“I think it’s time for us to head upstairs.” He smiled at her.
***
Laurie
Dante strode upstairs behind Laurie. When they got to the bedroom, Dante caught her hand as she headed toward the dresser.
She smiled up at him.
“Hi,” she said.
She gave him her sexiest smile as she walked back toward him.
He smiled into her bedroom eyes, shaking his head.
“I need to talk to you for a minute.”
“What’s wrong?” Dread crept across her shoulders.
“Let’s sit down.”
He led her to the bed. She felt an icy chill sweep through her. He squeezed her hand.
“Laurie, my dad got a call today. They found Katherine and Easton James.”
Sadness swept over Laurie. She looked up at Dante’s warm brown eyes. She knew the answer to the question she was about to ask, but she had to know for sure.
“Are they dead?”
He nodded.
Laurie’s mouth went dry. She swallowed hard, tasting ash and dust. She looked away from him. A sharp pain knifed through her heart as she thought of the boney little boy with the haunted blue eyes.
“Their bodies were found in a reservoir on Kauai.”
She swallowed hard again, fighting the tears. He put his arms around her, pulling her to him. He held her head against his heart, and he rocked her as she began to sniffle.
“I was right there.”
“There was nothing you could do, Laurie.” He ran his fingers through her hair.
“But I should have done something, Dante, screamed, shouted, something.”
“He would have killed them both and you before the police even made it to the room. He wanted revenge more than anything.”
She shook her head against his chest. She let out the breath she’d been holding in a blast of air. Dante pulled her back, holding her face in his hands.
“You didn’t kill them.” Dante wiped away a few years. “He did. It’s his fault, Laurie. He’ll pay for that.”
“When? They can’t even find him!”
“Soon. He’ll be found soon. He’ll pay for what he did.”
Laurie nodded, though she felt a bottomless despair. Her chest ached. Dante held her for a while, running his hands through her hair and down her back. He kissed her forehead.
Laurie listened to Dante’s heartbeat, letting that soothe her. She closed her eyes. She’d known Katherine and Easton might not survive. She knew this moment might come. Yet, she’d hoped. She’d hoped that somehow, the FBI would find Kaimi with his hostages still alive. Now, Katherine and Easton could only be remembered and avenged. Laurie would make sure that happened. She would make sure Katherine and Easton had their day in court.
“You know, as much as Kaimi is a criminal, I think once he’s behind bars I might just have to pay him a visit to say thank you.” Dante kissed her temple.
Laurie turned her face up to him. She looked at him in confusion.
“Well, it occurs to me that if Kaimi hadn’t done what he did, I never would have met you. I’d have taken another assignment, and you would have finished up in law school. We never would have met. Even though I despise the man, I do owe him for bringing me to you.”
Laurie’s heart melted as she looked up into Dante’s eyes. She kissed him, touched by what he’d said.
When he broke the kiss, he held her face in his hands, stroking her cheek.
“I love you,” he breathed.
Laurie’s eyes widened.
“You love me?”
Laurie was shocked, amazed. She knew he cared for her, but she hadn’t expected him to say it.
Dante nodded his head. He cleared his throat.
“I love you,” he repeated.
Laurie smiled up at him with all of her heart.
“I love you, too.”
The words rose up from her heart, unbidden. She knew she didn’t have to say it to him, but she wanted to tell him. She wanted him to know how much she cared for him as well.
Dante let out a breath. He kissed her for a long time, gently deepening the kiss when her lips parted beneath his. When he pulled away to take a breath, he saw the tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Don’t cry.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I’m happy. I didn’t expect you to say you loved me, and what you said about us never meeting. Well, I guess it just hit me how lucky I was to find you.” She clutched at his shirt.
He pressed his forehead to hers. He ran his hands up her back and into her hair.
“Yes, very lucky.” He kissed her again, more insistent now.
The tiredness that weighed Laurie down disappeared. In its place, was a brilliant need to show him how much she loved him.
They leaned back onto the bed together, helping one another undress. They made love slowly, savoring their good fortune in finding one another. Dante caressed every inch of her like he was memorizing it. They dissolved into each other like melted chocolate. Then they curled into one another, and Dante covered them both with blankets. They both said, “I love you,” before they drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Dante
The next few days passed in a haze of cooking, cleaning, basting, and laughter. Every opportunity they had, Laurie and Dante slipped away to be alone together. Though they spent almost every day together for the past several months, they couldn’t seem to get enough time alone to satisfy either of them. Laurie was asked to cook or clean or decorate. Dante was pulled away to work on their ‘project’ brewing in the barn, which only intensified his need to spend time with Laurie.
Thanksgiving itself was a flurry of activity, with the kitchen as a central hub. They spent all day there, except for the young boys. The dinner took place in the early evening. The table was full of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes. It was every inch a celebration of the harvest and an occasion to be thankful for time spent together. Emma even choked up at the table, when she said how grateful she was that Dante was home.
For Dante, that was torture. He hated the idea of leaving, but he knew he had to do it. The plane was ready for take-off and waiting for them outside Omaha. He had packed his bag and hid it in the truck the night before. His resolve was sure, but it tore at him.
That night, he hardly slept. He awoke in the early morning hours. He rolled over to watch Laurie sleep for a while. Then he woke her up to make love to her one last time before he left. As she lay on his chest to fall back asleep, he just kept telling her that he loved her. He didn’t know if there was a God, but he took a minute to pray to whatever was out there that he would come home to her safe, and she would forgive him for leaving and not telling her.
When 4:00 a.m. came, he slipped from the bed. He took a few items from the room he wasn’t able to pack earlier, things he knew Laurie would notice if they went missing. Then he bent over the bed, kissed her goodbye, grabbed his coat, and walked across the floor to door. Without looking back, he opened the bedroom door. He saw his father at the top of the stairs, headed down.
Dante moved down the stairs, joining him at the front door. Dante peered into the living room, where the boys were sleeping. He saw Bob giving them both a parting kiss on the forehead. Bob joined them. Without a word, Albert opened the door. Dante and Bob moved outside, and Albert slid the door close without even a click. They opened the doors of the pick-up truck and they began pushing the truck down the driveway.
Dante’s hands felt like ice from touching the chilled metal. He smelled the frost and the cold earth in the early morning. It was quiet, pre-dawn quiet. Even the birds took no interest in being awake at this hour.
Halfway down the driveway, they all got in, turned on the engine, and Albert drove the rest of the way down the lane. He pulled out onto the two-lane road that ran toward the highway. The road was empty, the early morning still.