Epilogue
. . .
Cade
Life after meeting Ellie was a lot more colorful.
Every day was an adventure. From dinners with my family to going on real dates—though we still ended up back at Kitty’s for her lukewarm coffee and what Ellie claimed was the world’s best mocha—to getting Sunshine Cuddle Cats up and running, we were an unstoppable team.
Whiskey didn’t have any trouble adjusting to the penthouse.
When he wasn’t off getting pampered at that damn cat chateau, he ruled over the Nightingale with an iron paw.
The staff loved him, Mac enabled every one of the furball’s wishes, and even Frank started carrying cat treats in his pocket.
To my bewilderment, Ellie turned one of our guest rooms into a cat wonderland.
There were plush pillows, dozens of plants, and an entire obstacle course of wall-mounted shelves and bridges, plus enough little yarn animals to take over the world.
Yet the hellion still slept in our bed every night—sometimes on top of my face.
I was happier than ever.
Months after the couples retreat from hell, I still hadn’t broken the news to my grandfather about starting my own firm. We were busy with a new acquisition, and he didn’t need this on his plate right now.
Plus, Ellie and I had a wedding to plan.
It was a whirlwind of venues, itineraries, guest lists, and more decisions than I’d ever needed to make before. Ellie quickly got overwhelmed, and she might’ve been one of the only brides on earth to be positively thrilled when her future mother-in-law stepped in to help.
Ellie spent a month in France with my mother and Madison—which was way too long, in my opinion. But they ate their weight in crepes and croissants, found ‘the perfect dress’, and explored the countryside.
I lasted two nights without Ellie in my bed before flying over to join them. The family chateau had internet and plenty of rooms; I could work from there without getting in their way.
I’ll never forget the look on Ellie’s face when she saw I’d packed our unicorn pajamas.
We got married on the main deck of Grandfather’s yacht.
Everyone we knew attended, champagne flowed freely, and the dance floor never got a moment of rest. I grudgingly let others sneak a few dances with Ellie, but she was in my arms for most of the night.
A chocolate croissant tower took center stage on the desserts table. Twinkly lights were strung along the deck everywhere we looked, and we’d gone far enough out into the water to see the real stars, too.
Whiskey had his own mini pillow throne at the head table—right between me and Ellie. I wasn’t told about that choice ahead of time, but my wife couldn’t stop cooing over the setup and how princely our cat looked.
The hellion spent most of the night swatting at the twinkly lights and sticking his paws into guests’ purses.
I leaned back in my seat at the head table—where I’d been assigned the very important job of protecting Ellie’s third slice of wedding cake—sipping a scotch and watching my gorgeous wife have fun on the dance floor with her bridesmaids.
I’d never seen a group of friends with such colorful hair before.
When Ellie first told us she was good friends with Davian Reed’s wife, I thought Mac would have a stroke. Ellie was tied to the mafia and even had weekly dinners at their compound. How had that slipped through the background report?
Reed and I had an understanding. My area of town—the part with Westbrook Capital and the Nightingale—was outside his purview, and I played dumb if any bigwigs asked about his underground gambling dens. We’d always stayed out of each other’s way.
Yet now he was providing a dark, intimidating presence at my wedding while his wife danced with mine.
Calling it unexpected was an understatement.
I idly twisted my new wedding ring around my finger, liking its weight a little too much.
Harrison dropped into the chair next to me, out of breath from dancing. “That stupid grin hasn’t left your face since the ceremony ended.”
“I don’t remember smiling when you told the balloon game story in vivid detail during your best man speech,” I said dryly, raising my glass in a mock salute. “Thanks for that, by the way. I’m sure it wasn’t enough that Mother already saw it with her own eyes. Now she had to relive it.”
He laughed, clapping me on the shoulder. “Consider it payback for fooling us last summer.”
I grunted and went back to my drink. We sat and talked for a while, watching Ellie and Madison do a weird line dance that had nothing to do with the current song, but the other bridesmaids quickly joined in, too.
“I’m really happy for you,” Harrison said out of the blue, looking at the dance floor instead of me. “Seriously. This even beats how happy I was for you when you broke Tristan Rothchild’s nose in sixth grade.”
I snorted. “Thanks, Harry.”
“Anytime. That punk had it coming,” he muttered.
When the song ended, Ellie bounded over—pink-faced and out of breath—in her floofy, cupcake-style wedding dress. She dropped into my lap, grabbed my face, and smacked a kiss to my lips, beaming at me. “Hello, husband.”
Ignoring my brother snickering next to us, I grinned back. “Having fun, wife?”
“The most fun,” she assured me, pulling on the big white bow in her hair but only skewing it more. “But it’d be even better if you’d join me on the dance floor again.”
“I’m guarding your cake.” Taking a fork, I cut off a bite and fed it to her, making Ellie hum happily.
Harrison wrapped both hands around his neck and pretended to gag. “You two are nauseating. I need a drink.”
I barely noticed him leave as I fed a grinning Ellie until she finished the slice and pressed an icing-covered kiss to my lips.
I barely got a taste of her before she pulled back.
“Isn’t Sadie’s baby just too cute for words?” she asked, wrapping her arms loosely around my neck. “You saw those cheeks, right? The chubbiest, most scrumptious baby cheeks I’ve ever seen.”
I glanced over at the baby Reed was holding—more of a toddler now, with a head of messy dark hair, but Ellie wasn’t exaggerating his cheeks.
Reed and the boy even wore matching tuxes.
Hearing the longing in Ellie’s voice, I grinned at her. “Is someone catching baby fever?”
A delightful blush flooded her cheeks as she lifted a shoulder. “Maybe a little.”
That simple confession flipped a switch I wasn’t even aware I had. I leaned closer, lowering my voice. “Want me to kick everyone off the yacht so we can start making some of our own?”
Ellie had the nerve to laugh, even as her face turned redder than Whiskey’s pillow. “They’re our guests! We can’t kick them out.”
“Trust me, they’ll understand.”
Whiskey interrupted any attempts at changing Ellie’s mind by dragging over his latest sticky-pawed find—a plush seat cushion from one of the chairs. He dropped it at my feet, looking up at us like a proud little thief waiting for his praise.
“Oh no. Whiskey,” Ellie scolded, but there was zero bite in her tone. “We’ve been over this a million times. No stealing from our guests!”
He flicked his tail, unimpressed by her censure, and my gaze caught on the cushion he’d pilfered.
“Good boy,” I praised softly, leaning down to pat his head. I grabbed the cushion and set it on Ellie’s lap. “Here. Hang on to this for later.”
She stared at it. “A cushion?”
I winked, thinking of the time she’d tried to carry one to a couples retreat breakfast all those months ago. “You’ll need it tomorrow morning.”
Ellie’s lips parted before understanding brightened her gaze, and she threw her head back with a cackle.
The cushion whacked me in the face moments later.
Either thanks to the bottomless champagne or her charming personality, Kitty somehow convinced Grandfather to join her on the dance floor. They danced circles around the others, and I regretted only having one member of the yacht medical team on standby when he started twisting.
He was really putting that new hip to work.
Dr. Lovejoy skipped up to me and Ellie, pulling my gaze off Grandfather.
“To the newlyweds!” she toasted, raising a champagne glass with only a few drops left. “I can’t thank you enough for inviting me to celebrate your nuptials. It’s an excellent opportunity to find new clients. Oops, need a refill.”
She darted off without waiting for a response, and Ellie stifled a laugh behind her hand.
The love influencer had already given me and Ellie our wedding gift earlier—a signed book she’d written, titled, Finding Bliss: Intimacy Tips & Tricks for Your Marriage Journey.
There was an entire chapter devoted to the Slippery Crab.
When midnight had long since passed and most of our guests had stumbled off the yacht to go home, I took Ellie down to the dock custom built to accommodate the yacht.
“Where are we going?” she asked, giving up on lifting her poofy dress off the ground and just swinging our clasped hands between us.
“There’s one more present to show you.”
“Another present? But you already got me that fancy laminator! And a cushion.”
I grinned. “This one’s from Grandfather.”
I was careful to keep her facing me as I walked us to the best view of the ship. From the inner pocket of my tux, I pulled out a crisply folded document.
“I tried to buy it from him, but he insisted on gifting it to us instead,” I said, unfolding the paper and handing it to her. “It’s the title for The Valencia.”
I pointed to the part that listed our names as the new owners, and Ellie gaped at the paper. She blinked once, twice, and her mouth hung open for a long time before any words came out. “… Your grandfather gave us his boat?”
My lips twitched. “Most call it a superyacht, but sure, he gave us his boat. And there’s one more surprise. I had it renamed…”
With both hands on her shoulders, I turned her toward the yacht and watched in satisfaction as Ellie took in its new name painted in swirling blue letters.
The Darling.
She sucked in a breath. “The Darling?”
“It felt right,” I murmured.
I enjoyed her sudden speechlessness way too much.