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“Deliriously so.” Lilianna put her focus on what she considered the extravagant ring, the weight of which she was still getting used to, and pushed out a delighted sigh.
Her fairy tale complete with not just one but two charming princes had only just begun.
Epilogue
Two months later
Hunter stood behind the counter next to the register in his newly restored woodworking shop, waiting for Old West Town to open up for the day. A glance at the grandfather clock he’d built long ago told him that he still had fifteen minutes to go before folks would be coming through.
He caught sight of the gold ring on his left finger, still not used to being a married man. They’d tied the knot in Las Vegas, Lilianna not wanting the production of a big wedding, just wanting her fairy-tale dream life to start as soon as possible.
Dylan was so grateful for her desire for a quiet ceremony with just the three of them, he insisted upon giving her a lavish wedding dress of her dreams, along with a custom wedding ring he’d designed himself to go with the huge three-diamond engagement ring she wore.
For his part, and at Lilianna’s strenuous request, he’d had an updated physical to ensure he was as infertile as he thought, discovering with great shock that he wasn’t after all. After years of shoving feelings of being just slightly less of a man in that regard to the back of his mind, she’d suddenly given him a boost to his manhood that he hadn’t even realized was important. But it was.
They spent their honeymoon in Vegas, mostly inside, but also catching a couple of shows the two times they actually let her put clothes on. Dylan promised her that one day he’d take her on a lengthy honeymoon anywhere she wanted. But she seemed content with the one they’d had.
After a week in the plush hotel room, they’d come back and also enjoyed the mundane yet unrivaled pleasures of day-to-day married life. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d ever been so delighted with life.
Dylan was back at work, playing the newly married, happy, worker bee mechanic again. Meanwhile, Lilianna was home alone in the kitchen creating a bevy of treats that were going to add several inches to his waistline if he didn’t watch it.
To that end, there was a plate of chocolate truffles in front of him now that he resisted, even though the scent of cocoa and sugar was driving him crazy.
He’d already had two, and he needed to save at least a couple so that Victoria could try them, which was the whole point.
A shadow fell over the window right outside his place, and before he even realized anyone was nearby, Duke opened the door and strolled inside. “Hey. Got a minute?”
“Sure. We don’t open for a little while yet. What’s up?”
“A couple things. First, remember that fake federal warrant we got from those two bozos who tried to gate crash the compound a couple of months ago?”
“Yeah.”
“We got lucky with some fingerprints. Sammy Heller himself touched that paper. Don’t know if it’s enough to put him in jail or keep him there for long, but it will keep his lawyers busy for awhile trying to explain it.” Duke looked vastly amused with himself.
Hunter grinned. “Really? That is good news.”
“And the second thing. You know we found that gas can in the employee dumpster the night of the fire. Well now we have a piece of video of a guy named Ted something-or-other, filling up what looks like the exact same gas can at a station about forty-five minutes away. He did this less than one hour before your shop caught on fire.”
“Did you find prints on that gas can as well?”
“Nope. It had been wiped clean. But we found some trace blood. Specifically Ted’s blood in the crack of the handle. I got the DNA match yesterday. Might have been from a nosebleed. But anyway, whether or not he goes away for it, at least progress is being made.”
Hunter smiled. Perhaps the blood was from the nosebleed he’d given Ted out in the parking lot while they were leaving the bar. The words “full circle” and “karma” looped around his brain once.
Duke looked down at the truffles on the plate. He picked one up, popped it in his mouth, and then practically swooned as he chewed it. “Wow, that’s really good.”
