Extended Epilogue
Azrael
Shoving my hands into my pockets, I stand on the top of the hill and watch my brother, Stone, welcome his blood family into his home. It’s a small coastal dwelling that doubles up as a café for locals, and an unfamiliar warmth spreads through me as I imagine Sienna offering her recipes as meals to her customers.
She beams toward her husband, and a lump forms in my throat when I see the large bump that reveals her with child.
They’re safe. They’re together, and they’re building a life they previously only dreamed of. I’m proud of them. Both of them.
“You look like you’re going to smile,” Czar teases, and I throw him a glare, making him throw his head back on a dark chuckle that even I can admit sounds sadistic as fuck.
Sienna takes Stone by the hand and leads him inside, where the rest of his family follow suit.
“They look happy.” Czar motions toward them.
“They do.” I agree, but I can’t admit the way my heart hammers and jealousy floods my bloodstream and slithers through my darkened veins like a poison.
The thought of being free from the restraints of our father’s confines and La Familia has never looked so appealing, especially when I consider what I have waiting for me at home, because what if I was free to do what I wanted too?
What if my slave was free?
Would she choose me?
“You look envious,” Czar asserts.
I turn my head over my shoulder to meet his eyes. “I am.”
His head rears back as his gaze slowly travels over me, as if looking at me for the first time. His eyes fill with sympathy, then he licks his lips. “You can’t have it.” He’s referring to freedom, of course, and I nod, my heart beating faster than ever. I can’t have it.
“Neither can you,” I bite back in reference to his impending arranged marriage, and he grimaces at the reminder.
“You’re the heir to the family, Azrael, and you’re literally named after the angel of death.” His feet shift from side to side, and he lowers his voice. “You’re born to be our leader when our father passes.”
“I know.” I hold his stare, and something passes between us. A silent conversation that acknowledges my time is coming soon. That our father can’t live for much longer, not when he’s so out of control. Not with the O’Connells so hellbent on revenge too.
What he doesn’t realize is, I may be named after the angel of death, but his name means ruler, emperor of the kingdom.
Czar was born to be the leader; I was born to make him it.