by Melody Anne
Somewhere in the middle of the chaos, she heard Lily scream, and all she could think of was her niece. She jumped from the couch and ran to her niece, who was now standing in the hallway. She scooped her into her arms and ran for the front door.
She felt fingers try to grip her ankle, but she managed to slip free and ran outside, not stopping as she took off down the road. She heard sirens in the distance and prayed they were coming to her. And they did.
She made it a block down the street, Lily screaming at the top of her lungs, when the first police car screeched around the corner. It headed straight to her house. Another car shot past her, and then one stopped right in front of her. She stopped, shaking where she stood as a man climbed from the car, his hand on his weapon as he approached.
“Ma’am, are you okay?” he asked as he looked around.
She opened her mouth but couldn’t speak. The fear was so real, so great.
“Ma’am, the ambulance is on the way. Do you need me to take the child?”
Roxie’s eyes were wide; she was shaking. She knew she was in shock, and she probably should release Lily, but she couldn’t loosen her grip. Lily’s head was buried in her shoulder as she uncontrollably sobbed.
“It’s okay, Roxie. I’m here. It’s okay.”
Roxie turned and found Kian beside her. The officer knew him and seemed to relax. “Is the house secure, Kian?” he asked.
“It’s secure. They have the bastard,” Kian said. “I’ve got Roxie.”
The officer nodded, climbed into his car, and drove down to her house.
“Let me take Lily before you fall to the ground,” Kian said, his voice soothing. His shirt was ripped, and there was blood oozing from his arm, but he was so calm.
“It’s okay, Roxie, let me take Lily,” he said again.
“I c-can’t,” she finally managed to say on a terrified sob.
“Okay, I understand,” he told her. “Let’s go back to the house,” he suggested, and terror-filled shakes racked her body.
“Okay, we’ll just sit right here,” he compromised.
She allowed him to help her to the ground. Her neighbors were all out of their houses, looking to see what all the commotion was about, and someone placed a blanket over her and Lily. Kian sat next to her, his arm around her.
They didn’t speak. They just sat there as he rubbed her shoulder. Soon the ambulance showed up, and she still couldn’t release Lily, not even when she was placed on a stretcher and lifted inside the ambulance. She was still in fight-or-flight mode, and all she knew was that she had to save her niece. She must save her niece—her daughter. Lily was her daughter now. She was hers, and she had to save her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
There were times in a man’s life when basic instinct was all that kept you alive. There were times when you shut off everything except adrenaline and rage. When Kian had pulled up to Roxie’s house, intent on giving her a piece of his mind for leaving, he’d realized exactly what that meant.
Her curtains were open, and a man was standing in front of her holding a knife. He’d taken about five seconds to call 911, to tell them a murder was about to happen, then he’d left his phone on, dropped on the front seat of his pickup truck, and he’d charged the front door.
In his rage, he’d kicked it in without a moment’s hesitation, and then he’d lunged. He’d had the advantage on the attacker, as he’d come out of nowhere, but the man had been big, and he’d managed to get a couple of swipes of his blade into Kian. But there had been no way Kian was allowing that man to harm his family.
He’d subdued the man, and he’d seriously planned on ending his life so he could never be a threat to anyone again, but the cops showed up damn fast when he didn’t want them to. Before he could strangle the man, he’d been pulled off him. It hadn’t taken the cops, who just so happened to be family friends, to figure out who the attacker was in the situation. As soon as they had the man cuffed and secured in the police car, Kian had found Roxie. She was in shock and holding on to Lily for dear life.
And he loved her. She’d done everything within her power to save their daughter. He had been able to tell what was happening when he’d glanced in that window, and he knew she was trying to keep the man from Lily. Kian couldn’t love her any more than he already did.
She would sacrifice herself for Lily, and that was something a lot of women couldn’t say or wouldn’t do. There were many people out there who would say that they would die for those they loved. But Kian knew they were empty words. Most people had a basic survival instinct, and when it came down to it, they wouldn’t make the ultimate sacrifice.
A shudder passed through his body, and he was terrified to think about what could have happened if he hadn’t come over. He’d taken his time, as if to prove to her he didn’t have to chase her right away. What a foolish man he’d been. His stubborn pride could have cost him the life of the woman he loved, and his precious daughter who’d now been attacked twice before she was even four years old. That was so incredibly sick, it made him want to find the man again and beat him into a bloody pulp.
He’d begged the chief of police for two minutes alone with the attacker, and though his friend had told him he’d love to give Kian that time, he couldn’t do it. Then Kian would become the guilty party, and he wasn’t going to do that to him. For Kian to get his hands around that man’s neck, he’d be willing to pay the price.
As he looked across the room at his beautiful daughter, he realized instantly that wasn’t true. He would die for her, he’d even go to prison for her, but he wouldn’t do something foolish that would prevent him from spending more time with his baby girl.
Roxie hadn’t needed stiches. The cuts were superficial, thankfully, and Lily hadn’t been touched this time. Well, she hadn’t been hurt, he clarified. When Roxie had calmed down enough to tell him what she’d found when she’d opened Lily’s bedroom door, he completely understood her terror and shock. He was so grateful that she’d been able to maintain a cool head. He wasn’t sure he’d have reacted the same way. He was just glad he wasn’t the one to open that door.
“Lily Bear, how are you feeling?” Roxie asked. Her voice was a little hoarse from her screams, but it was now calm. She was almost back to normal.
“Good,” she said as she clung to Roxie’s side. The need to hold his daughter was overwhelming. It was taking all the power he had to stay in the chair. His arm was patched, and he’d been given a drug to calm him, though he hadn’t wanted that. The doc in charge had said it was better than him smashing things up. Maybe his friend was right.
“Can I tell you something special?” Roxie asked Lily.
She looked up at Roxie with her trusting dark eyes and nodded.
“You see Kian over there?” Roxie asked. Kian smiled as Lily looked at him and waved.
“Yeah,” she said. Damn, he loved her so much.
“He’s your daddy, baby girl, and that means he loves you to the moon and back,” Roxie said, choking up on the last words.
Kian’s heart lodged in his throat as she finally told his daughter who he was. He couldn’t imagine the heartbreak he’d feel if she didn’t accept him as such.
Lily turned her head as she gazed at him, maybe seeing if he was worthy of being her daddy. He found himself holding his breath as he waited for her verdict. Then she smiled the most innocent and beautiful smile he’d ever seen.
“Daddy,” she said. She held up her arms, and he didn’t hesitate to rush to her, lifting her up and kissing her cheek. “Daddy,” she repeated before laying her sweet cheek against his chest.
Kian couldn’t control the tear that slipped from his eye. He blamed the damn drug the doctor had forced on him, because there was no way it was an actual, emotional tear. He hadn’t cried since he was five years old. He’d swear to that in a court of law.
He sniffed as he closed his eyes and pulled himself together. “Yes, I’m your daddy, baby girl,” he said, his voice gruff.
&nbs
p; She leaned back and looked at him, then raised her sweet little hand and rested it on his cheek, and his damn broken eyes stung again as he gazed into the innocent depths of his little girl’s eyes.
“And Mommy,” she said before she pointed at Roxie.
“Yeah, and Mommy,” he confirmed as he looked at Roxie, who wasn’t even trying to hide her own tears. She wouldn’t even need the excuse of medication.
Kian sat down next to Roxie, his daughter safely held in his good arm, his cut arm wrapped around Roxie. “We’re a family,” he said.
Roxie stiffened the slightest bit next to him, and he found his heart breaking a little. She might not be ready for this. He knew he couldn’t rush it, knew he had to be patient. But after a night like the one he’d just had, patient wasn’t something he wanted to be. He wanted to protect and care for them both, and he wanted to do it starting right this minute.
“Yes, we’re always going to be a family,” Roxie said. But there was a bit of distance in her voice. Kian wanted to push the issue, but he knew he couldn’t do that right now. He knew he had to let her figure it all out. She shouldn’t make a decision when she’d just had such a traumatic night, anyway.
“Why don’t you both come home with me tonight?” Kian suggested.
“Thank you, but I think I need to go to my house tonight,” she told him. There was fear in her voice, like she was afraid of him getting mad at her over the request.
“I understand,” he said. But he forced her to look at him as he said the next words. She needed to hear him. “I love you, Roxie, and I’m a somewhat patient man. But tonight scared me more than I’ve ever been scared before. I need you to make a decision.”
She gazed at him with confusion in her eyes, and then finally she nodded. He leaned in and kissed her lips gently before backing up.
“Do you want to take Lily with you?” she asked with so much pain he knew the request was killing her.
“I always want Lily with me,” he said and felt her body flinch. “But tonight, she needs her mama.”
He felt the relief flood through her, and he knew he’d made the right call. He wanted both his girls home with him, and he had a feeling it was going to happen very soon. With that knowledge, he could give Roxie the space she needed to come to the decision on her own.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Roxie wiped her eyes as she walked to the break room and poured what had to be her tenth cup of coffee in only four hours’ time. She was more than grateful the hospital was slow today. She truly feared she’d make a wrong call, and a patient would be the one to pay the price.
She hadn’t seen Kian in three days. Now, that might not seem a long time to the average person, but after all of their ups and downs, it might as well be an eternity. She’d been at work all three days, and Kian had been in the hospital, but he’d been on another floor, and she couldn’t find a reason to go there.
She knew he’d stopped at the day care many times to visit with Lily, who was always more than happy to see him and had to tell Roxie all about their special time together. So, it was only Roxie he appeared to be avoiding. That was good, she tried to convince herself. He’d told her he was giving her time to figure it out.
But she was a wreck, an utter and complete wreck. She wasn’t sure what she wanted or needed. But she did know for sure after that night a week ago when he’d pushed her to the breaking point, she hadn’t been the same again. Then the attack had happened, and she’d been in even more turmoil. She couldn’t sleep, she picked up her phone constantly to see if he’d called or texted, and she walked slowly through the hospital hoping to run into him. She wanted to see him, but her damn pride wouldn’t allow her to call him and admit to that.
Though emotionally, she wasn’t at all ready to face this man again, she also knew that he was a wonderful father, and she would have to get used to him being in her life. She just wasn’t sure if he was going to be an intimate part or not.
Roxie couldn’t even imagine how it would feel to see him with another woman, but she knew she either had to give him all of her or nothing. Kian wouldn’t accept anything less than . . . well, everything. That’s how she’d gotten lost in him the first time around. And it was so much more intense now than it had been back then.
“How’s everything going, Roxie?”
She turned to find one of the new young nurses standing there with far too much perk in her step and eyes. Roxie hated the woman just the tiniest bit in that moment. She would love to feel carefree with no burdens on her shoulders. It didn’t even matter if she was placing half of them on her own shoulders.
With an unusual attitude, Roxie found herself wanting to throw a kicking, screaming, downright three-year-old tantrum. She found herself wanting to throw her perfectly good cup across the room and enjoy it as it slid down the wall. Her lips twitched as she pictured the poor nurse’s expression. It was almost worth it just for that. Instead, she sipped her coffee and smiled.
“It’s great. How are you, Jeanette?”
“Wonderful. My boyfriend is taking me out to a romantic dinner tonight.”
Ah, that’s why the girl was being all social. She wanted to brag. Well, goodie for her, Roxie thought snidely.
“I shouldn’t jinx it, but I think he’s gonna propose,” she added with a sigh.
“How old are you?” Roxie asked. She looked twelve but obviously had to be older than that.
“I just turned twenty-one. I graduated high school early,” she said with a giggle.
Oh, the things Roxie wanted to tell this girl. She wanted to explain how much she would change in the next few years, wanted to warn her not to jump too quickly into marriage, wanted to tell her to run. But then that would be putting Roxie’s own burdens on her. So, she just smiled and said what she was supposed to say.
“That’s wonderful, I can’t wait to hear what happens.”
Jeanette beamed as she literally bounced out of the room. Roxie downed her coffee and refilled her mug before heading out to the floor again. Her shift wasn’t even halfway over, and it felt as if the day had only just begun. Normally she loved her job, but Kian had her mind and emotions all screwed up, and maybe, just maybe, she was going to find him and give him a real piece of her mind. That made an actual smile pop up on her face.
Without her consent, or even being in her right mind, Roxie found herself heading to the elevators and pushing the “Up” button. She waited impatiently for the doors to open, and when they did, she stepped on with determination. She was going to give him a piece of her mind.
It didn’t take her long to find him, and she was all worked up when she did. He was talking to another doctor, and she stood in his peripheral vision and tapped her foot impatiently. The other doctor eyed her for a moment before turning back to Kian, who didn’t acknowledge her presence. That only infuriated her all the more.
She was about to scream when the doctor Kian had been talking to gave her one more weary glance then scooted away. She wanted to yell at the man that the hospital only ran so efficiently because of the nursing staff, and maybe he should give them a lot more respect. Somehow, she managed not to do just that.
Kian turned to her and really pissed her off when he gave her that same damn smile he gave rowdy patients, that calm-down-and-trust-me smile. She heard a low growl escape her lips and was shocked enough by it that she took a step back.
“We need to talk,” she told him, her voice raw with emotion.
“Okay,” he said, not attempting to argue with her. He was being perfectly reasonable, and that should have calmed her, but it only infuriated her all the more. If she was being even a little bit rational, then maybe she would realize how insane she was acting, but she was too far gone for that.
“We need to talk about the other night,” she said, trying desperately to keep her voice down as people passed by them.
He seemed utterly relaxed, without a care in the world if people heard them or not. That wasn’t helping her blood pressure
at all. She was trembling; she was getting herself so worked up, and he was just calm, that damn patient-calming smile on his perfect too-handsome face.
“What about it?” he asked. He then had the gall to glance down at the chart in his hand. Roxie then did something she never thought she’d be capable of doing. She stepped up to him and slapped the file from underneath. The papers flew up in the air and then fluttered to the ground. Several people were passing by and stared, obviously trying to assess if they needed to call security or not.
She might have calmed down at that point if she hadn’t looked into Kian’s eyes and seen laughter in them. The corners of his eyes were crinkling, and his lips were twitching. He was trying desperately not to laugh at her.
The rest of Roxie’s cool evaporated as she launched herself forward, more determined than ever to wipe that smugness from his face. She wasn’t even sure who in the hell she was anymore; she just knew she had to damage him.
The chuckle that escaped him as he easily lifted her up, placing her over his shoulder, vibrated through her body, and she pounded her hands against his back. When she heard his next words, she felt her face go scarlet as she tried to sink within herself.
“Sorry about this, folks, we just have a patient who needs to be returned to the fourth floor,” he said.
“Ah,” came the response. The fourth floor was the damn psych ward! She was so spitting angry, she could kill him.
He carried her down the hallway over his shoulder, and Roxie continued to beat against his back as he laughed. He didn’t stop until he went through a doorway and shut a door, the lock going firmly in place. Then, as if she were a sack of potatoes, he shifted her from his shoulders and tossed her on the bed.
The bright light was shining as he stood above her. The wretched man had the gall to lean against the bunk beds across from her, his arms folded as he gazed at her with a smile, as if he hadn’t just humiliated her.
“Carry on,” he said.
“Carry on?” she screeched. She didn’t even recognize her own voice anymore.
