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“Hey, it’s just an introductory meeting so I can review his previous projects and decide if he’s what we want,” he explains, his tone turning professional. “Besides, our mothers worked with him when they renovated their houses.”

I groan, dropping my head back. Of course they did. Ever since those renovations a few years ago, they haven’t stopped praising that designer’s work.

“I think you have something more important to focus on tonight,” Zayn says, patting my back as he stands.

Before I can respond, Thalia is already in front of me, but she doesn’t stop beside me.

She settles directly onto my lap.

“I think I’m staying right here for the rest of the night,” she murmurs, curling into my arms, her voice just a little… off.

“Kitten,” I say, chuckling softly, “how much have you had to drink?”

“Sierra knows,” she replies, already pressing kisses along my neck.

Zayn bursts into laughter beside us, thoroughly entertained.

“Good luck, man,” he says with a wink. “Love you both. I’m out.”

Without another word, he turns and walks away—straight toward the kind of trouble that always seems to find him, whether he’s looking for it or not.

“Can we leave too?” Thalia asks, her fingers already working at my bow tie.

“Jesus, kitten,” I mutter, amused. “Alcohol makes you very…”

“I’m so turned on,” she cuts in quickly, not letting me finish. “I want you now.”

Right. Time to go.

Laughing under my breath, I lift her in my arms and rise, moving through the crowd as cheers, whistles, and applause follow us all the way to the limousine that’s been waiting since the ceremony began.

It’s time to enjoy my wife.

Alone.

EPILOGUE TWO

Honeymoon

Thalia

“I can’t believe you brought me here,” I confess to Ethan, utterly content as I relax in his arms on a sunbed.

With the same hand that holds me close, he traces slow, sensual circles on my back, a touch that leaves my skin warm and soft beneath his fingers.

We are in the bungalow where he stayed when we all came here on vacation.

Yes, we are in Zanzibar.

Lost in a paradise that, this time, is no longer about exploration or discovering a different world, but about stillness, rest, love, passion, intensity.

About us.

“I’ve been waiting to bring you here,” he murmurs, brushing a quick kiss against my lips. “I want you in every corner of this bungalow, in the ocean, everywhere we can be, just like I imagined when we were here before.”

Jesus.

Since we arrived, all we do is eat, lie in the sun, and lose ourselves in each other. And still, his confession alone makes my body respond instantly.