She felt it in her heart and sent up a silent message to her beloved sister.Rest in peace, Ange. Lana is safe. I will love and care for her always.
She pledged,I will make Rad pay for what he did to you and took from Lana.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Hunt walked into Cyn’s shop and smiled at the beautiful woman standing across the room behind her client in the chair, fluffing the woman’s hair as she blew it dry. Lana lay sweetly against Cyn’s chest in the baby carrier, her little fist on Cyn’s breast, her face soft and peaceful.
Cyn had been quiet the last two days at home. She stayed at his place with his brothers watching over her while he went to work and she got Lana on a schedule. The little one seemed restless and fussy the first night. They chalked it up to her getting used to the new formula and being in a new place. It had to be hard on the baby to miss her mom and end up with different people every few days.
But for now Lana was with him and Cyn. He didn’t know what Cyn thought about them practically living together and him making it clear that he wanted to be a part of her plans to raise and adopt Lana.
He’d always wanted a family. Now with Cyn in his life, he wanted it even more.
“There’s my Wilde man,” Cyn said, smiling at her customer in the mirror.
“There’s my girls,” Hunt replied, kissing Lana on the head, then stealing a quick kiss from Cyn. He wanted more, but she was working and he didn’t want to delay her. He brushed his hand over her neck. “You got your stitches out.”
Cyn smiled. “Chase took me to the doctor’s office, like you asked him to do. The scar on my leg is still really tight and itchy, but they say the skin will stretch and the scar will fade over time.
“Want me to take her?”
Cyn turned off the hair dryer and set it in the holder at her station. “Thanks.”
Hunt gently plucked Lana out of the carrier and laid her against his chest, then took the seat at the empty station next to where Cyn finished styling her customer’s hair.
“If you tell me he changes diapers, too, I’m really going to hate you,” the woman said, eyeing Cyn in the mirror.
“He does. And he cooks. He knows a couple of really sweet lullabies. Every time I see him with her”—Cyn shook her head—“I just want to jump him.”
“If you don’t, I will,” the woman said, giving Hunt a flirtatious look.
He grinned at the woman who could be his mother. “Sorry. I’m hers.”
The woman sighed.
Cyn grinned at him, and this time it was real, not tinged with the sadness clinging to her. “You might be too good to be true, Wilde.”
“Why? Because I love you and this one and want to take care of both of you?”
Cyn turned to him and held his gaze. “Because you live up to the fantasy in every way.”
“So do you, sweetheart. And though things have been really hard lately, I’m looking forward to some normal family time.”
This time she sighed. “How have you just accepted all this so easily and gone with it?”
“I’ve nearly lost you twice. I’m happy and grateful you’re still here with me, that we have this chance to be together and create something I’ve wanted for a while now.” He kissed Lana on the head again. “If something had happened to Chase, and Shelby and Eliza needed someone, I’d have stepped up and been the uncle and dad she needed. Lana is yours now, which means she’s mine. There’s nothing else to do but give her a home where she’ll be safe and loved. I know you have your place and a room set up for her, and if you want to be there when it’s safe and we slow things down a bit, I’m fine with that if it’s what you want, but I hope, eventually, we’ll turn our two lives into a life we make together.”
He and Cyn held each other’s gazes.
“Marry him,” her customer implored. “Men like him don’t come around often. You’ve got to hold on to them when they do.”
Cyn’s vibrant smile warmed his heart. “I’m the luckiest woman in the world.”
“I’ve got you beat, sweetheart,” he assured her, because with her by his side, he knew he’d have a very happy future.
Cyn grinned. “I guess Shelby is going to have to find a new renter soon.”
“It’ll be easier for you to commute between your two shops, since my place is about halfway between here and your shop in Blackrock Falls.”