Chapter 159

SPADE

I still saw the horror in her eyes, no matter how hard she tried to be strong for me. At this moment, she’d done hiding it as she placed her hand on my chest.

“Hey. What matters is we’re still here.”

“I know.” I leaned down and kissed her lips softly. Tears rolled down my cheeks, wetting her face. I pulled away, smiling, wiping her face dry as she did the same for me. “Baby—” I was about to say something important when the door swung open.

“No sex in the hospital bed!” The angry voice coming from Denise pulled us apart. She, Piper, and Gio were marching in our direction.

“Mom!” Robyn’s eyes widened.

Denise shook her head in anger and disappointment. “Well, if it isn’t Bonnie and Clyde.”

“Denise—”

“I don’t wanna hear any excuses from both of you.” She stopped before our bed, hands on her hips, shaking her head.

“Mommy Denise, I prefer them as Mr. & Mrs. Smith. But Edward and Bella are fine,” Piper giggled, squeezing her into a hug. “Bonnie and Clyde didn’t have a happy ending, and they were criminals. My best friend and Spade aren’t.”

“Well, they’re not agents and vampires, are they?” She glared at Piper while pointing at us. “These two are gonna cause me to lose my heart.”

“Well, it’s over now, Mommy Denise. How about a grandchild for a bribe?”

“What?” Robyn and I stared at Piper incredulously.

“Are you guys pregnant?” Denise asked, confused and ecstatic at the same time.

“No,” we chorused, looking at each other.

“Oh.” Piper shrugged, not even remotely sorry. “Then you'd better get to work. You don’t wanna disappoint this face again.” She then looked at Denise. “Right, Mrs. Sharpe?”

She was about to reply, but the door opened again. Lex, Max, and the Creeds walked in with flowers and balloons.

“When are you guys gonna get out of trouble?” Adley’s face was laced with worry as she asked us before acknowledging Denise, Piper, and Gio.

“Have you talked to Sean?” Lex asked. I still saw the pain in his eyes. He must be so terrified for us.

“Yeah. I apologized and told him to stay sober, then we could start over. Happy?”

He smiled, pulling me into a hug. “I love you, son.”

I swallowed down my emotions before I went mushy. “I love you, too.”

When he pulled away, he looked at me, and I had a feeling he was going to ask it.

“Before Robyn and I left Osmium, I received a text message from Terzo saying Hanna might be behind all this. He received intel from the Agency that she’s often seen in the US, and that she might be planning something huge.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” He looked sad.

“Because you’d disagree if I do something stupid and risky. So after that, I have been meeting my therapist and explained my brief encounter with Hanna and how to deal with her.”

“Jesus, son.”

“Hanna forced me to watch videos. The first video was taken from a police bodycam footage, I think. The other one was an AI video curated to trigger my trauma. It looked so real and felt real. I could even feel the pain inflicted on the skin on my back. Every strike, every flog of the belt caused a rip in my back, and it got worse each time. I watched my younger self get beaten by a man wearing Sean’s face. Somehow, it was Sean who saved me from torture because I knew it didn’t happen to me.”

I was surrounded by people I cared about, and they all had the same reaction. At this point, what happened to me when I was a child wasn’t a secret anymore. I was done keeping it from everyone, and right now, I didn’t see pity or scared, or disgust. If what I saw was right, it was admiration.

“What do you mean, uncle?” Adley asked while everyone was rendered mute by my story.

I smiled at her. “Sean didn’t beat me in the basement. We didn’t have a basement or a house. We lived in a small apartment. But it did happen to me, only in the hands of my foster father, Randy, who died in prison months ago. Apparently, Hanna paid someone to eliminate him in prison when he didn’t cooperate.”

“Oh, God, uncle. No wonder you don’t talk about it.” Adley hugged me tight and whispered, “I know the truth, and I’m so proud to be your niece, for real this time. I love you so much, uncle.”

“I love you, too, Ad.”

“So, this is over?” Denise asked. She really looked upset and angry. “I don’t think I have enough courage for another terrible news or to visit you both in the hospital.”

“I’m sorry, Mom, but this time, we were attacked in the house. Wave and Quinton were hurt and are in the other room.” That was what I thought. Maybe that drive had a tracking device that we didn’t even check.

“I’m so sorry, Denise. I didn’t mean to put your daughter’s life at risk,” I told her the truth. “But it’s true, she’s been hurt because of me, but yeah, it’s over. The bad guys are locked up. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“Well, I hope so because if I can’t convince Robyn to leave you, then I might have to kidnap her if something like this happens again,” she said unapologetically.

“Geez, Mrs. Sharpe. That’s drastic. They are married. You can’t do that, and you shouldn’t have shared your plan with them. Right now, Mr. Kross may be thinking of doubling their security.” Piper tried hard to hold her laugh, looking away before Denise saw it.

“Well, try me.” She looked at Piper. “I raised my daughter alone. Even if she’s already an adult, if she can’t see straight what’s going on, and if her billionaire husband can’t protect her, then he doesn’t deserve my Robyn. Money is money, you can earn it, but my daughter has only one life, and she’ll take the trauma she’s experienced until she grows old.”

“Mrs. Sharpe, come on.”

“She’s right, Piper,” I told her. I wasn’t even offended by her. In fact, she was right, but too bad, there was no way I was going to give up our marriage now that Robyn chose to be with me instead of walking away for her safety and peace of mind.

“In my uncle’s defense—”

Lex raised his hand to stop Adley from defending me. “I agree. My son has been through hell, and your daughter has been through something unimaginable, and that’s because of Spade’s involvement with her. Though we can’t change what already happened, but promise to convince them to seek therapy.”

“I’m already seeing a therapist, Mom.” Robyn took my hand, linking together. “Spade and I are seeing a therapist together.”

“I can’t promise you it would be easy because it’s not. I’d been seeing a shrink since Lex took me in, and it’s challenging all the time, but with Robyn by my side, she healed me.”

Denise rolled her eyes, and everyone saw it. “You’re making me look like a villain in the story.”

Robyn chuckled.

“A monster-in-law. You should watch it, Mrs. Sharpe,” Piper said. “You can’t meddle in their love story. Look at them. Imagine how pretty their children are gonna be, and they have a bright future. They can attend a prestigious college and run—”

“Okay. You can shut up now.” Denise glared at Piper.

Gio shook his head in amusement. “Amore mio, let the Krosses talk.”

“Right. Sorry.” She grinned at Adley and Mykel.