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But maybe someday I’d tell him that before I left, the thick cloud cover parted and sun shone through. That a light breeze moved the trees and rustled the roses on her headstone.
But he wasn’t ready now. Healing took a long time and we’d only just started.
EPILOGUE
DURAN
A Few Months Later
“Can I ask you a really serious question?”
Lucien paused, flicking his eyes up. We stood at the edge of the river and it was cold as fuck. In the distance, the lights of the cargo ship carrying our guns moved, but not fast enough. I knew Iris was in our bed right now, all warm and sexy and probably naked. I was dying to get back.
“What?”
I cleared my throat. “Did you let me win at Monopoly?”
His jaw twitched. “Why? Who wants to know?”
“I do.”
He sighed, leaning back. He put his cigarette up and breathed out, the smoke filling the air.
“Yes, I let you win,” he said.
“Fuck you,” I said.
He glanced over. “Does that actually bother you?”
I shrugged. “I guess not, I just thought I had one thing on you.”
He inhaled and straightened. When he faced me fully, I detected a hint of vulnerability, somewhere beyond his ice cold front.
“You have so much on me,” he said. “You have a wife who loves you and that counts for everything.”
“Fuck, I didn’t mean it like that,” I said. “I was mostly joking.”
“I know,” he said.
There was a long silence, but I felt him internally struggling. Finally, he rubbed out his cigarette on the sole of his boot. He shoved his hands deep in his pockets.
“I’m proud of you,” he said flatly. “Now, that’s all your getting. So don’t even start.”
I kept my mouth shut, knowing he was done. But inside I glowed. I rocked on my heels and stared out at the silvery black water. Watching the ripples grow as the ship grew closer to the harbor.
It was past midnight when we finally unloaded the shipment and locked up the warehouses. Lucien dropped me off outside our townhouse. Some nights Iris stayed at the Esposito mansion because it helped Olivia feel more at ease. They’d grown a lot closer over the last several months. But tonight, she was asleep in our house and I was glad to have her all to myself.
I let myself in. The hall light was on, but the rest of the house was dark. I went through the kitchen and up the stairs to find our bedroom light still on. I frowned, knowing she usually went to bed around eleven.
She was sitting up in bed, wearing one of my t-shirts. Since she’d given up her social media accounts, she’d been working a part time job at a fashion magazine. She’d gotten the position on her own experience and she took it seriously, sometimes staying up late tapping away on her laptop.
I slipped into the bedroom and she looked up, offering that sweet smile I couldn’t live without. I bent to kiss her and began getting undressed.
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping, princess?” I asked. “It’s a bit late for work.”
She chewed her lip. Her hair was up in a sloppy bun on her head, little bits tickling her neck. My ring glittered on her finger. It all made the most perfect picture to come home to.
“I was looking over some wedding stuff for Olivia,” she said. “Just last minute ribbons for the flowers.”
