“Yeah, I know. How’s our little girl?”
“She’s good,” she said, her tone picking up noticeably. “Just gave her dinner and a bath. Now she’s in her pajamas and ready to see her father before she goes to sleep.”
“I can’t wait to see my girls.”
“We can’t wait to see you.”
I stayed on the phone with her, tempted to tell her how I felt. Thinking about both of them at home waiting for me made my heart burst in my chest. I didn’t miss the bars, the booze, or the boobs of my former life. The only thing I ever missed was my family waiting for me at home. But I didn’t tell her the truth, wanting to make sure I looked her in the eye when I told her how I felt. “I’ll see you when I get home.”
“Alright.”
I waited for her to hang up before I walked out of my office and left the building. My car was waiting for me, so I got in the back seat and stared out the tinted window as we drove through the city and headed to the countryside. Three cars were in the front and three were in the back, protecting me everywhere I went. If someone wanted to take me down, they would have a hard time doing it.
When the car reached the countryside, a large explosion nearly broke my eardrums. My instinct was to duck and get out of view of the windows. Bright light filled the sky in all directions, billowing flames reaching into the darkness. Even inside the car, I could feel the heat from the fire.
Shit.
I reached under the seat and grabbed the loaded pistol. “What the fuck is going on?”
The driver called for backup, and I sat up to look around. All the cars in my entourage had exploded. Some were still on fire, and others had rolled off the road and into the grass. It was safe to say all the men were dead. Their cars had been loaded with explosives and timed to go off at this particular moment.
That meant the war with Micah and Damien wasn’t over.
I only had time for one phone call, and as much as I wanted to tell Siena I loved her before I was killed, I had to call Bates.
Thankfully, he answered right away. “Are you still at the office—”
“Someone took a shot at me. All the cars in my fleet have been destroyed by explosives. I’m still in the car,