“Why is she still sleeping? What’s going on?”
The doctor pulled him aside to bring him up to speed. I glanced up at her heart rate and saw it declining further. She was giving up. I needed to act immediately.
I held her hand tightly in mine before giving it a kiss and holding it against my face. “Robin, I know you can hear me in there. I know I haven’t been the easiest person to live with or love, but I need you. You’ve shown me that life goes on, that we all have the capacity to love as many people as we want – and I want you. You’re the reason I’m here, the reason I didn’t want to give up. I’m in love with you and want to spend the rest of my days with you by my side as husband and wife. I want you, me, Nicola, and any children we have to be a family together.”
My throat tightened, and I felt tears escaping my eyes. I didn’t care who the fuck saw. I needed this woman as much as I needed my next breath. “Come back to me, Robin. Let me love you like you deserve.”
I swallowed hard, feeling the pain clench in my chest at the mere thought of losing her. “I’m sorry, we should’ve told you that we figured out Declan had been killed. We should’ve told you he had a twin brother. I kept you in the dark thinking that it would protect you. I was so afraid of losing you like I’d lost my wife. You’re the first person who’s managed to make me feel alive again, and I couldn’t risk you being taken away from me.”
I kissed her hand again, giving it a squeeze. “I was wrong to try and shield you from the truth. Instead of protecting you, I allowed you to be taken by that monster. Forgive me, honey. Wherever you are in there, come back to me and make my life whole because without you I have nothing.”
Holding her hand, Jonas took up residence on the other side of the bed. His face had softened. “You really do love her.”
I nodded, feeling the angst of all the highs and lows that existed between us over the past months evaporate into nothing. “I do, as much as life itself.”
He knelt down, running a hand through her hair. “Sis, you need to wake up. You don’t know the strings I had to pull to get here to you, and I’m not leaving until I see your brilliant blue eyes and that beautiful smile of yours.”
Willing her to wake up, we held tight to her hands. “As soon as we get out of here, I want your permission to marry your sister. I’ve waited around too long and almost missed my chance at happiness. I want to marry her as soon as we’re both able to walk down the aisle.”
He nodded. “I give my permission, but the decision is ultimately hers to make.”
A small voice squeaked up. “Yes.”
Jonas startled, and I felt Robin’s hand squeezing mine. “What was that, honey?”
A small smile spread across her face. “Yes, I’ll marry you, but what’s the hurry? Can’t we plan things, wait for when Jonas is here for a while?”
I laughed, giving her hand another kiss and wincing when I tried to move. “You didn’t have the stomach bug, honey. You’re carrying my twins.”
Her eyes flew open, and she couldn’t seem to say the words, instead asking, “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “The bullet that shot me pierced your lung, and before the doctors could do surgery they had to run tests. Your blood work showed you were pregnant, so they followed up with an ultrasound to see how far along. Looks like we ended up bringing home a couple of stowaways from Vermont.”
“But how? I’m on birth control.”
The doctor had stood back giving us our privacy until now. “Ms. Patrick, we talked with Dr. Bradford to discover what medications you were on. Did the pharmacy not explain the sleeping aid and the sedatives could counteract the efficiency of the birth control pills?”
She shook her head. “No. And please call me Robin. My name is Robin Forgione.”
She looked horrified for a second and then turned to me. “I’m so sorry about this. I don’t want you to feel you have to marry me. Is that why you asked?”
I took in a deep breath, or as deep as I could with the pain running through my chest, “Ask Alexander. I had planned to whisk you back to Vermont for a Valentine’s weekend for two. I’d made all the arrangements to propose to you and ask you not only to be my wife, but also my…”
I stopped not wanting to say anything further in front of my future brother-in-law. He held up his hands. “Don’t worry, man. I know what kink she’s into. She had questions and needed to talk to someone, so she asked me knowing that I was into that lifestyle long before her. I don’t have any problem with things as long as you treat her right.”
Robin looked over at Jonas and started crying. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve been trying to contact you for months to let you know about dad.”
He reached down to stroke his sister’s hair. “I know, sweetie. I got word of his passing, but I was deep into enemy territory where I couldn’t pull out or get word to you. I focused on getting my job done so I could return home – it just took a little longer than I would’ve liked. I wish now that I’d just scrubbed the mission so that I could get here sooner to take care of that twisted piece of junk.”
“He’s dead right?” Jonas was blunt and to the point.
I nodded. “Rick shot him after he shot me. He died by the way he killed – one bullet to the head.”
“Good, just saves me the trouble of killing him.” I liked her brother. He didn’t hold back anything.
Robin started crying, as we both seemed to ask, “What’s wrong?”
She held on to Jonas’s hand. “I just got you back home. I don’t want you to leave again. How long can you stay?”
His face didn’t hide his anguish. “I need to head back to D.C. in a little over a week. I’m no longer under any contract with the government though. I agreed to the previous mission, but then I was planning to head back to you and dad to try and find something in the area – to see if we could have our family back again.”
Her face lit up. “Really? You’re here to stay?”
He ran a hand over his military haircut. “I don’t have a fucking clue what I’ll do, but I want to be here for you and be an uncle to those kids your carrying. It’s time I put down some roots.”
I spoke up. “I think Alexander may have some friends who can help find you a job, especially if you enjoyed doing covert work and security.”
“Heck, yeah. That’s what I live for. That’s why I stayed in the military for so long.” He admitted.
He was a thrill junky just like the rest of the guys. I yelled out, “Hey, Derrick.”
His head ducked in instantly. I knew he or Rick would be guarding the door to our room. “Did you catch any of that last conversation?”
He smiled. “Only if you wanted me to, Jax.”
“You think you can help set my future brother-in-law up with a position with Alexander or with your father?”
Extending his hand toward Jonas, Derrick stepped inside the door. “Welcome to the team, Jonas. We can talk later about details of your job and what skill set you’re most comfortable with. We already know your field work – we were the one’s using military contacts to track you down.”
Jonas smiled. “Let me guess, you guys were the ones to help pinpoint our location and negotiate my team’s release? Don’t bullshit me because things happened much faster than they should have.”
Derrick leaned forward and whispered, although we still could hear, “That’s on a need to know basis and right now you don’t need to know.” He turned back toward the door. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be right outside.”
Jonas pulled some strings with his contacts and had his sister’s name restored and reinstated among the living. I had wondered if she’d want to go by Alexia now, but she shook her head and explained. “My mom’s the one who named me Alexia. I always hated it, so my dad and brother called me Robin instead.”
She was free to live her life as she wanted, no longer in hiding, and I was thankful it would be with me.
WE ENDED UP SPENDING a week and a half in the hospital. Robin had healed much fa
ster than I did, but the doctors, with some bribing from Alexander, let her stay in the same room with our beds pushed together so we’d both rest easily.
I’d apologized to Robin for keeping the information from her. To my surprise she said, that given the circumstances, she would’ve done the same, so she understood. All she asked was that I never keep a secret from her again. That’s when I told her about finding her mother and step-father and how they’d died by the hands of a drunk driver. Robin and Jonas were hurt but seemed to make peace with the fact that their mother had chosen a new life for herself.
Derrick had talked with Jonas, and, given his knowledge, he’d be working in a dual capacity – part of the time for Prescott International and the other part for Titan Security. Basically, whosever needs were more pressing at the time, that’s where he’d be. All Jonas asked was to be kept as close as possible to his sister, citing he’d missed enough time already with her.
Nicola was excited to learn that Robin would indeed become a second mother to her. Robin explained that no one could ever take Gabi’s place, but she’d love her as if she were her own. Celia and my mother, Emily, brought her to the hospital to visit every day until we were released. My heart almost broke when Niki jumped up on Robin’s bed, threw her arms around her neck, and said, “I missed you, Mom.” There wasn’t a dry eye in the room that day.
We didn’t return home right away, instead staying with Alexander and Celia as we continued to rest and heal from our ordeal. Celia was happy to have us close by so she could plan a quick wedding. Instead of proposing on Valentine’s, they insisted that be the day we get married, especially since Robin was already starting to have the beginning signs of a baby bump. The changes to her stomach were subtle, but she was concerned she wouldn’t look good in a wedding dress if we waited too long. To me, she looked phenomenal.
Since I was laid up at Alexander’s place, he offered to go pick up the items I had waiting at the jewelry store. I’d seen the photos of the final product, and they were perfect for Robin. That night, after we’d changed into our nighttime attire, and were finally alone in the bedroom, I dropped down on one knee and offered the proper proposal – repeating the same words I said to her in the hospital, the same words that brought her back to me. Of course she said, “Yes.”
The engagement ring turned out better than the initial drawings or even the photos. It was a true masterpiece. I’d asked for a heart shaped diamond in the center of a platinum band. The band would start as a half-swirl, encircling one side of the diamond, before falling down to encircle her finger and coming up on the opposite side with another half-swirl supporting the other half of the diamond. It was symbolic of our love. We’d come from different directions eventually coming together and finding love. The matching wedding bands were two infinity circles looping together symbolizing forever as one.
Robin kept trying to peek over at the other box I’d sat on top of the bed. “Is that what I think it might be?”
I’d wanted to wait until our honeymoon, but came to realize that we aren’t always promised a tomorrow and should take advantage of the moments we have now. Seeing her eyes widen and a smile spread across her face, I stood in front of her and opened the box slowly to reveal her collar. She reached out to touch it, and, causing her to giggle, I threatened to close the lid on her hand if she did.
“I’m doing this out of order, and I wanted to make this romantic, but I don’t want to waste another minute to bind you to me in at least one form, if you’re ready.” She nodded and smiled.
I watched, transfixed by her beauty, as she slowly untied her robe and let it slide down her silky skin onto the floor, along with her nightgown, baring her to me. The sight of her body had my cock immediately at attention. My eyes traveled hungrily over her, noticing how her breasts were a little fuller and her curves were coming back to life. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her tonight, especially since we’d been given the all clear to resume normal sexual activities. Granted, nothing was normal about what our preferences were, but for tonight, we’d take it easy.
“I’d like to go ahead and bind you to me as my submissive. I’ve told you before that you don’t have to call me Master unless you’d like to. I only use the collar as a symbol that you’re off-limits to anyone but me. It’s my promise to hold you, your heart, and your body in the deepest regard. I promise to bring you pleasure and push your limits as we explore our world together. I will be faithful only to you. Can I bind you to me as my own, sharing our lives only with one another and growing together as one?”
Tears welled at the corner of her eyes as she nodded. “Yes, my master, my love. I bind myself solely to you to guide me as you see fit, trusting only you to lead me into unknown pleasures.”
Damn it. She had me on the verge of tears. How was it that Gabi guided me to the one person who’d fill the hole in my heart and bring life back into my world? Was it fate? I didn’t know.
I lifted the collar out of its case and noted how perfect it looked. The rest of the family had ones made of links similar to infinity circles with alternating metals and gem chips. I wanted something that was entirely different. When I’d designed it, I had no clue I would get shot close to the heart or that we’d be getting married on Valentine’s, but the design just added to the touches. I had the jeweler craft hearts of yellow gold, turn them sideways, and place a white gold infinity loop between every two hearts. Every other heart was covered in ruby chips, while the infinity loops had a sprinkling of diamond chips.
Robin looked down toward the floor. “Eyes on me, honey. I want you to see my face as I collar you. I claim you as mine.” I reached under her hair to drop the necklace around her neck before drawing the two ends together at the front and locking them into place with a small set of keys – one I’d keep on me at all times, the other for the safe as a backup. I liked how the jeweler had gotten creative – building a tiny lock into the necklace in place of a clasp. I feared she might tense at the weight of the necklace and the meaning behind it, but she seemed to breathe easier after I’d locked it into place and pushed it around to sit properly on her neck.
I reached for her hand and guided her to the mirror so she could see how radiant she looked. “You’re positively glowing, love.”
I watched as she took in her reflection. “The design is a promise of two hearts uniting for what I hope is forever.”
She turned around, pushing up on her toes to kiss me. “I love it, but I love you more,” she whispered before I silenced her with a soul searing kiss to let her know I wanted her – I needed her. The rest of the night was spent taking things slow and enjoying our moment of happiness, binding us together on a carnal level.
We finally got permission from the doctors to return to work and moved back to my place to start making it our home. Everyone in the marketing department congratulated us on our engagement as we handed out invitations to the wedding. We’d asked for Celia to keep it small, but nothing my mother-in-law does is ever small.
Before we knew what was happening, the day before Valentine’s had arrived. Wanting to keep with tradition, Robin would stay over at Alexander and Celia’s tonight. She’d been upset that her brother hadn’t been able to return to Orlando. He promised he’d do everything he could to make it back to walk her down the aisle. When things looked a bit grim, Alexander took her aside and talked with her.
He’d admitted that he thought of me as a son and would like to think of her as another daughter. He told her to feel free to come to him and Celia for parental advice because as far as they were concerned she and her brother were now part of the family. Alexander also said that he’d like to be a grandparent to our future twins and any other children we might have.
She had cried at his words, and then hugged him, admitting, “I didn’t think I had any family left except for my brother. Now I feel truly blessed, like I belong again.”
She didn’t hesitate to agree to them being grandparents to our children. She even asked if
he’d walk her down the aisle if her brother couldn’t make it. Of course he was delighted.
The morning of the wedding came and Nicola and I spent it paying respects to Gabi’s grave. I explained to Niki that her mother could no longer be here on Earth to care for her, but she was always watching out for us. We placed her favorite roses in her vase before heading off to Alexander’s.
Niki was quickly whisked away by my mother, who’d promised she’d help her get dressed. Robin insisted on Niki being a part of the wedding; she’d stand right beside us and give us her blessings before we exchanged our vows.
Dane and Rafe quickly whisked me away to another room where all the guys were getting ready. I’d asked both Dane and Rafe to stand up with me as dual best men. They were the closest things I had to brothers, and I loved them as if they were.
We all changed into matching grey suits, crisp white shirts, and deep red ties. Since the wedding was last minute, we decided to skimp on all the formalities and make things as simple as possible. The only thing Celia wouldn’t allow us to shortcut was Robin’s dress, insisting a bride only got married once in her life, so it needed to be special.
The next thing I knew, I was standing up in front with Dane and Rafe by my side, the minister at the helm, and all the guests seated. Traditional wedding music played to bring down my daughter, followed by Marissa, and then Dawn – all wearing matching red dresses.
The music stopped as everyone reached their positions. We’d practiced all of this with the Wedding March last night, so it took me by surprise when soulful voices came over the speakers. I leaned back and whispered to Dane, “Who changed the song?”
He shrugged his shoulders and looked at Rafe, who did the same. “When we went over the list with the DJ, we noted it still had the Wedding March.”
I looked back down the aisle as the words were sung and smiled. It was a group that Robin and I had listened to, Pentatonix. They were gaining a following for their a capella performances. The song was “Standing By” and it suited us perfectly. It reminded us where we needed to be – standing by the sides of the ones you loved.
I Need You Forever Page 19
