Page 44 of Morally Gray Daddies

Before I could answer him, I heard a small mew behind me… but I knew we’d left Faithful at home. Turning away from the ugly red drapes, I cast my gaze about, aware that Gio was grinning even wider than before.

“What was that?”

A fluffy orange cat came trotting into the room, mewing louder.

“Truman!” I dropped to my knees, holding out my hands. “Here, sweetie, here, kitty kitty!”

Mewing even louder, he trotted toward me… not just him. More meowing followed him, more cats appearing in the doorway and then rushing to me, like a river of cats.

Moxie, Sweetie, Star, Little Bit, Rainbow, Rocco, Felix… they were here, my babies were all here. They crawled all over my lap, rubbing against me, meowing—except for Rainbow, who made a beeline for Gio’s ankles, purring loudly. Tears sparked in my eyes, happy tears, as the cats wound around me. Every single one of them was wearing a collar.

I looked up at Gio, unable to speak because I was too overwhelmed with emotion, trying to put my gratitude into my gaze so he could at least see it.

He shrugged, appearing almost embarrassed as he scooped Rainbow up. She bumped the underside of his chin with her head.

“I figured you’d rather have them here than have to travel to see them all the time,” he said almost sheepishly.

Getting to my feet, ignoring the protests of the cats, I walked over and grabbed the lapels of his jacket, pulling his head down to me for a kiss. Rainbow purred against my shoulder, the other cats winding their way about our legs, begging for attention.

When Gio lifted his head from mine, he frowned down at the cats.

“I can see we’re going to have to have a rule about if and when they’re allowed in the bedroom with us.”

I laughed, and he moved his gaze to meet mine, his frown fading.

“Thank you,” I said, beaming up at him. “You don’t know what this means to me.”

He raised one eyebrow at me.

“Of course I do. That’s why I did it.”

Warmth surged up inside me. I didn’t know how or why, I didn’t know exactly when, but at some point I had fallen in love with this man. Not just mad love, as Hailey had called it, but madly in love.

“I love you.” I couldn’t hold back the words anymore, and it didn’t matter if he said them back or not. He’d already shown me that he did.

He smiled that slow, almost sweet smile, and as he bent his head down to mine again, I heard the words.

“I love you, too.”

Epilogue

Tomas

It was more than windy in Chicago; it was freezing.

No one would be out in this weather by choice.

Which was probably why the Bianco guards were huddled in the guardhouse, rather than doing regular rounds. They were relying on the dogs to let them know if there was someone who didn’t belong on the grounds.

Starving the guard dogs made them mean, but it also made them easier to bribe.

The Biancos weren’t expecting trouble; that much was clear.

I made it across the grounds and to the house with no difficulty while the hungry dogs chowed down on fresh meat. I could see the lights from the guardhouse at the front of the drive, as if they expected the only intruders to come in from the road rather than the back of the house.

Then again, in this bitter cold, the assumption was probably that only a mad person would take such a long route to the house.

A mad person or one who had been given a specific mission.

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