Page 89 of Shattered Vows

I let go of his hand and turn onto my side, resting on my elbow so I can look down at him.

“I would have questioned your sanity if you hadn’t doubted me at all.”

A small smile tilts my lips. “How did you find my biological parents?” It’s something I’ve been wondering about while I was lying here with Kol, waiting for him to wake up and going over everything in my mind.

He blows out a breath. “When I couldn’t find any adoption records for you, I figured that you were either bought on the black market or kidnapped when you were a baby. I had a hunch, and I was right. If my child was stolen, the first thing I’d do is upload my DNA into one of those public genealogy databases so that if my child or their descendants ever uploaded theirs, I’d know about it. After you were hurt during that thunderstorm, I sent your blood in to be tested. I paid the company handsomely to keep the results from being public, but I wanted to see if anyone matching your DNA would be a close enough relation to track down your parents. Turns out they were both in the database. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Margaret right away. It was selfish. I thought you might leave me to go find your real family.”

I lightly place my hand on his chest. “You are my family, Kol.”

His amber eyes glisten as he looks at me. “And you’re mine. I’m never going to be separated from you again, sweetheart. I’m sorry it took so long for me to get my head out of my ass, but I promise that if you’ll let me, I’ll work the rest of our lives to make you happier than you were the day before. You’re everything to me.”

“I love you, Kol Voss.”

“I love you more, sweetheart. Believe me. You can’t even fathom how much.”

Careful not to put any weight on his chest, I lean in and kiss him. Just a chaste kiss, but it’s the seal of our promise to each other.

“I’m so glad all of this is behind us,” I say when I pull away.

He frowns. “There’s one loose end to tie up, but I’ll take care of it in time.” Before I can ask what he means, he asks me another question. “Do you want to know about your birth parents?”

I shake my head. “Not yet. I’m still trying to sort out how I feel about everything. But I think I’ll eventually want to meet them.”

He nods.

“Will you come with me if I do?”

He smiles at me. “Is that even a question? I’m going to be worse than Nero.”

My forehead wrinkles. “What does that mean?”

Kol shakes his head. “Never mind, just get back here and kiss me again.”

So I do.

Epilogue

KOL

FOUR MONTHS LATER…

Jessie Wallace died on a Monday morning on the golf course. It was reported as a heart attack, but what the autopsy didn’t show was the untraceable poison that somehow made it into his drink courtesy of the cart girl, a member of the Costa crime family.

I told Marcello Costa we’re even now.

We’re still not one hundred percent sure how Margaret got hooked up with Marcello’s goons, but the best guess is that she too was surveilling the manor, and they stumbled upon each other, and she had something to offer them. Information maybe, or possibly just getting Rapsody out of the way so she wasn’t a problem when they took me. We’ll never really know.

There was no chance I was going to let Jessie keep breathing when he still posed a threat to Rapsody. She’s been finding it hard enough to get over everything Margaret did to her and lied to her about.

A couple of months ago, Rapsody decided that she wanted to reach out to her birth parents. They were skeptical at first, since more than twenty years had passed since she’d gone missing, but we told them that Rapsody had decided to do a genealogy report, and I sent them the findings.

The story we went with was that Rapsody confronted Margaret, and she stabbed herself in the chest.

Rapsody and her birth family talked over the phone at first, and a month later when Rapsody was ready, we took the private plane to Ohio where they live. Turns out Rapsody is the big sister to another sister and brother. They’re an extra bonus to having her parents that she’s thrilled about.

We even flew in again last week right before Christmas so that she could drop off some gifts to all the family members.

Things are still a little awkward between them, but that’s to be expected. I’m sure in time it will get easier. We have plans to go visit again in the new year.

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