Final Cost (The Winter Trilogy #3)

Epilogue

One Week Later

Lucien

“I have a confession,” Tamsyn says when I join her.

I mirror her posture, leaning my arms on the railing and enjoying the view. The sparkling Mediterranean seems more turquoise than indigo today. No telling what color blue we’ll get tomorrow. Meanwhile, Monte Carlo looks serene and peaceful in the distance. “Do tell.”

She faces me, her sweeping gesture encompassing the yacht, the stewards ushering platters of food to the table for lunch and our teak deck chairs nearby. “I kind of prefer your method of seeing the C?te d’Azur to the whole cruise ship thing.”

I thought she might. I smother a smile. “You sure? We don’t have bingo. Or trivia night.”

“Well, there are drawbacks,” she says gravely. “Plus, I kinda miss Mrs. Hooper and her crew of old ladies.”

That gets a laugh out of me. “I’m happy to fly them in if you like.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely not.”

We laugh together, another of the fantastic moments between us that come so fast and furious these days. I can never resist touching her, so I reach out and smooth her hair back from where the breeze has blown it into her face, enjoying the way the sunlight hits the honeyed strands. “But if you miss her, I’m happy to have the whole gang out to Ackerley when we get back.”

“Oh, yeah? Juniper, too?”

“I’d never dream of excluding Juniper. He’s a VIP as I recall.”

More laughter.

“So, listen,” she says, looking shy all the sudden. Which is unusual, considering that we wake up most mornings with either my dick in her mouth or my head between her legs. Let’s just say we’re way past shyness with each other. So she’s got my interest. “I have a surprise for you.”

I feel a strange swoop inside. “A surprise? For me?”

My bafflement seems to amuse her. “Yes. For you .”

“Why?”

She bursts out laughing. “Because I love you and I want to give you something. You give me things all the time.”

I still don’t get it. “So? What’s that got to do with anything?”

More laughter. “Well, it certainly works for me. Getting fabulous jewels and vacations and real estate all the time. But at some point, a little reciprocation seems appropriate. Otherwise, it’s kind of unfair to you. Don’t you think?”

“No. I don’t think,” I say, frowning. “I’ve got everything I need. Every day with you is Christmas. What else is there?”

Her smile manages to be both brighter and more beautiful than any of our spectacular surroundings. “Why so suspicious?” she says as she reaches into one of the folds of her filmy blue sarong.

“I can’t remember the last time anyone surprised me with anything,” I say, the tips of my ears feeling hot now.

“Well, that’s about to change.” She produces a black velvet jewelry box, starts to give it to me, then hesitates. “It’s nothing extravagant,” she says quickly. “I don’t want to get your hopes up.”

If she only knew how hard she’s got my heart thumping right now, she’d cut herself a break. “So it’s not the keys to a new Bugatti?”

“No,” she says, laughing. She opens the box, revealing a heavy ID bracelet with engraving on it. “Like I said, it’s not fabulous. It’s only sterling silver. But it’s very precious to me.”

“Why is that?” I asked softly, watching her closely because she seems a little teary.

She pulls the bracelet out of the case and tosses the box onto the nearest lounge chair, then holds it up to show me the engraving. For Big Ralph , it says on one side. We’ll miss you , it says on the other.

My heart thumps harder.

“The guys at the shop give this to my father when he sold the shop. They knew he was very sick but he didn’t want them to worry. So they all pretended it was a retirement gift. Anyway, I hope you like —”

“I love it.” I can’t stick my arm out fast enough. “Put it on.”

She’s all smiles again, laughing and quickly swiping away her tears. The bracelet goes on and we both admire it. Then I pull her in for a hug.

“Thank you,” I say, my voice husky now.

“I just wanted my dad to be involved with us a little. You know?”

“I know,” I say, letting her go and deciding to confess what I’ve been up to. “So did I. That’s why I asked for his blessing. For our marriage.”

“What?” Her jaw drops. “You asked for his blessing? What do you mean?”

“I mean, this is what exposure to you does to me. You’ve got me going to cemeteries and speaking to graves. I was there the day after they discharged me from the hospital. The same day I went to the office. It just seemed like the right thing to do.”

She recovers somewhat, but her brows are still somewhere up near her hairline. “And what did he say?”

I choke back a laugh. I still can’t believe the whole episode myself. “Let’s just say he was disappointingly silent.”

“Sorry about that,” she says, also laughing. “He’s like that.”

I pull her in again, kissing her forehead. “But I got the feeling he was pleased.”

“But not as pleased as I am.” She takes my hand and backs toward our state room. “Do you have a minute before lunch? I can show you how pleased I am.”

I recognize and live for that gleam in her eyes. “For you? I have all the time in the world.”

“I thought you might. Oh, and before I forget— I’ve been meaning to mention that we never found out who told the paparazzi that I was staying with Mrs. Hooper. I don’t know why we didn’t ask Daniel about that when we had the chance. Now we’ll never know.”

I give her a funny look. “Who else would it have been? What made you think about that ?”

“I don’t know. I was just thinking about all the stars that had to line up for us to be together. The way we met. The way Mrs. Hooper’s fall allowed me to go to Ackerley with you. The way the paparazzi swarm led me to go back to Ackerley. The way the bullet missed your important organs when you were shot. I know you don’t believe in fate, but I kind of do.”

“Interesting,” I say, keeping my poker face firmly in place and renewing my resolve never to tell her that I was the one who tipped the paparazzi off about her whereabouts. Why? Because I have contacts in the press and I don’t believe in fate. Never have. So when I saw an opportunity to put some pressure on Tamsyn to come back to Ackerley and me, I took it.

But that can be my little secret. One thing I know about Tamsyn is that she would not appreciate learning about another one of my little interventions on behalf of our relationship.

Smothering a smile, I follow my fiancée to our state room for a little early afternoon delight, thinking that life has turned out to be pretty fucking good. And I don’t plan to rock our boat ever again.

Unless absolutely necessary.

Thank you for reading The Winter Trilogy! I hope you enjoyed Lucien and Tamsyn’s epic love story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Looking for what to read next? I’ve got more sexy billionaires for you. Starting with The Billionaire’s Princess —it’s FREE! Here’s a special excerpt from when our billionaire hero Damon realizes that the sexy woman who ghosted him after their unforgettable one night stand is an actual princess: