Captain Vos gets the yacht parked and the guys start heading out, waving to the staff as they go. I’d say I’m going to miss these guys, but that’s not really true. I still don’t really know their names. I’ve been solely focused on this fine girl for the entire trip.
“I’ll see you guys in six months,” Gabriel says with a wave. He walks off the yacht all hunched over like he took a beating. With the amount of alcohol he consumed, I know his liver took one heck of a pounding.
“I’m free!” Aubrey says as she turns to me with a smile. She had a bunch of vacation days saved up during her four years working at the yacht charting company and I was thrilled when she told me she was ready to take a big chunk of them.
The first thing I did was call my brothers to let them know that I’d be back in a month. Maybe longer.
“When is the jet flying back?” Westin asked in a panic.
I grinned into the phone. “It’s mine for the month.”
“Do you know how much gas is on that thing and the pilots aren’t—”
I didn’t let him finish. He’ll be pissed at all of the miles we’re going to put on it, but he’s just going to have to deal with it. Nothing is going to stop me from spending time with my girl.
“Are you sure you want to go to Texas?” Aubrey asks, staring at me in disbelief. “I told you how shitty the town was, didn’t I?”
“I want to see where you grew up,” I tell her. “And it’s important to me to ask your parents for your hand in marriage before I make it official with a ring.”
She gets that big smile on her face that always warms my heart.
“So… There’s going to be a ring?”
“Of course, there’s going to be a ring!” I say as I grab her hand. “Texas first, then ring shopping, and then we celebrate anywhere on the planet you want to go.”
“I’ve never been to Paris,” she says with her eyebrows raised. “Or Thailand. Or New Zealand. What do you think?”
“We have a month and a private jet with a personal pilot. I think we should go to all of them.”
She squeals as I squeeze her hand and we walk off the yacht.
Into our future.
Into endless possibility.
Together.
Forever…
Epilogue
Luke
Six Months Later…
“Are all of the weddings you guys attend this extravagant?” Aubrey asks as she looks around the luxurious hall in awe.
“No way,” Westin says. “This must have cost at least twenty million.”
“For the buffet maybe,” Brooke says. “The bride’s dress alone is at least half a mil. It was designed by Gianna Vizziello!”
“Wow,” Eli says with a gasp. “Wait, am I supposed to know who that is?”
Brooke frowns at him. “Only people with style would know who that is, so no.”
The whole family is sitting at a table during Gabriel’s wedding. It was nice of him to invite us, but then again, there are over seven hundred people here. He probably invited his entire kindergarten class.
I look around the table with a smile on my face. Nolan whispers something into Arya’s ear and she blushes shyly.
“Hey!” Westin warns as he slaps the table. “Don’t go sneaking off. We don’t want to lose more business on account of you two.”
Eli and Carrie are sitting on Aubrey’s left and I’m on her right. Brooke and Westin are both still single, so they came alone.
“It’s such a beautiful wedding,” Aubrey says as she looks around in wonder. “I thought weddings like this only happened for royalty or in movies.”
Gabriel really did go all out. There are white flower arrangements the size of trees every few feet, the finest champagne on the planet, an army of ice sculptures, so much lobster I’m worried the species might be extinct after this, and I heard a rumor that John Legend is warming up backstage.
It must have cost an absolute fortune.
“Don’t get any ideas,” Eli says to her with a laugh. “Your fiancée is broke now that he’s investing in rundown surf shops rather than hedge funds.”
“That surf shop is the fastest-growing retail store in the US,” I snap back. “Twenty-six retail stores in the past two years! And Cline Corp is now a majority shareholder with a thirty-five percent ownership.”
Aubrey runs her hand over mine as she smiles up at me proudly. We have been killing it in the Caribbean lately. I’ve been following her around on the yacht, finding and investing in all sorts of businesses in the tourism sector. Even Westin is impressed, which is saying a lot.
After we traveled the world for a month, we returned to the Caribbean and I sent the jet home to Westin. I told Brooke and all my brothers that I was setting up shop down there and there wasn’t anything they could do about it. I still go up to New York every six weeks or so for family dinners and the odd business function, but I’m shopping for a beachfront villa in the Cayman Islands with my girl. She just quit her job on the yacht and is coming to work with me. I can’t wait.
“Hello, everyone.” We all look up to see a pretty young woman standing at our table. She’s wearing a beautiful red dress and has long red hair. “I’m the sister of the groom, Victoria Brown.”
“Oh!” Nolan says. “We worked with your father.”
“I’m quite aware,” she says with a firm voice. “I’d like to meet up with Cline Corp and discuss our families’… partnership.”
I glance over at Westin and his jaw is literally hanging open. He’s staring at Victoria in awe, as if she’s one of those ice sculptures come to life.
“I wasn’t aware that you were working with Gabriel,” I say.
Her eyes dart over to me and I shiver nervously under her hard imposing stare.
“I am now. With the way Gabriel is burning through our money, we’ll be bankrupt in two years. There’s going to be some changes now that I’m taking over.”
Eyes dart around the table, but we’re mostly looking at Westin. This is exactly the kind of situation that he would normally take control of, but he’s strangely silent.
He looks dumbstruck as he stares at her.
“I’ll be paying your office a visit first thing Monday morning,” she says as her back straightens. “I trust you’ll be able to make some time for me?”
Again, Westin is silent.
“Yes!” Nolan quickly says. “We’ll be there waiting with fresh coffee and bagels.”
He has a big welcoming smile on his face, but Victoria doesn’t return it. She just nods her head and walks away.
“What does that mean?” Carrie asks. “Do you think she’s going to keep her business with you guys?”
“She’d be crazy not to,” Eli says with a shrug. “What do you think this is about, Westin?”
Westin is still staring at the spot where she was with his mouth gaping wide open. “I’m in love.”
“Oh God,” we all mutter.
This can’t be good.