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His expression didn’t change, remained lighthearted. “We don’t need it.”
“Where do you live now?”
“In her old apartment. The tenant moved out, and we moved in.” His mood didn’t drop or change, like it was a simple decision.
“And you’re okay with that?”
He nodded. “It feels right.”
“Our goal was to retire. And you’re working again.” We’d worked to earn back the wealth that was stolen from us, so his actions made everything we’d done pointless. I would offer my money to him, but he would never take it.
He shrugged. “I like horses. As long as I don’t deal with people, I’m fine.”
“You could start the business again. Just do it the right way.”
He was quiet for a long time before he shook his head. “I’m not interested in that anymore.”
I nodded in understanding, wanting to accept his decision without judgment, but I needed to know something first. “Are you happy?”
His eyes shifted away, his mind elsewhere. “Yes.”
That was all I needed to know. I raised my glass to him. “Cheers.”
He smiled and did the same. “Cheers.”
We both took a drink.
“What about you?” he asked. “Are you happy?”
“The love of my life is marrying me today. Fuck yes, I’m happy.”
His eyes gave a smile. “I meant with retirement. You really think you can do that?”
I wasn’t obsessed with crime. But I was the kind of person that always needed to be doing something. I needed to be working toward something. I couldn’t just hit the gym all day and fuck my wife afterward. “Maybe I’ll start some other kind of business. Or maybe when we have kids, that will be enough to keep me busy.”
“What kind of business?”
I took a drink. “I’ve always admired art. Maybe an art gallery.”
He nodded. “That’d be cool.”
“So, when are you going to ask her to marry you?”
His eyes immediately flicked down the hallway to the stairs in the foyer, making sure the girls were still upstairs and nowhere nearby. “Soon.”
“Yeah? How?”
“I have an idea.”
“You going to tell me, or what?”
“You never told me how you proposed to Melanie?”
I grinned. “Because it was romantic as fuck, and I don’t want you to copy me.”
He rolled his eyes and laughed into his drink. “At the Eiffel Tower.”
“Cliché.”
“I’m going to put the ring inside the Count of Monte Cristo. It’s one of her favorites, and I gave her a copy when she was a new prisoner at the camp. Meaningful to her for a lot of reasons. I thought she would open it, see the ring inside, and that would be it.”
I grinned at my brother. “Okay, that’s pretty romantic.”
He grinned back.
“She’ll say yes.”
“She won’t. Because I’m not going to ask.”
I nodded in approval. “Melanie loves that book too.”
“She does?” he asked in surprise.
I tried not to be offended because nothing would upset me on my wedding day. “She’s a lot smarter than you realize. And you also fail to realize that if it weren’t for her, none of this would have happened. She kept Raven alive. She reminded me who I was. Without her, we’d still be at the camp right now.”
He absorbed what I said, his gaze turning serious. He gave a subtle nod in agreement. “Mom would have loved her.”
“Yeah, she would have. And she would have loved Raven, too.”
With her arm through her sister’s, she glided toward me.
Like she had wings.
The gown was more expensive than my car, and she was the only woman who deserved to wear it. With her hair down, diamonds in her ears and around her neck, she was divine.
And she was mine.
Eyes locked on mine. Confidence in her spine. Love in her eyes. She walked slowly, but she was so eager to get to me.
Just as eager as I was to get to her.
They stopped in front of me, and Raven finally let her go.
Melanie was my responsibility now.
I took that responsibility seriously.
My arms circled her waist, and I pulled her into me, kissing her like no one was there. It was just the two of us, and she stepped into my office after she woke up. My lips took hers with a gentleness I’d never exhibited before, because my love had never been as deep as it was now. Deeper than the roots of the oldest tree.
She rested her forehead against mine, her hands on my arms, just a few inches shorter than me in those sky-high heels. A breeze moved through her hair, making it dance in the wind. Her eyes reflected the sunlight behind me, but they were brighter because they glowed entirely on their own.
The priest cleared his throat. “Shall we begin?”
I had been married to her the first time we were together in that cabin. My commitment was solidified for a lifetime. There was never another woman for me after that, even when she left me, because I was miserable without her. There was no hesitation or doubt. She was the woman for me—and I’d known it the moment I saw her. “Yes.”
