AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, if we ever saw her, maybe she would actually believe you.” Aillard shrugs again. “That seems more like a problem you have, not one that involves me needing to run interference.”
“She’s a real person.” O’Rourke’s shoulders tighten beneath his suit enough for me to spot the bulge of the gun he carries on his hip. “She doesn’t come to the city. She’s in Boston.”
“Does she know you’re engaged to her?” Bex asks, clearly entertained by O’Rourke’s uncomfortableness. I never thought I’d see the day the Irishman was anything other than cool and disinterested. But he actually seems rather flustered right now with Whitney’s attempted meddling.
O’Rourke glares at my girlfriend without much heat. “It’s arranged.”
“Oh, because that’s normal,” Bex mutters under her breath.
I smirk as I curl my arm around her.
O’Rourke’s phone begins to go off, plummeting his mood even further. He takes the call, still glaring at Aillard. “What?” he snaps. Then, his entire body stiffens and his jaw clenches so hard I wonder if he’s about to break his molars. “I’m on my way.” He hangs up the phone, shouldering through our group without an explanation or a farewell.
“He seems interesting,” Bex announces. “Very unhappy, though.”
“That would be his default setting,” Aillard explains.
“Who is he exactly?” she wonders.
“Finnley O’Rourke, son of the head of the Irish mob in Boston,” I inform her. She blanches, surprise etching across every surface of her face. “He’s not next in line to become the boss, though, from our understanding. He ‘helps’ his family out from time to time, but he’s essentially a fixer for the seedy underground.”
Bex nods her head as if that’s a perfectly reasonable, legitimate job to have. “And what was he doing here, exactly?”
“I wouldn’t say King and him are friends,” Aillard says, pursing his lips in thought. “More like frenemies. They blur each other’s lines, though no one has confirmation of that. Not even me. But I know Finn is polite to Emilia, and he’s even decent towards Whit most of the time, so we see him on occasion.”
“Who knew your group of friends would include a mobster,” Bex hums in amusement.
Before I can inform her that none of us are actually friends with O’Rourke, King clears his throat from the center of his living room. Everyone quickly quiets down, turning to look at him expectantly. Emilia stands next to him in a simple pair of black slacks and a cream sweater, looking at home in her bare feet while King stands beside her decked out in one of his more expensive suits.
“Thank you all for accommodating me by coming this evening,” King says to everyone. “Typically I do not throw parties, or invite people into my home for obvious reasons such as liking my privacy. But I wanted to spend today, entering into the new year, with those I consider my family. Emilia and I are grateful to those of you who could make it tonight to celebrate with us.”
“We really do appreciate it!” Emilia chimes in, smiling at everyone. “I know it was a little last minute, but this year feels like the year of hope, so we wanted to end it that way.”
“Speaking of hope,” King says, turning to face Emilia directly. “I know how difficult your life has been, how you turned a tragedy into armor to become this brave new version of yourself. I love both sides of you. The fierce woman I see every day in the office and the soft woman I come home to. You are the better half of my damaged self, and there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you if you asked it of me.” King swallows roughly.
I curl my arm around Bex, dragging her closer to me as everyone watches the mighty King tell the woman of his dreams he loves her.
“At some point we went from despising each other to loving each other with a ferocity I hope we’ll one day have towards our own kids,” King continues.
Emilia’s eyes begin to shine, a smile curving her lips as she clutches King’s hands in her own.
Then he drops down to one knee, and I swear everyone in the room stops breathing. “I’ve been carrying this with me for a long time, not really knowing when the right time to say anything was. After everything we’ve been through, I want to end this year with you wearing this ring.” He reaches in his pocket and produces a black box, snapping the lid open. “Emilia Graham, will you marry me?”
I’m not sure what exactly happens next. I’m pretty sure she says yes, but the roar of everyone cheering drowns out her reply. However, she all but tackles King to the floor, him laying half on his back as he slips the ring on her shaking hand before she straddles him and lays a kisswaytoo inappropriate for anyone else to see.
I spin Bex around to give Emilia the chance to control herself before I see something I’ll have to bleach my eyes over later. I press a kiss to Bex’s temple as she loosely curls her arms over mine until we’re simply standing, facing a wall, embracing.
“I guess we’ll have to add a wedding guest attendance to our schedules,” Bex says wryly.
“I suppose so.” She tilts her head up to look at me so I steal a quick kiss, enjoying the warmth of being in our own little bubble for a moment. “I want the world for you,” I tell her again. Our own version of sayingI love you.
She squeezes my arm and without missing a beat, says, “And I want the stars for you.”
And that’s how we enter the new year, healed and hopeful.
The End
