"He is? How did he know when I'd be here?"
"Oh," Hazel said, shooing her inside and waiting until Liberty hip checked the door shut, "he called shortly after your last visit." She scurried up the stairs with more energy than Liberty had ever seen out of her. "William is so glad to see him again-you can just tell."
Liberty stared at Hazel's back. Maybe none of this was real. Maybe she'd fallen getting off the bus and hit her head and was currently hallucinating. That would be almost as plausible as a job offer out of the blue and Marcus cuddling a happy William.
Stuck somewhere between panic and disbelief, she followed Hazel upstairs and into the nursery. What was Marcus doing here? What was he doing, period?
Oh. He was playing with a baby, that's what. Marcus Warren, one of the most powerful men in all of Chicago-if not the nation-was sitting on the floor of Hazel's nursery, making circles with William's legs and going "whee!" And William? He was kicking his little legs in what looked like sheer joy every time Marcus paused.
"She's here!" Hazel crowed in victory.
Marcus paused mid-whee and looked up at Liberty. "Hey, William," he said, carefully turning the infant around. "Look who's here."
William's legs kept right on kicking and his plump arms lifted in her direction. Hazel was right. William did know her.
"Marcus?" she managed to get out. "What did you do?"
That grin-that was the look he always got on his face when he didn't take no for an answer. And he was looking at her. When she didn't pick William up, he tucked the little boy against his chest and surged to his feet. "Hazel," he said, leaning around Liberty, "could you give us a moment?"
"Of course!" Hazel clapped-actually clapped-before she hurried to the kitchen. Liberty heard humming.
"Marcus," she said again, trying to sound stern. "What are you doing?"
The smile dimmed a bit. "Visiting William. Asking Hazel about what I need to do to apply for custody."
Liberty's mouth dropped open, but she quickly got it closed again. "Custody? Why would you do that?"
"Because I want to," he said simply.
"And-the charity? I just got a job offer-in San Francisco? What was that about?"
He shrugged, as if personally getting her a job was no big deal. "You need the work. I know you. I know you won't be happy if you don't have something to manage."
"But...why? Why did you do that for me? My past-you're done. We're done."
"About that." He shifted William in his arms and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of William's fuzzy little head. "I've been thinking about what happened and I owe you an apology."
She didn't even bother trying to get her mouth closed this time. "But-"
"No buts. Hear me out. Did you stop and wonder about how those producers knew so much about you? Do you remember Chabot saying they'd gotten an email?"
"I...guess? But so much happened-I didn't think..." But now that he mentioned it, that had seemed odd. "Who?"
"Well. It turns out that my mother had you investigated back when I first hired you and she'd been...saving these details, shall we say, until she could use them to her best advantage."
Liberty gasped, her hand against her chest. The violation was a physical thing, one that made breathing hard. Marisa Warren had known the whole time. "She what?"
There had been hundreds of opportunities for Marisa to use that information, too. She could have demanded that Liberty do what she wanted or she'd expose Liberty and all her little lies. But she hadn't. She'd waited for three years.
Marcus nodded grimly. "It was a lousy thing to do to you. You didn't deserve to be ambushed like that. She wouldn't deign to apologize, so I'll do it for her. I'm so sorry, Liberty."
"You're apologizing for her?"
William made a little noise and Marcus adjusted his hold on the baby. "And for myself. I should have listened to you-you were right. The whole weekend was a disaster and I..." He sighed. "I acted like a Warren. And that's not who I am. I want to be better for you. If you'll give me a second chance, I'll be better."
Liberty looked at the tiny baby, her second chance to make things right. "There's something else I should tell you, though, Marcus. The last time my mother went to prison-she went three times-and I was in my third foster home, she had a baby. He was born addicted to God only knows what. He didn't live past three weeks. I don't think he ever had a name. I never saw him. But I named him William because it was a good, strong name. Just like I named this baby."
"Is that all? Because if we're going to make this work, Liberty, I need you to be completely honest with me."
Were they going to make this work? Was that what he was doing here? For the first time, she began to hope this wasn't a dream. If this were really happening... "I don't like to run. But I do it anyway because I get to do it with you. Not at first-at first it was just because I needed a job. I needed to make myself valuable and if that's what it took, then that's what I did. I needed to be someone important, Marcus. And then, when I actually became that person, I couldn't untangle myself from all the little lies I'd told. I wanted to tell you, I did. But I was so afraid that if I did, you wouldn't look at me and see the woman I'd made myself into-all you'd see was Jackie Reese's daughter, and I didn't want to be that person ever again. I never did it to hurt you. I never tried to trick you. I tried to tell you. I just..."
He nodded, as if he truly did understand. "You just did it to survive."
"Yes," she agreed weakly. "I hope you can forgive me."
"Oh, babe," he said. Somehow, he'd gotten closer to her. With William cradled in one arm, he reached out and cupped her face. "Only if you can forgive me. That producer caught me off guard, but that doesn't excuse my actions. I made a promise to you-that I would fight for you, that I would protect you-and when the shit hit the fan, I didn't."
"You didn't," she said. She couldn't get her voice any higher than a whisper, though. Marcus Warren, the billionaire, was apologizing-to her. "You said it didn't matter, but it did."
No, that wasn't right. Because this was just Marcus. He was a little messed up, but he was a good and honorable man trying to make things right.
"It doesn't matter. Does knowing my nanny might have tried to kidnap me matter to you? Or the fact that I almost ran away to Germany-does that matter?"
"Of course not. That's not who you are now."
"Just like your mother's past isn't your present-or our future. I know I haven't earned your trust, but I'd like another chance." He slid his hand down her neck and pulled her in closer. "This time, I won't fail you."
Please don't let this be a dream. Or, if it was, Liberty didn't ever want to wake up. "But I'm a nobody. Why would you do that for me?"
"Because," he said, his lips curling up into a smile. He leaned down and, without squishing the baby, touched his forehead to hers. "The smartest, kindest woman I know told me to figure out what I wanted and go do it. Not because anyone else thought I should, but simply because that's what I want. So that's what I'm doing."
"But...me?" The baby sneezed and they both looked down at him. Liberty touched the top of his head with her hand. "And William?"
"I want you-both of you. I want to be a big happy family." He tilted her head back and stared down into her eyes.
"But you just got me a job in San Francisco."
That made him grin. "No, I recommended you for a job as an urban coordinator. They're branching out. As Nate explained to me, not all Native Americans live on reservations. And we happen to live in Chicago, which is urban. But even if you can't be based here, we could go together. We can start someplace new. I'll be happy anywhere-as long as I have you." He lowered his face to hers. He was going to kiss her, she realized-and she wouldn't have it any other way.
"I'm not good for you." She whispered the words against his lips. "I'll always be the daughter of a convicted criminal. People will always talk."
"Then be bad for me. None of that matters. What's important is you and me and what we know is true. Marry me, Liberty. Be my forever family. Let me prove that I'll never stop fighting for you-for us." He glanced down at William, who was watching this whole thing with big eyes. "For all of us. Right, buddy?"
William cooed.
"Oh, Marcus." Then there weren't any more words because she was kissing him and he was kissing her and they were trying not to squish the baby in between them.