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After a while, I finally shift a little so I can look up at him. His dark eyes meet mine, and his lip quirks. “How was your afternoon?”
“Like a fairy tale,” he says.
I pause. “How so?”
James closes his eyes, almost like the question pains him. “Once upon a time, I met an injured prince who was trapped in a house. Like the knight I wanted to be, I tried to free him, and I almost died because of it.”
“James…”
“I learned my lesson about pushing Kane’s boundaries that day.” He kisses my temple again, then sighs into my hair. “But my patience was rewarded this morning when he finally set Phoenix free. And like I always told that stubborn bastard, if he just let him fly, he’d come right home.”
It almost feels too romantic—too close to a happily ever after—but I know we’re at the beginning of our story now. “Is Kane coming home tonight?”
“Tomorrow,” James murmurs, sounding sleepy. “He’s taking care of some business in the city.”
I have a feeling that means something to do with me. Step one of his plan, now that he’s gotten proof my virginity is nonexistent. It’s such a strange thing too. I’ve fucked myself on toys, I’ve made myself come, and both James and Ari brought me to a soul-shattering orgasm each.
So why did that one thing matter to those old, slimy men who wanted to be in Guido’s good graces?
“Because they’re fools,” James says, letting me know I was speaking aloud again.
I huff and bury my face in his chest. “I’m glad it’s over. I’m glad it’s gone. It’s such a stupid little thing.”
“Indeed.” James urges my head back, then kisses me. “But does it make me old and slimy if I admit that I’m glad it was given to us?”
To us. Not to Phoenix—to us. Those two words allow everything to slot into place. It’s not me on an island. No, this is me finding my place with the four of them. Together.
“Kane wants to marry me,” I whisper softly.
James’ fingers tighten in my hair, then gentle against my scalp before he reaches down and tilts my face up. His thumb runs under my chin, and I feel his stump press against my side like he’s trying to somehow draw me closer. “I know. That won’t make you any less mine, darling girl. It won’t make you any less ours.”
I shudder and let that sink beneath my skin, and I breathe out. It’s enough. I didn’t think it would be, but it is.
Epilogue
KANE
It’sno surprise that Guido agrees to see me. I head into his office unarmed and smile at his guards. I can see resemblance in a lot of the Romanos. They share the dark, thick curls and the pale skin and deep-set eyes of the man I’ve known for far too long. A man whose blood I’m desperate to taste as his heart beats its last.
There are things that live in the dark corners of my mind now—memories that don’t entirely feel real, though I’ll never be able to erase them. Like the first time I ever set eyes on Guido Romano in person was in a cathedral with his collar on and a look of hunger in his eyes as they fixed on me. I was stalking him, sizing him up, preparing to make him pay for what he did to my family.
I fucked him in the confessional two weeks later.
Two months later, he left the church.
Three months later, he married her—Alice’s mother.
And then, not long after that, my sweet Alice was born.
I didn’t lay eyes on her until she was a child, after her mother had passed, but Guido had already started wreaking havoc on my family. It was easier for him to blame me for destroying his faith than it was for him to take responsibility for what he’d done to earn my wrath.
He had always been angry. That evening, with the confessional door shut and his cock down my throat to keep me from groaning, I could see the hatred in his eyes. He hated what he wanted, hated that I was willing to give it to him.
Hated that he was weak enough to accept it.
Was that the way he looked at Alianna before he murdered her?
My father put the keys to the kingdom in my hand and told me not to rest until Guido Romano felt the pain of our loss tenfold. And I knew what I had to do.
