Page 78 of Mr. Kelly

She’s instantly alert once he’s in her arms. “Hey, my papa,” she coos as they work on latching.

It’s only been a few hours, but I love seeing her in mama mode. If I already wasn’t irrevocably in love with her, this moment would have sealed it.

“River, don’t fight me, but…”

“If you even fix those sexy lips to mention another child, I’ll be a widow.”

Oh, her threat just made me hard. With a chuckle, I hold up my hands and sit back. She will be having another baby for me, but we don’t have to talk about it right now. Even with growing up in an affluent family who could buy anything they wanted,I’ve never believed in fairy tales, but this is how happily ever after should look. We’ll have our arguments and disagreements, but at the end of the day, we’ll decide to stay together and right for our marriage. Both of us.

There isn’t anything one-sided in our relationship and that is what I love about us.

“I’ll just stick with saying I love you, wife.”

River gives me a sweet smile before I drop a kiss on her lips then one on Tatum’s forehead. All of the drama from our past is just that, the past. The only things we need to worry about are loving each other, raising our son, and River passing the sommelier test.

My wife sighs and gives me a serious look. “Promise me something, Mr. Kelly?”

“Anything.”

“Promise me that we’ll always work it out and never let go.”

I take in my tired wife and feeding child. My family. The love tightening my chest is like none I’ve ever felt before.

“Not even death will keep me from you.”

FINAL CHAPTER

River

I’m stuck to the news while I breastfeed my baby. Inaya, the woman The Reaper took, is still missing, and I’m equal parts intrigued and sad. I’m intrigued that he hasn’t surfaced yet, and I’m sad that she must be terrified. Her dad just gave an emotional plea for information about his daughter’s whereabouts, and I want to believe him, but the things I’ve heard about him make it hard. Still, he could love his daughter. Teddy has pointed out the news on the business pages detailing how much money he’s lost since she’s been gone.

Some people suggest that she’s a spoiled brat who’s looking for attention and draining her dad’s accounts while others point out that some of his losses are so much beyond a socialite with access to one of his accounts. Some of his businesses closed. I can’t say that he’s grieving so hard that he’s behind on business. I know it’s more of the stuff Andrea and Teddy whisper about those closed businesses when they think I’m distracted. Antoni Wójcik is very bad news.

All of my concern is for Inaya and Inaya only. The welcome home party for Tatum rages, but all he cares about is getting his fill. He looks up at me while he feeds, and I’m convinced that Teddy won the gene war. So far, I feel like I was just theincubator. His mother told me that she was going to bring copies of Teddy’s baby pictures. It’s hard to imagine that the little guy in my arms will grow to be someone’s husband and father.

I tuck my boob away and adjust him to burp him just as Teddy comes into the room. He cannot stand to be too far away from us for too long. Leaning over, he drops a kiss on my lips, and then kisses the top of Tatum’s head.

“Is he full now?” he inquires as he prepares to take him from me.

“Yes. I just need to burp him.”

“I’ll do it,” he offers, but Tatum lets out a loud burp in the middle of our transfer.

Our laughter is cut short by Andrea knocking. “Are y’all decent?”

Honestly, I’m shocked that he asked. “Yes,” I call out. “Come in.”

Andrea walks in and coos at Tatum before he gets to business. “I just got a call from a blocked number. Care to guess who called?”

“The president?” Teddy asks to be a smart-ass.

“Reaper.” I look up, fully invested in what he’s about to say, like this somehow involves me. Andrea shakes his head. “I wouldn’t believe it if I wasn’t the one who got the call, but we may have to work together. His words were cryptic, but I think he’ll reach out again when it’s necessary.”

Theodore nods as he rubs our baby’s back. “What did he say, exactly?”

Andrea drops his hands in his pockets and rocks on his feet. “He said ‘form a team.’ That was it. The line went dead after.”

“Yikes, do you think Inaya is still alive?” He looks at me as if he’s surprised that I posed a question.

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