Epilogue —
Joey
The wake turned out not to be a wake at all—but more of a "Nonna’s alive, the world wasn’t ending after all” party—we’re all gathered in Uncle Gio’s house.
We’ve been upgraded to our new location in the family room. The grown-ups still get the fancy living room.
We are all partnered off.
Izzy sits next to Lance, holding his hand. Waverly and Lukas huddle in a corner. Dimitri and Katya sit on the couch together. Thiago and his wife lean against the wall, it hurts her back if she sits down too long, and Thiago is very supportive. And Jenny is where she belongs—in my lap.
Alana is perched in an armchair, watching over everyone. Uri’s not here, he’s been doing bodyguard training with Markus. He is officially on Alana’s payroll. I make a mental note to talk to him. He’s been so quiet since Markus was shot, I think he’s doing that self-loathing thing.
Donny, who’s sitting on the floor because there was no more room for him anywhere else, asks, “What happened at the safe house?”
Waverly sighs. “Let’s see… Thiago’s wife launched a full-scale drone attack.
The girls who work as programmers assisted in the systematic destruction of the Deviant’s hubs.
And I got to use a rocket launcher when a bunch of Deviant guys came rolling up to the safe house.
I blew up the road. And the moms held them at gunpoint as they hiked back alone.
They terrorized them, randomly firing shots along the way. It was… pretty amazing.”
Jenny sighs. “I wanted to use a rocket launcher.”
Alana peeks up from her phone. “I can make that happen.”
Izzy jumps up. “Oh! I want to play with the rocket launcher too.”
Lance stands and says, “Absolutely not. If you can’t ride a roller coaster, then you sure as hell can’t fire a rocket launcher.”
“That’s not what the doctor said!”
“I’m pretty sure the doctor didn’t include that because it’s not something that typically comes up.”
Everyone freezes.
Alana mumbles into her glass of wine, “Wow, Izzy. Two for two on weddings, huh? At least you won’t be too far along. And it won’t affect the wedding dress that much.”
Waverly squeals, “How far along are you?”
“Two months. It’s still early, and I haven’t told Mom or Dad yet.” She eyes her brother and then me. Got to keep our mouths shut.
“How long have you known?” Jenny asks.
Lance is all smiles and laces his fingers with my cousin. “Two weeks now.”
I track the timeline in my head, and an instant wave of nausea hits me.
He knew she was pregnant last week. He saw the video footage of his future wife and mother of his child gunned down.
Obviously, she was fine, but I can’t imagine the terror he felt.
Then to almost lose Alana twice in a few hours.
I’m shocked he’s still functioning as a human.
The soon-to-be parents are assaulted with congratulations, handshakes, and hugs. Once the love bombing is over and we return to respective spots, Alana asks, “Are you ready to be Mrs. Lance?”
Everyone looks around the room.
Donny asks, “Why would she go by Mrs. Lance?”
Alana blinks a few times. “That’s his last name.”
“Wow. You think you know a guy…” Donny mumbles. “What’s his first name?”
“I guess you have to wait until the wedding to find out. Or read the invitations.”
Another kid running around here. Another mouth to feed. While I’m happy for my cousin, I have a looming sense of dread.
Dimitri clears his throat and gives Katya a nervous glance. She rubs his back.
“I don’t want this life for Ian.” The room stills.
Our Russian friend isn’t technically a part of the Four Families, but he’s been thriving in the United States because of us.
If the Uncles asked him to join, he would do it out of obligation.
He’s a good guy and sure as shit isn’t soft like Uncle Andrey says.
But I can understand him wanting to protect his son.
“Maria will never be allowed to join,” Thiago says. No, she definitely can’t. Maria is friends with Olivia Olympian, the heir to the Olympian empire. Maria is a kidnapping liability.
Waverly frowns and crosses her arms. “Cool. Just make sure she doesn’t feel like she’s being iced out of every family meeting. That shit fucks up your sense of identity.”
Yeah, we kept Wave out of all the crime stuff, and that was a big fucking mistake. She’s been partnering with Alana, and now she’s way more deadly than she ever would have been with us.
Izzy won’t look at me. Instead, she leans against Lance’s chest and puts her hand on her belly. She’s not going to let her son join either.
They all have their own responsibilities to their own family, not just the Four Families.
Jenny squeezes my hand.
Wait. I have responsibilities. “Guys, I have a dog now. And a girlfriend. I can’t die.”
I always assumed my death would be violent and alone. But what would happen to Jenny and Kingston?
The rest of the people stare at me with furrowed brows and side glances. “Nonna’s letting you keep the dog?” Waverly asks.
“Nonna faked her own death, more or less. She doesn’t get to have him back.” Saying those words feels like a crime, but I’m not returning my dog. Or losing Jenny.
My girlfriend laughs. “I’ll be fine, object permanence and all.”
She jokes when she doesn’t want to talk about real emotions, and I’m not surprised she says that. But what does catch me off guard is the way her eyes get all glassy as she rests her head on my chest. This person is pure chaos, a total gremlin—and oh my God, I think I’m in love with her.
Yeah. No… I’m definitely in love with her.
I’m supposed to be the next leader. The one who holds the families together. But now? The choice has never been easier. “I can’t.”
Each member of the family handles it differently. A mix of understanding, pride and fear. Our paths have always been planned—four generations, four families—and now it will be gone.
Eyes fall on Donny, who is picking at the carpet. With me backing out, it could all fall on him. I sealed his fate, and he has every right to hate me. His mouth opens and shuts. He exhales, and we wait for his words.
“I’ll get you all out,” Alana says, her face stony and serious. “After all, that’s what I've been paid to do.” She pulls a bunch of envelopes from her purse and hands them to me, Dimitri, Izzy, and Waverly. We have a lot of "e" sounding names. Just noticed that.
Waverly flips the envelope in her hands. “What are these?”
Alana answers, “Before your grandmothers died, they wrote you letters. Nonna said to give them to you when you were ready. And I think, since Joey figured out his life... you're ready.”
“When did Joey do that?”
“Fourteen seconds ago.”
Can she read my mind? Elephant dancing with a hamster on a yacht. Nope. No laughing. Okay, she can’t read minds. Or she thinks that’s stupid. One or the other.
“My grandma’s not dead,” I state.
“Yeah, I’m aware but you can still open it.”
Alana looks over at Dimitri. “Who’s Svetlana?”
Dimitri squishes his face. “She was my fiancée. Betrayed our entire family and was killed.”
“Babushka did not like her. And now I see why.”
Izzy looks away from her letter. “Wait, you’ve read the letters?”
“Of course I did. I’m a nosy bitch.”
Jenny snuggles in my arms as I read mine.
My dearest Nico,
By now you have figured out that Jenny is, in fact, the love of your life. I’ve worked very hard to make sure that this happened, so don’t fuck it up. She’s everything you need—the chaos, the adventure, the joy!
It’s time to give up the fear, to understand, and to commit your loyalty to her 100%. She’s good people.
Wait a second. How—how did…
I close the letter. “How did Nonna know I was going to end up with Jenny?”
Waverly crushes her letter in her hand. “This was written two years before Lukas and I got back together.”
Dimitri reads his letter, confused. “I don’t understand. There’s no woman named in this letter, but she's very anti-Svetlana and pro-mystery person…”
“What is happening?”
Alana finishes the last of the white wine in her glass, giving a half shrug. “Your grandmothers hired me to protect the future of the family. That included future generations. Right? You can’t have kids with—I don’t feel I should be explaining this to you guys. You’re grown-ass adults.”
“Wait, wait, stop! What the hell is going on?” Lance says. “How?”
Alana almost seems bored as she explains, “Your grandmothers were very close with the matriarch of the Olympians, Rhea. Her granddaughter, Penny, one of my friends, created an algorithm to find people’s best matches.
The Olympians used it for dating profiles and shit.
They own fifty percent of the dating apps on the internet. ”
“Wait—what?” I stammer.
“Yeah. I answered a few questions, and boom, the Algorithm found your matches. Izzy had the most. You were this close to getting a guy with that stomach-V thing, but he was addicted to cocaine. I figured, not the best option.”
New concerns wash over us. Was any of this real? Are we pawns in everyone else’s games? Izzy asks, “Was Lance even on the list?”
Alana is way too calm as she explains, “Yeah, of course he was. But you have other options. In case you get bored.” She winks at Izzy. “But you went and got yourself knocked up again, so it looks like you’re committed to Lance for at least eighteen years.”
Lance shakes his head in disbelief. “Wait. But you assigned me to protect Izzy. You set this all up from the beginning?”
Alana says nothing but nods as she shifts her weight in the chair.
Lance's eyes grow wide as he leans forward toward Alana. There’s a hushed awe in his voice, and it quivers as he fails to hide all his emotion. “You—you gave me Izzy and a family. You gave me everything. Why?”
“Because you’re my best friend, and you’re a pain in my ass, and you needed to move out. Yeah. You got everything.”
Katya jumps up. “Wait, wait, no. No. This doesn’t make any sense. You’re telling me an algorithm set up Dimitri and me? I was assigned to spy on him by the US government. That was all classified.”
“Yeah, you didn’t think it was weird that you lived next door to me?
Come on. There's a bazillion apartments. What are the odds I move in next to a U.S. spy? Besides, you and Markus were never supposed to be in Russia to begin with. I mean, the system was easy to hack. Eighty-nine seconds. Then you got reassigned. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Two grandkids, one strategically placed stone.”
Her eyes drift over to the ground. “But Uri’s too terrified to make that move.” She pouts and lifts her index finger and thumb. “I’m this close to a perfect score—or at least a score I’m willing to have.”
“You arranged all of our relationships from the beginning based on an algorithm?” I snap.
“I don’t see why you’re pissed. You all interacted with others on your list. You didn’t connect with them the way you connected with the people in this room.
And your grandmothers knew that. Besides, none of you were gonna shit or get off the pot.
Come on. Do something. I would start by saying, ‘Thank you, Alana, for being incredible.’”
Donny’s still sitting on the floor. “Wait, what the fuck? How come I don’t have one? Everyone gets a soulmate but me?”
“I’m saying,” Alana says, “that everyone has a soulmate I’m willing to sign off on. Yours—I’m not.”
“What the fuck. Why can’t I have love? Why can’t I have happiness?”
“Because you’re a fucking child. Because you’re a trainwreck. How many other reasons? Because she’s also a trainwreck. No. The answer is a hard no.”
“This is bullshit,” Donny pouts and crosses his arms.
Even Izzy agrees. “Yeah, this does seem super unfair. Everyone else gets them but Donny?”
“How about this? You can get your happily ever after when I get mine.” She gives him a side smirk like she’s the keeper of a million secrets, because she is.
“Fine. Go out. Go get laid,” Donny says, throwing his hands up in the air. “There’s lots of hot guys out there. I’m sure you dated a couple of them.”
Waverly cocks her head. “Why didn’t the Olympians run an algorithm thingy for you?”
“I don’t know. It’s not that I believe in soulmates or anything.
But I do believe in love. And I think you can only have a certain number of true, crush-your-heart, incredible loves, and I already had mine, I don’t need another.
” Alana pushes herself off the comfy chair, winces for a second, and walks out, leaving us even more confused.
Is any of this real? Did we ever have any choice in the matter?
Jenny nuzzles into my chest. “Do you think I’m still going to be able to play with a rocket launcher?”
“That’s what you’re concerned about? Not the fact that we’ve been manipulated into meeting each other?”
Jenny rolls her eyes at me. “Did you even listen to what she said? You interacted with other people on your list, but you chose me. I win, the other chickies lose.”
Donny flops on the floor, stretching out with a pillow under his head. “This is fucking bullshit. I’m destined to die alone.”
My girl lifts her head off my chest and turns to Donny. “You didn’t listen either. That’s probably why she’s not giving you your letter. Get your life together, stop being a train wreck, she’s giving you time to mature.”
“But she is only going to give me my letter once she gets her happy ending, which she clearly isn’t looking for.”
I shake my head, “No she said she doesn’t need another love, not that she didn’t want one.”
If you’d asked me a month ago, I would’ve said your future is set when you’re born and that love wasn’t real, because it can’t last. But now, with Jenny in my lap, surrounded by my family, I understand.
Both love and loyalty take many forms, and it’s not selfish to walk away from the future you thought you were supposed to have.
I have my girl, my family, and my dog, I don’t need anything else.
Pre order: Future and Forgiveness
Years ago, Alana was in love, her heart was shattered. She watched him succeed beyond his wildest dreams.
Years ago, Grae was in love. She vanished from his life and he never stopped looking for her.