Dangerous Beauty: Part Four: Beautifully Broken

by Michelle Hardin

“I do, I do!”

  With crossed legs and her hands sitting in her lap, Sofia bounced up and down, excited about getting her hair done. She was seriously the most adorable little munchkin on the face of this planet.

  Smiling, and feeling more relaxed than she had in a long time, Reanna gently ran her fingers through Sofia’s hair right as she began to run the soft brush through it.

  This was both Sofia and Reanna’s favorite part of Sofia’s bed time. The time they got to spend together, just the two of them, while Reanna brushed and braided her hair for bed. It was sort of their little tradition, something they only did when Reanna would stay over for the night. Now, they’d get to do it every night. And that, too, brought much happiness to Reanna’s heart.

  “So do I get to help plan the wedding?” Sofia asked, even as she rested her head back a bit.

  Getting her hair brushed always had this effect on Sofia. She’d get so drowsy, so fast. It was the reason why Reanna always waited until bedtime to do her hair. It relaxed her; it helped her sleep more comfortably.

  “Of course you can, babe,” she answered her, placing a kiss to her forehead as she continued to brush her hair. “You can help me pick my dress, too … and yours.”

  “I get a pretty dress, too?”

  “Mmmhmm,” Reanna nodded. “You’re going to be the flower girl. You have to have a pretty dress.”

  “Flower girl,” she sighed dreamily. “Zamiyah was a flower girl at her aunt’s wedding one time. She said she got to throw pretty flowers and wear a white dress with a yellow ribbon on it and one in her hair.”

  Reanna gasped softly. “Did she?” she smiled.

  “Uh huh,” Sofia nodded. “Will I have a ribbon, too?”

  “If you want one,” she answered. Then her face twitched slightly in disgust. “Any color but yellow though.”

  No yellow in her wedding. She made a mental note to write that down as a rule.

  “I like pink,” Sofia mused. “Pink and magenta and purple. And lots of other colors too.”

  Reanna parted her hair down the middle, deciding that she’d do two French braids tonight instead of her usual one.

  “Then we’ll just have to try all of the colors until we find one we love/”

  “I can’t wait,” she whispered, leaning her head back a bit more. “Zamiyah’s aunt. She had a baby after her wedding.”

  “Really?” Reanna asked, right as she began the first braid.

  “Yes,” Sofia answered, lazily. She yawned. “Zamiyah got to help her a lot because when she was pregnant she couldn’t do everything.”

  “That’s very nice of her.”

  Reanna loved Sofia’s best friend, Zamiyah. The little girl was so sweet, and she and Sofia were so close. They had playdates every Friday. Sofia and Reanna would go over to the Senators house for lunch after school, the girls would play, and Reanna and Zamiyah’s mother would gossip … a lot. It was the best.

  “That’s what her auntie said, too,” Sofia said softly. “That Zamiyah was a good helper.”

  “I’m sure she was.”

  Sofia rested her head back against Reanna’s chest, just as Reanna completed the first braid.

  “I could do that for you,” she whispered, looking up at Reanna. “If you get pregnant after the wedding, I can take care of you all the time after school and do the stuff for you that you can’t do.” She smiled. “I can do it when the baby comes, too. I’m old enough now. I can help you and Papa take care of my brothers and sisters.”

  Brothers and Sisters? Was Sofia dropping a hint?

  Laughing softly, Reanna lifted Sofia’s head slightly, giving herself space to do her final braid. “You’re already dreaming about little brothers and sisters, Sofia?”

  “Uh huh,” she nodded.

  “But don’t you like being an only child?” Who didn’t like being an only child? “You get all the attention and all the presents at Christmas time. All the hugs, cuddles, and love that you want, and you never have to share it with anybody.”

  “But I want to share it,” she said sweetly. “I want lots of little brothers and sisters so that I can play with them, and hug them, and love them all the time. I can be their babysitter when you and Papa want to go on dates and stuff, and I can share my room if they don’t have anywhere to sleep. Maksi and Sandr said that babies cry a lot, but I don’t care. Maksi said he will give me some of his ear plugs for when I go to bed at night.”

  Reanna frowned. “You and the twins talked about me having a baby?”

  Sofia nodded. “Yep,” she answered brightly.

  “But when?” she asked, confused. “Your father and I just got engaged.”

  Reanna continued braiding Sofi’s last braid until she reached the end. Once she completed it, she gazed at her work, then nodded, satisfied with both adorable braids. Reaching for the pink ribbon in the hair tools kit next to her, she set to tying off the ends with a bow, before she realized something that made her pause.

  Sofia hadn’t answered her question. She hadn’t even turned around to look at her.

  Placing a hand on Sofi’s shoulder, Reanna gave her a light shake. “Sofi—”

  Her words cut off with a sharp gasp when Sofi just … fell back, dramatically laying herself across Reanna’s lap as she snored way too damn loud for it to be real.

  Smacking her lips at the child’s ridiculous behavior, Reanna gave Sofia’s leg a soft smack. “Stop it, Sofi,” she reprimanded angrily. “You startled me.”

  Scared the damn hell out of her. Reanna hated when she did that.

  “Sofia!” she yelled when the child still laid, pretending to be sleep.

  Sneakily, Sofia kept peeking her eyes open, most likely trying to see if Reanna had given up yet. When it became quite obvious—by the striking glare she was giving the child— that letting her original question go was not going to happen, Sofia opened her eyes, sighing heavily as she sat back up in front of Reanna.

  “We talk sometimes,” she shrugged.

  “About me getting pregnant?” Reanna exclaimed. “Why would you three be talking about that? You’re kids.”

  “Because,” she frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. “I want a baby brother and sister, and you and Papa are taking too long!”

  Reanna gasped. “Me—wha …” She honestly didn’t know what the hell to say to that.

  “I’m almost six years old now!” Sofia continued to rant. “Maksi and Sandr are younger than me and they already have two,” she held up two over dramatic little fingers, “two siblings! I don’t have any. I mean, jeez,” she threw up her arms. “I was startin’ to think that you and Papa were never gonna get married, then I’d be doomed …”

  She threw up her hands in over-exaggerated frustration.

  Pursing her lips, Reanna rolled her eyes at the child’s theatrics. “You sound like your father, Sofia.”

  Always with the dramatics whenever they wanted something. If they didn’t get it, well, that was basically the equivalent of the apocalypse.

  The sharp gasp followed by the classic Kyle Valente deeply wounded expression was so spot on, so much like her father, that it nearly frightened Reanna. “Do you want me to be stuck as an only child forever!”

  Eyes brightening with amusement, Reanna shook her head. “No Sofia, honey. I don’t.”

  “I wanna be a big sister!”

  “I can see that,” Reanna nodded. “But Sofia, I can’t just … snap my fingers and have you a little brother or sister, baby.” Reanna sighed. “Things have to be done, decisions have to be made, before your father and I decide to have another child.”

  “But I can be a good one,” she whined. “I promise.”

  “Sofi—”

  “Be a good what?”

  Upon Kyle’s sudden appearance at the door, both Reanna and Sofia looked in his direction. Lazily, he leaned against the door’s frame, his arms crossed over his chest as he gazed at them with a soft smile in his eyes.

  “Be a good big sister!” Sof
ia yelled happily, scooting to the head of her bed. “I want a baby, Papa.”

  Kyle’s brows rose. “A baby,” he asked. “A doll?”

  Sofia shook her head. “No, Papa,” she giggled. “A real baby. Can you guys have one now?”

  Reanna caught her bottom lip between her teeth, attempting to hide the smile that threatened her lips when Kyle’s face went pale.

  She brought her hands to her mouth when he locked eyes with her, willing herself not to laugh at him. Sofia kept doing this to him tonight, asking him a host of awkward to answer questions before, during, and after dinner. It was very amusing.

  “You guys can have another girl like me, or a boy.” Sofia smiled as if her suggestion was the best suggestion ever given. “Or you could have twins, like Maksi and Sandr …”

  Okay, now Reanna had to snap back at that one.

  “Twins!” she spoke up, turning to face the child, shaking her head. “Uh uh. No.” Hell no! “No twins.” She placed her hand to her belly. “Only one baby can fit in this tummy at a time.”

  Sofia squealed, jumping up and down on her bed screaming, “baby, baby, baby, baby!”

  It was both adorable and surprisingly exhausting. The child was too energetic for the hour of night that it was. Reanna was getting sleepy just watching her.

  “Alright, alright,” Reanna sighed, standing up from the bed. “Enough of this, you little energizer bunny.” She clapped her hands, signaling for Sofia to come over to her. “Time for bed. You’re scaring your papa.”

  Her ‘Papa’, who was still standing by the door completely silent, looking as if he’d slipped into another world entirely. He’d completely zoned out of the baby chat, his head obviously somewhere else as he gazed at Sofia’s floor, an unreadable expression masking his face.

  “Kyle,” she called him, seeking to bring him out of his daze.

  It took him a second, but he looked up at her, snapping out of his thoughts with a slight intake of breath.

  “Si, colomba?” he answered quickly, visibly attempting to neutralize his features.

  Reanna frowned, wanting to ask him what was wrong with him, but she resisted, knowing that this wasn’t exactly the appropriate time to do so.

  Grabbing Sofia off of the bed and into her arms when she finally made it to her, Reanna motioned for Kyle to come in the room.

  “It’s time to put Sofia to bed. Come on.”

  Her words seemed to get him to move forward finally.

  “Yes, of course,” he shook his head. “Time for my Lady bug to get her beauty rest.”

  “My beauty rest,” Sofia chirped, yawning as she rested her head on Reanna’s shoulder.

  Her little arms and legs wrapped tightly around Reanna as she clung to her, waiting as both Reanna and Kyle went about preparing her bed for her to slip into.

  They pulled back her comforter and then her pink princess sheets until her bottom fitted sheet was uncovered. Kyle went about straightening her pillows, while Reanna stood up straight, rocking Sofia gently in her arms just the way she knew she liked to be before bed. Then, once Kyle finished arranging her pillows, Reanna gently laid her in bed.

  Sofia’s smile was brighter than the sun as she scrambled under her comforter giggling adorably as she turned on her back, waiting for them to toss back her cover and reveal her sweet face. Both Kyle and Reanna smiled, kneeling down on the sides of her bed as they pulled the comforter from over her head.

  “What are you doing, you little monster?” Kyle teased, before leaning forward and showering Sofia’s face with kisses.

  Sofia grabbed onto his head, laughing that loud, contagious laugh of hers while her father blew raspberries on her neck.

  Resting her head on one of Sofia’s plush pillows, Reanna watched them, so taken, so in love, that she could barely keep her heart from leaping in her chest.

  Her family.

  They were her family.

  Her Kyle, her Sofia. Reanna couldn’t remember another moment in her life when she felt so full, so fulfilled, so incredibly content. It was like a dream, still too new for it all to feel … real. Just last week she’d been so low, so broken, so unhappy, but now, it was as if she’d been completely transformed. She felt so different, but in the most amazing way possible, like she could finally breathe. Like she finally had everything she’d always wanted. She was happy and in good health. She had her flourishing career, her sister, her Ronaldo, and now she finally had her family. The two people that filled her with more love than she ever thought humanly possible, the two people that she felt drawn to, tethered with since the moment God had first brought them into her life. Since the first time she walked into Carter’s home and Sofia crawled to her; and the first time she saw Kyle, spoke to him, looked into his eyes … she’d just known.

  She belonged with them. She belonged to them.

  And everything that she’d ever gone through or experienced in her past, that made her who she was today. She’d suffer through it all a million times more if it always brought her right back here. To this moment. Then it was all worth it.

  “You’re crying.”

  Sofia and her father’s playtime had ended, and now, Reanna’s angel was facing her, her little fingers tracing the path of Reanna’s tears down her face.

  “Am I?” Reanna whispered, smiling when Sofia pushed the strands of hair from Reanna’s face and tucked them behind her ear.

  Then she nodded, murmuring “yes,” in response to Reanna’s question. “Are they happy tears, again?” she asked, a sweet smile entering her gorgeous eyes.

  “Yes,” Reanna answered, nodding her head in response.

  “Because you’re happy?” Sofia’s brows rose in question.

  And Reanna nodded again, this time laughing softly as she did. “Yes.”

  Sofia nodded, lowering her eyes as she let her hand fall to her bed. “Reanna,” she whispered, suddenly timid, her eyes lifting back up slowly.

  Reanna brought her hand up to gently cup Sofia's soft cheek. “Yes, baby?” she answered.

  Shyly, Sofia smiled. “Are you my mommy now?” she asked.

  And as if Reanna’s tears weren’t already falling plenty enough, so many more made a pathway down her cheeks when Sofia asked her the question she’d been waiting all night for her to ask.

  Heart pounding heavily in her chest, Reanna took in a deep breath, fighting her damndest not to let the ridiculous sobs threatening to break free from her lips overtake her. This was a moment she’d been waiting for, for a long time now.

  She wanted it to be perfect.

  So, nodding her head, she smiled. Laughing softly through her happy tears as she answered her baby with a resounding “Yes,” feeling so freaking happy her heart felt as if it would burst at any moment from the overload of emotion. “If you’ll have me, yes.” She nodded again. “I would … love to be your mommy, baby.”

  Sofia’s eyes filled with tears.

  “Sofi.” Reanna cupped her face right as the tears fell down her reddening cheeks. “No, no, no,” she cried, leaning forward and pressing her forehead to Sofia’s.

  “But I have happy tears, too,” she sniffled, bringing her tiny hand up to wipe her eyes.

  “Don’t cry, please, honey,” Reanna begged again, her voice still a strained whisper. “I’ll be a mess.”

  A hot blubbering mess if Sofia kept it up. Reanna was feeling too damn emotional tonight, and Sofia crying would have her abandoning every bit of restraint she had to start weeping all over this penthouse.

  “Stop, stop …” Reanna whispered, wiping Sofia’s eyes, refusing to surrender to her weeping. “No crying, huh, baby,” she smiled. Then she gripped on to Sofi’s chin, giving her head a gentle shake. “We’ll have plenty of time for tears when you’re a teenager and we’re at each other’s throats, yes?”

  Her baby’s answering smile was as dazzling as the sparkle that lit up her bright blue eyes. “Yes,” she nodded, scooting her little body closer to Reanna. “I love you, Mommy.”


  And there it was again, that lump in her throat. Those damn sobs threatening to go against her wishes.

  Again, Reanna swallowed them, even as she kissed Sofi’s cheek, her forehead, and lastly her perfect little lips right before she gazed into her wide teary eyes. “I love you, too, my sweet, perfect, precious little girl.”

  Reanna hadn’t known just how much a person could love another human until she loved Sofia Nicole Valente. Sofia was her heart, her smile, and her laughter, even on her worst day. Sofia was everything and more than Reanna could have ever prayed for in a daughter.

  “Will you and Papa stay with me? Until I go to sleep?”

  There was nothing that Reanna would have loved more at that moment.

  Reaching across the bed, she grasped onto Kyle’s hand when he placed it in hers, and they stood up and got on to Sofia’s bed.

  It wasn’t a tight fit, by any means. Sofia was a little princess with a bed fit and sized for a Queen. So they all laid comfortably, Sofia giggling as she curled into a ball between them, and Reanna and Kyle, lying back on the pillows, turning to face one another as they gazed into each other’s eyes.

  Chapter 27 First Fight

  It was a rare occurrence, Kyle letting Reanna see all that he felt for her in his eyes. It was even more rare that he allowed her to see his pain, that something was hurting him on the inside. But tonight … he had.

  It had taken Sofia a full half an hour to fall asleep, and the entire time they laid with her, Reanna had been face to face with Kyle’s love, and intense inner pain. A pain hidden behind all of that love. An emotion he probably hadn’t even known was visible; Reanna saw it clearly, and the moment she did, it struck her heart. Twisting it, squeezing it, until she’d found herself inhaling a deep breath to keep from wincing at the pain.

  Something was wrong. Kyle was hurting.

  Perhaps it was why he seemed so there, but not there when he’d come into Sofia’s room. He’d taken a call in his office right after dinner. One that he hadn’t been too excited about answering, but Reanna hadn’t thought much of it at first. She’d thought it was just a work call. But now, she was pretty sure that something was … off with Kyle. She could feel it on the inside.