Epilogue
Yara
Ten Years Later
“Mom! Minny is being a jerk again and won’t let me play with him.” Dorothy crossed her arms as she ran into the house, her face blushed from the Florida heat.
Smiling, I tucked my daughter's hair behind her ears. Besides their eyes, Dorothy and Min-ho were the spitting image of me, but Min-ho somehow ended up with a mix of Kazi’s and Mateo’s personalities wrapped up into one vivacious child.
“Sweetheart, do you even want to play with him? Henry was looking for you.” Izzy’s oldest was the nicest of her kiddos, and he and Dorothy had become quick besties. My attention caught on the backyard. It was a large space, combined with the yard next door.
With Izzy’s yard.
I was so thankful we had finally managed to become next door neighbors. Now I could bother her and her men whenever I wished. We were just going to gloss over the fact that Izzy was technically Dorothy’s sister. That our families were messy and a bit outside the norm.
We just told everyone they were cousins and called it a day.
“No, I don’t, but it’s the principled of the matter,” Dorothy replied smartly.
I had to contain my laughter at her use of principled. She needed to set down the dictionary. “Tell Daddy. He will help you with Minny. He is the only one who can speak that boy’s language.”
Dorothy blew air into her cheeks before nodding her head sagely. “You’re right, Mama! Love you!” She wrapped her arms around me before running back outside in search of Mateo.
James’s laughter came up from behind me, and I turned in our living room towards him. He was holding our youngest.
The baby none of us expected but decided to make his appearance nearly ten years after his siblings.
Well I guess everyone except Mateo was expecting him. I knew Mateo longed for one more, he just didn’t want to put me through pregnancy again. Kazi and James had agreed, and one removed IUD later, I was pregnant.
Mateo had been nervous but ecstatic. This go round, I had opted for Lizbeth as my doctor from the start, and it had gone much smoother.
“Eve should be here soon with her partners,” I advised, pulling my phone out of my pocket. “She still isn’t the best in crowds, but we thought this could be a good first outing.”
James hummed, lightly rocking the baby in his arms. “That poor girl. I’m glad she found Logan, Simon, and even…”
“Yes, me too,” I agreed distractedly, looking down at my phone.
“I have another client we need to meet next week.” My company, Darkest Desires, was still alive and well, it was just run a bit differently.
Izzy and I had secured a building here in Florida that we both worked out of, much to our men’s chagrin.
At first I had considered shutting it down, but then I remembered why I had started it in the first place.
Instead, I had become more picky on clients and specialized in those that needed a safe sexual experience.
“It’s Mateo’s turn to be with you on that one. He already ran a background check on the man you’re meeting.” James chuckled.
I groaned, but then a text came through. “Eve’s almost here, let me go outside and find Izzy. Are you coming too? Everyone should be out there for Henry’s birthday.”
James lifted his lips, his hair was mostly gray now, but it somehow only managed to make him sexier. More ruggish. “Right behind you.”
***
“Yara! I was hoping you would make it out here soon. I saw you sent Kazi and Mateo ahead to deal with all the childrents.” Izzy laughed, patting the space next to her on the bench. Emilio sat on her other side, acting as her pillow as he surveyed the yard intensely.
That man never relaxed, but I didn’t blame him with Izzy as a partner. She was always getting herself into trouble.
“Hey dad!” Izzy waved at James, but then she saw our baby in his arms. “Oh goodness, he is so small! I can’t believe you had another one after all this time.”
“You and I both know I was going to have a third eventually.” I chuckled as I watched Oliver and Kazi chase down a hoard of kids. Mateo was off to the side, arms crossed as he simply raised an eyebrow at an annoyed Min-ho.
“I’m going to go find the birthday boy.” James placed a kiss on my forehead and I, in turn, placed one on our son’s.
He crinkled in annoyance, babbling.
In the past I would have taken that as a rejection from my babies, but I knew now that it was just a part of newborns.
Maddox walked up on us, the last of Izzy’s men. I got up from the bench, offering him the spot. “Have you seen Eve?” I asked.
“She’s in the car. I’m not sure she’s ready, Yara.” Maddox inclined his head. “But everyone is with her.”
My heart heated in concern, looking around. Mateo appeared before me, as if he knew I needed him.
“How is Min-ho?” I took the hand he offered.
“Stubborn, but he understands family is important. And that his sister is to be protected,” Mateo explained, pulling me away from Izzy and into his arms.
She and I never got alone time anymore, but I had plans to change that. A girl deserved a night with her best friend. We may have traded the wine for mocktails, but we still did our best to watch a new episode of trash TV every week.
Mateo led us towards the back gate, but Kazi stopped us on the way.
He was out of breath and panting.
“Old man, don’t let those children get the best of you,” Mateo remarked. “You need to remember to stretch. It’s important to keep up with them.”
Kazi grumbled, but then wiped the sweat from his brow and placed a hot searing kiss to my lips.
“Ew!” Min-ho cut through our connection.
Kazi didn’t release me immediately. “What happened to her isn’t your fault. You need to remember that,” he advised in my ear before inclining his head to Mateo. “I did stretch.” And then he was jogging off back into the foray.
“And what happened to him isn’t your fault.”
Kazi quirked his lips but didn’t respond, running back into the hoard of children.
With Kazi’s words swirling around my brain, I marched to the gate. On the other side was a tinted black car; Simon stood outside of it, baby carrier in hand, while Logan was pulling open the back door.
My eyes found the door. My entire body caught in the reflection. But I didn’t wince, I didn’t even react. Instead of hate, loving words circled through me.
Kazi’s. Mateo’s. James’s.
My own.
My attention focused on the here and now instead. Peering inside the car, I found her. Her third partner on the other side watched me warily.
“Min-ho.” I acknowledged him.
He had been a wild card when he found his way into our town, a man back from the dead.
But that was a story for a different day.
The small woman before me, the one who had been forced to take my place. Who had been put through unspeakable evils. Who had made it out, only to be put through it again.
How can I not blame myself?
“Eve?” I asked gently.
She looked up at me with dark brown eyes, her lips lifting ever so lightly.
She offered me a reassuring smile.
My heart beat its way up my throat as I took her in. As I recognized it was time for her to have her happily-ever-after.
She deserved it.
“I’m okay, Yara. I promise. They’ve got me. And our baby. I just needed a minute to prepare myself.” Her soft voice broke through, and it was as if the tension in the air evaporated.
She had found her people.
Just as Izzy had.
Just as I had.
We had all found the love we needed.
Turning to give Eve space to get out of the car, my attention found Mateo.
He was focused on me, ready to help with anything I needed.
Mateo was the blockade that kept anything dangerous away. The strength that kept me fighting no matter what.
My eyes flicked past Mateo. James was just on the other side of the gate, rocking our baby boy and smiling at Henry.
James was the stability and wisdom we needed in our otherwise chaotic lives.
My gaze searched and landed on Kazi at the gift table with Dorothy on his shoulders, his face tinted pink, even from this distance.
Kazi was the home I never had, the calm that kept me stable in the darkest hours.
A smile ghosted my lips as tears formed in my eyes.
I am so happy.
Exactly as I am.