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She nods. “Arianna is too. She’ll be all over you when you visit. Just wait.”
“Dixie.”
Jasper is standing in the doorway between the bathroom and our bedroom. He’s changed into a dry pair of sweats, but his hair is still soaked, dripping on his bare shoulders.
“C–can I hug you, now?” I ask, unmoving.
Jasper swarms me, tugging me into his arms and off of the bed. “I’m sorry I scared you, Dixie girl. I’m okay. Everything is okay.”
“Lorenzo kidnapped Katherine,” I whisper into him. “It’s okay though, because she loves him more than cheese sticks now.”
His laugh is how I know we’re going to be okay. He lost himself for a bit, but he’s back. My Jasper is always going to come back.
“Iknow,” he tells me. “She has his balls in her sharp little claws, no matter how tough he looks.”
Lorenzo grunts. “Yeah well, my wife throws knives and gets into bar fights for fun. Yours plants flowers and you’re just as burnt for her as I am for mine.”
“To be fair, Jasper flips, invests in and takes over businesses, while you run a crime empire. I’d say you’re about on par,” Gio deadpans.
“Crime empire?”
Katherine snorts. “What’d you think someone who looks like Lorenzo does? Taxes?”
“Uh, I would have guessed he was a tattoo artist. But sure, crime boss fits too.” Looking up at Jasper, I smirk. “Can I stop pretending I didn’t figure out Gio kills people for a living the first time we met?”
He laughs again. Louder and fuller this time. “You’re good, dollface.”
“To be perfectly clear, I allowed you to figure it out, flower child.”
“Sure, sure,” I agree mockingly.
“Alright, so we get to speak freely. Any chance I can take this hit? I’m bored.”
Hit. Right. Jasper’s dad?
Gio shakes his head. “My friend. My kill. You and Dixie can go brush up on her marksmanship if you’re so bored.”
“Or we can order pizza,” I offer. “We have tequila.”
She grins. “Sold, pretty lady.”
Lorenzo and Gio leave us. By the time the pizza arrives and two pitchers of margaritas have disappeared, they’re back, and there’s one less evil heart beating in Belle City. This was a good goodbye. The best goodbye.
The kind where you flip off the ground, taunting the newest soul to visit Hell.
Good. Fucking. Riddance.
Epilogue: The Letters
“Love is the flower you’ve got to let grow.”
–John Lennon
Jasper
2 Months Later…
Dixie is on a lunch date with Beau to say goodbye. He is, on top of being a little flirt, apparently a genius. Pam started to notice him picking up on strange things about a year ago and it’s only continued since. He solves puzzles and problems with patterns at unbelievable speeds, so I got her in talks with one of my connections in New York. He’s been given a scholarship to an elite elementary school that caters to gifted students.
