Epilogue
The chapel in downtown Portland was packed to the hilt.
Standing at the altar, Jordan looked out at the sea of people he loved.
Vanessa’s side was overflowing. Her mom and aunt (each holding one of Lucy and Joel’s twins), uncles and aunts, cousins who kept appearing out of nowhere, Joel, Colin from Natalie’s shop, and half the modeling world dressed like they were at the Met Gala.
The left side? His people. Ivy and Nana, Hope and Gabe, who held little Rose in his arms, Dex (his new partner at the private security firm they started a few months ago), his crew from Thompson Kickboxing.
Even Max, and a few bouncers from his days at Silk, were present.
Fitting, really. That one kiss from Vanessa at the club over a year ago had changed everything.
Without Max giving him that job, he might not be standing here.
Max shot him a thumbs-up and a goofy grin. Jordan returned it with a lift of his own, a smile tugging at his lips.
Chantal and the kids from The Link filled the entire back pew, and his heart tightened with love for them.
They had become family to him and Vanessa.
Even though work and life kept them busy, they still made time to help out at the youth center whenever they could.
Vanessa had even organized a second annual fashion show earlier that year, and it had been twice as successful as the first.
Standing on his left, Sean nudged his elbow and asked, “How are you feeling?”
“I’m about to pledge my life to the woman I defied death to be with. I feel amazing.”
“Defied death.” Sean snorted. “It was a scratch.”
Jordan barely registered the brotherly jab, because the music had started to fill the church, and his gaze was now locked on the aisle. Nothing else mattered.
Gabe and Hope’s daughter, Ruby, came first, holding Nigel, who had their two rings hanging from a ribbon around his neck.
They’d adopted Nigel not long after arriving back from New York. One night, Ivy had shown up at their door, bunny in hand, and said she couldn’t take his broken-hearted sulking anymore. She’d handed him to Vanessa, and the pair had been inseparable since.
Ivy and Sean had moved on with a teacup terrier, and the rest was history.
Jordan dropped a kiss on top of Ruby’s head and gave Nigel a scratch behind the ears before straightening. Heart pounding.
Part of him had no patience for this. He wanted to be married to Vanessa right now. But the other part knew how important this was to her and her family. His family now, too.
Natalie came out next, looking lovely in a soft-blue bridesmaid gown. Lucy, radiant as the maid of honor, was next. A hush fell over the crowd, the music shifted, and every person leaned toward the door, straining to see the bride.
Finally, there she was, on her father’s arm, breathtaking in a satin dress that clung to her body as if it was sculpted for her. He knew it was designed by Cassidy Moore herself, because Vanessa had talked about nothing else for months.
He still wasn’t a fashion guy, not by any stretch, but he’d come to appreciate how Vanessa lit up when she wore something special.
She loved fashion, loved pretty clothes, and loved modeling.
He loved her, so whatever she wanted, she got.
Which was also why he was wearing a suit worth more than his entire wardrobe combined. Times three.
He didn’t understand it, but he didn’t have to, because the runway she was walking on right now led to him.
His gaze stayed glued on her with awe and wonder because part of him still couldn’t fucking believe it.
They’d made it work for over a year now, and it hadn’t been hard at all.
In fact, loving her had been the easiest thing he’d ever done.
When work kept them grounded, their home base was Portland. They’d bought a condo in the new Morgan high-rise that had a brilliant view of the river, so high they could make out The Link over the Broadway Bridge.
Weekends often saw them packing up the Harley and heading to the beach house at Cannon Beach, which was still their preferred home. But Vanessa had turned their downtown condo into a cozy, lived-in haven. For the first time in decades, he had a real home.
His favorite nights were on the balcony with her curled up against him.
Her with a glass of prosecco, him with his Coca-Cola, and the city lights stretching out around them.
She’d talk about shoots, Natalie’s dating disasters, her sister’s twins, and he’d listen.
Sometimes he’d chime in, sometimes not. Mostly, they were content being together, each taking the other for all they were.
Sean and Ivy also lived in the new Morgan high-rise, across the hall from Jordan and Vanessa again.
But it was only temporary, as they waited for construction to finish on their new apartment.
Gabe and Joel had partnered up and were building a larger apartment complex over Bowie’s.
Not high like the typical Morgan high-rises, but Bowie’s would soon have eight apartments above it instead of the two that had been there for so long.
Yeah, it was bittersweet. The old apartments held so many memories for all of them. Pain, healing, laughter, love. But he’d learned that building something new didn’t mean forgetting the past. It was another way of honoring it.
When Luciano guided Vanessa to Jordan, there was a misty gleam in his soon to be father-in-law’s eyes.
Jordan really appreciated him. His own father had been stoic, a man’s man, the strong silent type.
Luciano had no problem with emotions, and over the last eighteen months, Jordan had learned a lot from him.
Both in how to better understand Vanessa, but also in being more open with his own feelings.
Which poured out of him when Luciano placed her hand in his. Raw, unfiltered emotion that he didn’t bother to hide.
The older man patted their combined hands and looked Jordan dead in the eye. “Prenditi cura della mia principessa.” The words meant, Take care of my princess.
Jordan knew because he’d taken Italian language lessons through an app while he was rehabbing and had nothing else to do. The daily challenge meant that his Italian was pretty damn good now. So he replied, “Farò della tua principessa la mia regina,” which meant, I’ll make your princess my queen.
Surprise registered on Luciano’s face, and he rolled his lips together as he fought back more tears. He patted their hands again, then took his seat.
“He loves you so much,” Jordan whispered to Vanessa.
Her gaze softened as they glanced at Luciano, sitting and taking a twin from Maria. “He’s glad he finally got to walk one of his daughters down the aisle. I think it stung more than he’d admit when Lucy ran away to Vegas to marry Joel.” She smirked. “Twice.”
“How about we say he loves you?” He caught her gaze and held on tight. “Like I do.”
Her eyes glistened with tears as she nodded, and he couldn’t wait for the priest to get to the kiss your bride part.
He couldn’t wait to share an entire life together.
To keep building on what they’d started.
To remind each other every day that they were both worthy of love and commitment and devotion.
The past wasn’t a ball and chain around their ankles anymore. They were reclaiming their futures together, the most perfect ending to their two imperfect stories he could have ever hoped for.
Redemption never felt this good.
Thank you for reading Finding Redemption! Keep reading to see how writing a book review can mean the world to an indie author like me!