Chapter 33

We all boarded Bryce’s jet that day. For me it was a start to a new life. I was sad to leave Thunder Bay, but I knew I had exciting things waiting for me in New York, like moving in with Luc. Joe stayed in the apartment with Nessa for two full months. He had already healed, and I felt like he was procrastinating the inevitable, which was flying to Mexico to get Eva and Nelly back. While staying in New York, Joe hit the gym every day and engaged in vigorous workouts. The bullet had hit him in the center of the abdomen, and he and Luc made jokes about it, comparing their scars. They had bonded the night of my kidnapping, and they naturally fell into brotherly mode, which warmed me having two of my three favorite guys so close together. I had a feeling that Luc knew more about Joe’s story than I did, but I didn’t press it. I was pregnant and enjoying my time. I didn’t want to have something to worry about and make me nervous. I learned the night of the motel shooting that Joe was more than capable of caring for himself.

Nessa continued to live in the apartment after Joe had reinstated his position with the DEA. At one point, I was worried that something may be going on with Nessa and Joe. I told him not to go down that road, especially with Brad in the picture. Nessa and Brad continued to party together, although it was obvious that their friendship was deepening into something more. Luc and I were convinced that the two of them were too busy being oblivious to notice how much they were alike.

“Every wild card has its match,” Luc said while we lay in bed and he patted my growing belly. I knew exactly what he meant.

The only lose end I worried about now was Scott Wellington. After everything we had survived, I didn’t want that psycho messing with my family. Luc finally admitted to me that he had told Bryce that Scott was a threat. Apparently Bryce sensed something was wrong from the moment he introduced us and Luc only confirmed it. Bryce hired an investigator and it turned out that there were many more victims. Apparently they were all brunettes with either blue or green eyes. Three of the women decided to come forward and press charges. It was Luc’s convincing that got them to come forward in the first place. He said he didn’t want me to press charges because he knew how hard the court case would be on me, but he found the other women, who were willing to step forward. They told him that their therapists felt that it would be a good part of their healing process.

Scott was charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault, and since one of the girls was underage, he was put on the list of sexual offenders against children. Luc and I both took comfort in the fact that he would be locked up for a long time.

***

Three months after arriving back in New York, Luc and I married in the Hamptons at Bryce’s beachfront mansion. It was a small wedding, despite the fact that Bryce tried to make it big every chance he got. He finally introduced me to my half-sisters and brothers and like Brad, predicted they were less than kind. Really a bunch of stuck up brats. That didn’t change my wedding day. At five months pregnant, I had a baby bump that barely showed through my flowing white lace gown. My hair was pinned with little loose tendrils that lay gently on my face. As Luc and I stood on the beach, under a beautiful canopy covered in white roses and lilies, everything was perfect. Joe even flew in from wherever it was that he was stationed to be there for our ceremony. He and Luc continued to whisper away. It made me laugh to think of my brother as the action superhero he always pretended to be when we were younger.

Luc was dashing in his crisp white tuxedo, with his tanned skin and vibrant green eyes that picked up color from the ocean in the background. He looked hotter than hell. There was a light wind brushing my face as we said our vows. I knew it was Mama and Papa’s way of being here from their place up in heaven. Everything was perfect. Joe was Luc’s best man and the day was filled with love and happiness as my father walked me down the aisle and delivered me into the arms of the only man I ever loved.

Epilogue:

Four months later

After twenty-four hours of labor our bouncing baby boy was born. I never really knew that my heart could be so big, until I saw my son and the way Luc watched him as if he were the most precious thing in the world. My man may have been groomed to be a rough mafia boss, but he was sweet, tender, and loved our child endlessly.

“What should we call him?” he asked me within minutes of giving birth. I had barely caught my breath from pushing. I didn’t know if it would be a boy or a girl, so we decided that we would meet the baby and then decide a name. “So what do you think?” he nudged me again.

“Hmm, I’m not sure…no French names, though, I need something I can relate to.”

“You have a problem with the French, baby?” Luc said kissing my lips.

“No problems with the French, they happen to be really good in bed. But to be honest, after splitting in two the way I just did, you ain’t coming near me anytime soon,” I said, holding up my finger to him and showing him that I meant business.

Luc threw his head back laughing. “You take all the time you need to heal, Vicky, I’m not going anywhere. Let’s be honest, the no sex thing is not going to hold long with you, you are addicted to me,” he said with a cocky tone.

“I am addicted to you, baby, but don’t hold your hopes up, I just pushed something the size of a watermelon out of a hole the size of a tangerine.”

“Seriously, Vicky, let’s cut out the fruit talk. I will not refer to your pussy as a tangerine.”

“Ssh,” I said smacking him in the chest. “Do not use that word in front of our son,” I demanded. Then we both looked down to our son and let out a contented sigh. I could sit all day and watch him. He was perfect.

“Let’s call him Kai. Luc, it has many meanings like strong and unbreakable,” I suggested. The truth was that at the end of the pregnancy I had trouble sleeping, so I stayed up on my phone at night and Googled boy and girl names and Kai just stood out for me. I knew that there were a lot of twists and turns in life. Nobody got everything they wanted, and nobody was free of disease or pain. We all faced something at one point or another. I wanted to give my son a name that I knew would be strong and represent a strong personality, just like his daddy.

His father had defeated Luc since he was a child. He grew up with abuse and later on his father pulled him into a life he didn’t want. Yet Luc was strong enough to persevere and he made the ultimate sacrifice of freeing his family from the bondage his father had placed on him. His mother and his brother, Justin, moved to Germany. They weren’t close to Luc and he didn’t seem to care, it was if he had wanted that part of his life completely erased. He focused on Kai and I, and he had a special relationship with my father. Once Kai was born, Bryce asked me if I would mind calling him Daddy, since he wanted little Kai calling him Grandpa. Of course I was happy to oblige.

Luc thrived on being an attentive father. He wanted Kai to have the close bond of family he never had growing up. He made it his life’s mission. He was my wild card and I would bet on him every time. Even though the dust had settled now, life was full of kicks and punches and with Luc by my side I knew that we would face those bumpy roads together. I knew I was stronger for having survived what I had survived. I knew that if something bad would strike, Luc and I were stronger together, and we would face this crazy life together.