Chapter 39
Chapter thirty-nine
Abigail
I’m upstairs putting freshly washed clothes away in the nursery—doing my best to stay busy until the guys get home—when I hear tires crunching against the gravel.
I don’t wait or play it cool.
I turn on my heels and fly downstairs, desperate to have my eyes on them.
My heart pounds so hard it feels like it’s in my throat by the time I reach the bottom step. I barely register Joe laughing softly at me as I rush through the living area, my bare feet slipping against the hardwood as I make it to the front door just as it swings open.
Lawson barely gets a foot inside before I’m throwing my arms around him.
“Hey, Hon—” Chuckling, he catches me instantly, strong arms wrapping around me, comforting me with a steadiness that I can only get from him.
My face presses into his chest, breathing him in—all cedar and smoke—and the tight knot that’s been sitting in my chest since they left this morning finally starts to loosen.
“You’re home,” I breathe, more to reassure myself than him.
His hand comes up to cradle the back of my head. “We’re home, Honey. None of us are goin’ anywhere.”
Beau comes in behind him, his smile beams as he looks at me. “There’s my girl.”
“Hi, Baby,” I reply softly, letting him pull me from Law and into his arms.
Beau holds me for what feels like an eternity before a throat clears behind him. “You gonna keep hoggin’ our girl, or are Linc and I gonna get a turn?”
Beau presses a quick kiss to my lips before stepping aside. Lincoln’s already watching me with that soft look in his eyes. And next to him, Jas leans against the doorframe, his baseball cap turned backward, a slow, easy smile spreading across his stupidly handsome face.
Jasper pushes off the doorframe before he and Linc step forward. Lincoln reaches back to close the door while Jasper eats up the distance between us.
His fingers curl around my chin, thumb and forefinger tilting my face up toward his. I watch as his smile softens, his eyes taking their time as they move over my face. “Did my sister play twenty questions while we were gone?” he asks.
I laugh softly. “Nah, she wasn’t too bad. She did have some… interesting stories, though.”
Joe snorts from across the room, and Jasper’s smile falters. “What stories?”
“Oh, nothing,” I say lightly. “Just something about how her, Lincoln, and Lawson scared you so bad once that you peed your pants.”
“Ha!” Beau barks out a laugh. “You peed yourself? Ohmygod—that’s fucking gold.”
Lincoln and Lawson both try—and fail—to cover their laughs, meanwhile Joe is fully losing it from her spot on the couch, and Jasper looks like he’s one second away from strangling his older sister.
“It was dark,” he bites out. “And the three of them ganged up on me. I was, like, seven.”
“I know,” I coo, rising on my toes to press a soft kiss to his lips. “I’m sure they were being so mean.”
His eyes narrow down at me. “I know you’re just placating me”—his hands slide to my waist, tugging me flush against him—“but I’ll let it slide since I missed you.”
“Oh,” I breathe, smiling up at him. “Well… thank. God.”
“You”—he points across the room at Joe—“on the other hand, better sleep with one eye open.”
Luca, Enzo, Dante, and Seb all lift their brows at him in unison.
Jasper exhales dramatically. “Oh, shut up. You know what I mean. No need to beat your chests like a bunch of gorillas.”
Jasper kisses me before letting Linc take his place. “You good?” he asks quietly.
I nod and run my hands along his tie. “I am now.”
“Good girl.” He presses a quick kiss to my lips before stepping back.
One look at the four of them standing together and I immediately notice it.
They’re relaxed.
That invisible cloud that’s been over our heads since the moment I arrived here is just… gone.
“Tell me,” I say, looking between all of them. My heart starts to pick up again, but this time it’s not from nerves… but anticipation. “Please tell me whatever you did worked.”
Lincoln steps forward slightly. “It’s done, Sweetheart. He’s in federal custody. With the attention and charges he’s facing, not only will those who stood behind him want nothing to do with him, but neither will the Bratva.”
“How?” I ask, my voice softer now.
Lawson reaches for my hand, threading his fingers through mine.
The rough calluses of his palm scrape gently against my skin, and for some reason, the feeling washes over me—settling my racing heart.
“We’ve been planning this for weeks, Abigail.
That’s where the four of us have been running off to.
Collecting statements from people he’s threatened, from other ranchers he’s all but forced off their land, from…
” Lawson trails off slightly, like he’s deciding how much he wants to dump on me all at once.
Lincoln steps in smoothly. “From enough people to make it impossible for anyone to ignore.”
Beau nods. “Once we had that, it wasn’t just word of mouth anymore. It became a pattern. A case.”
Lawson squeezes my hand gently. “They helped us put it all together.” He nods toward Joe and her guys.
“Once we had what we needed, Seb put a nice bow on it, put it on the right desks, and pointed them in the direction they needed to go. The whole thing escalated pretty quickly once they started looking in the right places.”
“And Victor?” I ask.
A look passes between them again.
Enzo answers this time though, standing from the couch. “Victor was… encouraged to cooperate.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Luca murmurs under his breath.
I glance at him, then back to Enzo. “Encouraged how?”
Dante’s voice is calm when he answers. “He was facing enough time to make him reconsider his loyalties.”
Jas scoffs. “That’s putting it nicely.”
“He flipped?”
“He did,” Lawson confirms.
Lincoln’s thumb brushes over my knuckles.
“He gave them everything else they needed, Abigail. Between Sebastian digging up internal communications, financial trails, orders to harass and threaten other property owners in the area, the statements we all acquired, and Victor’s admissions… it was all more than enough.”
“Where is he now?”
“The feds received an anonymous tip last night about where to find him after Dante and Enz paid them a visit in the house Keller had them holed up in,” Seb explains proudly. “Lucky for them, when they got there, he was all tied up and ready to go.”
“What about Grayson?” I ask.
Dante doesn’t look away from me when he answers. “We made a… different choice for Grayson.” My stomach dips. “We didn’t need him. He put his hands on you. Hurt you. The decision was easy.”
Enzo tilts his head slightly. “D and I took a nice walk to Stillwater Ridge last night. Pretty view.”
“You’re our family now,” Luca adds.
And that’s it.
That’s all they give me.
But it’s enough. Because I see the certainty on all their faces. The finality and contentment in the decisions they made.
It’s a quiet, unspoken line in the sand. One that lets me know that today is another one of those moments. One that separates my life into before and after.
And today’s after might just be the brightest one yet.
My hand drifts to my stomach, fingers splaying gently over the small curve. “Okay,” I say softly.
I don’t need to ask questions anymore. I don’t need to know more because I understand.
I understand the love that fills this room. That each of us—each member of this weird and unexpected and unusual family—will do anything to keep the rest of us safe.
The room shifts again, but this time it’s lighter, the clouds that have been lingering above us finally parting. “So,” I say, a small smile tugging at my lips. “Let me get this straight.”
Beau perks up immediately. “This should be good.”
I point between them. “Miles Keller is arrested.”
“Yep.”
“His accounts are frozen.”
“Every last cent,” Luca confirms.
“Victor is going to jail.”
Linc nods.
“And Grayson…” I trail off slightly, waving my hand in front of me. “Is no longer a problem.”
Jas huffs. “That’s one way to put it.”
I let out a breath. It’s half laugh, half disbelief. “So that’s it. He’s just… done?”
Sebastian’s lips curve faintly. “The only power he had was what he thought he controlled.”
“And now he controls nothing,” Dante clarifies.
“All that makes him now,” Enzo says, spreading his hands in front of him, “is a criminal with nothing and no one to fall back on.”
Lawson steps closer, his hand coming up to cup my cheek. “No more looking over our shoulder, Honey.”
“There’s something else,” Linc says. I raise my brows at him to continue. “There are families who will get their land back because of this. And those that can’t will get enough money to rebuild.”
The corners of Luca’s lips tip up now, too. “We expect there to be filings within the week. Civil suits. Restitution claims. You name it.”
I blink. “Wait… you mean—”
Seb nods. “It’s ironic, really. The same money Keller used to push them out will help put them back.”
“It’s all because of you,” Jas says softly.
“M-me?” I ask, pointing at my chest. “I literally didn’t do anything.”
Lawson tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “All of this is because of you. Everything we’ve done since the minute they found you on that beach is because. Of. You.”
I vaguely hear Joe awe in the background, but I’m too busy letting Lawson’s words etch themselves into my soul.
Some days, I’m still really not sure how I got here.
How this—after everything—has become my life.
But I’ve never been more grateful that I decided to chase the freedom I knew I deserved.
I ran and ran, right into the arms of four men who have brought me nothing but peace… even on our craziest of days.
My hand slides up to Lawson’s neck, and I pull his mouth down to mine. I pour everything into our kiss—every ounce of gratitude, of love, of disbelief that this is all real. Wordlessly telling him what I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to articulate well enough.
That I’m so damn lucky to be here.
To be his.
To be theirs.
Joe claps her hands once from the couch. “Alright, that’s our cue.”
I giggle, pulling my lips from Lawson’s, before turning to face them all. Lawson doesn’t let me go far, though. He keeps me firmly tucked against his side—his thumb brushing soft circles along my waist.
Joe stands, and her four men immediately follow. “We’ll give the five of you some privacy before this turns into something I definitely don’t need to witness.”
“Speak for yourself,” Enzo mumbles.
Joe doesn’t hesitate to reach out and backhand him across the chest at the same time Dante does the back of his head.
“Ow!” Enzo groans dramatically. “Why is everybody always hitting me?!”
“That’s my brother,” Joe clarifies. “Don’t be gross.”
“Yeah, man.” Jas moves to my other side. “Don’t be gross.”
Luca closes his laptop and tucks it beneath his arm. “We’ll head back to the guest house. Breakfast tomorrow morning before we head back?”
I nod and smile softly at him. “Yes, please.”
Seb gives me a small nod. “Get some rest.”
I look at the five of them. “Thank you. For everything,” I say, meaning every word.
Joe winks. “That’s just what family does.”
The five of them file out one by one, tossing out casual goodbyes and see you in the mornings, before the door finally shuts behind them.
Silence falls over the house once again.
But this time… It’s not empty.
It’s peaceful.
I look between the four men standing around me.
My men.
My future.
My heart feels too big for my chest.
“Well,” I say softly, a small smile tugging at my lips. “I think we’ve earned a quiet moment.”
Jasper arches a brow. “You in the mood for quiet, Red?”
I laugh under my breath. “Nah. I don’t think I am.”
Lincoln’s eyes darken.
Beau’s dimples deepen.
And Lawson’s hold on me tightens before I manage to step out of his hold. My gaze never leaves theirs as I back up toward the stairs.
“Come upstairs with me?”
“As you wish, Abbie Girl.” Jasper steps forward first, and the three of them follow eagerly.
Like there was never even another option.