Epilogue 2-Cecilia
Sixteen months later…
We’re back on the island where it all began.
Mykonos glows golden in the early summer light, the breeze crisp with salt and jasmine.
The Aegean sparkles like a jewel beyond the cliffs, and from the villa’s upper terrace, I can hear the sound of laughter rising in waves.
My entire family has gathered here.
Not just my parents—though seeing them dote on my son like he personally hung the moon has been enough to bring me to tears on more than one occasion.
No, I mean everyone.
They all came. My aunts and uncles. My cousins and their spouses. Their children, wild and sticky-fingered and full of joy, streaking across the sun-warmed marble floors like miniature hurricanes.
It's a full-blown family reunion. The first we’ve had in years.
And it's glorious.
I was nervous to return here, to be honest.
Nervous that the people of this island would remember the gunfire. The chaos. The way it ended.
But they remember something else instead.
They remember the return of their rightful heir—regardless of whether Greece has a monarch right now.
They remember the fall of a tyrant.
The rise of a new legacy.
And more than anything, they’ve welcomed the arrival of him. Our son.
Lucas James Stavros.
He’s the living proof of our love. He’s our heartbeat.
Healthy, perfect, wide-eyed and already ruling the entire household with nothing more than a gummy smile and an iron grip on his father’s thumb.
God, I can’t believe he’s mine. Ours.
He’s sleeping now, tucked into the crook of his father’s chest while they both nap on a shaded lounger below.
The image is so beautiful it makes my throat ache.
Lucas is a miracle.
But I know why.
Because his father is one, too.
Atlas James Stavros.
A man who once planned to use me.
Who now worships the ground I walk on.
Who kisses my stretch marks like they’re treasure maps.
Who wakes at 3AM without complaint to change diapers.
Who builds entire peace accords around my vision of a better world, because he believes in me—and because he believes in us.
He holds me like I’m sacred.
Loves me like it’s his life’s purpose.
And I love him right back.
With my whole heart. My whole soul. My whole fire-forged, tattooed, scarred, sensual, honest self.
I look around at this wild, sprawling, loud-as-hell family of mine—blood and chosen both—and I realize something deep in my bones.
Wolf. Viper. Prince.
The titles don’t matter.
Love does.
When you love, truly, you have everything.
And we do.
So if you’re thinking about fucking with it?
If you’re entertaining even the tiniest, dumbest fantasy of harming what we’ve built?
Don’t.
I’m saying that nicely.
I’m even smiling.
See? Dimples and everything.
But don’t mistake the sweetness for softness.
We may be connected to royalty now—titles, bloodlines, councils, empires—but underneath all the diamonds and diplomacy?
We’re still monsters when we need to be.
We’ve got claws.
We’ve got fangs.
We’ve got lineage soaked in war and teeth.
And more importantly?
We’ve got family.
The kind that doesn’t forgive.
The kind that doesn’t forget.
The kind that doesn’t let shit slide just because someone said “oops” and smiled pretty.
So go on.
Smile sweet.
Lift your glass.
Toast our happy ending like you’re thrilled for us.
Just know this one little truth.
If you ever come for what we love?
If you even breathe wrong in our direction?
If you think you can slither around the edges of our peace?
There will be nowhere—nowhere—left for you to hide.
Trust me on this.
We will hunt you.
We will find you.
And when we’re finished, the only thing left in your place will be a scorch mark so faint the wind won’t bother remembering your name.
And before you ask—no, that’s not a threat.
It’s a promise.
A polite little courtesy call from a woman trying very hard not to ruin her lipstick before breakfast.
Because if you think the men in this family are vicious?
Oh, sweetheart.
They learned it from us.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, my guys are waking up, and I have much better things to do than educate people with delusions of grandeur.
Much. Better. Things.
My suggestion before you tangle with us is to go find your better thing and leave well enough alone.
Got it? Good.
The End.