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She glances at the photo. “Oh, that. Yeah, those apartments are way out of your price range. And besides, all they have are three-bedroom units and above.”
I really don’t like her haughty attitude or the way she’s looking at the bruises on Simone’s arms. Disgust is twisting her face, and Simone sees it too. She wraps her arms tight around herself and steps closer to Killer.
“That’d be just perfect for us,” I say loudly. “We’re looking for a three-bedroom.”
I mouth, “I’ll explain later,” to Stacey, who is looking at me like she thinks I’ve lost my mind.
The realtor is still looking at Simone with disgust, which she’s now extending to Stacey and me. “That’s a really nice neighborhood. It’s not for the likes of . . . it’s a respectable neighborhood.”
Killer steps in front of Simone, shielding her with his body. “Listen, lady, we didn’t hire you for your opinions, and I don’t want to hear them. So, show us the apartment, or I’ll find someone who will.”
She takes a step back and then starts muttering that she was just saying that she didn’t mean anything by it, that, of course, she’ll show us the apartments, that she appreciates Killer’s business, and so on and so forth. He doesn’t look impressed, and neither am I.
On the ride back downtown, I introduced Stacey and Simone and explained how Simone is looking for a place to live, too, so I offered that the three of us share. And as I predicted, the two of them hit it off right away as soon as they learned they were in the same business.
I text Brennon while they’re already making plans to join forces in conquering LA’s beauty scene. He says he’ll meet us in front of the building, and he’s already there by the time we reach it.
“So, you decided to get a place here?” he asks as I join him. “That’s so great. You’ll just be a couple of blocks from the clubhouse.”
“Yes,” I say and grin. “And I’ll visit you all the time.”
“I can’t wait,” he says.
Then he wraps his arms around my waist and kisses me, making the ground beneath my feet turn to water. As always, his kiss makes me feel like I’m floating on the soft, rippling waves of the ocean, kept safe from the currents and all else by his strong, loving arms. And as always, I don’t ever want the kiss to end.
But Killer clears his throat loudly and says, “Come on, Sarge, we ain’t got all day here.”
I’m blushing really hard as I see that the rest of them are all waiting for us by the building entrance.
“Okay, okay, we’re ready,” Brennon says, and they enter the majestic lobby of the gorgeous historic apartment building.
Brennon takes my hand and leads me up the stone steps after them.
This leads me to the beginning of my new life. The start of the rest of my life, every moment of which I very much intend to spend with him.
EPILOGUE
Three Months Later. . .
Sarge
The past few months have flown by in the blink of an eye. Ever since I dealt with Kevin, it’s like Luna’s life has transformed into a complete one-eighty. She’s no longer living in fear every day, and I don’t even see her looking over her shoulder anymore. I don’t think she ever realized I noticed it when we first got together, but I did. I’d see the way fear would take over every part of her body. Sometimes it would practically make her frozen in her place.
She moved into the apartment building residing over Grand Central Market about six weeks ago with Stacey and Simone. I heard all about their horrible experience with the realtor, but Killer put the lady right in her place. Luna’s told me that she’s a bit annoyed she lives over top of the busy market, not because of the noise or anything, but because it’s an excuse to keep eating out.
Life isn’t just different because Luna’s moved to a new city and her stalker is gone, but the two of us are doing great as well. She’s happier than ever, and that only makes me happy too.
Today is a big day, it’s her thirty-third birthday, and I have a big surprise planned for her. We already did a couple of little things, but she has no idea what I have in store for her as we’re walking along the sidewalk leading to the clubhouse. We just chowed down a sandwich from Eggslut, even though I didn’t want to buy any food. The ladies at the club have a whole spread ready for her, and I know her appetite is a little bit spoiled now. If I told her not to eat, she’d get suspicious, and I don’t want to risk her finding out what I’m doing.
We round the corner and walk right into The Clubhouse, which is going to be moving across the street in two months or less. The club ended up voting on expanding the restaurant, and I think it’s going to be a great decision for us. It’ll be another way we can get more legal money in, but we’ll be able to launder through it as well. After all, it’ll make sense that we’re bringing in more cash since we’re almost tripling the bar size.
Today, Breaker has The Clubhouse closed so we can celebrate Luna privately. I even invited my sister, nieces, and my parents. They all adore Luna, so I know they’d want to be here to celebrate as well.
“Did you want to do anything else today?” There’s a bit of hopefulness in Luna’s voice. I know she wants me to take her out to the movies or on some sort of special excursion, but I’m acting like I forgot about her birthday. I haven’t even told her yet. The more I keep playing this up, the worse I’m going to feel.
“No, I was thinking we’d have a couple of drinks, maybe play some pool downstairs?” I suggest.
“Oh.” She immediately frowns.
