“What was that?” she asked, softly staring up into the eyes of the man she was falling heads over heels in love with.
“You are the best thing in a very long time to have come into my life and I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you. I have never met a woman like you before. You are truly the complete package and woman enough to take on the challenge that I am.”
Running her hand down the center of Rowan’s chest, Akayie tilted her head to the side. “Have you forgotten that I will be leaving pretty soon to finish up the calendar and get ready for my exhibit?”
“I know that, but maybe I can give you a reason to come back to Braden Ranch for more than just another visit.”
Shocked, Akayie gasped and Rowan gave her another quick kiss just as the elevator beeped and the doors slid open. The kiss only lasted a few seconds before Rowan moved away from her. Grabbing her hand, he walked onto the elevator with her while thoughts of what he could mean by his comments ran through her head.
Akayie was beginning to get hopeful that Rowan might be seeing a future between the two of them. She didn’t want to get too excited because the gorgeous man next to her was an ever-changing mystery.
Chapter Twenty-One
Los Angeles, California
Kent Hospital
“Dante, will you please sit down, because you are going to wear a hole in the floor.” Griffin watched as his best friend for the past twenty years paced back and forth.
“I can’t sit down while Amara is in so much pain. I told her we should have come to the hospital earlier, but she didn’t want to listen to me. I should be in that operating room while she is having our son.”
“You know that the doctor told us the baby was in a little bit of distress and it would be best for you to be out here. Amara is a very strong woman and you know that is the truth. She couldn’t have spent all of those years living on the streets if she wasn’t.”
“I agree with Griffin,” Ceanna chimed in. “Amara can’t see you upset like this. Don’t you want to be relaxed when your baby boy comes into the world?” She ran a hand over her growing stomach.
Stopping in his tracks, Dante glanced at Griffin, thinking about the long road both of them had traveled to get here. They had been through a lot, but now they were married to two gorgeous women. His wife was giving birth to their first child and Griffin was expecting his son early next year.
“Alright,” he sighed. Making his way back over to Griffin, Dante sat down, running his hand down his face. “I just want everything to be okay with the them. Amara is my world, and I already love my son and I haven’t even seen him yet.”
Ceanna laid her hand on his leg. “Dante, you will get to see him and Amara very soon. All you have to do is just be patient for a little bit longer.”
Turning his head, he glanced at Griffin’s wife. She was always so level-headed and to the point. She was the perfect person to be married to his buddy. She had the ability to calm down any situation.
“Okay. I will not allow my fears get the better of me,” Dante said.
The sounds of footsteps coming towards them drew Dante’s attention away from Griffin and Ceanna and towards his wife’s doctor. Jumping up, he met the older man before he got all the way to him.
“How are they doing?” he asked before Dr. Andrews could open his mouth.
A huge smile spread across the man’s face and all the fears and anxiety left Dante’s body instantly.
“Congratulations, Mr. Braden. Your wife and son are doing wonderful. She came through the surgery just fine. I wished all of my patients had an easy C-section like your wife did. All she wanted to do was hold her son and I will never forget the look on her face when I placed him in her arms.”
Dante felt a twinge of jealousy that he wasn’t there to witness that moment, but he was going to have years and years of firsts with his little boy. That one moment wouldn’t matter at all once he got to see his first child.
“When will I be able to see them?”
“We are getting your son cleaned up and Mrs. Braden set up in her room. Give the nurses about twenty more minutes and one of them will be out here to get you and your friends. Congratulations again, Mr. Braden,” Dr. Andrews said, shaking his hand.
“No, thank you, Dr. Andrews,” Dante said before the doctor turned and walked away.
A few seconds later a hand slapped him on the shoulder. Spinning around, he found a grinning Griffin and Ceanna standing behind him. Dante gave his best friend a quick hug then moved back.
“How does it feel to officially be a father?” Griffin asked him.
Dante blinked back his sudden tears. “Words can’t come close to describing how I feel right now. I never thought about having a family of my own while I was growing up, especially with my parents. I was just trying to get through each day, and the night I caught Amara stealing my famous wings off the back of my motorcycle I had no clue she would come to mean so much to me. I’m absolutely the happiest man in the world. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Griffin nodded. “We both had hard pasts to overcome, but look at us now. We are both successful business men living a perfect life. It just goes to show that a person’s past doesn’t have to become their future.”
“I know,” Dante agreed.
“Man, I do have a question for you, but I’m not quite sure if I should ask you or not. You are on cloud nine and I don’t want to take this night away from you.”
Nothing Griffin could ask him would ruin the way he felt at this very moment. He was too happy to be brought down by anything his friend was thinking.
“Ask away.”
“Are you going to keep your promise to Amara and call to let your brothers know the baby has been born?”
His body stiffened in shock and mixed feelings surged through him. Dante’s instant reaction was to tell Griffin hell no, but he remembered the conversation he had with Amara in the nursery about getting over the past with his siblings. She wanted them all to become one again since she never had that in her life. He was uncomfortable with the fact that his wife might be right.
He had held on to his anger with his brothers for so long. They were all grown men now and it might be time for them to give being siblings a try again. All of them had come to see him after the huge blowup at the hospital back in Texas. He had been the one who slammed the door in their faces and ignored Morgan’s letter. He wanted to be the husband and father that Amara saw him as, and if it meant being the oldest brother that he was then he would swallow a bit of his pride and do it for his family.
“Dante?”
Hearing Ceanna’s voice, he glanced over at her and noticed the concern on her face. She didn’t think he was going to do it for Amara and right then and there. He knew he didn’t want to see the same disappointed look on his wife’s face.
“Yes, I will call and let Morgan know about Keegean.” Reaching into his back pocket, Dante pulled out his cell phone and walked a few feet away from Griffin and his wife. He needed some privacy to do this. He wasn’t sure even if his brother would answer the phone after not getting an answer to his letter. He searched through his phone until his found Morgan’s number. He pressed call and blew out a deep breath while it rang.
“Dante, why are you calling me?” Morgan asked, concern in his voice making his Texas accent deeper. “Is everything okay with Amara and the baby?”
Dante was momentarily taken back by Morgan answering the phone so quickly. He thought his call would go directly to voicemail, especially since he hadn’t answered his brother’s letter back. He wasn’t sure if Morgan was still interested in talking to him.
“No, everything is fine. I promised Amara that I would call and tell you once the baby was born.”
“I’m an uncle,” Morgan said.
“Yes, Keegean was born about fifteen minutes ago. He and Amara are doing fine. I’m just waiting for the doctors to check him over and I will get to see him.”
“Was there somet
hing wrong with my nephew?”
“He was in a tiny bit of distress when I brought Amara to the hospital, but like I said everyone is going great,” Dante answered. “Will you tell Lucas, Tanner, and Rowan that I called?”
“Of course, I will,” Morgan answered. “Thank you for calling. I know it must have been a hard decision for you since I never received an answer from my letter.”
“I do have a question for you. Why didn’t you just send me an email instead of a letter?”
“An email was too impersonal, and I wanted to show you that I took time to sit down and write you a letter. I thought it would mean more that away.”
Dante laughed. “I do remember how you always loved to write things down when we were going up. I actually thought you might become a writer.”
“I did too, but something about being a plastic surgeon called to me. I love the idea of being able to use my hands to help people. Look, I need to go so I can tell the guys about Keegean. Will you give Amara my best? You have a wonderful wife.”
“Yes, I will.”
“Dante, wait,” Morgan yelled before he hung up.
“Yeah.”
“I want to thank you again for calling me. I know it took a lot for you to do it. I hope this is the first step is building the bridge back to all of us being brothers again.”
“I know it will,” Dante answered. “I will get back in touch with you in a few days and I might even send you a few pictures of my son.”
“I would love that,” Morgan answered honestly. “Have a great night and congratulations on becoming a father.”
“Thank you and I will,” Dante replied before disconnecting the call.
Standing there, he stared at his cell phone, surprised by how well his conversation had gone with Morgan. He thought there might have been some animosity or even anger coming from his brother, but Morgan had been very welcoming to him. Maybe Amara was right and things between him and his siblings would get better if all of them put forth the effort to make it work.
“Mr. Braden?”
Spinning around, Dante found a nurse standing behind him. “Yes,” he answered.
“We are done getting your wife settled into her room. She is ready to see you now. I can take you to her,” she told him.
“I’m ready to see her and my son.” Dante followed the nurse.
“We will be here waiting for our turn to see her,” Griffin called after him.
Dante threw up his hand and continued following the nurse down the corridor. He couldn’t stop his heart from racing from excitement. He was about to see his baby boy for the very first time and he couldn’t wait. Halfway down the hallway, the nurse paused at a closed door and looked up at him.
“Here you go. I know you have heard this a lot tonight, but congrats again on the new addition to your family,” she said before turning to walk away.
“Thank you,” Dante placed his hand on the doorknob and pushed it open. Walking inside, he paused at the beautiful sight before him. Amara was sitting up in bed holding their son, a huge smile beaming from her beautiful face.
“Dante, I never thought you would get here,” she said, glancing over at him. “Can you believe that he is finally here? It is like a dream, isn’t it?”
Coming up to the bed, Dante stared down at his son as tears blurred his eyes. Reaching out slowly, he brushed a finger over his dark hair. Fatherly pride filled his chest as his son moved around in his wife’s arms. Nothing could ever prepare him for the instant love he felt for this tiny person that he waited so long to see.
“No, I can’t believe Keegean is actually here. My God, he is so beautiful. How do I ever thank you for giving me such an amazing present? I promise to protect you and him for the rest of our lives. Both of you mean everything to me and I don’t want to ever lose you.”
“Hmmm… I hope that you remember that when Keegean’s diaper has to be changed around two o’clock in the morning or he is crying for a bottle,” Amara teased.
“I will do both of them without any complaints at all.”
“Let’s not make promises we can’t keep. Do you want to hold him?”
“Yes,” Dante answered nervous and excited all at the same time. Slowly and very gently he took Keegean out of Amara’s arms and stared down at his son, who looked so much like him. He still couldn’t believe all of this was real.
“Baby, how are you doing?” he asked, concerned. “Are you in a lot of pain?”
“I was in a lot when I first got into the room before the pain medicine kicked in. I’m doing a little better, but I’m still pretty sore. I missed having you in the delivery room.”
“I know. I hated not being there, but the doctor wanted to keep your stress level down as much as he could. I was so worried about you and Keegean that I would have made it worse. So, I stayed out in the hallway with Griffin and Ceanna.”
“Oh, I didn’t know they were here.”
“Yes, they are in the hallway waiting to see you, but they wanted to give us some time with Keegean first,” Dante answered, glancing down at his son, who was starting to fall asleep in his arms. “I do have something else to tell you.”
“I don’t know if I like the sound of that,” Amara said, yawning. “What is it?”
“You look tired. I can tell you later,” Dante said. “I promise it can wait.”
“No, I want to know what it is. I’m still awake enough to hear you.”
“I called Morgan and told him about the baby.”
“You called Morgan,” Amara said, clearly surprised. “What happened, how did it go? Please tell me that the two of you didn’t get into a fight on your son’s birthday?”
“No, we didn’t. We had a civil conversation. It went a lot better than I actually thought it would. I was really taken back by how excited Morgan acted to hear from me. He told me how happy he was for me and that he would tell Lucas, Rowan, and Tanner about Keegean. I think we might have worked out rebuilding the first step in our relationship.”
“Sweetheart, that is so wonderful. I’m so happy for you.”
“Now, don’t go throwing a party yet, but it was a tiny step I truly wasn’t expecting. I can’t lie, it did feel good to talk to my brother without getting into a fight,” Dante admitted, smiling down into Keegean’s smiling face.
“I bet it did,” Amara said. “How about you go and get Griffin and Ceanna before this medication kicks in completely? I want to see them before I fall completely asleep.”
“Alright.” Coming back over to Amara, he handed her their sleeping son before turning away and heading for the door.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Later that night, Akayie walked hand in hand with Rowan on the Braden property. She couldn’t believe that they had spent most of the day together after he came and got her for an early lunch. After finishing up their meal, Rowan had brought her back here because he had a few business calls he had to handle. After they were over, they had gone out for an early dinner and now they were just together enjoying the beauty of the night.
“You’re awful quiet,” he said, squeezing her hand. “Do you want to tell me what is going on in that beautiful head of yours?” He stopped by a tree, resting his back against it and pulling her into his arms.
Smiling, she lovingly ran her hands down his chest. It still amazed her that this caring man was the same angry man who was yelling at her only a few weeks ago to stay off this part of the property where they were now standing under the moonlight.
“You honestly want to know?” she asked, staring up into his beautiful eyes.
“Yes.”
“I was remembering how the last time we were in this spot you were yelling at me about how I was a distraction to your hardworking men, and if I didn’t stop showing off my body that you were going to kick me off Braden Ranch.”
Groaning, Rowan ran his hands down her back and Akayie tried not to flinch. The shirt she was wearing was heavy, but she still wasn’t sure if Rowan couldn’t feel them. Sh
e still wasn’t completely ready to tell him the truth and ruin what they were building with each other. She couldn’t handle if he rejected her the way the others had done. It was too painful and she might not ever recover from it.
“Hmmm, I was just thinking about us,” she answered, telling Rowan only half of the truth.
She didn’t want anything to ruin this night for them. The time they had spent together had been some of the best days of her life and she wasn’t about to ruin it with any of her insecurities. They were for her, not Rowan, to deal with.
“Why do I get the feeling you aren’t telling me the entire truth?” he questioned, brushing his knuckles down the side of her cheek. “You do know that I want to learn all there is about you, so why aren’t you opening up to me more?”
“Does that go both ways?”
Rowan frowned at her. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Akayie placed some distance between her and Rowan. He knew exactly what she was talking about. He was keeping secrets of his own from her as well. How was she supposed to tell him everything?
“Really,” she sighed. “When are you going to tell me why you haven’t spoken to your brother Dante in years? Why are you so determined not to hear what Tanner has to tell you? You think that I’m keeping secrets, but so are you.”
Even with only the moonlight shining down on them, Akayie saw how Rowan’s expression stilled and grew serious. “Why are you asking me so many questions about my family?” he questioned. “Are you trying to ruin our date?”
She shook her head. “No, I’d just asked Morgan earlier and he told me to…”
“Wait one damn minute,” Rowan snapped. “Haven’t I told you before not to go to my brothers, especially Morgan, when it comes to anything about me? What did he tell you?”
“Nothing,” she answered. “He told me that I should ask you about Dante. It wasn’t his place to tell me the story, it was yours.”
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