Epilogue
EPILOGUE
Three months later
Matt
“I’m fine!” Nick rolled his eyes.
“You’re almost fine, but not quite.”
He groaned when I lifted his leg and bent it. “This is unnecessary, Matt. I’m good; I don’t need PT.”
“But you do. And Camie is all too happy to take more money from the Saint brothers.” I smiled.
Camie had recovered easily enough. I’d love to say getting hit in the head had knocked some sense into her, but she was still a raging bitch.
“It would be a lot more fun to do this naked.” Nick winked at me.
“Well, if you play your cards right, I might do something else to you later, very naked.”
“I will be a perfect patient.”
I laughed, so grateful Nick was healing. He’d scared the shit out of me. He’d flatlined twice on the way to the hospital, and he’d had to have three surgeries. He’d only just been cleared for PT a week ago, and there was no way I wasn’t going to be his therapist.
The last three months had been chaotic. The police had investigated Nicole’s suicide and James’s death. Once they found out just how sick James was and how much of a victim Nicole was, they didn’t really try to push charges on Nick or Angel.
Nicole’s family was notified. Her real name was Sherry Gibbons, and they’d been looking for her all these years. The way they got her back broke my heart.
Greg, well, I didn’t know much about him. I’d heard he left and was somewhere on the other side of the country. He’d been devastated when he found out the person he thought he’d known all those years was a psycho. I wasn’t about to keep in touch with him.
“Darnell coming by?” Nick asked.
“Later, yeah. He has the last of my things.”
I’d moved out of my apartment and into the Saint house. I wanted to be with Nick, and this was already home to me.
“Last week he told me that barista chick, Beth, actually landed herself a boyfriend.”
I chuckled. “Yes, I guess she was just lonely, maybe a little crazy, but we’re all a little nuts. She seems happy, though.”
“Good for her.” Nick was being sarcastic. He didn’t trust her, and he’d made me promise to never go to that shop again.
I’d let him stay paranoid for a bit.
Mendez was able to tell me that James had a lot of problems. Nicole wasn’t his only victim. A few years before her, a boy of about sixteen had gone missing and once they began digging into James’s history, they found some disturbing pictures. No body was discovered, but I hoped someday he would be so the boy’s family could have closure.
“Lunch!” Shep shouted from the doorway.
It was a beautiful day, so we were doing our session outside. I waved over to Shep and then helped Nick up.
“I can walk.” He glared.
“Okay.” I stepped back and let him do it on his own. When we were almost to the house, he turned.
“Thank you for taking such good care of me, Mattie.”
Of course in all his delirium, he’d remembered that I’d said it was okay to call me that. So I just smiled.
“Thanks for saving me, Nicky.”
“What the fuck?”
“Yeah.” I took his hand. “I decided if I get a nickname, so do you.”
“Fucking no.”
I chuckled. “I like it. Let’s tell the others. I bet they will too.”
“Don’t you dare.” He tugged me closer as I went to march inside.
I wrapped my arms over his shoulders. “I’ll stop…eventually.”
He rolled his eyes but grinned.
“Kiss me, Mattie.”
“Forever, Nicky.”
And that was exactly what I intended to do.
THE END