Read REMEDY: A Mafia Romance (Return to Us Trilogy Book 3) for Free Online Page A

again when you're healed." The warm water drips between our faces. "And it'll be fucking spectacular fucking."
    He presses a wet, smiling kiss to my lips.
    Jacade guides me out of the bathroom and into my robe. He has me sit on the edge of the bed as he slides my cotton underwear up my legs and he helps me with my bra.
    He brings me one of his soft, black V-neck tees and pulls it over my head. "You look good in my tee." His eyes are warm and soft, just like his tee.
    After I'm situated in his bed, he hands me a pain pill and water. "We should talk about something."
    I gulp down the medicine. Yeesh, nothing good ever comes after those words. He might as well have said, it's you not me . "You're scaring me."
    "Don't worry. You're fine."
    I ignore the stab of pain in my belly and sit up. "Please just tell me."
    He takes my hands in both of his and squeezes my palms. "During the surgery, Jude had to make a difficult decision, one no physician ever wants to make. Especially when it's your brother's girl." His eyes dart between my face and our entwined hands. "To stop the internal bleeding he had to…"
    "He had to what?"
    His Adam's apple bobs as he swallows. "He had to perform a total hysterectomy."
    "What does total mean?" I have an idea, but I need to hear him say it.
    "Your uterus and cervix had to be removed."
    A deep cavern opens up in my stomach.
    "That means I'll never be able to have children?"
    "That's correct. They had to take your ovaries and tubes too. It was the only way to save you. I'm so sorry."
    "Oh."
    The bottom of the cavern drops out. I clutch at a braided rope holding me aloft over a dark abyss.
    I'm hollow.
    His fingers skim my chin. "Sweetheart, please say something."
    "I- I mean… I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to have kids." I gaze at his statuesque face. We could've had a son with brilliant blues, or a beauty of a daughter with jet-black hair—created out of our love. "But I never thought I'd meet a man like you." I can't control the hitch in my voice. "Suddenly, I long to give you children more than anything."
    Jacade's forehead crinkles. "This isn't about me. You're all I need."
    "That can't be true. You must want kids too."
    "No." He climbs over me to the other side of the bed and gathers me in his arms. "Only you."
    I squeeze my eyes shut and collapse on his bare chest. I take in the comforting scent of him and weave my fingers in the ripples of tight abs. "Viktor stole this from me. I'll never feel a baby move in my tummy. Never have a little person to call me Momma."
    He cups my chin and slants my face to his. "DNA doesn't make a parent, love does, and you've got oceans of love to give. There's so many kids out there, separated from their parents for whatever tragic reason, stuck in the uncertainty of foster care like you were, desperate for a parent to keep them."
    "Yeah, I'd love to be able give that to a little girl or boy." My vision blurs, and I take a deep breath.
    "Any child would be thrilled to have you as a mother," he whispers.
    "But not you as a father?" He looks away and his jaw tightens. "Not me as a father."
    He doesn't see us adopting together? We'll never have a family?
    "Why?"
    "I'm no role model. I can barely keep you alive, much less a small child."
    The frayed rope I was clinging to snaps, and I plummet into the cavernous pit. "I can't take this right now."
    His solid arms rock me gently.
    "I feel broken." A raw sob rips through me. I'm glad he can't see my ugly cry. The first drop hits his sleek skin, and I smear it with my fingers, trying to make it disappear.
    "You're not broken." His tender whisper caresses my ear. "I've got you."
    I fist the blanket and heave the emptiness onto him. He holds me as I mourn the loss of a child and a family that could have been ours, but never will be.
    My tears subside after a while, and my breathing evens out.
    Jacade speaks into the stillness of the room. "When you're ready, if you need to, you can talk about this with Kelch's wife. She's