A female, frantic voice.
"Is that Leah?"
"Yeah, Deck, that's her. She's a bit upset, worried about May. We need to get those two back together, and soon. Leah's been through it. They had her locked up in this crazy dungeon. Rock walls, hardly any light. They're fucked up. McKinley gave the cops a search warrant and Lieutenant Murphy let us right in behind them when they served. All the dominoes just fell down around the Galletti boys. Simon's in the back of a cruiser right now, and Leah's here with me. Victor's already down at county, but they'll lawyer up, no doubt."
"Bring Leah to my house. I'll get May up."
"May's with you?"
"Yep. And she will be for the rest of my life, as long as I can still breathe."
Allister's quiet for a moment, then he chuckles. "Good for you, boss. Good for you."
I hang up. Turn back to the bed. Time to wake my girl up and give her sister back to her.
EPILOGUE
May
One Month Later
"Here you go." I hand Leah the ring of keys.
"I'm going to miss you, you know." She's standing on the steps of the estate, her arms in her metal crutches, hair hanging down in a loose braid around her shoulder.
"I'll be here literally all the time." I choke back the sob.
"Well, not literally all the time." Deck wraps his arms around me from behind.
I turn my head to look up at him, and he slides his hands to cover my belly. After three weeks with Deck, I realized I missed my period. He always said he was an overachiever, and he'd waited long enough. He certainly filled me with enough cum in those few weeks that it would have been a miracle if I didn't get pregnant.
"I can't believe you're going to be a mom." Leah giggles.
"I know. You're barely done raising me."
"It's going to be so different living here without you. Are you sure you guys don't want to move in here? We could all live here and barely see each other."
"Nope." Deck palms my tummy. He's not being overbearing, but he knows I need to be away from here, and we need our own home. He's stronger than me, so I need him to draw the line and keep me behind it. "But May can be here with you a lot. And you're always welcome in our home. I mean that. You know that, right?"
"Yes." Leah takes a breath. "It's felt like home the last month. Thank you, Decker."
"No, thank you. For taking care of my girl all these years. I owe you a debt of gratitude I'll never be able to repay."
"Okay." Allister comes out from behind the black Suburban with suitcases in hand. "You ready to get resettled?"
Deck and I got married two weeks ago. It was just us, Allister and Leah. But it was perfect. Right after that, I found out I was pregnant, and I'm sure most people would give us less than a year if they were betting, but I know better. Decker wanted to take me on a lavish honeymoon, but honestly, just being with him in his house was more than I'd ever dreamed. No tropical vacation or weeks in Europe could compare to being there with him, knowing Leah was safe, too.
We have something that most people only dream about. And why wait when you know it's right? Deck wants babies everywhere as soon as possible. He says he's waited too long, and it seems he's trying to squeeze in as much happily-ever-after as he can, as quickly as he can.
Deck's handled a lot of the lawyers and the other nonsense. To be honest, I'm not sure how it all got resolved so fast, but the estate is ours now. Split between me and Leah. Simon's out, and Victor's awaiting trial on drug charges.
But Deck and I are settled in at his place. It's where we made love for the first time, and as stupid as it sounds, I want it to be the place where we raise our kids. And someday it'll also be the place where we make love for the last time. But that's a long way off.
I'm enrolled in The Culinary Academy, and I start next week in their pastry program. I don't know if I'll have my own bakery someday or not, but Deck says it's up to me. So time will tell.
I watch as Allister eyes Leah. It makes me smile. It's more than just a professional glance.
"Hey," I mock. "Careful how you look at my sister."
