“I was lost without you,” he said between kisses, emotion making his voice hoarse and bringing tears to my eyes. “But I’m never letting you go again.”

I wanted to tell him he would never have to live without me as long as I could help it, but my release crashed down on me so hard, all I could do was cry out his name.

A light tap on the door pulled me from sleep. Blinking my eyes open, I realized it was daylight outside the window, the sun glowing high in the sky. Frowning, I started to turn, only to have strong arms tighten like vises around me before steadily easing.

My heart melted as I turned enough to see Ryan’s face. It was relaxed in sleep, a ghost of a smile teasing at the corners of his mouth. The ache deep between my legs told me exactly why he was able to smile in his sleep. He’d taken me so many times, I was going to be walking stiff for a few days.

The tap came again, and I knew it was either Mom, Maria, or Cali. No way either Dad, Garret, or even Guzman would knock that softly. Especially not my dad after the way Ryan had hauled me out of the family room the night before.

Carefully, so as not to wake the man beside me, I untangled myself and climbed out of bed. Grabbing his shirt off the floor, I pulled it on as I walked to the door. Opening it a crack, I was relieved to see Cali and not my mom. I wasn’t ready to face my family after the night I’d had with Ryan. As loud as I was, there was no way the entire house didn’t know what was going on behind that closed door. Ryan had broken his promise to my dad to wait for until we were married, and I couldn’t be happier.

“Hi,” my friend said with a bright smile.

With everything that had been going on with Justice, Cali’s smile had been absent. But my beautiful niece was more of a fighter than any of us could imagine. The past week had been full of all kinds of milestones that we’d been celebrating. Cali was finally able to breathe easier, knowing her baby girl would be home with us where she belonged soon.

“Hi,” I greeted. “I thought you would be at the hospital by now.”

“We spent a few hours with Justice and then came home when Guzman called Garret to let him know our guests had arrived.”

My brows lifted in surprise. “What guests?” I hadn’t even been expecting Ryan the day before until Garret announced he’d made a few phone calls and both Dad and the man I loved were on their way. Apparently they were his birthday present to me. Although I’d been nervous about both men’s arrival, it was, hands down, the best gift I’d ever received from my brother.

“Anya and Cristiano Vitucci are downstairs,” she whispered, glancing down the hall as if to check we were alone. “They spoke with Jet last night while you were…occupied. From what Garret told me, Anya is worried about her son’s mental health. Only, your dad didn’t reassure her that Ryan wasn’t having hallucinations and that you didn’t suddenly come back from the dead.”