Chapter 4 - The Vow
The silence in the house was deafening.
I turned around and walked slowly down the hallway. I stopped in front of the bedroom door. My hands, which hadn't trembled when facing down an armed man, were suddenly shaking uncontrollably.
"Emily," I said softly. "It's me. They're gone."
The lock clicked. The door opened slowly.
Emily stood there, her eyes wide, clutching Noah so tightly to her chest. She looked at my face, searching for the cold, unfeeling businessman she had divorced. But that man was gone forever.
I fell to my knees right there in the hallway.
The tears I had held back for five months finally broke free. I pressed my face against Emily’s knees, wrapping my arms around her legs, completely surrendering.
"I am so sorry," I sobbed, the polished billionaire entirely broken. "I am so sorry I wasn't here. I am so sorry I let them make you feel afraid."
Emily slowly sank to the floor in front of me. She didn't pull away. With her free hand, she reached out and gently ran her fingers through my hair.
"Gavin," she whispered, her voice cracking.
I looked up. She shifted the pale blue blanket, and for the first time, I reached out and touched my son. My thumb brushed against Noah's impossibly soft cheek. He shifted in his sleep, his tiny hand instinctively wrapping around my finger.
It was a grip that locked directly onto my soul.
"You're not staying here," I vowed fiercely, looking from my son's sleeping face to Emily's beautiful, exhausted eyes. "You are coming home with me tonight. Both of you. I will surround my penthouse with an army if I have to. No one will ever threaten you again, Emily. I swear on my life."
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Emily let out a breathless, tearful laugh, finally resting her forehead against mine. The heavy, crushing weight she had carried alone for nine months vanished.
I had driven into that neighborhood expecting to find the end of my story. Instead, kneeling on the floor of that little blue house on Christmas Eve, holding my son for the very first time, I realized my life was just beginning.
