that would never really come true.
“Ultimately I knew the reality of the situation. Her very existence had to be kept a secret. I understood that she would be under threat every minute of every day of her life if it ever came out that Andrew Moretti was her father. I couldn’t take that chance. I loved her too much to give her that kind of life.”
An unsettling memory flashed in her head, a memory of Sean Dunst’s girlfriend telling them that Sean had loved little Tina Cole so much that he’d had to kill her to save her from the kind of life she’d have if he sold her. What was wrong with this damned world that little girls were murdered and babies were given up in order to keep them safe?
“And the Minnows? How did they wind up with Emily?” Nick’s voice pulled her back to the here and now.
“That was Victoria’s doing. She arranged for me to meet them when I was eight months pregnant. I knew immediately that they were the right people for raising Emily. Not only was it obvious that they loved each other, but they were also willing to give up their own lives to disappear into the witness protection program.”
She got up from the chair and once again walked over to the window, fighting against the heart-piercing ache of loss that always accompanied thoughts of her sweet Emily.
“They stayed at the house with me for the last two weeks of my pregnancy,” she continued, talking around the lump that still remained in the back of her throat. “And the time I spent with them only confirmed to me that they were absolutely right. They were both mentally and physically prepared to do whatever needed to be done to assure Emily as normal a life as possible, yet move quickly if danger ever came near.”
Tears pressed hot behind her eyes, and she swallowed hard against them. She hadn’t cried during the ten long hours of labor when she’d delivered Emily, and she hadn’t shed a tear when she’d handed the newborn baby girl into Faye’s awaiting arms.
She closed her eyes to staunch the tears as she remembered the moment the doctor had placed Emily in her own arms. Lara had insisted she have a moment with the baby whom she would probably never see again. Emily had been cleaned up and wrapped in a soft pink blanket.
She’d weighed in at six pounds, six ounces, a mere featherweight in the world of babies, but in Lara’s arms the weight had felt like nothing she had ever held before.
Lara’s heart had expanded with the awe of birth, the wonder of the precious baby girl who smelled of innocence and new beginnings and endless possibilities.
Emily had settled into the cradle of Lara’s arm, her dark eyes matching the tuft of dark hair on the top of her head, and her gaze had locked with Lara’s.
Her rosebud lips had opened, as if to speak, and in her eyes Lara swore that she saw unconditional love and vast wisdom and the acceptance and forgiveness of the great sacrifice Lara was about to make.
And then she had handed her daughter to Faye, and a piece of Lara’s heart had forever been ripped away.
“I wanted to give her the very best possible chance at life. If I’d kept her she would have always been a potential target. I loved her too much to keep her.”
Although she didn’t hear Nick move from his chair, she suddenly sensed his presence just behind her. She knew that if she turned around his arms would be there if she needed them.
But she’d never needed anyone when it came to the emotional scars that would forever live in her soul, and she didn’t need Nick to offer her his comforting arms now.
What she desperately wanted was for somebody to tell her that Moretti had been found and was now back in custody or that he’d been located and had been killed.
Why hadn’t he called her yet? Deep in her soul she knew he wouldn’t miss an opportunity to let her know that he was free and had their child in his possession.
Once again she was aware of the ticking of a clock...the minutes...the hours that had already passed. The Ghost’s words came back to haunt her. Tick tock, tick tock, Lara Grant.
She whirled around to face Nick but before she could say anything, he grabbed her to him and held her tight against his muscled chest.
She remained stiff and unyielding until he reached up and placed his hand on the back of her head and softly caressed her hair. She melted against him, feeling the burn of fresh tears.
His scent was so familiar now, as were the contours of his body against hers. She might not have thought she needed comfort, but for several long moments she felt it radiating from him, and she reveled in it.
“I swear, Lara, we’ll get Emily back,” he whispered in her ear. “We have so many people working at finding them, so many resources being used to catch him. We’ll find your baby and get her back where she belongs.”
She nodded and then stepped out of his embrace. She narrowed her eyes as anger once again possessed her, sweeping away the vulnerability and sweet memories that she’d momentarily entertained.
“We need to get back to the team,” she said curtly. She’d already wasted enough time traipsing back into her past. “We need to find this bastard, and when we do I hope I’m the one who puts a bullet between his eyes.”
Could she do that? Could she look at the man she’d once thought she was in love with and kill him? She straightened her back and shoved away the self-doubts.
Hell, yes.
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