Chapter Seventeen
Josephine cradled the baby close and peered at her son. A son! Not what any of them had expected given the Valencia women’s history of having females.
“He’s beautiful,” she said and cooed at the baby, who opened his eyes and stared at her. They were a rich chocolate color, a perfect melding of her deep mocha and Rake’s nearly black color. Soft brown fuzz covered the baby’s head.
Inside, her heart glowed with happiness and that glow grew ever bigger, expanding to suffuse her body until she felt it might burst out of her chest. And then it did, bathing the baby with its warmth and spreading outward to encircle her mother and grandmother.
Alberta and Zara leaned closer and murmured their approval and astonishment.
“A boy after so long! Such a surprise,” Alberta said.
Zara skimmed her hand over the swaddling blanket. “So beautiful.”
“He looks like Rake when he was a baby,” Lucia said and gestured toward the door. “I think it’s time we let the menfolk in, don’t you?”
Josephine nodded. “It’s time,” she said even as she girded herself for what was going to be a difficult moment.
Zara hurried over, opened the door, and invited the men to enter.
Ronaldo rushed in and to her side, gushing and gesticulating dramatically as he spied the baby. “She’s beautiful!” he exclaimed.
Zara rested her hand on Ronaldo’s arm and said, “She’s a he.”
“A boy? I have a son?” Rake said as he hurried over to Josephine’s side.
Josephine smiled and tenderly transferred the swaddled baby to Rake’s arms. It seemed as if his knees weakened, and he nearly dropped onto the chair beside the bed.
“A son,” he repeated in wonder and glanced at her tenderly, his eyes suspiciously shimmering.
“Congratulations,” Martin said, drawing her attention to him as he stood by the door, hands folded before him. His hesitation to come farther into the room troubled her until she met his gaze.
He smiled, and a halo of light surrounded him with the simple gesture that belied the sacrifice he’d made in letting Rake, the man he clearly despised, meet his son first. That glow began again as warmth and gratitude flooded her heart at his simple, but incredibly generous and selfless kindness. Martin had proven once again that he was the kind of man a woman could count on in any circumstance. The kind of man who would love her and cherish her no matter what.
She held her hand out to him, and he finally approached, glancing at the baby that Rake held. He took her hand into his and said, “You look so lovely, and the baby is beautiful.”
“Thank you, Martin,” she said, and within her, happiness burst forth and the radiance of it spilled over onto their joined hands.
Rake’s head snapped up, and as his gaze drifted over them, he seemed to sense that there was something different happening between them. “Would you like to hold him?” he said and held out the baby to Martin, but Ronaldo jumped in and scooped the child into his arms.
“I’d love to hold little Ronaldo,” he said gleefully.
“I’m sorry, Papi—”
He stared at Josephine in amazement; then his smile beamed even wider. “She called me Papi! Did you hear that, little Ronaldo?”
Zara once again settled her hand on Ronaldo’s arm and said, “Marcos. His name is Marcos.”
“After Josephine’s abuelo, my dear sainted husband,” Alberta said and did the sign of the cross before looking heavenward.
“Oh,” Ronaldo said in both surprise and disappointment.
“Marcos Galeno Ronaldo Solvino Valencia,” Josephine clarified, which made Ronaldo perk up once more.
“We can call him Marcaldo for short!”
“Thank you,” Rake said from beside her and leaned down to kiss Josephine’s forehead. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Martin stiffen at the gesture, but he didn’t protest, remaining remarkably patient—always patient.
Lucia stepped up at that moment and said, “Why don’t we all give mama and baby some time alone?”
“I think that sounds like a very good idea,” Zara said. She took the baby from Ronaldo and handed him back to Josephine. “Rest. We’ll be back a little later.”
The women herded the men out of the room, leaving Josephine alone with her baby. She gazed at him and tears came to her eyes. He was so perfect. Perfect little eyes, nose, and mouth. Perfect tiny hands and fingers. So beautiful, and he was hers. Well, hers and Rake’s. And Martin’s.
Somehow they would make it work for Marcos’s sake. “We will make it work,” she repeated like a mantra. As little Marcos looked up at her peacefully, her breasts tingled, signaling that it was time to think about something else.
Out in the kitchen area, Ronaldo and the women gathered around the table, smiling and chatting gaily about the new baby.
Martin laid his hands on the top rail of the kitchen chair and met Rake’s gaze. “If you can excuse us, Rake and I need to go back to the Regal Sol.”
“Is everything okay, Rake?” Lucia asked and laid a gentle hand on her brother’s forearm.
“Yes, of course, but…Lucia, do you remember Father saying he came to Miami and stayed at the Royal Palm? Did Sondra come with him?”
Lucia paused for a moment, and then shook her head. “She didn’t, but I don’t think she stayed in Palm Beach, because I was there alone while I studied for one of my final tests.”
“Do you know where she went?” Martin asked.
Lucia shook her head again. “No, I don’t. She often travels without Father actually.”
Martin met Rake’s gaze and understanding passed between the two men. “If you’re game, I’m ready,” Rake said.
“I’m ready,” Martin said.
Two sworn enemies working together? What an epic moment! Perhaps things really are changing for the better?
The joy of his son’s miraculous birth was tempered by what Rake had seen on Josephine’s face as she’d looked at Martin. Although she hadn’t said the words, the love she had for the other man had been undeniable.
He told himself there was still hope, but in his heart he feared the worst. He drove that worry away because there was something much more important to do: find Sondra. Sin Sombra.
The image of the red ribbon he’d held earlier twined together with the image planted in his brain by Martin. One of Richard Slayton grasping the velvet trimming in his cold, dead fingers. Thinking that could have been Josephine’s fate if she’d run into Sondra in the tunnel beneath the hotel chilled his body to the bone.
“How can you be sure?” Rake said and risked a glance at Martin as they raced to the Regal Sol.
“I can’t, but I think that once we match her whereabouts with the timeline we have, we’ll be able to confirm it. Especially once we know where Sondra went when your father came to Miami. It’s at the same time when Slayton was murdered,” Martin said.
When they reached the Regal Sol, they were heading to the front desk when Penelope strolled through the lobby and stopped them. Pain glazing her features into a porcelain mask, she said, “I assume the hotel clerk had your little love child.”
Rake was a little taken aback. “What makes you say that?”
“I was having a late lunch with your father and Sondra in the dining room earlier, when Lucia stopped by to let us know that Josephine had gone into labor and she was going to help.”
That had been hours ago. “Do you know if they’re in their suite now?”
Penelope shook her head of artfully coiffed curls. “They just got in a carriage. I think Sondra wanted to say goodbye to Lucia before she returned to Palm Beach.”
“We need to go. We may be able to catch them at the cottages,” Martin said and took off at almost a run.
And as much as Rake wished for Penelope to be gone from his life, he said, “Listen, you were right to warn me before. If Sondra returns, stay away from her. I can’t go into why, just stay away.”
He rushed off, leaving a perplexed-looking Penelope staring after him.
Josephine had been surprised and pleased initially that Rake’s father and stepmother had stopped by to see the baby. But it turned out that neither of them seemed to have much interest in meeting their grandchild. Rather, Sondra and Ernesto had dropped by to bid farewell to Lucia before they left Miami.
Nevertheless, their rudeness did not seem to hamper her family’s joy. Zara and Alberta invited them to come into the kitchen for tea while Ronaldo promised to regale them with stories about the time he delivered a baby in a skit. Ernesto rolled his eyes but went with them, since Sondra lingered, saying she wanted a few moments to say goodbye to Lucia privately.
Josephine was already shifting restlessly in bed, eager to join her family.
“Is it okay if I get up?” she asked Lucia.
“Of course, but don’t overdo. You did just have a baby a couple of hours ago. In fact, why don’t we take Marcos for you?” The woman’s eyes met Sondra’s, an affectionate look on her face. “We’ll just go out on the back veranda for some fresh air and hopefully a little quiet. I suspect it may get a little noisy in there with all of Ronaldo’s stories.”
“Thank you. That sounds wonderful,” she said, and although she was still a little sore, she dragged herself from bed, washed up, and went out to the kitchen area where everyone was gathered around the table.
Zara was sharing stories of Josephine as a child and for once, Ronaldo was silent, listening intently to the tales. Ernesto, on the other hand, kept blatantly checking his pocket watch. Josephine frowned and thought to herself how lucky she was to have a father as caring and affectionate as Ronaldo. She walked over to him and squeezed his shoulder. He smiled, hopped to his feet, and gallantly offered her his seat.
“Please sit, mi’ja,” he said.
“Thank you, Papi,” she said, and she could swear she saw a tear slip down the side of his face before he hastily swiped it away.
Her heart swelled with joy at the love surrounding her, and as she sat and listened to stories she’d heard so many times before, the only thing she wished for was to have Rake and Martin there with her.
At times it was hard to understand how she could care for two such different men in such different ways, but she did. She knew she was going to have to choose between them, however, so that they could all move on with their lives.
After getting past her physical attraction to Rake, she’d come to appreciate that he was funny, caring, and determined. And he would be in her life not only because he was the baby’s father, but because he’d become her friend.
On the other hand, Martin was everything she could ever want in a man. Honorable, kind, understanding, patient—always patient. He took her breath away with just a look or a touch, and yet he brought her peace also. He knew her like no one else and had been her best friend for so long.
No matter how things turned out, she was lucky to have them both in her life. Marcos would be incredibly blessed to have such a large family who cared about him so very much.
Barely fifteen minutes had passed with Ernesto tapping his foot impatiently and looking more and more perturbed, when Martin and Rake rushed into the cottage.
“Father! Where’s Sondra?” Rake asked, breathless.
Surprised, his father asked, “Why? Is there something wrong?”
Martin held his hand up to stop any further questions. “Mr. Solvino, you need to trust us and just answer the question. Where is your wife?”
Shocked, Ernesto puffed up his chest and said, “I demand to know the meaning of this! I will not be interrogated like a common—”
“We think she’s Sin Sombra!” Martin shouted impatiently, cutting him off. A shocked silence followed for a few seconds, then everyone spoke at once.
“Ay dios mío!” Alberta crossed herself.
“Oh my goodness!” Zara said.
“Please. Who is this Sin Sombra character?” Ronaldo asked with obvious confusion.
“That’s nonsense,” Ernesto spluttered. “My wife is not—”
Josephine’s strong but clearly terrified voice cut through the din. “Oh no! She’s out back with Lucia and Marcos!” A gasp escaped her lips, but she straightened her spine and began walking as fast as possible to the back door.
A loud slap and sharp cry of pain burst from the back veranda. A second later Lucia lurched into the room. Her face was pale except for the bright red handprint across her cheek.
Martin rushed to her and offered support as he guided her to a chair by the kitchen table. “What happened, Lucia? Where’s Sondra?”
Josephine gripped the woman’s arm. “Lucia, where’s the baby?”
“Sondra—” She gasped for breath, nearly hyperventilating. “Sondra took him. We overheard you say she was Sin Sombra, and she went crazy and grabbed him! She said if you ever want to see the baby again, you won’t try to follow her.” Lucia stared at Martin and shook her head, her gaze filled with questions. “When I tried to stop her, she slapped me and pulled out a gun. I don’t understand. Why would she do that? How can she be Sin Sombra?”
“Noooo! We have to get Marcos back!” Josephine shouted, fear gripping her, but she drove it back. She had to be strong.
Quickly, Martin squeezed her hand. “I’ll find him. Don’t worry.”
He turned to Rake, who was quietly murmuring to a very shocked Lucia, and said, “I have an idea where she would go.”
“The marina?” Rake said.
Martin nodded. “The marina. Let’s go.”
Poor Marcos. Only hours old and already fighting for his life. Danger, Martin. Danger, Rake. Remember Slayton! Who will survive the dangerous female crime boss?