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“Yes!” everyone shouts.
I hold the contract up, and someone tosses Enzo a lighter. He lights it, then we all watch as the contract burns. My children are safe from ever having to compete. Liesel’s child is safe. Even Felix’s child, if she does exist, is safe.
Our family still has a hard future ahead. We will always have enemies. We will always have allies who turn against us. We will always have family that pops up in unexpected ways. But we will also always have each other.
I kiss Enzo on the lips as we start planning our new life together. One where we don’t live in the shadows. One where we don’t have to die in order to live.
“Truth or lie,” I start.
Enzo smiles and then waits for me to finish.
“Truth or lie—now we live happily ever after?”
“Truth.”
Epilogue
Kai
Five Months Later
* * *
“Hurry up! The twins’ birthday party starts in three hours,” Enzo says as I walk to the door.
I laugh. “I’ll be back in an hour. The decorations are already finished. All you have to do is pick up the cake and get them dressed.”
He kisses me on the lips. “Fine, go. Go be Mrs. Black. I’ll wait here like the nobody I am.”
I laugh. “You were the one who let me win. You could have fought harder,” I say.
He waves me off, not wanting to get into the argument again. For the past few months, we have found our roles when it comes to running the empire. I found our purpose—protecting innocent lives by saving women from domestic violence and human trafficking, and feeding and helping children who were abused find good homes.
Enzo helps ensure the money keeps rolling in by selling technology, yachts, and weapons to our allies, but only to those who aren’t hurting innocent lives.
Beckett has found a knack for building new technologies and is key to the development of new security systems we sell.
We all have our roles to play. It makes us better, stronger.
Even though the men and women accept our leadership as a unit, I’m still the one in charge. If there is a disagreement about anything, I’m the one who gets final say.
It drives Enzo crazy. Even Beckett struggles with it sometimes when he disagrees with my decision. But it is what it is. If they didn’t want me to lead, then they shouldn’t have sacrificed their lives to make it so.
Today, we are celebrating the twins’ birthday, but I got an urgent message from Archard saying he hasn’t gotten word yet that I visited the vault and changed the entry codes. He said they expire today and everything inside will be lost forever if I don’t go use the code.
I’m the only one who is allowed the codes and allowed to enter the vault, so I’m going alone.
The vault is where Surrender, the club, once stood. But the vault survived the explosion.
I drive my Maserati to the site and follow Archard’s instructions to the stairs leading down to the vault still there, buried beneath the rubble. He had some of the men move enough of the rocks out of my way so I can find it.
I get to the door and enter the ridiculous string of letters and numbers I have no idea how I remember, but I do. And then I pause. I don’t know what’s behind this door. I’m sure riches and more wealth than I can imagine. Not that I need any of that. My bank account is ridiculously large. But whatever is behind the door, men and women have died fighting to protect. They have entrusted me.
I push the door open and step inside. The door automatically closes behind me, making me jump.
It’s dark inside, so I flick a light on. And jump again. The room runs the entire length that Surrender once did. I can barely see to the other side. And it’s filled with paintings, jewels, money and riches, none of which particularly surprises me. I see drawers of plans for future weapons. And I’m sure every technology we have ever created exists between these walls. I take my time looking at everything. I need to spend more time down here to understand it all, not because the money or riches mean anything to me, but because I need to decide what should be done with it.
Today isn’t that day.
