Liesl walked into the house with Isaiasâarm over her shoulder.
Matilda greeted them at the door,âhello Liesl.I heard you had an eventful day.I made you chocolate cake.â
âThank you,âshe smiled gratefully.
At the police station when Liesl had given her statement,her mother had come in.Sandy had started crying and bawling,calling out for herâmommyâand asking her to help save her.Lorraine had shaken her head at her and moved to Liesl and had wrapped her arms around her and held her tight.
Isaias,Fred,and Lorraine,along with Isaiasâparents had watched the video of Sandyâs ranting in the gallery and Lorraine had wept hard.Fred had taken her home with him and Meredith.
Matilda pulled her from Isaiasâarms and gave her a tight squeeze.âIt will be okay.Dinner is in the oven.You should go take a nice bath,not too hot because itâs not good for the baby and have a good cry to get the day out of your system.Then come down and Iâll give you and Isaias your dinner before I leave.â
âThanks Matilda,âIsaias patted the older womanâs shoulder.âWhat would we do without you?â
âEat at your parentâs house a lot,Iâm sure.â
âAnd Maraâs,âLiesl giggled as she reminded him of the restaurant,he still insisted they go to once a week.
âTruth.Weâd be eating there more than at Momâs,Iâm sure of it.âHe escorted Liesl to their bedroom and stood standing over her at the foot of the bed,his hand gently tilting her jaw upward.âAre you okay?â
âI think I saw it coming,âshe said quietly.âA while back you asked me if I was in danger from her and I said no but,in my gut,something felt off.I couldnât explain it then and I canât now.Iâm just glad the guys were there.Also,can I say,Mallory was badass the way he simply took the gun right out of her hand like it was a water pistol?â
He chuckled,âI only hire the best and Iâm glad my cousin is the best.Iâm so grateful he kept you safe today.â
âIâd like to say Iâm not convinced she wouldnât have pulled the trigger,but she isnât sane.â
âNo,she isnât.âHe squatted down in front of her,âI love you.I love you so very much.I hope you donât intend to let the DA go lightly with her.If I had my way,Iâd have them throw everything at her.As many charges as they can find.â
âI will cooperate,Isaias.Itâs not only me now.We have a baby coming we need to protect and given how jealous she is of me,what she could do to our child frightens me.I wasnât scared for myself today,I knew Mallory had it handled,but all I could think of was if she was loose and wanted to get to me through our baby,I donât know what I would do.â
âShe will never get the chance.Now,âhe stared into her eyes,âI think Matilda is right.A warm bath to relax and then dinner?â
âSounds amazing to me.â
âLay down and Iâll go run your bath.âWhen she protested how she could do it herself he chuckled and motioned to the bed.âStop arguing and let me take care of you.â
An hour later she was sitting at the dining room table with a healthy portion of a roast beef dinner in front of her and Isaias at her side.He was doting and loving as he continued the caring behavior heâd been exhibiting since heâd arrived at the gallery.Heâd crawled into the tub with her and held her while sheâd sobbed her heart out whispering soft words of comfort.Heâd dressed her in a chemise and robe and carried her to the kitchen.She had drawn the line at him feeding her though.
âWhat are you thinking?âhe asked quietly as he stroked the back of her hand with his thumb atop the table.
âIâm thinking of how lucky I am to have you.I might not be here if it werenât for you.â
âHow so?I canât help but feel I precipitated things and Iâm feeling immeasurable amounts of guilt.â
âIt was always her end goal,I think Isaias.If I had never met you,she still would be hounding me and I canât help but believe had Merlin divorced her once the baby was born and pursued me,if you werenât in my life,she would have found a way to kill me.Without you in my life,things would have been infinitely worse than they were earlier today.Each day I am more and more grateful for your presence,Isaias.I love you.âShe held his gaze unreservedly,praying the depth of the love she had for him was portrayed in her eyes.
âI will never be a perfect man,Liesl.Iâll probably take off a thousand times in our lifetime to clear my head and arrange my thoughts.Iâll quite possibly piss you off and considering how much Iâm going to be underfoot,weâre bound to bump heads but,I promise you,I will love and protect you and respect the love you have for me until I take my last breath.I know you are more than capable of taking care of yourself and I admit the feisty,strong-willed woman you are is a huge turn on.Yet,I will be there by your side each time you need to be strong,if only to be your cheerleader.â
She couldnât help but smile at his words.âIt might be a bit rough going over the next few months,considering how much Iâm going to miss my mocha lattes and the wine from the cellar.â
He laughed boldly at her,âI think I can take it.You need to grow a human.I can handle the mood swings too.And even the amount of candy Janka told me youâve been consuming.âThey exchanged a grin and he motioned at her plate,âplease eat the healthy stuff too though?â
They finished their meal,occasionally exchanging loving glances before Liesl spoke again.
âYou know how you asked me to look at vacation options?âShe asked quietly.
âYes.â
âI know we have the house renos starting already and the whole shit with Sandyâs arrest,but can we take the vacation?You and me,alone,even if itâs only a weekend?â
He smirked at her,âyes.The sale of the company will be concluded by end of week and then we can take a vacation.Letâs go for a week.By the time we get back it will be time to start planning the holidays.Iâd like to be in the new house by Christmas.â
âI love the sounds of this.Can we go somewhere warm?â
âYes.âHe smiled suddenly,âI like the idea of you in a bikini.â
âIt can be arranged.â
As they sat discussing and planning a romantic vacation away,Liesl considered she was the luckiest woman in the world.Never had she imagined when bribing the billionaireâs revenge,she would find herself falling in love again and on the path,she found herself on.With his unwavering love and support,there wasnât anything they wouldnât rise above.She knew their love was not bittersweet like revenge but perfect and righteous.It was her new happily ever after.She couldnât have painted it better herself.