"She's a beautiful girl, isn't she?" Charlotte asked, moving into the nursery.
"Yes, she is. You must be one proud grandma."
"Always. I love my children. We often disappoint them, but they have never done so with me."
Glancing over at the older woman, she saw Charlotte was incredibly pale. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I am fine. I'm just … I'm feeling my age right now, and all of the mistakes that I have made over the years. If Maddox hadn't been too busy trying to deal with me, none of this would be happening. He's always such a good man. He needed to keep everything in check, and he didn't because of me. This is all my fault."
"Damian explained everything to me. The legacy, what the family does."
Charlotte nodded. "A lot of women, myself included, find it hard to believe, but I've seen it, and I've felt it with the way Maddox is with me. There are many times I'm not a very good wife to him. I probably shouldn't tell you this."
"You can't blame yourself for everything. There's no way that you could have known what those men would do to those women."
"Maddox would. That's the point, Mia. My husband has been the head of the Denton family for as long as I can remember. He's always known and seen when threats are coming. Especially from small time crooks like Westbrook and Ivan. No matter how much you try to make me feel better, there is no changing the fact that this is my fault."
"Ivan Smith?" Mia asked.
"Yes. That boy's father."
Mia reached out and stroked Reese's cheek. "He won't be anything like Ivan. I've kept him away as often as I could."
"You're a good mother, and I would be happy to have you as a daughter-in-law."
"I think that is a little soon to presume. Damian and I, we're-I don't know what we are. I care about him, and when I'm around him, I feel so much happiness."
"I get that with Maddox, even when he pisses me off and hurts me. I've been a damn fool. I was angry with Maddox because of Gabriel, and yet, we weren't even together. He'd not even seen me, you know? How can I be angry about something that we had no control over? I'm waiting for him to get home, and I will do better."
Mia moved toward Charlotte, and wrapped her arms around the other woman. "You're a good mother."
"You're a sweet girl. Damian's about to head out. I will watch them while you say goodbye."
Mia left the nursery making her way toward the room they had shared. She had woken up this morning with his arms wrapped around her. For a few short seconds, she could pretend that he didn't have to leave, that there wasn't a problem. She had closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like to wake up with him kissing her, stroking her body. Ivan hadn't been her only lover. She had a boyfriend before him, and she'd loved sex. It had been good, but she had wanted the passion she had read in so many books. Yes, it was cliched, but what was wrong with wanting something more?
After Ivan she had thought there was no way she could ever feel anything again, and it had been over a year since it happened. With Damian, it was hard for her to really understand because he was the only person she felt safe with, comfortable to be herself.
Entering the bedroom, she saw him sitting on the bed, holding something in his hand. He looked up toward her as she stepped into the room.
"Your mother said you were leaving. I didn't want you to go without saying goodbye." She frowned. "Where are you going?"
"Damage control. Rick wants us talking to some of our suppliers, and to also make it known that we were not responsible for the murder of those two girls. We're also going to be adding some extra security detail to our places. It'll help show them we're back and we're taking care of our own."
"That sounds like the right thing to do."
"Yeah, Rick is the only one who doesn't have his head up his own ass. I guess being away from his woman is incentive enough to get the job done."
There was so much she wanted to say, and yet nothing came out of her mouth. He had admitted to being in love with her last night, and now there was silence. "Reese and Martha are settled. We had breakfast, and I took them for a walk around the garden. Martha loves the fresh air, and so does Reese." Her son was thriving in this new environment. Not only was her son doing well, but she felt a change in herself. For too long she had been afraid of everything and anything, and now it was like she was able to think, to focus, to fight.
"Are we all right?" Damian asked.
"Why wouldn't we be?"
"Last night, not only did I tell you the truth of who I am, and what my family do, I told you that I was in love with you. After everything you've been through, I wouldn't be surprised if you did walk out that door and not come back."
Mia rested her hands on her hips and glared at him. "You're going to define who I am based on my past?"
"You've been through a lot."
"So has everyone else, and guess what? We fight, we move on."
"I'm going to kill Ivan Smith, Mia. I'm going to cut his dick off and feed it to him. Then I'm going to plunge my knife into his stomach and tear him until I split him apart."
"That's very … colorful."
"It's the man that I am." He stood up and started to walk toward her.
Mia wasn't afraid. She knew who he was and what he was capable of. To her, it didn't matter. All that mattered was at the end of the day he came home.
"I'm in love with you," he said.
She placed her hands on his chest and stared into his eyes. "Then come home. Do what you need to do and come home." Then without any hesitation, she went onto her tiptoes, and pressed her lips against his. She pushed her fingers into his hair, and held him tightly to her as she teased across his lips until he opened up, and she plunged her tongue into his mouth.
Releasing a moan, she gasped herself as he grabbed her ass, and pressed her against the wall.
"There's a lot you don't know about me, Mia. So much," he said, breaking the kiss. He had her pressed against the wall and his body, and she liked it.
The hardness of his cock nestled against her stomach. Staring into his eyes, she knew that she wanted him more than anything else. "You think you know me?"
He tilted his head to the side.
"There's a lot you don't know, Damian. I'm not just some damsel in distress. I've been able to live my life perfectly fine."
"You were terrified of Ivan."
"I was scared of what that monster would make me do. I love my son, and I don't know the kind of limits I would have to keep him warm at night and fed. I've heard a lot of bad stuff about Ivan's women, and that was what I was to a lot of people. Just another woman. I wasn't his." She ran her thumb across his lip. "He wasn't my first, Damian. I'm not some damsel in distress here. I can take care of myself, and you don't have to be careful with me."
"Damian, come on. We've got to go," Rick said, yelling toward them. She turned toward the door.
"I've got to go."
"Then go. I'm still going to be here when you get back."
He sank his fingers into her hair, tugged on the length, and slammed his lips down on hers, making her moan.
"Come on!" Rick's yell was losing patience.
Damian groaned. "I feel like a fucking teenage boy right now."
She chuckled. "Go. Everything is going to be fine. You'll see."
He stepped back and held his hands up. "I want you to wear this for me," he said. In his hand was a necklace, a heart with a single jewel in the corner. It was delicate and beautiful.
"Why?"
"I saw this a few years ago, and I always promised myself that when I finally found my woman, I'd want her to wear it. To a lot of people it has no significant value. It's expensive, but this is more personal to me, Mia. I want you to have it so that you know you own my heart, and you do."
She lifted her hair up, and turned. "I'll wear it for you." She had no jewelry, and when he placed the fine chain around her neck, there was something that triggered in her head.
This was her granting him permission to own her.
It was strange how bound to him she felt. Some of the women may not initially feel a connection with their men, but she did. Every time she looked at Damian there was this pull that she couldn't deny, this feeling that she wanted to be with him more than anything else. Maybe, just maybe it was in fact love. Her feelings for him that she had never given to another.