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With that, she turned and walked away, leaving me and my boy to relax on the couch as everyone I loved filled my home. I closed my eyes and let myself drift off to the soft cadences of their voices, feeling safe and free and loved. Knowing down to my bones there was nothing but happiness from here on out.
Epilogue
DEVA
One monthlater
I steppedout of the library into the beautiful sunny day, my friends laughing as they trailed out behind me. It had taken a while to coordinate a day when we were all available, but we’d just finished oursecondfirst official romance book club meeting, and it was a brilliant success, if I did say so myself.
“Next month is my pick, and I knowexactlywhat book I want us to read,” Aurora announced gleefully, a wicked smile stretching across her face.
“Oh god,” Lark said with a groan, rolling her eyes to the back of her head. “Who in their right mind would let this woman pick a book for all of us to read?”
“We drew names out of a hat,” Willow said on a giggle.
“Well, then I hope you’re all prepared to be scandalized, because she’s going to pick the raunchiest, dirtiest book she can think of.”
“Ooh, I can’t wait,” Myra said, making everyone laugh.
We broke apart with hugs and promises of coffee and lunch and family dinners. I turned to look out into the parking lot, smiling at the sight of Laeth’s car waiting for me.
He rolled down his window, the smile on his lips sending a shiver to my most sensitive places. “Hey, Bambi. Need a ride?”
I skip-walked toward the car, leaning down into the open window. “You know, I could have walked. You didn’t have to come get me.” His expression went stony, the gray in his eyes getting dark as he emitted a low, menacing growl. I couldn’t hold back the giggle. “Too soon to joke about it?”
“Forever too soon to joke about it,” he declared flatly. “Forever, Day. And you’re never walking anywhere by yourself for the rest of your life.”
It had taken some time for me to wrap my head around the fact that Agnes had died from a gunshot I might have had a hand in, but eventually I realized that the fault hadn’t laid with me. Her fate was sealed by her own hands. All I’d been trying to do was survive. The single shot Laeth had fired had killed Mathias instantly, but unlike his mother, I didn’t struggle for a moment over that loss. The only one who’d survived that day was Sherman, but after discovering his wife and only son were gone, something inside of him had snapped. He’d given up and pled guilty to every charge the prosecutor had brought against him. He would be spending the rest of his life in prison.
I was safe. There were no monsters lurking around the corner, no creepy sensation of being watched. The threat was gone, Laeth had seen to that. But he still worried. I understood it would take him some time to wrap his head around the fact that nothing else could hurt me, so I made sure to give him peace of mind if it kept his nightmares at bay.
I rolled my eyes playfully at his overprotectiveness, secretly loving it as much as I loved pushing his buttons just to see him rile up. I rounded the hood and climbed into the passenger seat,leaning in to place a kiss on Laeth’s waiting lips before twisting to face Cash, buckled securely in his car seat. “Hey, little bug.”
“My Day-Day!” he said happily, his smile warming my heart. He’d put the wordmybefore Day-Day shortly after my abduction, and I had to admit, I didn’t hate it. I was more than happy to be his, just as he was mine, and always would be. Laeth had seen to that.
After rescuing me, he’d wasted no time using his super skills to track Deanne down, and as soon as he did, he made quick work of stripping her of every single parental right she’d so carelessly neglected. We no longer had to worry about her popping back up from whatever hole she was hiding in. We were free of her for good, and even though I wasn’t Cash’s mother by blood, I was determined to be for him what Myra was for me. I vowed to make sure he never went a day without feeling loved and cherished. He’d never doubt that he belonged with us, that was my promise.
“You have a good day with Daddy?”
“We sure did, didn’t we, kiddo?” Laeth answered, looking in the rearview mirror for his son’s confirmation as he put the car into gear and started out of the parking lot. “We went into the office for a bit, and I started teaching him how to use my system.”
My eyes bugged out. “Laeth, he’stwo!”
He nodded seriously. “Exactly. No time like the present. Start him young, and he’ll be able to do what I do before he even has his license.”
I groaned, dropping my head against the head rest. “Yeah, then we’ll be hauled in by the FBI when he does something stupid, like hack into the Pentagon.”
He paused, letting out a hum. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Of course you hadn’t. So how about we save the computer lessons until he’s old enough to understand right from wrong, yeah?”
He chuckled, reaching toward the center console and picking up the white paper cup that had been resting in one of the holders. “I got you this on the way here.”
My mouth watered as the sight of the Hot Java cup. I was officially a caffeine addict and wasn’t the least bit sorry about it. I snatched the cup out of his hands and brought it to my lips, only to discover it was empty. “What in the—” I gave the cup a shake, hearing something rattled around in the bottom.
My eyes shot to his profile just as he cast me a quick glance. His expression was the picture of calm, but the knuckles on his hand that gripped the steering wheel were white from how tightly he was holding it. “Go ahead and open it.”
“Open it! Open it!” Cash cheered from the back seat.
