Page 79 of Return To You

Rose gives me a sad smile and admits, “After I was born and we lost mom, Dad made a stipulations in his will that should I have a boy before Alejandro, then that boy will inherit 50% of the family’s business and assets.” My eyes widen, and she continues, “But if Al were to have a boy before me, then his child would gain all of it; neither of us would inherit anything except family memories.”

I blink then look at Van and ask, “What the fuck happened to you?” She flinches but I don’t stop, “You tried getting custody of my child, not even knowing he was my son, and why? Because you got greedy? What happened to the girl who wanted to be a lawyer? Who looked at Rose like she was her little sister?”

Vanessa looks away and admits, “I failed my entrance exam. I didn’t want to lose everything.”

Rose snorts, causing Van to glare her way, and I open my mouth, ready to put her in her fucking place, but Al beats me to it. “Don’t fucking look at my sister that way. Not once did you tell me about your exam. You claimed you had a change of fucking heart, and just wanted to spend time with me because I was gone for so long. It’s why I allowed you to come to work with me before Dad banned you from the premises.”

Vanessa shoots her glare at him next and sneers, “I had to put up with you gone for most of our fucking relationship because you just had to help save the world. I only wanted a child to secure our future, but you wouldn’t even give me that!”

I blink in shock while Rose chuckles and stands, taking a few dollars from her jeans pocket, dollars I know she can’t afford, placing them on the table.

She shakes her head at Vanessa, then looks toward her big brother and says, “That is who you chose over the sister who needed you.Sheis the reason I cut you off, but you saying I died when mom did, that was just the icing on the cake.” She looks at me ,then back to her brother. “I’ll allow you to see Diego, but only because of Noah and the bond he’s created with his son, a little boy who deserves the world and all the love in it. Your wife does not go near him.”

Rose walks around the table but pauses when Al asks desperately, “And what about you and me?”

I swallow hard as she replies, not looking back, “I died when Mom did,” then continues walking away. We watch as she kisses Natalie’s cheek, then walks out of the door, heading to the bike, leaning on it, waiting for me.

Vanessa frowns. “That’s the bike she was riding when we met her at the café.”

I snort. “And yet you didn’t stop to think, ‘Oh, that’s Noah’s favorite bike.’” She glares at me, but I just shake my head. “I miss my old cousin, the one who cared about others, and wasn’t so bitter over failing an exam that she became money hungry.” I look at Al. “I’ll speak to her about your relationship, just give her time and don’t give up. I didn’t give up, and now she’s practically moved me in and given me the bike, even though she has no other means of transportation.”

He nods and looks down, and I sigh, patting his shoulder as I walk past him. I give Natalie a salute and follow my girl to the bike. Her eyes tear up when she sees me, and I smile slightly, gripping her hips.

She looks up at me and whispers, “I’m sorry….”

I gently kissed her lips. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. If you’re not ready to forgive him, that's fine, but you’re still allowing him to meet his nephew, and that’s a big step. I’m proud of you, Rose, and every day, I’m grateful for you.”

She smiles, and I kiss her again before climbing on the bike, then help her climb on behind me.

Her arms instantly wrap around my waist, her head on my back, and I start the bike, revving it, ready to go see our son.

Al may not have gotten everything he wanted, but he’s got to realize that she gave more than she wanted. As for Vanessa, until she’s changed her outlook on life, I want nothing to do with her, and she most fucking definitely is not welcome near my son.

twenty-eight

Rose – One Month Later

I smileas I gently kiss Diego’s head, then pull his motorcycle covered blanket up a little more, then slowly back out of the room. He’s sleeping in his new room, and it’s a kid’s dream.

Heck, not even I had a room like this growing up.

We’re back in Kingstonville, something that took a lot for me to agree with, but Noah’s band is signed up to do a charity show for underprivileged families, and well, he begged for me to come with him.

Something about not being able to be away from me for two weeks.

I had fully planned on staying at Dad's after I relented and took time off work. Instead of taking me there, though, he had the driver bring us to his home, before taking Cam and Barnett to the penthouse suite they co-own forty minutes out of town. When I asked why they weren’t dropped off first, Barnett mentioned Noah needed reinforcements to convince me to stay at the mansion, which he wasn’t wrong about. The boys basically carried me inside.

Staying in a house that we spoke about, where we would one day raise a family, wasn’t on my top lists of things to do, but seeing everything that he’s gotten for Diego, the room he’s had decorated for him, and his own drum set to boot….

It was a hard pill to swallow because, well, I can barely keep a roof over our heads right now.

Sighing, I check that the night light is on, and that the monitor is working, then I slowly close the door and head downstairs.

Noah is rehearsing with the boys, and said I should look up Kingston University to get a feel for it. He also said I can’t back out of it because it’s nonrefundable, and I’d be wasting tens of thousands of dollars.

He’s doing everything he can to get me to move back here with him, and it isn’t very comforting how much my body is pulling toward that idea after everything.

Trying to breathe through the sudden panic, I stop at the bottom of the stairs, my eyes taking everything in.

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