AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Rosie knew? That ratfink. If he wasn’t the second-best reporter I know, I’d fire his ass.”
Bodie laughed. Perhaps this was going the way he wanted. “As I was saying, Levi and Rosie thought it would take eighteen months to two years to get everything squared away in terms of fulfilling existing contracts and the like. I figured it would take about that long for me to divest the clan of all our illegal activities. I still plan forEl Tigreto protect this clan and the city, but I think the role of gangster has lost its allure.”
“You were never really a gangster. You were always my and a lot of other people’s superhero. Your gangster façade was just for the masses. So, I have a fairy godfather and a superhero—both of whom have a really big dick and know how to use it.”
Bodie lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her until everything else seemed to fade away into a kind of gentle mist, and only the two of them remained. He had been promised a fated mate and with a twist of that same fate, he found himself reborn in her love.
EPILOGUE
Six Months Later
“This is all your fault,” snarled Randall Beckett as he tried to tie his bow tie for the fourth time.
“I can help you do that,” offered Bodie. “And how is it my fault that no one ever showed you how to properly dress for a black-tie wedding?”
“It isn’t the damn tie,” said Beck.
“Which leads me to ask again, why the hell are we dressing in formal wear for a beach wedding at the height of the summer in New Orleans? Your bride does realize we’re all going to melt, doesn’t she?” said Nolan Hamilton, who looked perfect in his custom-tailored tuxedo.
“Then what are you bitching about, Beck?”
“The whole ‘let’s all go legit thing.’ Damn it, Bodie, I like being a gangster. It was fun and exciting.”
“And now you’re a leopard-shifter businessman with a thriving clan to look after and a mate who is expecting his child. Do you really think you’d have time to be a proper gangster once Saylor delivers your son? And is that the life you want for him and all the little leopard cubs who follow?”
Beck stopped moving for the first time and regarded his two friends. “I guess I hadn’t thought about it that way. I know it’s never set quite right with Saylor—the whole me being a gangster thing.”
Nolan sat down. “I hadn’t thought about it in those terms, either. All of us came from long-standing dynasties that ruled our clans. It never occurred to me to do anything else, or to run things another way. Loving Bryony made me see things in a different light. Her father, like most mafia bosses, saw her as an asset to be used to further his own ends. I don’t want that for any of our children.”
Beck came and stood in front of Nolan. “Don’t just sit on your lazy lion ass. Stand up and help me with this thing. Then help Bodie—his looks just as shitty.”
Once Nolan had helped his friends with their bow ties, they made their way down to the beach. It was a perfect summer day—not too hot and with a lovely breeze blowing in off the Gulf. The sound of bells jingled on the harnesses of the four horses that pulled the open-air Cinderella coach onto the beach where Levi waited to escort Quinn down the aisle.
Quinn was dressed in a sparkling lace dress encrusted with sequins and crystals with a plunging back. The lace featured Spanish moss, saw grass, and dune-grass-inspired patterns. Its delicate spaghetti straps led to a plunging V-neckline in the front and back, with sheer cutouts enhancing the elegant, but still beachy look. Layers of tulle created a full, frothy skirt with a sweep train. She paired it with delicate glass slippers adorned with Swarovski crystals.
Halfway down the aisle, she stumbled as the unstable sand gave way, and Levi had to catch her to keep her from falling.
“Fuck this,” she muttered as she stopped, trying to ensure the shoes were still on and that she could proceed. She glared at Bodie who was having a hard time not laughing. “I told you this wasn’t going to work…” She removed the shoes and heaved one at him. “… but no, you had to have your fucking glass slippers. Well, what am I supposed to do now?”
Not content to wait for her to continue her perilous walk to meet him at the altar, Bodie sprinted down the aisle to her and swept her off her feet, swinging her around. He could feel the toll the stress of having planned the wedding had taken. She was on the verge of tears.
“I seem to have lost one of my slippers,” she managed to say.
“Not to worry,chère, that’s what you have a fairy godfather for.”
Laughter began to bubble out of her, as tension was replaced by joy, and he carried her down the aisle to the driftwood wedding arch and into the rest of forever.
