Page 77

Epilogue Part One

Control by Puddle of Mud

Riot

The last year has been crazy. Penelope gave birth to our absolutely perfect daughter. Viktor is now the leader. Adrian was killed the second I landed in Greece, to make sure enemies see it wasn’t me and was Viktor that killed him. Damien and a team found him the day my daughter was born, so he sat in a cellar until I left. Good riddance to that cockroach.

We moved our lives over to Greece, living close to Penelope’s grandma. She’s alive, thankfully. They’ve reconnected since we’ve moved here, the first time being an hour of snotty noses and tears creating puddles under them. I’m happy she has a blood family member who cares about her. I know she misses her mom. Her grandma, Chloe, didn’t know her daughter was dead. Didn’t know I’m the one who got rid of her body.

I admitted that to her, telling her I was forced to do it. She hated me for the next few times we visited, but eventually warmed up after Penelope explained why more in depth, and with her seeing how much I love her granddaughter and great-granddaughter.

Chloe broke down in even more tears than I thought possible when she saw Lily, breaking down more at her name. Telling Penelope thank you a million times at the endearment.

Penelope and I’s first year of marriage has been bliss. We fuck every moment we can. She’s on birth control, so we don’t have to worry about Lily getting a sibling before we’re ready. Lily is already a lot with her boldness, the sassy little girl.

Penelope’s grandma babysits every Saturday overnight so I can take my wife to dinner, or handcuff her to our bed while I use her body, making her incredibly needy for me.

Today is Lily’s first birthday. She’s not my tiny baby anymore. She’s grown up, her personality starting to shine through. She’s started to try to walk, crying when she fails and falls. My dad heart breaks every time I hear her cry.

She babbles constantly, always having something to say. I never thought there would be a day when I would argue with a toddler, but here we are.

She has millions of toys, and Viktor is constantly flying over just to give her the toy he bought the day before. She loves her Uncle Viktor, always screaming with joy when he walks through the door, holding her arms in the air for him to pick her up. I feel like I should be jealous, but I’m not. I know my daughter loves me the most, besides her mother. I want to give her the life and love I never got. I want her to love her family, know them. I want her to have everything I didn’t, and more.

“There’s my birthday girl!” I coo as Penelope walks into the living room with Lily on her hip. She babbles happily, clapping her hands at me when she sees me.

Penelope places her in my lap, walking to the kitchen and grabbing a glass and a wine bottle, pouring her a generous amount before joining us on the couch.

She takes half a sip before our front door bursts open, the group of her friends’ voices filtering in before they walk into the living room.

“My Lily Bug!” Viktor coos, snatching my daughter out of my lap and tossing her in the air, catching her and doing it more as she falls into a giggle fit.

The group of friends crowds around her, all of them saying their happy birthdays, passing her from person to person before she ends up back in Uncle Viktor’s arms.

I look around me, seeing my wife sit next to me, her blonde hair now short, stopping right under her shoulder blades, her mossy eyes full of happiness and content.

I see my daughter surrounded by all her aunts and uncles, her family always being here for her whenever she needs them.

I can’t think of a better way to spend the rest of my life. For the first time ever, I’m at peace with my life. There’s nothing I would change, scared that if I wanted even the smallest thing to change, I wouldn’t know Penelope. Penelope and Lily are my life. My moon, stars, and sun. I’ll lay my life down to protect them.

My wife and my daughter, my life in two people.

*This book is an advance reader copy and is to not be distributed anywhere. [email protected]*

39

Epilogue Part Two

i’m yours by Isabel LaRosa

Penelope

Lily’s first birthday was yesterday. All her family came to see her and celebrate her. The amount of stuff they brought for her fills our living room, with nowhere to put any of it. It ranges from toys to her favorite foods and clothes. Viktor even bought her a little toy car she can drive when she gets a little older.

My bike was shipped over from the States a few months ago, and I spend every second of my free time riding it. The air in Greece is different. It’s clean, calm, not full of chaos and destruction.

I’m sitting on the beach, watching the waves splash, the stars twinkling off the dark surface while Dmitri puts Lily to bed.

I love living next to the water; the calmness it brings is unlike anything I’ve ever felt. I sit out here every night, letting the water touch my toes, the breeze brush through my hair.