Epilogue – Angelo
Lucio leans back and looks around the bar. “Do you think we should move?” he asks.
My eyes follow his, soaking in everything we’ve built together. Sure, my parents opened the bar, but since we’ve taken it over, the place has thrived. I no longer think of Hook it’s about family and what we built together.
There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t see my brothers and sister.
Hell, we grew up in this place. It’s just as much our home as walking through the front door of our parents’ place upstairs.
“I want our kids to know what this feels like too. It’s important that they’re close, more like siblings than cousins.”
“They already are,” Daphne says. “And I know the weather here sucks and the city isn’t the safest place, but it’s home and will always be home.”
Tilly comes through the front door and heads through the crowd to our table. “I’m sorry I’m late,” she says and leans down to kiss my cheek.
“Babe,” I say, grabbing her wrist before she has a chance to sit. “How about a real kiss?”
She rolls her eyes but gives me what I’ve been waiting hours to get. “Where’s everybody else?” she asks as she shrugs off her coat.
“They’re coming. The roads are a mess, so they’re stuck in traffic.”
“There’re at least eight inches covering the sidewalk, and no one was prepared for something this big.”
“That’s what she said,” Lucio adds with a laugh.
“You’re an idiot, and anyway—” Daphne smirks “—eight inches isn’t all that impressive.”
His eyes darken. “I don’t want to hear about your sex life, Daphne.”
“We’re here.” Bianca appears beside our table with Delilah. “Shit is crazy out there.”
Delilah and Bianca both give their men kisses before sitting down with us. The only person missing is Leo, but he’s at the hotel, unable to get away with the freak spring blizzard.
“Maybe I should go check on the kids,” Delilah says almost before she has her coat off.
“They’re fine, baby. Christine is watching them, and they’re playing.”
Since our parents are out of town until spring, we’ve hired a babysitter—who’s more like a nanny—to take care of the kids upstairs while we work. It allows us to keep them close and together while we work.
“Thank God for her,” Delilah says.
I throw my arm around the back of Tilly’s chair and pull her closer. “You good, sweet?”
“I couldn’t be better,” she says with the biggest smile. “What’s not to be happy about? I’ve got a good man, an amazing family, and all the love in the world.”
She’s right. It doesn’t matter that it’s cold outside and the snow is falling so fast, soon the roads will be undrivable. All that matters is that I have everything I ever wanted.
I’m as rich as they come. Not just in wealth, but in love. A man is nothing without his family, the love of a good woman, and healthy children.
The road to get here wasn’t pretty, but in the end, my soul is settled. My heart is full. And time keeps moving while I soak up all the goodness that is life.
Thank you for reading the Men of Inked Southside. But wait!