Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 44963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
He takes my hands, his jaw tight. I can read my husband well now. If Brody wasn’t here, he’d pull me in for a passionate kiss.
“You’re going to do so well today,” I tell him. “I’m proud of you.”
“I’m proud of you,” he replies. “College, raising this little one, working on your charity business plan.”
I’m tempted to roll my eyes again. Luke has been encouraging me with that, finding a niche within the charity space that funnels more of the money directly to the cause.
“That’s a long way off yet.”
He leans over, kissing me on the cheek.
“You can do anything, Violet. Anything.”
He kisses the top of Brody’s head. “And so can you, little man. We’ll always support you.”
EPILOGUE
TEN YEARS LATER
Violet
“I got it, Daddy!” Brody sings after firing the pellet gun.
The pellet bounces off the tin can with a ping noise.
I don’t have to worry about Olivia waking. She sleeps peacefully in my arms, far more peaceful than Brody and Finn and Waverly did.
They’re lined up from left to right, Brody looking down at his sights, already aiming at the next tin. Finn kneels beside him, our seven-year-old who looks so much like Dad, minus the birthmark. He has Dad’s eyes and his smile.
Waverly, our four-year-old, holds a pretend gun, making bang bang noises every time she “fires.” She grins over her shoulder at me as she stomps up and down.
“She reminds me of you,” Dad says from beside me, a big smile on his face, the norm these days.
Leaving the East Coast was the best thing that ever happened to us. Dad found the space to slowly, carefully move on from Mom, finding a new woman and settling down to establish his accountancy business.
With Luke’s help, I was able to set up a charity that’s been running for six years now. It’s hard work, especially since our main ethos has never changed. As much money as possible goes directly to the cause, meaning we have to work hard on the budget, but it’s so worth it.
Luke kneels next to Brody and Finn, one hand on each of their shoulders. My husband’s body is still as hulking as it was when we first met, his bare arms bulging in the T-shirt, his massive form showing no signs of getting smaller, less fierce as the years move on.
Even after switching his job to a successful protection business working with high-profile clients, my husband hasn’t retreated behind a desk.
“I always want to be capable of defending you,” he said to me a few nights ago, as we cuddled in bed. “Even when there’s no need, I want to be ready.”
He’s right. There’s no need now. The mob moved on a long time ago. Reginald is behind bars, and he’ll stay that way for many years to come. It still provokes feelings of profound safety in me, knowing there’s a hit man buried inside my husband, waiting to emerge if the time ever comes.
“Good job,” Luke says. “Both of you.”
“Daddy, look,” Finn says, laughing as he fires another shot.
Ping, and the can falls over.
“You’re a couple of sharpshooters, aren’t you?” Luke says warmly.
“Bang, bang, bang,” Waverly sings, marching.
Dad smiles across at me. “I mean it. Look at her hair, her smile, her eyes. It’s like looking at you at that age.” He leans forward. “Luke, why don’t you show them how it’s done?”
“Great idea, Grandad,” Brody says, leaping to his feet and offering the pellet gun to Luke.
Luke meets my eye with a smirk on his face. It brings me back to the old days, to the dash through the forest when I wanted to escape, the conversations in the safe houses, the first time we made love. Our wedding, the birth of Brody, all of it passing across his face.
“I don’t know if I’d be any good,” he says with irony.
“You have to try, Daddy,” Finn says.
Luke shrugs, turns, raises the pellet gun. The remaining four cans fall in the space of a second. Ping ping ping ping.
“Whoa,” Brody yells. “I’ve got the coolest Daddy ever.”
My heart swells when Brody throws his arms around Luke, clutching onto his hip. Then Finn and Waverly join in, the four of them embracing as I rock Olivia gently in my arms.
The End