She was dragged from the car, and her driver and one of her bodyguards, who were both wounded in the attack, witnessed her being shot at point blank, in the temple. One of her bodyguards was also reportedly killed, a big blond man, they said, though no name was divulged.
I was devastated, though I didn’t believe, at first, that any of it was true.
It was just too convenient, her disappearing forever only after completing her mission.
It’s not like it would be the first time she’d faked her own death.
But weeks turned into months, months to years, with still no word from her, or even of her, and I began to believe.
EPILOGUE
TWO YEARS AFTER THE TRIAL
I was jogging through the park park, just outside my neighborhood. It was rare outside weather for Vegas. We got about one day of it a year, and I figured I should take advantage.
I was stopping to take a drink and tighten a shoelace when I felt something. An odd sensation across the back of my neck that had me looking up and then around, doing nearly a full circle before I spotted what it was that had disrupted my peace of mind.
It was Heath, the bastard, striding towards me, his hard eyes on me as though no time had passed.
It was a shock to see him, to say the least.
A shock and a joy, as he was connected to Iris, and anything connected to her, anything that could give me information, or even closure, was what I had most desired to see these two long, lost years.
But that wasn’t the thing that had a weight pressing in on my chest like concrete.
On his hip was a small child, a boy.
The boy was wrapped around him, head on his shoulder as though Heath was a normal human, instead of a Heath.
A human that the boy adored.
It was perturbing. All of it.
But one thing in particular was the most perturbing of all.
The boy did not look like him. It may have been his child, but he did not favor him.
The boy had messy brown hair, and as he drew closer, I saw his warm caramel eyes. In fact, every feature of his face, from his straight little nose, to his tiny clenched jaw, and his pursed little mouth was familiar to me.
My heart seized up in the most horrible, wonderful way. My teeth were clenched so hard my jaw ached.
It was indescribable, this feeling of absolute certainty and disbelief.
I could not take my eyes off that child, not from a distance and especially not when they got very close.
The boy could not take his eyes off me either.
His head straightened up from Heath’s shoulder as he studied me nearly as intently as I was studying him.
Heath ruffled the boy’s hair and kissed him on the forehead, like he’d done it a million times. They were obviously close.
That made my eyes swing to him and glare.
Heath glared right back, but when he tilted his head and looked down at the boy, his eyes softened to unrecognizable.
He adored this child.
“This ‘im, Unca Heaf?” the child asked.
“Yeah, sport, it sure is. Can’t you tell? You look just like him.”
I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak, couldn’t form a coherent thought, my whole astonished self wrapped up in this little person I’d only just set eyes on, only discovered existed an endless minute ago.
I tried to clear my throat, to say something, because I had questions I needed answers to, but it all escaped me, powerful emotion moving through me like a Mack truck, all of it rushing up to clog my throat and bring moisture to my eyes.
“Dair,” Heath said, his tone changing, cooling, of course, when he was talking to me. “Meet Cameron Alasdair Masters.”
I almost fell to my knees right there. What breath I had left was knocked clean out of me.
My middle name was Cameron.
She’d given him my full name, every piece of it.
If him looking like a miniature version of myself wasn’t enough to tell me who this child was, certainly the name did.
Little Cameron blinked his big eyes at me once, twice. “Daddy?” His voice was tentative, and it was clearly a question.
He knew who I was. He’d been told about me.
Even the two year old was more apprised of the situation than I was. He was clearly related to Iris and Heath.
I had to clear my throat three times to get my answer out. “Yes,” I told my son emotionally. “I’m your daddy.”
He reached out an arm to me, and I wasn’t sure what to do.
I shifted closer, even getting into Heath’s personal space to accommodate this little child’s silent request.
Cameron patted my shoulder, giving me a few expectant blinks. “Hugs,” he said, tugging me into both him and Heath, forcing me and the other man into an awkward group hug.
Heath didn’t say one word, just let out a little protesting grunt and let the child have his way.
Carefully and determinedly, I peeled Cameron off and away from him, clutching him to me. Holding my son for the very first time.
“Hugs,” I finally agreed, squeezing my eyes shut tight as his little arms wrapped snugly around my neck.
We stayed like that for a very long time; him burrowed into me, me taking deep breaths as I processed the fact that I was a father.
Finally, I looked up at Heath, who watched me back with a gimlet-eyed Heath expression.
“Is she . . . ?” I couldn’t even finish the question.
“She’s alive and well, in protective custody until all of the things she needs protection from are taken care of, which shouldn’t be too much longer. I’ve eliminated all but a few as of now.”
“She never even told me she was pregnant,” I said slowly, trying to keep my voice calm.
The shock was ebbing and some righteous anger was flowing right back in to take its place.
“She couldn’t. She didn’t have the opportunity. And she was trying to spare you the pain of thinking you’d lost them both, instead of just her.”
My voice was less calm as I shot back, “Over two years without a word. How could she keep this from me for so long? How could she keep everything from me? I thought she was—”
Heath had not one iota of understanding or empathy in either his face or his words. Just the opposite. But that was Heath for you. In this particular situation, it had an almost calming effect on me, strange as that was.
“You’re a fool,” he said, voice low. “If she’d come to you earlier, she never could have stayed, not for any length of time. And besides that, you know she’d never put you in danger. For some reason I can’t fathom, she loves you.”