Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 110273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Kash smirked. “I know.”
“You think he’s ready for something like that?”
He nodded. “I do. He’s been quiet about it, but he’s gone back to managing the Francois Nova, and he’s doing well. There’s been no complaints. I talked to a few of the employees and they’re happy with him, said he was a new and improved Matthew Francis.”
I was pleased to hear that, and proud. “He never told me.”
Kash’s grin was slow and warm. “We’ve kinda had a lot going on ourselves.”
“Very true. And back to your idea, I think it’s a perfect fit for him.”
“Good.” He leaned over, a finger under my chin. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to go home.” He kissed me, making it slow and delicious, and it sent tingles through my whole body. “Do you want to stay?”
“After that kiss?”
A low chuckle came from him. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
EPILOGUE
Kash
Two years later
Everyone heard the laughter throughout the church.
I was standing at the front, my arms folded in front of me. Peter was in the pew and shaking his head. A space was next to him for Chrissy. Matthew stood next to me, dressed all fancy in his tuxedo. Chase was next to him. Cyclone was my last groomsman.
The girls hadn’t started coming down the aisle yet, but they were back there.
Everyone was listening.
They’d been boozing it up since Torie brought half the bar with her. Seraphina was standing just beyond the door, peeking in. I couldn’t hear her, but I knew there was a wedding planner back there. She’d been up my ass with financials since Bailey insisted on hiring her. Little did I know it was all a ploy.
Bailey didn’t want to plan the wedding. She knew I didn’t, either, and she didn’t want to let Chrissy loose on the job; hence, a wedding planner, who I’d seen running around, her hands in the air, a permanent look of exasperation on her face, and no one blamed her. Bailey had taken to making a game of evading her.
So she was either back there, hissing at them to hurry up, or they got her drunk right alongside them.
“Anyone else jealous of the bridesmaids?” Matt said under his breath, straightening his collar. “Also, why didn’t we sneak some booze ourselves? Note for your future best man.”
Cyclone started laughing.
Chase’s mouth moved, curving up.
It’d been a long road for Chase and me, but I was glad he was back, and I was glad he was standing up for me today. As if feeling the “twin thing,” he caught my eye, and his own flashed. He dipped his head down to me.
Yeah. A long way.
“They’re coming,” Cyclone whispered, rolling his shoulders back. He had shot up in height over the summer, looking almost like an eighteen-year-old. With a small Mohawk happening. I heard Bailey groan almost daily about the girls sending her little brother private messages on his accounts.
How she knew, I wasn’t asking. Everyone knew.
We just let her do her thing, because who was going to stop her? She’d appointed herself the cyber guardian over the entire family, Marie and Theresa included. Payton as well. All three of them that were in the back, too.
Then the music started.
The girls were lined up.
And Seraphina was the first down.
Melissa was next.
Torie and Tamara walked together, since Bailey couldn’t make up her mind. Matt loved the idea of having two bridesmaids on his arm.
The music changed.
Everyone stood.
The back doors parted, and there she was.
Stunning. Beautiful. My life.
Bailey was smiling so wide, she was literally glowing.
Chrissy was walking beside her.
I was about to cry.
She started toward me.
Three years after that
“I hate you!”
I cringed, holding my wife’s hand as her legs were pulled up into stirrups, spread wide. A sheet was over her legs, with the doctor’s head angled between them.
“Push again. Almost there, Bailey!”
“I’m almost there. Did you hear that?” She squeezed again, glaring at me, gritting her teeth. Sweat was rolling down her face. “I’m almost there. Famous fucking last words. Pretty sure that’s the same words you said nine months ago.”
I sighed, running a thumb over her hand. She could crush it all she wanted.
I closed my eyes, knowing it was a matter of seconds, and then …
Our son’s wails filled the room.
Then Bailey remembered she loved me, and we named him Matthew Curtis Colello.
Two more years later
Chase Peter Colello was born.
Three years more
Christina Seraphina Colello entered the world.
Another ten years even later
“Come on. Don’t be shy.”
We were sparring at one of my gyms. We had reserved it just for this afternoon, the two of us. Chase had just flown into town and I wanted some time with him. Matt would join us later, but only to heckle us, and he’d talk us into having a drink at his new bar. It was our routine.
Bailey was doing her thing, but unlike the days when I knew what she was doing, she no longer could tell me. The government paid her well to keep creating more programs, though she didn’t do it for that reason. She did it for the thrill. A year after she graduated with her master’s degree, she wrote a cybersecurity program that became the top seller among cybersecurity experts. She kept perfecting it, and once she sold the license for it, her net worth nearly rivaled mine.