She let out a laugh, but before she could respond, we were swarmed by two little ones. I spent the next few moments hugging Anthony, who was the spitting image of Nico, before Lorenzo approached me.
His wary eyes followed my every move.
“Hey, Lorenzo,” I said evenly, remembering what the therapist had told us. The poor boy had been traumatized, from spending most of his young life in a brothel, and watching the murder of his mom. Therapy was helping him come out of his shell, but it was an ongoing process. We were supposed to let him make his moves, not the other way around. When he fell into my arms, the tears wetted my cheeks.
“That’s huge progress,” Rory replied softly, tears reflecting in her own eyes. “Nico just about lost it the other night when he called him Daddy.”
“I bet,” I answered, hugging the little boy carefully. “I’ve missed you, Lorenzo.”
He released me as quickly as he had hugged me and ran off with Anthony to the toys they had been playing with. “Well,” Rory breathed, her eyes on her two sons. “We are glad to have you back, Leda.”
I straightened, my mood changing. “This feels like a prison, Rory. All I’ve done is trade wardens.”
Rory frowned. “You know that this is your home too. Please, just give it a few days, all right? I know it’s not what you want, but we don’t know what your father has planned. We all need to be careful right now.”
Rory did have a point, but I didn’t feel any better about my situation.
“Come on,” she was saying, walking to the door. “Let’s get you settled.”
Soon I found myself alone in one of the spare bedrooms, with some of my own clothing that I had left here. I shed the clothing I had just put on less than an hour ago and stepped under the wide spray of the shower water, my body melting under the hot stream.
I felt dazed and out of sorts, not sure what I should be doing or how the heck I was going to find Lucas. After weeks of being in his presence, I missed him terribly. I missed his smile, his laugh, even his surly attitude. If Nico was to suddenly up and disappear, Rory would know how I felt.
Same with my brother. They were trying to look out for me, but what was best for me was Lucas. It was hard to explain to anyone the pull I felt. The absence of his familiar presence was killing me. I needed to see him, to know that he wasn’t seriously injured or in the hands of Adrian.
Lucas had suffered so much in his life, and he deserved to have something other than pain in his life.
He deserved a future. And now that I was pregnant, it was a future that we could build together.
My mind fluttered back to Rory’s comment about my father’s words coming out of my mouth. I needed to be strong now. I couldn’t be the weak woman that he thought I was. I had to be someone who could stand up to him.
I knew my father was coming for me. He wasn’t about to just let me walk away.
I finished up my shower, my resolve different from the moment I had stepped in. I was going to be a fighter. I was going to be the person they never saw coming because I knew what I wanted, and he wasn’t here.
I needed Lucas.
I dressed in a pair of leggings and an oversized top before crashing on the bed, needing some sleep to ready myself for what was coming. It was my only choice. I couldn’t just hide away forever. I didn’t want to hide. I wanted to be the person that Lucas needed me to be, and in order for me to help him, I needed to find him.
It was dinner before I stepped out of the bedroom and found my brother’s little family already seated at the dining room table.
Well, not really. Lorenzo and Anthony were running around the living room, and Rory was fussing at them to take their seats.
“Crazy, isn’t it?” Nico chuckled as he joined my side. “When did you ever think that this would be happening in my penthouse?”
“Never,” I admitted. Nico had never wanted to have a child so that our father could use him for his horrible plans, but once he found out that Rory was pregnant, his priorities had changed. “This is like some weird daycare.”
My brother laughed, like really laughed to the point that his eyes were warm, and I felt my own heart clench in the process.
That was what I wanted to see on Lucas’s face. I had thought for one split second about not having this baby and never telling Lucas, but like I said, it was only a split second. Now I wanted him to know that he was going to be a father, to attempt to change his priorities like Nico had. I wanted him to see me as someone that could give him the future he never thought he wanted.
“I know this isn’t what you want,” Nico said after a moment. “But I’m just trying to take care of you, Leda. I don’t ever want to see you hurt. You know that.”
“I know.” I reached over and gave him a side hug, resting my head on his shoulder. “But this is my life, Nico. I can handle myself.”
He hugged me back, something he had rarely done before he had met Rory. Affection wasn’t something either of us was comfortable with, but I tended to be the one who adapted quicker than my brother. “I know, but I still worry, Leda. You are the only family I have outside of my own, and I haven’t done a good enough job of protecting you in the past. I’m not going to let that monster get you. I swear it.”
I had no idea which monster he meant. And I didn’t want him to clarify.