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In fact, the calls started coming in only twelve hours after I’d given her the journal.
But, after telling Hades what I’d done—because there would be absolutely no lies between us—she’d been obviously hesitant.
Though, she hadn’t been mad at what I’d done.
In fact, she’d told me that she’d wanted to do it for years, but hadn’t had the courage.
But, knowing how much her family meant to her, especially her twin, I’d taken a chance and had been rewarded.
Though, seeing her now, nervous as hell to see her sister, made my heart ache.
But she pulled up her bootstraps and bailed out of the truck before I could get around to her.
Her eyes were wild and a bit scared when she started marching toward the front door.
The fuckin’ tigers met her at the door.
She dropped down onto her haunches and caught both of their heads in her hands as she cooed at them.
Slone, who’d been the one to open the door, nodded at me.
My stomach was in knots myself.
Never had I ever thought I’d be nervous over a meeting between two women, but there the fuck I was.
“Slone,” I said quietly. “Nice to see you.”
“You, too,” Slone murmured.
“You two go outside,” I heard Tony order, directing her words toward Slone and me. “We’ll be inside.”
“No,” I immediately disagreed. “We can go in another room, but I’m not leaving her alone. Sorry.”
I wasn’t sorry.
But I was trying to soften the blow.
I didn’t want her to think I was mad at her—though I was, kind of a little bit seeing as she’d had the life Hades should’ve had—and start taking that out on Hades.
But she understood, and her shoulders loosened.
“Okay,” she said. “Y’all can go to the kitchen then. I just made brownies. Hades’ favorite.”
Hades’ head finally came up, and she stared at her sister.
“I love brownies.”
Tony smiled. “I know.”
And so that was what we did.
After Slone and Hades exchanged a stilted greeting, we went to the kitchen and the two ladies stayed where they were.
But not before I gave her a look over my shoulder.
You need me, I’m here.
I didn’t have to say the words for her to know.
Hades smiled and nodded her head.
“I want you to know I’ve denounced our mother,” I heard Tony say as we headed into the kitchen to give them some privacy.
“You didn’t have to…” was Hades’ reply.
“I did,” Tony said firmly.
Then there was nothing else heard because we were too far away.
If they raised their voices, though, I would.
“Where’s Briley?” I wondered.
“Camp,” he answered. “I just want you to know, if the journal is half as bad as Ari’s sobs were…I’m sorry.”
“I don’t need your apology, man,” I said. “But if you’re interested, Hades might.”
Slone nodded. “I plan on it.”
And he did.
After an awkward thirty-minute-long talk in his kitchen, the women came to us. And Slone finally got his chance to apologize.
“I’m sorry for not looking beneath the surface, Hades,” Slone said quietly.
Hades came to me and burrowed into my body.
I wrapped both arms around her and pulled her between my legs where I was sitting on the bar stool.
I pressed a kiss to the side of her throat just as Hades said, “I think we should all start over.”
Slone nodded, looking relieved.
Ari smiled a watery smile.
And my woman stayed exactly where she was.
“You okay?” I whispered into her ear after a few minutes.
She turned to look at me as she said, “I will be.”
She sure would.
EPILOGUE
Okay, hear me out. An old-fashioned candy necklace, but with Tums and Ibuprofen.
-Text from Hades to Hannibal
HADES
I don’t know what I’d been thinking when I met Hannibal.
I should’ve known, based solely on the way he bulldozed through life, that he wouldn’t give up the ‘going to the Middle East and saving people’ thing.
Yet, here we were, a year and a half into our marriage, and he was coming back from his third trip over there. One trip had taken two months. One three. And this one, luckily, was only seven weeks.
Sure, during those times I gave my family uninhibited access to my routines and free labor—because I was never going to be an employee of Circus House again—but I also missed the heck out of him.
I’d proved Keene wrong, however.
I didn’t need Hannibal there to hold my hand through everything.
He’d fixed me.
I didn’t have a problem with being left alone.
At least, mostly.
I still missed him, but I didn’t lose my shit when he wasn’t around.
I was a happy, healthy, and loved human being.
I was also horny as hell.
Who knew that when Hannibal left the last time, he wasn’t just leaving me, but someone else as well.
And, because I knew it would embarrass the hell out of him, I made a sign that said, “Peters, report for booty.’
I also decorated it with red, white and blue streamers, sparkles and glitter.
He was going to hate it.
