What I am is a man who loves her, who’s willing to put down his life for her. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe, and what’s crazy is she wants to do the same for me.
Holding her sweet face against my chest, I stroke her soft hair as I press my lips against her forehead. We’ve faced our demons, and we've come out on top.
We’ve always been fearless, but before we were two halves of a perfect whole. Now we’re titanium, creating something new and unstoppable. That’s how it’s going to be, the two of us, and our family, all of them, forever.
EPILOGUE
Blake
“Oh em gee, check it out!” Carmen is lying on the floor of my bedroom, swiping through wedding dresses on my oversized iPad pro. “This is the one–it even has a cute little cheerleader style skirt. When you guys disappear from the reception, everyone will know why.”
“Let me see.” I temporarily leave my own preparations to see what she’s found. “That’s hot. But would it be appropriate for the groom to be sporting a woody in front of all our friends and family?”
“Who knew Mr. Tall, Dark, and Stubborn was so into cheerleaders?”
“Have you ever met a guy who wasn’t into cheerleaders?” I swipe a little more, pausing on a short, white dress with a deep, V-neck and flowing sleeves. “Oh, I love this one. This might be the one.”
“Yes! With your hair all gathered up in a messy bun with tendrils and a long, white veil.” Carmen falls back, holding her chest. “It’ll be breathtaking. We should do it out at the beach, barefoot. The breeze blowing, the waves crashing–”
“We’ve got plenty of time to plan. The wedding is six months away. Hana’s birthday is this weekend. Would you focus?”
“Okay.” She sits up, putting the iPad on my bed and immediately picking up a book I forgot to put away. “Don’t tell me you played it?”
Her lips press together, and she’s on the verge of bursting into laughter. It’s the board book with a giant hole in the center, and the title Penis Pokey in a bright red banner across the top.
My face flames red, and I grab it out of her hands. “What’s that doing out? Pepper might find it.”
“Oh, no, you’re not getting off that easy. Did you play it? I want all the details.”
I give the hall a quick glance before closing the door and turning back with a snort. “Nobody got off easy. It was awful. He’s too big for the hole!”
Her eyes widen comically, and she squeals, pointing to the book. “Bigger than that? Holy shit.”
“I mean, not at first, but once we got going…” Covering my face with my hands, I shriek, “It got stuck, and we couldn’t get it off. It’s a freaking board book.”
“What did you do?” She bounces onto her knees.
Leaning back, I give her a smug grin. “I mean, I couldn’t leave him like that. I had to help him finish with my mouth.”
“Ew!” She throws the book at me, and I catch it fast, laughing more.
“It’s not dirty. I swallowed!”
“I swear to God, you are too good for him.” She shakes her head, going to the desk, where I have my plans for Hana’s party on my laptop. “Hutch Winston was the most uptight, controlled, never crack a smile… hard ass. You’re shaking that up for sure.”
Sliding the book in my drawer, I remember that first night I walked in to find him in the shower moaning my name. “He shook me up pretty good, too. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”
“Now you’re just gloating.” She waves me away. “Let’s get back to Hana’s birthday before I go home and have a pity party.”
“We’ll find you a man, don't worry.” I pat her back. “Maybe he’ll be shagging at the party.”
“Maybe I’ll shag him at the party.” She cocks an eyebrow, and I wave her away.
“Not until after we cut the cake. Now, what do you think about this design?”
I show her a top hat cake with sparklers on top and tiny champagne bottles lining the sides.
“These are so cute.” She leans closer. “I’ve never seen bedazzled champagne bottles.”
“This service will come and decorate the main house with iridescent beaded curtains and black lights. They’ll even use these iridescent balloons, so the whole thing will be like bubbles and celebration. I want to have her name and Happy Birthday spelled out in pink roses. They’re her favorite, and I love these camera party favors. Read the tags.”
Carmen lifts the pink card attached to the camera. “Help me remember tonight. I love it. This is going to be the talk of Hamiltown. Everybody and their sister are going to be copying what you’ve done here.”
“I hope she likes it.” Leaning back, I pick up my phone. “Hana’s had enough sadness in her life, and I don’t know if she even remembers half her birthdays. I want this one to be memorable–in the best way.”
“What are you getting her?”
My chest squeezes, and I grab Carmen’s hands, pulling her to the bed to sit across from me. “It’s a big surprise. Can you keep a secret?”
“Nope.” She shakes her head, frowning. “But tell me, and I’ll avoid Hana like the plague until her birthday.”
That makes me snort, but I can’t keep a secret either. “I have a friend, Erin, she’s a curator at the Milo gallery in New York. I sent her some of Hana’s photographs, and she’s going to arrange for her to have a show there pretty much whenever she chooses. Erin thinks she can get a lot of buzz going for it, especially with our family connections and all.”
I stop to breathe, and I feel the flush in my cheeks. Carmen’s eyes are wide, and she chews her lip. “That’s a good thing, right?”
“Yes!” I cry. “It’s a great thing. It’s her introduction to the art world.”
“I’m sorry!” Carmen covers her eyes. “I don’t know anything about the art world. I don’t know how it works.”
“It’s a really good thing. It usually takes a long time for artists to get a show, and then they have to have built some kind of buzz or know somebody…”
“Sounds like Hana knows the perfect somebody.” Carmen pets my arm. “Her awesome big sister!”
“Stop it.” I give her a little nudge with my shoulder. “What did you get her?”
“I found the cutest little camera bag. I know she doesn’t need it, but I only know one thing she really wants. Besides your thing, of course.”
My brow furrows, and I feel like I missed something. “What?”
“Seriously? You don’t know the one thing your sister wants for her birthday?”
Shaking my head, I’m at a loss until Carmen levels her dark brown eyes on mine. “I’ll give you a hint. He’s six-foot-four, solid muscle, scary as fuck, so fucking hot it’s scary.”
“Oh,” I exhale a nervous laugh. “Hutch said he would tell Scar about the party. Then he told me Scar’s not much for parties. I don’t know if that means he’s not coming or if he’ll come and scowl the whole time.”