Page 133 of Hidden Memories

“You saved me.”

I shake my head—because no, I didn’t stop this before it happened, I didn’t?—

But Theo doesn’t let go. He glances between me and Kat.

“Both of you saved me.”

My throat tightens.

Kat exhales shakily beside me, kneels, pulls him into her arms, and presses a kiss to his temple, like she needs to hear it just as much as I did. And maybe she did. Maybe we both did.

I don’t know if I believe it yet, but even in Kat’s tight embrace, Theo still grips my hand, and I let his words soak in. The sting in the bridge of my nose is nearly unbearable, thinking about this boy trusting me.

The emotion is too much to handle.

I flex my hands, the bite of the cuts grounding me. This fight isn’t over. Nic may be in cuffs, but the damage he’s done will linger. The lies he told, the chaos he unleashed—it’s not something that can be fixed overnight.

But I won’t rest until it’s over. And neither will my family because that’s how we’re built. We don’t finish ’til the end. We will keep on fighting.

When Gabriel prepares to take Nic outside to thepolice cars, it isn’t my spirit to let that monster have the last word.

I approach Nic and my brother, immediately Gabriel stops and gives me the moment I need. Nic’s eyes flare open then narrow just as fast.

I plant my hand on Nic’s chest. “If you ever come near my family again, trust me, you’ll see this day as mercy. Because this?” I gesture around me. “This was me catching flies with honey. Next time,” I grit my teeth, “I’ll do it with your hollowed-out carcass.”

I give him a final shove and Gabriel escorts him outside.

I take Kat’s hand, and together with Theo, we step back, leaving Nic where he belongs—in the wreckage of his own making, a shadow of the man who thought he could destroy us.

Kat pulls Theo up into her arms. I can see he’s heavy for her, but there’s nothing that will stop her from holding her son now. We trail my brother, Anton, and the rest of the officers out into the blinding afternoon sun where reds and blues flicker on the driveway.

Theo places his head on Kat’s shoulder.

“Mom? Can we go home now?”

Kat glances down at him, her expression a fragile mix of heartbreak and healing, like she’s holding all the pieces of her love together just long enough to show him they’ll be okay. “Yeah, honey,” she kisses his forehead. “We’re going home.”

The word lands heavy on my chest.Home.Not the ranch, not my house—but this. Them. It’s not the walls around us that matter; it’s the arms holding us up.

This is strength—unconditional love. The kind that doesn’t keep score, doesn’t measure worth by achievementsor failures. The kind that rebuilds, no matter how many times it’s been torn apart.

I spent my life trying to prove I was enough. That if I worked harder, accomplished more, became someone worth choosing, I could earn love. Growing up as the youngest in a family of immigrants who sacrificed everything, I believed love had to be earned.

Then there was Kat. Loving her should’ve made me whole, but her father’s disapproval only reminded me of everything I wasn’t—successful enough, worthy enough, never enough. Losing her the first time only cemented that belief.

But standing here, watching Kat pour strength into Theo, I realize something I never let myself believe before—I don’t have to earn this.

Kat isn’t here because of what I’ve done or what I can offer. It’s not about proving my place—it’s about showing up, solid and steady. To Theo, I’m not a savior or a warrior. I’m the man who stays. The one who makes space for him to feel safe.

And that’s what home is—a place where you don’t have to prove you belong.

I take a deep breath. Everything we just survived presses down on me, but for the first time, it doesn’t feel like a failure. It feels like a chance. A chance to stop running, stop proving, and simply be the man they already see me as.

Just then, Gabriel places a hand on my shoulder, his grip firm. “You did good,hermano. You kept them safe.”

Well, I’ll be damned. I have G’s approval. Today truly is unprecedented.

As the officers begin to clear the estate, I guide Kat, who’s carrying Theo, past the police car for Nic, who’swaiting to be shoved inside. We carry on toward the one that will take us to the police station.

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