Epilogue #5
Emily was coming to him, and after all that had happened, the months that had passed with him waiting for her to finish her dissertation, Emma Sutherland, their CIA liaison, had discovered who had tampered with the UAV, one of the pilots.
He’d betrayed his country for money. He was already paying for that.
A low rumble broke the quiet. Deeper, brighter than any car. He frowned, straightening. The sound thickened into a growl, then a roar that sent his heart thudding. Then he saw it, rolling down the street like sin dipped in bubblegum. A hot pink Mustang, gleaming like it owned the asphalt.
She stopped at the curb, cut the engine. When Emily swung out, red hair catching fire in the sun, he couldn’t move for a beat.
Toby and Beast came out of the house, clapping and barking.
He laughed loud and deliberate, grinning like an idiot when Toby ran to her and lifted her off her feet, swinging her around while Beast danced around her.
She laughed, breathless, hugging him back just as hard, petting the excited dog.
“I’m so happy to meet you, finally,” she said when Toby grinned so wide it nearly split his face.
“Welcome to the madhouse,” Brawler said roughly, hauling her into his arms.
“I had odds,” Toby announced without preamble, ticking them off on his fingers, “that you’d actually own a pink Mustang. That you’d know jaguar stats better than me, and that your favorite Disney movie was The Lion King. ” He paused, eyes sparkling. “Two out of three isn’t bad.”
Emily gasped, mock-scandalized. “ The Lion King? I’m so a Moana girl.”
“See? Told you.” Toby beamed, then grabbed her bag before she could protest. “I’ll carry these in. You two can stand here and be all mushy.” With that, he marched toward the house, Beast trotting after him like they’d known each other forever.
The silence that followed was different. Charged. Brawler shifted, running a hand down the back of his neck.
“I know this is a lot to take in, to live with every day. If you want…we can find a place of our own.” God, even the thought of it gutted him. “Doesn’t have to be here.” He forced the words out, rougher than he meant. “I don’t want you to feel trapped. With Toby. With me.”
She looked at him like he’d just spoken another language. “Why would we do that?”
He blinked.
Her smile was soft but sure. “We’re going to live here. With Toby. This is our home.”
Something broke loose in his chest, something tight and aching that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He cupped her face, thumbs brushed her cheekbones, and kissed her with everything he hadn’t said. When they pulled apart, his forehead rested against hers, both of them breathing hard.
“I love you, Emily.” His voice was steady now, iron under gravel.
She pressed her lips to his, whispering the words back. “I love you, too, Christian.”
For the first time, he believed in forever.
Her cell buzzed, and he went to step away for privacy, but she clasped his forearm. Emily’s face lit up when she saw the name.
“Aunt Moira,” she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Hi.”
Emily’s voice drifted through him, low and husky with exhaustion and relief. “Yes, Aunt Moira…I’m home. No, really home this time.”
A pause. A soft laugh, half tears. “You were right. It wasn’t my fault. It was about remembering what it feels like to just…be.”
The warmth in her tone wrapped around him like sunlight.
“Tell the garden I’ll visit soon,” she said. “I owe you a hammock afternoon but be prepared for more than me.”
Moira’s voice murmured something, and Emily laughed again, lighter now.
Brawler smiled to himself. Whatever storm had brought her to them, she’d found her way through it. And maybe, just maybe, so had he.
“Yes, I remembered to breathe,” Emily was saying, smiling into the receiver. “And to collect moments. I think I finally started a few worth keeping.”
Her gaze flicked to him, laughter dancing in her eyes.
“Yeah,” she murmured. “He’s one of them.” Plans were hatched, and when she looked at him, he nodded—a trip to meet her aunt already taking shape. “You’ll love them both.”
Sunlight painted fire across her hair. Brawler reached for her hand. No missions, no ghosts, no storms, just the simple, breathtaking work of living. Together.
In the weeks that followed, Emily hadn’t just changed his life.
She’d changed Toby’s too. She coaxed him into giving Toby more freedom than he’d ever thought possible.
Most of it came down to the fact that Uncle Ray was gone, arrested for fraud, and this time he was going away for a long stretch.
Without that shadow hanging over his brother, the old fear eased, and Emily pressed her advantage.
She convinced him to let Toby take a job at the university’s statistics department, where they adored him, and Toby thrived in ways that lit him up from the inside.
She’d urged him to let Toby climb, first indoors at the gym, then outside in the hills of Virginia.
She’d been right. Toby could do it. He had the strength, the determination.
Brawler had watched him crank out pull-ups, match his running stride for stride, flip tires like they were donuts.
All because his big brother was a Navy SEAL, and Toby wanted to honor him.
He caved. Of course he did. Emily’s joy, Toby’s joy…it became his own.
They watched Disney movies together. They argued about which characters were the best. They laughed until their sides hurt.
Emily fit into his life like she’d been there all along, and he had no idea his capacity to love could run so deep.
But then, he should have known. It had always been there, proven out in Beast, in his brothers, in Toby.
The best yet wasn’t even about him. It was about Emily.
She had finished her dissertation, God help him, she’d done it, and even with the sections the State Department had forced under wraps, it was published to acclaim.
She’d been asked to present at the International Big Cat Conference, standing in front of the sharpest minds in carnivore research, her name finally etched where it belonged.
Then came the wildfire. The footage she had captured of Sombra and her cubs, stitched into a documentary with her voice guiding it, blew the doors off Amazon. Critics called it groundbreaking. Viewers couldn’t get enough. Then the giant came knocking, offering her a show of her own.
He’d never forget the way she laughed until she cried, telling him and Toby, Beast dancing circles around her like he understood.
She was radiant, alive in a way that made his chest ache.
She’d chased jaguars through jungles, fought through loss and fear, carried guilt like it was stitched into her skin, and now the world finally saw her for who she was.
It wasn’t just a career. It was her calling, and it was hers.
When she traveled, when he deployed, Toby would still be covered.
Hank had promised him that, sworn it, and Brawler trusted him with his brother’s life.
Toby would still have his chess matches, his structure, his laughter, his cinnamon rolls.
That safety net let him breathe easier, let him picture Emily chasing her future without a knot strangling his chest.
One night, in the quiet of their bedroom, he pulled her close.
“Emily, I need to let you know we’re going to be spinning up. I don’t know when, but it’s coming. I can feel the pressure.”
She cupped his jaw, her green eyes soft and steady. “I know you have to do what you have to do. But keep me tucked inside that big heart of yours, and before you go, I’ll teach you how to make a snare.”
He laughed softly, brushing his lips against her hair. “You are so bad,” he whispered.
She kissed him sweetly. “You love it, babe.”
Reaching beneath his pillow, he drew out a small velvet box. Emily sat bolt upright, her eyes wide. “Yes.”
He chuckled. “I haven’t even asked you yet.”
She grabbed his shoulders, bouncing with excitement. “Well, get to it, jumbo.”
He sat up too, the moment suddenly sharp and perfect, Emily naked, radiant, his heart pounding in his chest. He opened the box, revealing a ring, one brilliant diamond set in a band etched with delicate, dancing fairies.
“Emily Shade,” he said, his voice rough with emotion, “will you marry me?”
She gasped, tears flooding her eyes. “Oh, Christian. It’s beautiful.”
He smiled, holding her hand steady. “I had bands made for both of us, yours to match the ring, and mine to match yours.”
She turned the ring, saw the inscription inside, and broke down with a sob. To my Pixie Dust, who always brings the magic.
Her tears spilled over, her voice breaking. “Slide it on.”
He obeyed, slipping the ring onto her trembling finger.
Then she caught his face between her hands, her eyes blazing through the tears. “Now, come here and fuck me, my Christian, my love.”
He pushed her back into the sheets, sank into her heat, the world narrowing to the woman he adored.
The danger waiting out there didn’t matter, not now.
He would go where duty called, but he would bolster himself with this moment, with the knowledge that Emily and Toby would be waiting for him to come home.
“I love you, Emily,” he whispered fiercely, thrusting deep, staring into her eyes as she arched against him. “Until the stars and the moon come down.”
She shattered first, crying out as pleasure ripped through her, and he followed, falling with her into that white-hot blanket of stars.
The next morning Toby nearly tackled Emily when she came into the kitchen, grabbing her hand before she could even pour coffee. “You said yes, didn’t you?” he demanded, grinning like he’d just solved the universe.
Emily laughed, flashing the diamond. “Of course, I said yes.”
Toby whooped, pumping his fist in the air. “Knew it! Odds were ninety-nine percent, but still. You just skewed the whole bell curve!”