EPILOGUE
Alexis I knew he was referring to Charlotte, Madison, and Chyler—the beginning of what felt like my life. I wouldn’t be the woman I am today if it wasn’t for them all those years ago. They saved me then and saved me now.
Blowing a sigh, I looked down at our hands, finding it hard to hide the smile that tugged at the corners of my lips.
“Sure. But you might not like this story.” I brought my gaze up to meet his warm brown eyes, and he nodded.
“I’m sure it can’t be any worse than what we’ve already been through.” He added.
“Let’s see… it all started with a frat party and a bottle of Malibu…” I giggled.
I didn’t hide anything from him, learning my lesson from how I felt towards Madison and Chyler. Derek sat there for hours with me as I told him the story of how we became friends… sisters, and how I inevitably ended up working for Charlotte.
I may have been slightly vague about the details surrounding the jobs I had performed for her over the years, but those details didn’t and wouldn’t matter anymore. The past was finally in the past, and now I had a new future to look forward to.
One where I could be me but a little less stabby—or just enough.
As we sat on the patio, drinks in hand—Derek had a local craft beer, and I had a Malibu Dr Pepper—we admired the sunset together, the perfect setting to end a long day.
“Is there a reason why we are here tonight and not rolling around in the sheets?” I raised a dark brow, sipping my drink. I’ll never get over the flavor of coconut rum mixed with Dr Pepper. It’s like a vacation in my mouth—take me away.
“You’ll see. Just wait.” He smirked, and my eyes widened as I sat up straighter in my chair and looked around at the other tables.
“Derek. We’ve talked about this. You are—” I whisper- hissed in a panic.
“Not. I’m not.” He chuckled into his beer.
I fell back into my chair, blowing out a sigh of relief.
Of all the things we discussed in the past week, one was the future, what he wanted, and what I wanted. This relationship would only work if we were on the same page, and that page, as of right now, had no marriage or kids for a good long while.
Derek might have been ready to settle down, but I sure as hell wasn’t, and even though Chyler and Atlas had agreed on a long engagement, I wasn’t fond of that idea for us.
I was his, there was no doubt about that, and if I had to spend every night reassuring him of that fact, I’d be more than happy to, but I wasn’t ready to wear a ring—soon, but not yet.
“If that’s not the reason, then why?” I pressed, setting down my glass.
Derek gestured his chin over my shoulder with a smug smile, and I turned around, seeing three all-too-familiar faces.
Fuck. He fucking trapped me.
“Derek,” I growled, turning to face him and giving him a fuck you glare. He chuckled, standing to greet Atlas. The two of them had their guy hug moment before walking to the bar together, and Madison and Chyler took seats at our table.
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose as I squeezed my eyes shut in annoyance.
“You’ve ignored us long enough. It’s time to grow up, Lex.” Madison started. “We’re sorry, and we owe you an explanation. Quite a few, if I’m not mistaken.” Her eyes narrowed on Chyler, who just shrugged and grabbed my drink, taking a long sip before setting it back down in front of me.
“Where should we start?” Chyler sat back, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Anathema sounds like a good place… Or Abigail… Oh, how about we go all the way back to Adrian and his marriage proposal?” I ground out with sarcasm, glaring daggers at both of them. Madison stiffened in her chair at the sound of his name.
“Anything you want, Lex.” Madison paused before sighing. “We might be here a while.” She added, and Chyler snapped her fingers to grab Atlas’s attention, signaling him for drinks.
“Good thing this bar has plenty of booze then.” She chuckled. “Let the evening begin.”
And for the next six hours, we sat there as the heaviness between us was slowly cleared away.
Madison admitted to knowing what Adrian was up to with Anathema long before they had broken up, how she had every intention of marrying him and running the organization at his side.
“I was so stupid and reckless with my decisions. But I fully believed Adrian was everything I wanted and needed in my life. It took you, Chy, to make me realize just how blinded I was by his pretty words, promises, and lies.”
She apologized to Chyler for letting her take the fall for what had happened between her and Adrian.
Madison acknowledged that it was never her fault and shouldn’t have hung it over her head for so long.
It was a mistake that she would never make again, and would spend every day moving forward making up for it.
Chyler and I reassured Madison that no harm had been done and that we were all at fault. We should have stepped in at the first sign of what Adrian was doing to her instead of letting things escalate as far as they did.
The entire situation involving Adrian became water under the bridge, and by the end of our long heart-to-heart, all three of our consciences were cleared.
Regarding Abigail Brit, Madison and Chyler knew about her and who she was but felt she wasn’t significant enough for me to know her identity.
Abby stayed far away from all of us as she worked for Adrian.
She knew what we were capable of and was honestly scared to cross paths with us for fear of retaliation on Charlotte’s behalf.
There was no doubt about it: Abby was, in fact, Charlotte’s half-sister, spending most of her life in her shadow and attempting to sabotage her work every chance she got.
“A family feud that ended with bullets in both of their heads. Couldn’t ask for a better ending there.” Chyler chuckled.
Anathema was no more. With Adrian behind bars and the entire Minneapolis hideout gunned down, no one was left to run their operations. I’m sure they are reforming under new leadership in some other state, but as far as we were concerned, our city was finally free of them and their corruption.
The Minneapolis PD and SWAT involvement with Anathema was another story that neither of them knew about—a question I would have to ask Derek another time seeing as he had a connection with Sergeant Drake.
“If you ladies are still busy catching up, Derek and I are going to meet up with Dean and Marcus for drinks down the street.” Atlas cut in as they both approached our table.
The sun had set hours ago, and the stars lit up the night sky. With the air between us free and clear, I could sit here for hours, catching up with Chyler and Madison and the last year that had passed us by in what felt like the blink of an eye.
“Don’t let my boys get into trouble tonight, Atlas,” Madison smirked, narrowing her eyes on him—a warning. Oh yeah, a lot more catch-up…
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Mads.” He chuckled, planting a kiss against Chyler’s temple. “I’ll see you back at the house, sweet thing.” He whispered, and she beamed up at him.
House huh? I wonder when that happened.
Derek’s hand squeezed my shoulder from behind, jolting me from my thoughts as he lowered his head beside mine.
“Don’t drink too much. We have catching up of our own tonight.
” He murmured into my ear, and I sucked in a sharp breath as my thighs pressed together under the table.
I hated when he did this to me, especially when I was several drinks deep.
He chuckled, noticing the sudden movement, and pressed a kiss to my ear. “I’ll see you later, pretty viper.”
“Be good.” Madison reiterated as the two of them made for the bar’s exit.
“The house?” I raised a brow at Chyler with a grin .
“Not just playing anymore? Actually living in one?” Madison chimed in with a smirk.
“Get over yourselves,” Chyler mumbled with a laugh as we cheered our glasses together.
It was good to be back to where we once were, without all the fucked up strings.
DEREK… It’s surreal to know I have everything I want, and I couldn’t be any happier.
So much had happened between Alexis and me, and I never thought we would get to this point together, aside from the fact that she was refusing to let me get down on one knee for a reason other than to shove my face between her thighs.
AJ and I had been catching up at the office. I wanted to spend most of my time with Alexis if I could, but I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to reconnect with my best friend after all these months of just communicating over emails and text messages.
AJ and Chyler have been house hunting for the past two weeks, finally finding their— Chyler’s —dream home in the countryside.
I don’t know how he managed to pull off the sale as quickly as he did.
But they started moving in two days ago, and from the sound of things, their lives couldn’t be more perfect. Next up… the we dding…
“The boys have arrived!” Marcus threw his hands up in the air as AJ and I entered the crowded bar. The two of us shook our heads in unison. Leave it to Marcus to already be drunk and causing a scene.
Dean and Marcus had already ordered us beers, and they were sitting on the table waiting for us.
“Madison said to stay out of trouble.” AJ laughed, taking a seat, and I did the same.
“Pssh. She loves it. Isn’t that right, Dean?” He elbowed him, and Dean just gave Marcus the side eye as he sipped his drink, avoiding answering his question.
“So, which one of you is actually fucking her?” I raised a brow, gesturing between them, and they both glanced at each other with a smug smirk. “Oh fuck.” I sighed out a laugh. “No fucking way.”
AJ rubbed his forehead and bit his bottom lip at the thought of the three of them together.
“I’m not even going to ask.” He chuckled lightly, picking up his beer.
“You two couldn’t handle it,” Marcus added, patting Dean on the back. “She’s… energetic and—”
I held my hand up to stop him from continuing further as I took a long pull from my beer. I really didn’t need to hear any of this. Knowing they both were sleeping with her was more than enough information for me.
“Alright, Marcus. I think you’ve had enough.” I grabbed the last of his drink and finished it for him .
“You know I can just go order another one, right?” Marcus teased.
“And I’m sure you will, but at least then, you will be far enough away from this table for us to have a real conversation in your absence.” I goaded, gesturing to the crowded bar.
Marcus scoffed and moved to join the crowd that wrapped around the entire bar counter. He would be at least a good twenty minutes before he got his new drink.
“How’s she holding up?” I nudged Dean as I took Marcus’s spot beside him.
“She’s good. Still having nightmares, but all things considered, she’s almost back to herself.
” Dean sighed, looking down at his glass.
“She won’t tell either of us about her history with Adrian.
Hopefully, with time, she will, but he really did a number on her, Derek. ” He frowned, biting his cheek.
“Our women are strong; she’ll open up when she’s ready.” AJ chimed in. “Don’t force her; you’ll just scare her away.”
I nodded, knowing that all too well with Alexis. If it weren’t for their looks, you’d think the three of them genuinely were sisters, more than just at heart. The resemblance in personality and fuck you attitude was uncanny.
“I know.” Dean blew out a sigh. “I just wish it were easier.”
“Which part? The relationship or her?” I chuckled, trying to make light of the conversation.
“Her. The relationship is easy. Perfect even.” He smiled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. ”
“You and Marcus give a new meaning to the term Eskimo brothers.” AJ laughed, clinking his glass against Dean’s.
“You don’t even know the half of it.” He mumbled, shaking his head and finishing his drink.
“Whatever happened to Eli? I don’t recall seeing him leave with the SWAT team that night in the hideout.
” Dean asked, placing his empty glass on the table, and I couldn’t help the shit-eating grin that beamed on my face.
“You don’t need to worry about him.” I tipped back the last of my beer and set down the glass with a dark chuckle as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.