A few minutes later, the cops have arrived.

I put some rope around Julio’s hands and tied him to one of the pillars, so he wouldn’t try to escape. I’m still not sure whether I should be glad I didn’t kill him, but at least Laura’s content. It’d be hard on her to watch her daddy die. I just couldn’t do it to her, and luckily, Mother took the choice away from me.

I’m still a bit mad over it.

Hell, I would’ve loved to shoot him instead.

But this … this is better.

This doesn’t make me a monster again.

We tell the cops exactly what happened: Three armed men tried to rob the church, one of whom was Laura’s father, which is the reason she came. She knew he would do it, so she tried to warn the people inside the church. And I tried to stop it, using any weapon I legally had in my possession, and they were eventually overpowered.

The cops actually believe us.

Of course, it’s a bit skewed from the full truth, but they did come in uninvited and threaten to kill an old lady in a church. No one, and I mean no one, likes that. It’s like some unwritten rule that you never attack a granny.

Who does that anyway?

Julio motherfucking Espino, that’s who.

And I’m so damn happy they’re dragging him away in cuffs.

“When I get out, you’re gonna pay!” he yells at me.

“By the time you get out, we’ll both be dead.” I snort as they pull him through the church doors and shove him into their car.

More men come in to assess the remaining bodies and bag them up while medics come in to tend to our wounds. I’m poked with needles and stuffed with medicine, which I fucking hate, but at least it numbs the pain a bit.

“Thanks,” I say with a gritty voice as they tend to me.

“I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to take you to the hospital.”

“Aw, c’mon …” I sigh, looking at Laura and the kids. “Really?”

“Yes, we need to check for internal damage.”

“Right.” I nod. “But can I at least say bye to them first?”

“Sure. Why not,” the medic says, and he and his buddy go check on Mother first.

I look at Laura and the kids who all go down on their knees beside me so they can get on my level. I’m still lying against one of the pillars for support, too fatigued to get up. Besides, the medics don’t want me to move. Probably afraid I have a fracture or something, but if that was the case, I’d probably feel it, and I don’t.

Still, to say I feel like shit is to put it lightly.

“How are you feeling?” Laura asks, grabbing my hand.

I chuckle. “I’ve been better.” I squeeze her hand and look her in the eyes. “But at least you’re all alive.”

She immediately wraps her arms around me and hugs me tightly, unable to keep her emotions at bay. “Fuck, I was so worried, Frank. I thought you died. I really thought you … and then Ricardo showed up at our doorstep, telling us you sent him to take care of us. Of course, I asked him if you were still alive, and when he told us where you were, so I immediately came here.”

“Of course, you did.” I snort. “You left him there, didn’t you?”

“Well, I told him to watch our fish,” she muses, making me laugh.

“Since when do you have a fish?”

She shrugs. “I don’t, but at least it’ll keep him busy looking for it. Sorry.”

I roll my eyes. “I should’ve expected as much.”

“What? Of course, I came here as soon as I heard.” She smacks me. “You terrified the shit out of me, Frank! God, I almost thought you died.”

“So you admit you don’t want me dead?” I muse, raising a brow.

She gives me another smack on the leg. “You asshole! Of course, I don’t want you dead! Who gave you that idea?”

“Maybe that knife you tried to pry out my guts with?” I say, hinting at our furiously sexy battle in her kitchen.

“I was upset, and you know damn well why.” She puts her hands on her side like it makes her murder story more understandable. “And by the way, you could’ve at least let us know you were alive. Or, you know, that you were planning to escape.” She scrunches up her face. “You kept us out of the loop on purpose.”

“What else was I supposed to do? Tell you all my secret plans right in front of Julio so he could sabotage them?”

She raises a brow. “No, but you could’ve called.”

“I was a little busy if you hadn’t noticed.” I look around us at the mess the three men caused.

“Yeah … well … you’re lucky you survived.” She playfully punches me again, right on that painful spot.

I cringe, and she immediately softens her look and her touch. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I mutter, smiling. “I’m just glad we’re all alive.” I reach for her face and caress her cheeks softly. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you’d … if you’d …”

“Jesus Christ, can you please stop the lovebird act? It’s driving me insane,” Diego grumbles as he gets up from the floor.

We both laugh about it. “I’m happy you’re alive too, Diego,” I say.

“Thanks.” He shrugs. “For saving us, I suppose.”

“It’s the only thing I could do after causing all this trouble.”

“Damn right.” Laura puts her hands against her waist. “I should scold you some more, but I’m too happy that we’re all still in one piece.”

“Hey, your dad’s the asshole here, okay? He tried to murder Bruno, and he even kidnapped his own children. If that isn’t the next American Psycho, I don’t know what is.”

She sighs and shakes her head. “Oh, Frank … when will you ever learn that nothing will ever come between family?”

“Does that mean you still care about your father? After everything he did?” I ask.

“Well … he is my father …” She looks away, tentatively biting her lip before glancing at me. “But I’m glad he’s in jail. He should pay for all the things he’s done.”

“Good.”

“What about you?”

“How I feel about it?” I point at myself, and she nods. “Well … I suppose I’m happy. I mean he can’t hurt anyone where he’s going, so that’s good.”

“Still looking for revenge? Even when your son is alive?” She looks at Bruno, and when I follow her gaze and find his sheepish eyes gawking at me, I melt into a puddle.

“No.” I reach for him, grabbing his tiny hand to hold him tight. “I’m okay now. It’s over. It’s done now.”

Tears well up in my eyes, but I push them away, smiling brightly.

I’m done crying. I’ve shed enough tears. It’s about time I let them go.

“Hey, buddy.”

“Hey,” he says, a little awkward.

“Thank you,” I mutter.

“For what?” he asks.

“For being here.” I don’t mean literally here … more like … alive. But I don’t want to scare him, so I don’t say it out loud.

My finger brushes along his cheek as I try to memorize what he feels like. If it’s the same as I remember … back when I first held him as a baby. And as I stare into those beautiful eyes, I finally see him for who he really is.

Mine.

“Sorry.” The paramedic coughs. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but we really have to go now.”

I look up to see they’re wheeling Mother out on a stretcher, and the medics place one beside me too.

“Oh, right …” I clear my throat as I look up at Laura and Bruno. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She smiles. “Let them fix you. You’re no use to anyone if you can’t even walk,” she jokes, making me laugh but even that hurts.

The medics push the stretcher underneath me and roll me over it, strapping me to it and putting a nice warm blanket on top.

“Well … see you all later then, I guess,” I say, as they lift it up.

“We’ll come visit you in the hospital.” Laura picks Bruno up. “Say bye,” she tells him.

I grab his hand and squeeze tight. “Will I see you later, bud?”

He nods, probably still shy about the whole situation. I don’t blame him. I mean coming face to face with the fact you have a completely different father can be quite the shock … if he even remembers. He’s such a young kid. Gosh, we’ll have to explain that all to him.

But now is not the time.

Now is the time for mending and for making peace with our mistakes.

And as I’m rolled out on the stretcher and placed in the ambulance, all I can do is smile. Not because it’s painless because it’s not. But because I’m finally free of the burden I carried all this time. Free from the coils entangled around my heart.