After everyone toasted, Dakota said, “To our women. The best part of us.”
Providence and Dakota shared a tender kiss as everyone pulled out the cameras and snapped pics. Jagger asked his staff to take photos, and the thirteen of them posed on the sand.
Overcome with joy, happiness filled Providence’s lonely heart.
* * *
Dakota spent the first few days after Beth’s death processing the harsh truth. She had never loved him, had never been his legal wife, and she had staged her own abduction. After Randy had been released from prison, the psychopathic husband and wife team had become hell-bent on taking his millions and destroying him in the process.
Had it not been for Providence, they would have succeeded.
When Providence rubbed his back, Dakota blinked away the past. Her loving touch made all the difference, and he turned toward his future.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Never better.” He had found his true love. Together, they would raise Sammy…maybe even have a child or two of their own. “How ‘bout you, babe?”
Her relaxed smile said it all. “I am loving this vacation.”
While she sported a fading black-and-blue mark from her bruised rib, that hadn’t stopped her from wearing a bikini. And damn if his woman didn’t rock it out. He planted a kiss on her, eliciting another smile.
“Mmm,” she murmured. “I love kissing you.”
“Good thing, because there’s going to be sixty years of it.”
Her light-hearted laugh made him smile.
Crockett and Alexandra had taken Sammy for the day, so Dakota had his beautiful fiancée all to himself. Hand in hand, they strolled along the private Malibu beach. Nothing but miles of sand, clear blue sky, and the morning sun ahead of them. The lapping of waves helped wash away the nightmare that had almost cost them their lives.
Down the beautiful beach they walked, with no agenda and no plan. Dakota inhaled the fresh, salt air. For the first time in years, he could breathe…really breathe.
Though his world had been rocked, he was ready to move forward. His child was safe and deeply loved. His fiancée was alive and by his side. Together, they were building their new life.
While they were in California, the house was being scrubbed and the furnishings replaced with all new. He’d been living with a ghost. Time to exorcise it from his life…for good.
“I’ve found some homes I want us to tour next week,” he said.
“What for?”
“I want us to move into something that’s ours. What do you think about that?”
She pulled him to a stop, leaned up, and kissed him. “I love that idea.”
“What do you want to do with your condo?”
“I used to be afraid that if I sold it, I would be leaving Annabel.” She laid her hand over her heart. “She lives in here.” After a pregnant pause, she nodded. “I’m ready to sell.”
“Luther said he wants my answer when we get back.”
They held each other’s gaze.
“I’m returning to ALPHA, part-time, as long as you’ll be my partner.”
“Yes! That’s the best news. I am so stoked about that.” She paused and her winsome smile fell away. “We’re making a lot of changes. Too many at once?”
“Hell, no. Based on the past few months, we can handle a lot.”
“I want to run something big by you, too. I’d like to adopt Sammy. Is that something you’re open to?”
