by T N Lowe
It isn’t until the next day that Tomas wakes. He looks up at me with a sleepy, half-smile and croaks, “Hey sweetheart.”
“Hey honey,” I reply, my heart racing with love. “How are you feeling?”
“Thank God,” Rosemary whispers from the other side of the bed.
Tomas turns his head to see his parents also at his side. “Hi,” he croaks, shocked to see them here.
He was shot and almost died. Why wouldn’t his parents be here?
“Hi baby,” Rosemary cries, kissing his cheek through her mask, pushing his hair away from his forehead.
“Son,” Sal acknowledges, squeezing his hand.
“Can I get some water?” Tomas croaks. “My throat feels like I swallowed broken glass.
“Let me ask the nurse,” I offer, jumping from my chair and skipping across the hall to the nurse's desk. The nurse looks up and gives me a bright smile, “Hi. Umm…..Tomas is awake and he would like some water,” I announce, speaking a hundred miles an hour.
The nurse nods, “I’ll call the doctor.”
“Thank you,” I declare, practically floating with happiness, back to Tomas’s room.
“The nurse is calling the doctor,” I blurt as I open the door.
Tomas smiles up at me, “Come here, mi amor.”
I walk to his side and he takes my hand. “Are you okay?” Tomas asks.
“Me?” I asked, confused. “You’re the one who was shot and almost died.”
“I know sweetheart, but I’m sure it wasn’t much fun for you either,” Tomas jokes, trying to make light of the situation.
“It wasn’t,” I admit in a voice so low I’m not sure he can even hear me.
“I’m okay mi amor,” Tomas informs me, brushing his knuckles across my cheek.
That’s all it takes; the dam holding back my tears breaks and rivers of tears rush down my face. “I almost lost you,” I sob.
“Shhh, I’m okay and I’m alive,” Tomas coos, trying to soothe me.
The doctor chooses this moment to enter the room, “Sorry to interrupt, but I need to check on my patient.”
I nod, wiping my tears away. “I’ll go to the ladies' room and clean up,” I state, standing.
“No,” Tomas objects. “I want you to stay.”
I look down and see the concern and worry on his face. I nod, “I’ll stay,” I answer moving out of the doctor’s way.
“I’m Doctor Black; I did your surgery the other night. You are one lucky young man.”
“Yes sir,” Tomas answers.
“First, can you feel your toes?” The doctor asks, tossing the blanket back.
“Yes,” Tomas intones.
“Great, can you show me? Wiggle your toes for me?”
Tomas does as instructed and moves his toes.
“Perfect. The bullet came very close to your spinal cord; we were worried it might have done some damage, or, at least, irritated the cord.” Dr. Black replaces the covers and moving up to Tomas’s side while pulling the stethoscope from around his neck, “I’m going to listen to your heart and lungs.”
The doctor listens, then stands, “Everything sounds good. I’m going to keep you in the ICU for a week. You’re stable, but we need to worry about infection. You also lost a lot of blood and your body has been through quite a shock. Once your body has healed a little more, and the risk for infection is less, we will move you to a standard room.”
Rosemary rushes to the doctor’s side, “Thank you,” she sobs, shaking his hands. “Thank you for saving our son.”
“Your son is a fighter,” Dr. Black states, then turns back to Tomas. “Please let the nurses know if you need anything. Your only job is to rest and heal.”
“Thank you Doctor,” Tomas replies.
Once Tomas is finally moved to a regular room, everyone trickles in to see how he is doing and to meet his parents. Mom, Dad, Dylan, and Asya are the first to come in, armed with coffee and donuts for everyone, including the nursing staff. Patrick and Lena visit next and bring sandwiches for everyone, including the staff. The next morning Liam and Hui come by, bringing more coffee and donuts. With everyone visiting and bringing food, we’ve managed to become the most popular room in the hospital.
During their visit, Liam tells me that Patrick and Dad spoke to the administrators and have made a sizeable donation to the hospital on Tomas’s and my behalf. They want them to know how grateful we are with the care they have given Tomas and all the kindness’ they’ve shown me.
The following evening, Shauna and Maks came in with hamburgers and fries for dinner.
“I’m going to get fat if you guys keep feeding me like this,” I complain to Shauna.
Tomas smiles, “Don’t worry honey; it’s just more for me to love.”
Maks and Sal burst into laughter, “Good job son,” Sal grins.
I roll my eyes and shake my head.
After four long weeks in the hospital, the doctor finally declares that Tomas is fit for release. In the week before they released Tomas, he and I talked about our life together and where we wanted to live. Tomas claimed his place was nothing more than a crash pad.
“Mariposa, your condo is a home. My place is a crappy, shit hole I barely slept in.”
After signing all his release paperwork, Tomas, Sal, Rosemary, and I drive back to D.C. I offer Sal and Rosemary our spare room. They decline, saying Tomas and I needed some alone time. They book themselves in a nearby hotel instead.
Tomas and I settled in bed for our first night together in our place. My left hand is resting on Tomas’s left pec, close to the surgical site.
“I’m getting you a ring tomorrow.”
“Why?” I asked, confused.
“While I was in the hospital, you told everyone I was your fiancé; it’s time to make it true. So, tomorrow after the ceremony, we are going to the jewelry store.”
The official story of what happened is a bit different than what actually happened. The story that was released to the press and the U.S. District Attorney was that Willow Thomas, Nikolas Calvo, Billy, and Bryan Wells, and several members of The Curtain, were involved with Pepper White to overthrow the President. They did this by kidnapping two of his nieces, harassing other members of his family, putting a bomb in his nephew’s car, and finally, kidnapping him.
Fi-Fi, Erin, CJ, and Tomas were part of a task force assembled to help locate and rescue the President. They are highly respected members of their law and military branches, so no one questioned their involvement. Everyone was just thrilled to have the President back safe.
There were questions as to why the Secret Service was not more involved in the rescue and others wanted to know more about The Family and how Samuel is involved. Samuel and his staff were able to answers the news media’s questions and they deny any knowledge of a group called The Family. Now that four weeks have passed, the press is waiting for the trails of Willow, Nikolas, and Billy.
For their involvement in finding the President, Fi-Fi, Erin, CJ, and Tomas are receiving awards for their dedication and work in a large ceremony at the White House.
I roll my eyes, “Honey, I only told them that so they’d tell me what was happening with you and so I could be at your bedside to care for you.”
“…..and now we are going to make it official.”
“Tomas.”
“No. If I’ve learned anything from all this, it’s that life is too short. I’m not living another day without you as mine. So, following the ceremony, and after dropping Mom and Dad at the airport, I’m taking you to the jewelry store to pick out a ring. And, mi amor, I’m not waiting two years to marry you. You have one year, tops, to plan the wedding that you want. And if you can’t get it accomplished by then, we’re going to the courthouse.”
“Tomas?” I tried again.
“Nope. This is happening.”
“Whatever,” I mutter, rolling over to hide my frustration. I have learned that there is no fighting with Tomas when he gets an idea in his head. I
t’s better for everyone involved to let him do what he wants.….and it’s not like I don’t want to marry him, I grin into my pillow. I love him with everything in me.
Tomas pulls me to his chest, kissing me behind the ear. He whispers, “You can pretend to be mad all you want; I know you love me.”
“I do love you,” I whisper back.
Epilogue Tomas
The Trials of the Century
By: Lilly Ferguson
After a long year of trials, all persons involved in the plot to overthrow President Samuel Walsh have been found guilty. The three principal parties convicted are Willow Thomas, Nikolas Calvo, and Billy Wells. Their guilty verdicts were due to the hard work and dedication of the U.S. Attorney, and the testimony of President Walsh, Former CIA Agent Tomas Ramirez, FBI Agent Fi-Fi Murphy, Lieutenant Commander CJ Daly, and Police Chief Erin Jefferies.
Many of you will remember Willow Thomas for her previous conviction in the kidnapping and the attempted murder of Lena Mill-Walsh-Love. She is also the twin sister to the famed D.C. Carver. Willow Thomas was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole and is to be remanded to the supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.
Nikolas Calvo is the son of Hector Calvo who was the owner and CEO of Calvo Fabrication, one of the leading manufacturers of computers and cellphone parts in Mexico. Calvo was also the leader of the Mal Cartel. Nikolas is a Mexican National and is also wanted for the murder of this father. The U.S. State Department has arranged for Nikolas to serve his twenty-five-year sentence in Mexico in conjunction with his time for his father’s murder.
Billy Wells received an honorable discharge from the Army in 2017. Billy served three tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Upon his exiting the military, he returned home, where he was hired by Patrick Love as a personal security consultant. Billy was sentenced to fifteen years without the possibility of parole.
Other people involved, including journalist Bane Davis, were sentenced to less than a year in prisons with up to ten years of parole.
President Walsh was also asked where he was going from here. He stated that he was looking forward to spending time with his family and beginning his re-election campaign.
“Did you see the newspaper?” I ask Rylie who is sitting across from me in the breakfast nook eating her meal.
“I did,” she answers with a small smile. “They didn’t mention Roberto or Gennadi.”
“Roberto and Gennadi are not common knowledge,” I remind Rylie. Robert was picked up by the Mexican Federales trying to reenter Mexico. According to Patrick’s contact Roberto is now serving multiple life sentences for his role in murders in Mexico and Central America. It took Maks’s men two months to find Gennadi hiding in Brazil. Maks personally escorted him back to Russia. Gennadi is not living in a cold cell in a Siberian prison.
“Does this mean we can finally start to plan the wedding?” I ask changing the subject.
“Yes, we can start planning.”
When the U.S. Attorney told me that I would have to testify in the trials against Willow, Nikolas, and Billy, Rylie refused to plan the wedding. “I’m not planning a kick-ass wedding to have it ruined because you have to run off to testify,” Rylie told me, over and over again. “When the trials are over and won’t interfere with our lives, we can plan the wedding.”
A year later, the day has finally come for what we’ve been waiting for. “How long are you going to make me wait before I can call you my wife?” I ask.
“Not long,” Rylie muses.
“How long, mi amor?” I push.
“How does two weeks from tomorrow sound?”
“What?”
Rylie laughs at the look on my face. “I’ve actually been planning our wedding. After Billy’s trial started, Dad talked to the U.S. Attorney and asked for his guess on how long he thought it would take. He said he thought it would take four weeks less than it thought; good thing Mom has been the wife of an attorney and judge for all these years; she recommended that we add six weeks, which put us at two weeks from tomorrow.”
“Why didn’t you let me in on this little secret?”
“If I’d told you, it wouldn’t have been a secret,” Rylie shoots back, a mischievous smile on her face.
“Rylie,” I growl.
“You had so much on your plate already; testifying again, closing your open cases for the CIA, and becoming Patrick’s head of security. That’s a lot for one person to deal with.”
“Thank you, but I wish you would have told me. I could have helped you.”
Rylie was laughing. “Honey, I have more help than I know what to with. When I asked what you wanted, you told me you didn’t care as long as I was your wife at the end. So, it made it easy and I did what I thought we would both like. Besides, I was afraid to jinx it.”
Standing from the table, I walk around and pull Rylie from her seat, then crush my lips to hers and press her tight to my body. I break the kiss when we are both panting and wanting more. “I love you, Rylie Love,” I mummer against her lips.
“I love you too, Tomas Ramirez.”
Two Weeks and One Day Later
I’m standing under a white arbor with purple and white flowers covering every inch in Brianna and Quin’s backyard. Patrick, who has become a close friend over the past year and my boss, is standing at my side. Andrew was standing between us holding a white pillow with the wedding rings tied to it.
My mom and dad are sitting in the front row with huge smiles on their faces. After my parents moved back to Puerto Rico, we became estranged. Before showing up at the hospital, I had not seen or spoken to them in over a year and a half. We sent birthday and Christmas cards, with no other communication. Now we talk every day and they are moving to Virginia at the end of the year.
I smile at Patrick, who gives me a quick chin lift, “Nervous?” He whispers.
“Not even a little.”
“Good,” he replies and smiles at Lena who is sitting in the front next to Rylie’s mom, their three-week-old son swaddled to her chest. Next to Samuel is Landon with a three-year-old Jackson is bouncing on his knee and Erin sitting next to him rubbing her six-month pregnant belly. Next to Erin are Fi-Fi and Cain with their own three beautiful children.
Looking down the aisle, I see Dylan helping a very pregnant Asya into her seat. Behind them are Liam, Tanner on his hip, holding Jian’s hand while Hui carries their baby girl in her arms. The music plays as Maks slides into his seat, his four-week-old daughter snuggled in his massive arms. The highest-ranking members of The Family take up the rest of the places near the front along with a few of my closet cousins. Rylie told me she kept it small; just close friends and family, which is perfect.
My little cousin walks down the aisle tossing white rose petals on the ground around her, slowly walking towards me. Shauna dressed in a light green dress follows her, a big smile on her face growing as she passes Maks with their baby girl in his arms. The music changes to the bridal march and everyone stands as Rylie enters on her father’s arm.
My heart stops and my breath is forced from my lungs when I see her. She looks like an angel in a dove gray dress, which highlights her soft curves. She smiles and my heart starts again; I am the luckiest man in the world.
Rylie and Quinn reach me; Quinn kisses Rylie’s cheek after which he places her hand in mine. Leaning in, he whispers, “Be good to my baby.”
I nod as he takes his seat next to Brianna and the priest begins. I do not hear one word, as I stare helplessly into Rylie’s eyes. God, she is beautiful. Rylie squeezes my hands.
The priest chuckles, as does everyone else around me. “Let’s try again. Tomas, do you take Rylie to be your wife?”
“Yes,” I answer too quickly, making everyone laugh again.
The priest turns to Rylie, “Do you take Tomas as your husband?”
“I do,” she answers, smiling big at me.
Glossary
Mariposa –little butterfly
Mi Amor- my love
&nbs
p; Mija- my daughter
Yéyé-grandpa
Bǎobèi- treasure
Note From the Author
When it came to finishing The Family’s Secrets I procrastinated more than I should have. I loved writing Erin and Landon, Lena and Patrick, Shauna and Maks, and Rylie and Tomas’s stories. But now it is time to say goodbye and share the last book in the Secret and Lies series. I hope you enjoy it.
There are many people I need to thank for their love and support. First are my readers, there are no words to say how grateful I am to you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I have to thank my husband for putting up with me when I’m neurotic and trying to figure how to write the scene I see in my head. My parents, grandma, aunts and uncles who support me in everything I do.
I owe a big thank you to Tamra Windows for your support and help.
OTHER TITLES BY T.N. LOWE
A Secret To Kill For- Secret and Lies Book 1
Secret Revenge- Secret and Lies Book 2
Secret Remorse- Secret and Lies Book 3
Coming Soon
Burning Infatuation An Infatuation Stand Alone
Mail Order Bride
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
T.N. Lowe currently resides in Texas with her husband of thirteen years and their two dogs. She grew up traveling the world and lived in the Netherlands, Italy, Missouri, Wyoming and Colorado.
T.N Lowe used to write short stories while in school but chose to pursue a career in health care. After receiving her degree and working in her chosen field, her life still felt unfulfilled. Returning to her passion, TN Lowe self-published her first novel A Secret To Kill For, Secret and Lies Book 1 in August 2018, winner of a Reader’s Favorite Five Star Review.