After we say our goodbyes, we walk over to another set of graves. The ones I always visit because it brings me peace to be here.
“I love you, Mom. I love you, Dad,” I whisper to the tombstones. More tears flow down my cheeks as I kneel to touch the cold surface. “I want you to meet someone very important to me. Mom, Dad, this is Tobias. He was with me that day. The day you left, he saved me.” I continue to tell them everything, and then when I have no more words in my lungs, I stand.
Tobias is next to me, and his one arm wraps around my waist. Together, we walk into the future, leaving the past behind us.
Ready to live and love forever.
Epilogue
Skye
Two years later . . .
Turns out, pushing a nine-pound human being out of your body is not pleasant. My hand reaches out blindly, searching for my husband’s.
Tobias latches onto it, lacing our fingers together.
“I need a distraction.” I’m practically begging.
I turn away from the team of doctors and nurses, giving Tobias my full attention. It helps. As soon as our eyes lock, the idea that I am about to have another piece of the man I love—that our child will look like him, act like him (God, help me), and sound like him—hits me.
Adrenaline rushes through me.
And the drugs.
Which, in hindsight, is my husband’s most brilliant idea to date.
I love the drugs.
If I weren’t already married, I’d have proposed to the anesthesiologist.
Who am I kidding? I did.
Tobias snarled at the poor man and reminded me it was his idea.
Leave it to the drug dealer to suggest drugs.
I thank the epidural gods and squeeze Tobias’s hand, repeating, “I need a distraction!”
“I never jerked off in the bathroom after I got off the elevator.” He says it so casually, I almost miss the meaning.
But then it slams into me, and my cheeks turn a bright shade of pink. Around us, the doctors and nurses are stunned silent. I’m about to yell at my husband when I feel it.
The last push. And I hear the most beautiful sound. Our son.
Tobias
Three more years later. . .
We don’t come to Reddington often, but when we do, there is one place we always go. It’s the one place most people would think we wouldn’t go, but it’s important to us to make peace with what happened all those years ago and make new memories.
It looks exactly the same all these years later. Still decorated in 1950s style with black-and-white-checkered floors and blue leather booths. Al’s Diner. The smell of chocolate infiltrates the air.
It used to make me sad to come here. It used to break Skye as well, but now, as we sit at the booth with the cold, refreshing taste of the milkshake in front of us, all feels right in the world.
The taste of the sweet concoction is enough to make me smile every time we come, but it’s my son’s laughter as he wipes whipped cream off his nose that makes my heart soar.
Across the table, Skye holds Mason.
I never thought I could love anyone as much as I love Skye, but then she gave me a son. He is everything right in this world.
Life hasn’t been simple since the day we took down the people who killed our family. Walking away from my business wasn’t as easy as I thought, but it was worth it. Every hardship we went through was worth it to get to this place. Gideon took over and he’s been ruling with an iron fist. As for Fitzpatrick . . .
He got what he deserved.
He was found guilty. He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Good fucking riddance.
After the gala and after we said goodbye to Skye’s family, we went to Miami and said goodbye to mine.
I proposed on the roof of our home.
Yes, the moment we got back from Miami, I forced Skye to move it with me, and since that day, she has never left my side.
Then I made her marry me.
Again, in our house.
And the honeymoon, well, let’s just say the tree house got round two.
As for the days, well, she’s still my attorney, but now she only works for me, and let me tell you, I keep her too busy to object.
Now legitimate, my empire has grown even more. But instead of drugs, I have expanded my real estate portfolio. Building high-rise apartment buildings is what keeps me busy these days.
But the most important thing in my life is my family.
From across the table, I watch them while they drink from their milkshakes. She tells our son funny stories.
He loves everything that she says. Right now, she’s talking about planes. At three years old, he dreams of building planes and flying them.
That’s our favorite thing to do together: make them from paper and watch them take off. After leaving here, we will go to the park next door and do just that.
Sometimes, I wonder if I’m dreaming, or maybe I died here all those years ago.
Maybe I was the one who was shot, and Skye was just the angel sent down to show me the way. A man like me doesn’t deserve this life. Or, at least, that’s what I felt like for a long time. Day by day, Skye has helped me see that everyone deserves a second chance. It took me a long time to agree, but then, like she always does, she made me see it.
That despite my sins, I’m worthy of happiness.
Mason and Skye are my second chance. This time, I’ll do it right.
“I think we should get milkshakes tomorrow, Daddy,” Mason says as they finish their milkshake. I can’t help but laugh. If it were up to him, he’d get one every day. My son. A son who will not live in the darkness as I had to. A son who will only be touched by light.
“I have to agree. We should get milkshakes every day.” Skye laughs, and I lift my brow.
“Really?”
“Yep . . . I have that craving.”
I place my cup down and cock my head. “You have a craving?”
Her lips spread into a giant smile, the same smile she gave me four years ago when she told me she was pregnant.
“Are you sure?” My heart thumps in my chest as I wait for her to answer.
“Yeah.”
“Sure, about what, Mommy?” Mason asks.
“That you’re going to be a big brother.” Skye’s eyes are filled with tears.
Standing, I grab my wife in my arms.
“Thank you,” I whisper against her lips.
“For what?”
“For giving me a family. For giving me a home. For being my past and my future.”
Sneak Peak:
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Sneak Peak Of Corrupt Kingdom
The Devil came out to play, bargaining lives for a price, sending those to Hell who crossed him.
Chapter 1
Cyrus
I’m the king. This is my castle, and if I had a throne, I’d be fucking sitting on it.