Epilogue #2
His mouth brushes my ear, the heat of it making my knees weaken. “No, sweetheart. I’m planning on tying you up because you don’t.”
I gasp, but he’s already moving—one hand sliding beneath my sweater, the other fisting gently in my hair as he guides me backward.
“Lesson one: submission under pressure. Lesson two …” His gaze rakes down my body. “How to beg properly. While bound.”
My pulse pounds so hard I can barely think.
“Are you always this bossy with your fake wives?” I whisper.
“Only the one I plan to keep,” he growls, lifting me without effort. “Can’t have a wife who doesn’t know how to slip a knot—or stay in one.” He slides his hand to the small of my back and pulls me against him, every line of his body promising discipline and pleasure.
“Guess I’d better learn,” I breathe.
“Starting now.” He lifts me effortlessly, my legs circling his waist as he carries me toward the bedroom—our shadows melting into the warm flicker of firelight, the mountains beyond a silent witness to the new identities we’ve claimed and the darker truths we’re still unraveling.
Tomorrow, the fight continues.
But tonight, I surrender. Again. And again.
I found something I never expected. Purpose beyond the byline. Connection beyond the temporary intensity of breaking news. A partner who challenges me, protects me, sees me for exactly who I am, and wants me anyway.
And when the snow melts, we’ll continue fighting from the shadows.
Phoenix operates in the darkness, its algorithms calculating threat assessments, dispatching resources, and eliminating targets with cold precision.
A person known only as “Shadow” continues authorizing its deadly operations somewhere.
Somewhere, more innocent people stumble across truths that make them targets.
But something has changed. Something Phoenix’s calculations can’t account for.
Two ghosts move in that same darkness. Two people, officially dead but very much alive, with unique knowledge of the system hunting them, and nothing left to lose.
Ryan shifts in his sleep, arm tightening around my waist as if he’s determined to keep me safe even while sleeping. I place my hand over his, feeling the strength in his fingers, the warmth of his palm against my skin.
Outside, snow continues to fall, blanketing our hidden sanctuary in pristine white. Inside, plans take shape, purposes align, a future neither of us could have imagined begins to form.