Always the big brother. But he couldn’t fix this. “We don’t have a choice. You’re having a baby. You need to live. You’re the bravest and strongest of all of us, and you’re going to be a hell of a father, Joe. Tell your child about me. Please.”

I shifted my gaze to Talon, wise beyond his years mostly from losing his innocence at such a tender age. “And Tal, you’ll always be my hero. Be happy. Please. Every minute.”

“How can I be happy if I lose my little brother?”

“Because you have your wife. You have Joe and Marj. You’ll have children someday.”

“Ryan, please!” Ruby shouted.

“Baby. Try to understand.”

She gulped back sobs, still holding on to me as I turned to my sister, who represented youth and joy. “Marj, you’re so young, so full of life and energy. Find your life and live it. For me.”

My baby sister said nothing, just bit on her lip, sobbing.

I turned to the woman I loved. She nodded slightly at me, and an understanding passed between us.

“I love you, baby,” I said. “You’ve shown me things I didn’t think were possible. I’ll always love you.”

My mother pointed her gun at my heart.

I pushed Ruby away as hard as I could, and she fell to the floor, sliding against her father’s body.

I closed my eyes and absorbed every fear I’d known in my short life. What would it feel like to die?

“No.” My father’s voice. “You will not kill our son. Not before you kill me.”

“Fine.”

I opened my eyes. She pointed the gun back at my father. I breathed a sigh of relief without meaning to.

“You may have your last request, Brad. You know I could never deny you anything.”

She fired the gun, and my father slumped over his desk. Screams echoed, as if they were being yelled from the top of Pikes Peak.

My mother turned to me.

And a shot rang out.

Chapter Fifty

Ruby

The gun my father had held on Wendy fell from my hands and clattered to the floor. This was not my first kill, but taking a human life—even a human as psychotically deranged as Wendy Madigan, who was bent on shooting the man I loved—was never easy.

I had hesitated. For a split second I’d thought Wendy wouldn’t harm Brad Steel, and I’d been so relieved that she’d taken the gun off Ryan. I hadn’t been able to save Ryan’s father, and I’d have to live with that.

I ran to Ryan and fell into his arms. “Are you all right?”

He didn’t say anything, just held on to me and wept against the top of my head.

Marjorie had run to her father. I had no idea what the other two Steels and Jade were doing. All I could do was hold on to Ryan and never let go.

He sniffled. “You saved my life, baby.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save your father. I was so relieved when she took the gun off of you that I didn’t act quickly enough. I’m so sorry.”

“He’s ill. He would have gone to prison. You saved him suffering through cancer while he was incarcerated.”

That didn’t make me feel any better. “I hoped you understood that I was going for my father’s gun. I should have taken it sooner, but when she pointed that thing at you…” I choked out a sob.

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. I’m sorry.”

He kissed the top of my head. “You’re here. I’m here. My brothers and sister are here. That’s what matters right now.” He pressed his lips to my forehead. “We both lost fathers today. Fathers who weren’t anything close to what they should have been…but they both ended up saving our lives.”

The truth in Ryan’s words flowed through me.

I hadn’t put any stock into my father’s promise when he first uttered it, but he had fulfilled it.

I’m going to make sure she doesn’t hurt you.

He had made sure Wendy didn’t hurt me.

I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

The others buzzed around us, making calls, crying, hugging each other, but it was all white noise in a haze of relief and gratitude. I just held on to Ryan.

For a long, long time.

* * *

Both my father and Ryan’s were cremated with no ceremonies. As far as the world was concerned, Brad Steel was dead already, and no one mourned Theodore Mathias. Not even Jade’s mother, Brooke Bailey, who’d once fancied herself in love with him. Jade had told her the truth about Nico Kostas aka Theo Mathias, and though Brooke hadn’t believed it at first, she finally did when Talon corroborated the story.

Wendy’s failsafe had appeared in the form of ironclad documentation linking my father, Tom Simpson, and Larry Wade to the human-trafficking operation—a moot point since they were all dead. Oddly, Brad Steel was not implicated in any way. Perhaps she had never planned to bring him down, despite her threats. In her own warped way, she had truly loved both him and Ryan.

Talon and Jonah had begun working on arrangements for their mother to come back to Colorado. Now that Wendy was no longer a threat, they could have their mother close by.

And who else had turned up? Trevor Mills and Johnny Johnson, the high-priced PIs who had disappeared in the middle of the Steel’s investigation. It had been Wendy, not my father, who had kept them away with doctored documents accusing them of crimes. They’d gone underground and used their own know-how to prove that the items had been forged.

My father had told me something right before he died, something I shared with Ryan a few days later when we’d all recovered a bit from what had occurred.

Gina’s dead. I’m sorry.

I hadn’t been surprised. But at least she was at peace now. He’d also pushed a piece of paper into my palm. I’d pocketed it and forgotten about it until after both men had been cremated. It had been through a wash cycle, but thankfully I could still read it.

The paper had a name on it. Diamond Thornbush. My mother. And an address.

Ryan and I were headed there now.

My nerves were jumping.

We drove into a trailer park on the outskirts of Grand Junction. Would she be there? Was this one last hoax by my father?

I had no way of knowing, but I had to check it out.

We drove up in Ryan’s pickup. The yard was well kept, and a plastic lawn chair sat outside. The stoop built of rickety wood creaked as I walked up to the door. I knocked once. Then again.

The door opened, and a woman stood there in capri pants and a worn T-shirt.

A woman I recognized, though her hair was silvery white now and a few lines marred her pretty face.

“Mom,” was all I said.

Her blue eyes—the same color as my own—widened. “I think I’m seeing a ghost.”

“It’s me. It’s Ruby.”

“It can’t be. He told me you were…”

“I’m here.”

“Your father forced me to leave. He said he could give you a better life. He said… I didn’t believe him, but he threatened both of our lives, and he meant it. I figured the best thing for me to do was disappear and make you a ward of the state. I thought they’d protect you. God, I’ve always regretted that day! How could I give up my baby?” She grabbed me into a hug.

I inhaled. She still smelled the same. Like honeydew melon.

“I’m sorry I didn’t look for you. I was told you were dead.”

“Sweetie, it’s okay. Did they protect you? Did you have a good life?”

I couldn’t bear to lie to her. At least not yet. “I’ve had a good life. And it’s about to get better.” I motioned to Ryan. “This is my fiancé, Ryan Steel.”

“Ms. Thornbush,” he said. “It’s good to meet you.”

“Honey, call me Diamond. Or Didi. Or Mom. Whatever you want.”

“Mom sounds good.” Ryan smiled that killer smile of his.

His words rang true. He’d call her Mom. One of his mothers was dead, and the other lived in a cloud of fantasy and wasn’t really his at all. So he had an opening for a mother. I’d be happy to share mine.

“Well, come on in! It’s not much, but it’s mine.”

“Mom,” I said. “You don’t have to stay here. We’re going to take care of you now.”

“You bet,” Ryan agreed.

Finally, all the pieces of my life were coming together.

Epilogue

Ryan

My brothers stood beside me in the backyard of the main ranch house. I wore a black suit, no tie, and Talon and Joe both wore blue-gray. The weather had cooperated beautifully for November. The orange and gold colors of fall surrounded us, and the temperature was a balmy sixty-two. Ground had been broken for Ruby’s and my house, and it would be ready by spring.

Today was Thanksgiving Day, and Ruby and I hadn’t been able to think of a better day to exchange our vows and begin our life as husband and wife.

We had so much to be thankful for.