I dropped to squat in front of her. “Shh, shh, darlin’. She’s okay. She’s just sleepin’.”
Silent sobs shaking her whole body, she started to hyperventilate.
I gripped a handful of Siren’s hair and brought my forehead to hers. “Look at me.”
Devastation, joy, grief, an ocean of emotions in her eyes, she looked up.
“She’s okay,” I enunciated. “Take a deep breath. Right now.”
Siren sucked in air and Maddie squirmed in my arm.
We both looked down as Maddie opened her eyes. The second she saw Siren, her little face scrunched up and she burst into tears.
With the force of hurricane, Siren snatched Maddie from me and pulled her to her chest. Crying, rocking, she found her voice. “It’s okay, Maddie girl,” she rasped. “Mommy’s got you. I got you, baby. Mommy’s here. I’m here. I’m here.” Like only a mother’s voice could do, it quieted Maddie.
André’s hand landed on my shoulder. “We need to go.”
I didn’t hesitate. I scooped up Siren as she held Maddie and I carried them both up the steps and onto the plane. I set Siren down in one of the seats but before I could take the seat next to her, she grabbed my arm.
Big blue eyes looked up at me with reverence. “You found her.” Tears dripped down her face. “You found her.”
I swallowed and forced some words out. “Nothin’ doin’, darlin’.”
“Not nothing,” she said forcibly. “Everything.”
I left a quick kiss on her temple and sat before she saw me lose my fucking shit.
Neil appeared and handed Siren the cup with milk and a package of animal crackers. “For takeoff.”
The engines roared to life. Maddie jumped in Siren’s arms and a new wave of tears shook her tiny body.
Siren immediately held the cup to her lips and her voice dropped to soft cadence as she started explaining to Maddie we were on a plane and we were going home. Maddie’s little hand gripped the cup and Siren effortlessly opened the package of cookies as she spoke to her daughter, soothing her, reassuring her. In thirty seconds, she had the child calmly eating and drinking.
I inhaled past the lump lodged in my throat and released a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.
SIREN MORPHED BEFORE MY EYES. The frightened, traumatized woman who’d been sitting in front of my shop became a mother. A take-my-breath-away mother. She handled Maddie like she was born for nothing else and had her contented and asleep ten minutes after takeoff.
“I’d like to go back to Daytona Beach. I have all of her stuff at the apartment there,” she said softly, pulling me from my thoughts.
I sat up straighter and focused. The couple of times I’d been in that apartment, I hadn’t seen shit but I hadn’t been in the bedrooms either. I quietly called out to André. “Patrol.”
“Yeah?”
“We safe to go home?” I’d take us back to Daytona but no fucking way was Siren ever stepping foot in that apartment again.
André glanced at Siren. “Maldonado’s men know about Randy.” He turned to me with a guarded expression and I knew the rest of what he wasn’t saying. Maldonado’s people were no longer a threat to me but Stone was still out there. And by now, he’d know about Maddie.
“I’m not gonna hide.”
André nodded and got up. “I’ll let Roark know.”
Siren looked up at me. “We’re going home?”
The tightness in my chest eased when she said home. “Yeah, darlin’, we are.”
She pulled Maddie closer. “What if Stone—”
I didn’t let her finish the thought. I put my arm around her shoulders. “I’m not gonna let anythin’ happen to you or Maddie.”
She breathed out. “Okay.” She glanced down at her daughter. “She’s so thin.”
“We’ll put some weight back on her.” I did my best to reassure her.
“She’s filthy. Her hair, her face, her feet.”
I forced my muscles to relax and my jaw to unclench. “Nothin’ but a dirt yard,” I lied.
“Was she—”
“Siren,” I warned. “You’re not goin’ there. She’s fine. We got her back and you’re gonna clean her up and we’ll get some decent meals in her and you’re gonna move forward. You hear me?” I wasn’t going to let her dwell on this shit. “No one’s gonna take her again. It’s handled.”
Fighting back tears, she nodded.
I quickly changed the subject. “You never did tell me, what’s Maddie short for?”
“Madeleine,” she whispered. “It was my grandmother’s name.”