Page 81 of Hidden Heir

Leon’s face freezes for a moment. When he first told me he loved me, saying it back had been far too terrifying. We’d been through so much that I wasn’t sure I was capable of such a feeling, so I didn’t say it back. But our time together has shown me that I’m not as cold as I feared I was. I do love him. I was just scared that admitting it would open me up to a world of pain. But in his arms, my body tingling from pleasure, the truth is so easy to see.

“Really?” Leon asks softly.

“Truly.”

He leans down and kisses me sweetly, nudging our noses together when we part. “I love you too,” he says, then his loving smile turns cheeky. “Think I can make you come again before dinner?”

35

BROOKE

“It says Happy Birthday, right?”

I lift the piping bag away from the cake and squint down at my rather wobbly handiwork before looking at Rik who pauses on his way past with a tray full of drinks.

“Uh… sure, if I squint really hard,” he replies.

“Really?”

“Like I said, if I squint really hard it totally does.” Rik chuckles. “Just tell the guests to squint and you’ve absolutely nailed it.”

“Argh,” I whine. “It says Happy Birthday!”

“Can she read? She’s only four, right?”

“Of course she can read.” I sigh and lower the piping bag. “Maybe I should cover it all up and try again.”

“You’re thinking about it too much,” Rik says. “It’s things like this that we will be laughing about for years to come. It’s part of what makes birthdays fun. Besides, as long as the cake tastes good, I’m sure she won’t care.”

“You’re right. She’ll definitely want to eat it more than read it.”

“Exactly.” Rik winks at me. “Trust me, it’ll be fine.” He hurries away with the drinks, leaving me with my horribly decorated cake.

Tiffany’s fourth birthday crept up out of nowhere. With everything that’s happened these past six months, it had slipped my mind mostly because I’d lost track of time. Until I woke up one night drenched in a cold sweat, fearing I was the worst mother on the planet because I’d forgotten my daughter’s birthday. Luckily, that was a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been planning every detail of her birthday ever since.

It started small until Leon pointed out that I had infinite resources at my fingertips now and could spoil our daughter in unimaginable ways. Which, given the horrors of this year, I am absolutely doing. Except for having the cake professionally done which I now wish I would have agreed to do.

It’s been the sweetest thing, watching Leon bond with our daughter. Telling her that Leon was her father was relatively smooth given her young age. Watching him care for her, play with her and spend every second of his free time with her brings tears of joy to my eyes.

Being able to celebrate her birthday as a family is the cherry on top of my badly decorated cake.

Vibrant music drifts through from the patio where the party is in full swing. Through the window, I see Tiffany laughing and cheering as she bounces back and forth on Leon’s shoulders while they chase after Selina and her bubble machine. A few other guards mill around, keeping an eye on the hired entertainers. We have multiple Disney Princesses and a local animal enthusiast, who brought a pony for Tiffany to ride around on.

She’s being spoiled and I love it.

The most surprising guest at the party is Ronan. I invited him out of politeness and both Leon and I were shocked when heagreed to come. He’s currently deep in conversation with Kreik about some old sporting event that happened fifteen years ago, and despite the harsh words I overhear as I walk by, it’s all in good fun.

Even the Italians sent birthday greetings along with several gifts, including a new bike for Tiffany. It was an extravagant gift though Leon suspects also a way for them to reach out.

The deal Leon secured with the Italians went through a dramatic change when it became known throughout the private sector that the Russians were no longer dealing in people. With no blood money changing hands, the Italians lowered their cost requirement, which made Leon happy and even impressed Kreik.

I suspect our relationship with the Irish also played a part in the Italians playing nice but I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

I reach the banquet table and set the cake down, attempting to hide my terrible decorating with celebration the candles. Four is such a small number and yet it blows my mind how quickly we’ve gotten here. I close my eyes and Tiffany is still a baby in my arms. Now, she’s a fully-fledged, independent and sassy little human. Everyone warns you about how quickly the time goes though you don’t really believe it until you become a parent yourself.

With the final candle in place, I turn back to the celebration. Tiffany is now having a very important tea party with the Princesses while Selina and Rik pet and feed the pony. Leon walks toward me with a bright smile on his face though it wavers when he gets closer.

“Brooke? What’s wrong?”

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