Epilogue - Simon
Four months later
As I walk into the house, I’m already smiling in anticipation of seeing her.
“Blair? I’m home,” I call out.
“I’m in here,” she calls back from the kitchen.
I turn toward the sound of her voice, but my phone rings, and I groan in annoyance. Work is over for the day, and all I want to do is spend time with my wife.
“Yes?” I huff into the phone.
“Sir, I have news regarding the reports you asked for,” my head of security says.
“What reports? You know I asked for a lot of reports on a daily basis,” I chuckle, amused because I’m in a good mood. It’s Friday. I have Blair to myself all weekend. Well, except for tonight. We have a family dinner tonight, but the rest of the time she is all mine.
“Shit, sorry, yes, the report about Anthony, her stepbrother, and all his accomplices.”
“Oh, that’s great,” I say, suddenly interested in the call. “What can you tell me?
The man on the other end chuckles, unable to hold it back. “Simon, sorry, I don’t mean to be unprofessional, but if you had been there, you would have fucking loved it. The look on that assholes face when a massive mafia gang swarmed into his club. He pissed himself. He literally pissed his pants.”
I start laughing, catching on to the guy’s amusement. “And? What else?” I ask, wanting more details.
“No one got hurt, not really. Anthony might have a few bruises, a black eye, you know… but I think it’s his ego that got the worst of it.
Tony gave him a very serious warning and said we are watching his every move.
One step out of line, and our next visit won’t be so friendly… You know. The whole show.”
“And you think it worked?”
“It worked and then some. The guy was a puddle on the floor. He was whimpering and crying, sitting in his own piss. Yeah. I’d say it worked,” he muses.
“And his friends?”
“They all got the same treatment.”
I take a deep breath, satisfied with the good news.
“Well done. That’s brilliant. Now take the weekend off and go have a drink on me,” I grin.
“Wait, sir, one more thing.”
“Mm?”
“Jaco. You also wanted an update on him,” he says.
“I do. What have you got for me?”
“Still the same, sir,” he says reluctantly.
Jaco has vanished into thin air. No one has heard from him or seen him since the night at the bar. Not even his own family.
“It’s okay. He’ll show up eventually. Thanks for the updates.”
I end the call and head into the kitchen, walking up behind my wife and wrapping my arms around her, kissing the back of her neck and nuzzling my face against her skin. She giggles and wiggles in my arms, trying to turn around to kiss me, but I hold her firmly in place.
“What are you up to, my princess?” I ask, looking over her shoulder.
“I’m making us a pre-dinner cocktail. Our own little private party before we go for dinner with your family. It is Friday after all,” she giggles.
“Well, I do like the sound of that. I could privately party with you all night,” I muse.
I release her enough to let her turn in my arms. She stands on her tiptoes and kisses me. Not just a kiss, a tease. An embrace. A spark that lights my entire body on fire.
“Mm. You need to stop that, princess. Or we won’t make it to the party,” I muse.
“Fine,” she rolls her eyes in dramatic pretense.
“Here,” she grins, handing me a bright cocktail.
“Pink?” I smirk.
“Real men drink pink,” she raises one eyebrow at me, challenging me.
“I like pink. Especially on you. And especially when I can pull it off you with my teeth while you’re tied to my bed.”
Her cheeks flush pink, and I smile at how I can still make her blush.
“Hey, you told me to stop, and now you’re the one causing trouble,” she complains.
I step back, taking her hand and pulling her with me.
“Let’s drink this out on the deck. The ocean is wild today. It’s a beautiful view.”
“I’m so relieved the summer heat is over,” she says. “I thought we were going to skip all the other seasons and have eternal summer.”
Out on the deck, a gentle wind brushes over us, and she shivers. “It is getting chilly. Remind me to take something warm to dinner,” she says, stepping close to me and leaning against me.
“Says the girl who made adult slushies for us,” I chuckle.
“Oh, shush. Just make sure you remind me, okay?”
“I will. And we both know that if I forget to remind you, you will just steal my hoodie. So, either way, my sweet, beautiful little princess, you will be warm.”
She snuggles even closer to me, and my heart dances in my chest.
Fuck.
It’s crazy how it can still catch me by surprise—the intensity of the love I feel for her.
Every morning, I wake up, and if she isn’t already wrapped in my arms, I reach for her, desperate to make sure she’s still there. Terrified that I dreamed her up, thinking it’s too perfect to be real.
But here she is.
As real as the day I met her, and still making me fall deeper and deeper in love with her with each passing day.
I sit on the deck chair and pull her onto my lap, and we drink our pink cocktails and watch the ocean, looking moody and beautiful.
At seven, we arrive at Marley’s place, and Blair is immediately whisked away by Talia, Nikita, and Stefania to get drinks.
Bardil walks over to me and slaps me on the shoulder. “You are looking happy, man. Like proper fucking happy. It’s really good to see you like this,” he grins.
“Thanks. I am happy. Happier than I actually thought a man could be.”
“Ya, ya, get a room,” he teases, even though I know he is just as happy in his marriage as I am in mine.
“Anyways, Marlen has good news that is going to make your day even better,” he says, cocking his head to the side, gesturing for me to follow him.
On the way past the bar, I grab a beer, glancing over at the girls, all laughing and catching up. I smile when Blair’s gaze catches mine, and her eyes shine.
“Simon! I have good news!” Marlen calls out as I get nearby.
He’s standing out by the barbecue.
“Why are we barbecuing in winter?” I muse.
“Because I felt like it. And don’t be such a little bitch. It’s not that cold. You have a hoodie on and everything,” he teases me.
I lift my beer and laugh. “Fair enough. Tell me that good news,” I say.
“I had another meeting with David Marcas today. Our trial business deal went well. Like it went fucking well. He’s very happy.
And now we are shifting the conversation toward a possible alliance.
Something permanent and strong. He is meeting with the other heads of his family on Monday and will get back to me once that’s done, but all in all, it’s looking good.
Everything is looking great, actually.” Marlen sounds happy. He sounds excited even.
I smile, relieved that things really are coming together in the most perfect way. I didn’t expect my plans against Jaco to end in an alliance with his family. It literally could not have had a better outcome.
My eyes drift to the grill.
“Everything looks great except for that steak! What are you doing to it, man?” I blurt out in horror.
He scoffs, but I grab the tongs from him and lift the steak off the heat.
“It’s charred black on one side and totally raw on the other,” I tease him, waving it in front of his face.
“Hey man, I got …uh…distracted… by someone,” he grins, stealing a glance at his wife.
“Don’t blame me because you can’t cook,” she calls out, overhearing our conversation.
I laugh at the look on his face as he sheepishly turns to me and shrugs.
“You’d better go grab some fresh steaks, man. Give these to the dogs,” I laugh, shaking my head.
“It’s not my fault, seriously. She’s… she’s dangerous,” he says defensively.
My eyes drift over to my wife, watching Blair, caught in her stare again, and I know exactly what he means.
“Don’t worry, man. I get it,” I laugh. “You don’t have to explain the crazy things love does to a man.”
Marlen returns with fresh steaks, and we resume making dinner. Beers go down easily. Laughter is free and loud. My heart is happy and filled with love.
We all sit outside in his garden as the sun sets, and we eat and talk and share stories to make each other laugh. Even after the food is finished, we stay there, enjoying the sky and the company.
Blair sits close by my side with her hand on my leg and her head on my shoulder.
My life is so complete with her in it.
I wrap my arm tighter around her shoulder and whisper in her ear, “Are you warm enough, my love?”
“I am about to get my hoodie,” she replies. “Thank you for bringing it for me,” she adds.
“Actually, I brought you something better,” I grin. Her eyes narrow. “Something better than my hoodie?” she asks, confused.
Jumping up, I tell her to wait while I jog inside.
When I come out and hand her one of my hoodies, she packs up laughing.
“This really is better,” she says happily, pulling the oversized piece of clothing over her head with my help.
“Hey, does your girl also steal your hoodies?” Bardil calls out. “They really are tricky little pixies, aren’t they?” he teases, looking at Nikita.
I grin at Blair. “See, you aren’t the only one,” I laugh.
“Besides, I love how it looks on you,” I chuckle. “You practically drown it in.”
She moves off her chair and sits on my lap, holding her hands out in front of her so that I can roll the sleeves up for her.
We sit outside with my family, snuggled together, looking up at the sky until it turns pitch-black and fills with stars.
Only then do I realize that Blair has fallen asleep on my lap, curled up like a kitten with a sweet smile on her face.
I lift her in my arms and cradle her protectively, tilting my head toward my family and grinning.
They wave in silence before I head out to my car to take my beautiful wife home.
Home.
I never understood the meaning of that word until I met her. And home isn’t even a place. It’s her. It’s wherever she is.
Leaning down, I gently kiss her lips and whisper, “I love you, sweet, beautiful girl.”
*****
THE END