Epilogue
Terran
I toyed with the settings around the emeralds with my fingers, a rich gold that complimented my skin tone perfectly. The deep color of the gems was still startling to look at, even days later after they’d arrived on Silas’s doorstep, dressed in a velvet box with my name embossed on the front flap.
I still couldn’t believe he’d gotten these custom made, far out of the scope of the other ones I’d bought for myself and infinitely more beautiful.
Twisting in the full-length mirror, I admired the curve of my bare ass and how lovely the stones sparkled in the faint light from the bathroom. All three chains fit my waist perfectly, creating a stacking effect.
The top was the one encrusted with the most gemstones—small, bead-sized ones cut into ovals and set sideways in the bezels with their backs flat and laid flush against my body.
The second, the middle chain, had fewer gems that were slightly larger in round cuts, spaced evenly all the way around my waist like a traditional chain.
The last was my favorite, hanging the farthest down on my waist. While only a few stones were set on this chain, this one had a far more intricate pattern.
The larger stones were set like the middle chain, but had a single teardrop shaped emerald hanging down on a gold link, connecting them together but remained loose enough to move around with each sway of my hips.
They were absolutely beautiful.
Three chains in total.
I was well and truly spoiled.
“Admiring yourself?”
Turning from the mirror, I spotted Silas shuffling into the bedroom with a towel still wrapped around his waist and another tossed over his head that he used to dry his hair. A slight fog followed him in from the bathroom, his skin still slightly pink from the heat of the water.
As much as he claimed to be acclimated to Ellington Height’s winter weather, he certainly wasn’t that good at adjusting to how frigid it got at night. Sometimes he still woke me up with his cold as fuck hands pressed up against my back, using me like his own personal space heater.
He was lucky I was fond of him, or else I would’ve handcuffed him to his bed frame by now.
“What can I say, you’ve got good taste.” I grazed my hand over the teardrop settings, smiling when they moved.
“I better for that price.”
I didn’t want to know.
I was too afraid I’d find out I was wearing the equivalent of a small house on my body every single day to work. Or worse.
Luckily, the way the artisan had fastened the settings made it easy to pull my uniform over, even in haste.
I’d unfortunately been forced to test out the wear and tear of these things quite a few times since coming off of desk duty, and each one had me wincing whenever I was out in the field and getting my hands dirty.
The absolute last thing I wanted was for the chains to snap or a setting to come loose. Things like this were replaceable, as Silas would preach time and time again, but I’d grown far too attached to these delicate accessories to let them be sent off for repairs so soon after getting them.
I loved them.
He came over to me as I turned back to the mirror again, tossing his hair towel onto the bed before wrapping his arms around me and burying his nose against my neck. I leaned back into his warmth, soaking it in. Soaking him in.
As I reached up to run my hand through the short lengths of his hair, I said, “Captain wants me in tomorrow before the trial. Said she wanted Ted Evans to run through my witness statement one more time.”
He squeezed me, lifting his head just enough to catch my eyes in the mirror. “You’re going to be fine tomorrow. Once the jury sees you up there, it will be an open and shut case.”
I breathed out slowly, letting the confidence in his words soothe me. “Right.”
An ongoing threat that was now finally coming to a conclusion.
Naomi’s lawsuit, brought forth against the 199th precinct, was set to start tomorrow at noon. A sad predicament for all, considering the circumstances, but one I was more than happy to finally be done with.
While I wasn’t directly being sued, I hated seeing my department in shambles trying to cover their bases. IAB and Ted Evans, Avery’s top-notch lawyer, had been running the gauntlet over the past six months preparing for this trial.
As Silas pointed out, it was a pretty open and shut case and this was simply a formality of the justice system. Whatever Naomi was hoping to get out of it—some kind of retribution for her loved one dying tragically or otherwise, I hope she found it.
She deserved peace just like everyone else.
“Hey.” He tightened his arms around me, lifting me up from my feet. “No more. It’s bed time.”
I grinned. “Wow, Ainsley’s taught you well, huh.”
He scoffed but didn’t deny it.
Unfortunately, my niece had an adorably uncanny way of making sure everyone was wrapped around her little finger.
Silas, as much as he liked to believe otherwise, wasn’t immune to its effects, either.
The past few months had been a slow integration of our lives coming together, a welcomed surprise for Ainsley who was determined to force Silas into being her new park buddy.
He still had yet to tell her no, and from my perspective, I knew he’d never have the heart to. None of us could.
That’s why she was going to make for an excellent Fortune 500 CEO.
He dragged me to the bed, tossing me onto it and ditching his towel before climbing in beside me. I hissed at his cold feet tangling up with mine, the chill quickly erased when he littered my shoulder and neck with warm-mouthed kisses.
“Terran.”
I tilted my head back. “Hm?”
“I love you.”
Words so softly spoken. So natural in their delivery. No faltering, no second-guessing. Like they’d always been there, waiting for the right moment to come spilling out of him, to be set free.
My breath caught in my throat.
For a split second, the world narrowed to just him and the way his thumb brushed along my cheek with a gentleness that left me almost undone.
The faintest smile curved at his lips, pulling them up just enough to soften the sharp edges of his features.
A quiet sincerity—a vulnerability—shone in his eyes. Tender and softhearted.
Oh, this man.
“I love you, too, Silas,” I whispered back.
He didn’t say anything else, didn’t need to. Neither of us did.
Instead, his smile widened as he leaned in and captured his lips with mine.