Epilogue
Three Years Later
Momentarily free from the chatter and laughter of the dining room, I poured myself another drink and made my way from the party toward the darkness of one of the large balconies of my family’s estate.
The smell of the sea was strong as I walked out, breathing in the scent that reminded me of my childhood and letting it sink into my skin and bones with comforting ease.
I took a sip and realized I wasn’t alone, turning to find Luka leaning against the door, champagne in hand as he watched me with a gentle smile.
The last I had seen of him, he had absconded with Hannah, and the two had gone, full of giggles and alcohol, to ‘talk.’ I suspected that involved embarrassing photos of me from our childhood.
Hannah had always moaned that anyone I dated had never been around enough for her to bring them into the family circle to show the truly embarrassing pictures.
Considering how much of a shine she had taken to Luka, I suspected she had taken the opportunity.
“And what photo album did she show?” I asked as he approached.
“She said you’d know what we were doing,” he said in a voice that was a little thick; he and Hannah had obviously not relented on the sauce.
“She’s my sister, I know what she gets up to.”
“Funny, she said something similar about knowing you were going to grumble and bitch about it. She seemed excited at that, actually.”
I rolled my eyes. “She has always delighted in driving me up a wall. If she could have found a way to turn it into a career, she would have done that full-time rather than go to law school.”
He snorted, standing beside me at the railing, looking out on the inky black canvas that was the ocean.
“It’s funny. A lot of us are raised with the idea that rich people don’t act like a family.
The moms undermine their children, and the fathers are abrasive control freaks.
The kids are raised by a nanny, only seeing their parents when they need to be punished or when they need to be seen as a family. ”
The idea was hilarious; my mother would have been a little hurt, and my father would have been bewildered. “Did you mention that to them?”
“God no, I’m drunk, not an asshole,” he said, wrapping his arm around mine and leaning against my shoulder. “I’m glad it wasn’t like that for you and Hannah. I loved your parents from the first time I met them, and your sister is hell on wheels, but the fun kind.”
“They adore you,” I said, leaning my head against his. “Hannah says I’d be an idiot if I do anything to lose you. And my mom has already started making subtle hints about marriage.”
Luka laughed. “Subtle, right. She asked me earlier if I thought it was necessary for at least one of the men to wear white if it’s a gay wedding.”
“And what did you tell her?”
“I told her white originally represented innocence, and it was safe to say that innocence didn’t come into play with you or me.”
“Oh my God, Luka!”
“I said I was drunk!”
I snorted, ducking my head and shaking it. “Please tell me Hannah wasn’t there.”
“She’ll probably be laughing about it for a week,” he said with a smile. “Your dad choked on his drink, but he kept trying not to laugh while your mom wrapped her head around it. I apologized, though, it just kind of...came out.”
“You’re already forgiven, I can promise you that,” I assured him. “She’s probably going to say it was her fault for trying to make sure there was always a drink in your hand.”
“They’re good drinks,” he said with a sigh. “As much as I love what I do, it would be nice if I could have a drink once in a while.”
“You can literally leave the resort, drive in any direction, and find a bar,” I pointed out.
Considering he’d put in three years at Arete, he could take time off if he wanted, even weekends.
Plus, he regularly met with Marc Shepherd in his office, where I knew there were plenty of drinks from my own visits.
I had kept up my investment in the resort, and while there had been no definable returns like a regular investment, it was still worth it.
Many of the people I had seen when staying there eventually found recovery and returned to the real world.
And more followed them. With the money, Arete had brought in more people, upped their treatments, and allowed for more guests.
All the while Luka had been there, he had something to report that excited him daily, from a normally quiet guest having a brief conversation with him to a new treatment program they were developing.
For a man who had doubted he would be of any use to the resort, he had proven as effective as he was passionate.
“I could, but unless I’m spending time with you or your family, I don’t know, I don’t really want to leave. That’s probably going to become an issue for us one day,” he said with a frown.
“Not really,” I said with a shrug. “I already spoke to Marc and Reggie. Visitors are restricted, but there are exceptions. I might be able to visit you more often without you having to leave.”
“Is that so?” he asked, peering up at me with a smirk. “Did you wave more money at them?”
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “There are other ways to get what you want without waving money.”
“Such as?”
“The same way I can make my sister and parents happy. The same way I can give you another family...if you want.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring box, carefully setting it in his hand, and watched as his eyes went wide. Carefully, he opened it, looking at the simple band with small jewels set along its circumference. Nothing flashy or overly expensive, but it was colorful, just like him.
“Is this...” he began, hastily setting his glass down and turning to stare at me.
I was never going to be completely free from pain; that much was true.
But there had been new treatments, and the plan I was on now meant I didn’t have to live in constant terror of the flare-ups or of having to dull my senses to dull the pain.
It was a lot more work than popping pills, but it was worth it.
And even if it meant being in pain, nothing was going to stop me from getting down on my knee in front of him, especially when I saw the explosion of emotions over his face.
“Marry me?” I asked simply because romance and large gestures had never been my thing, but I tried never to say anything I didn’t mean, and I meant this.
“Holy fuck,” he said, the box shaking in his hand. “I mean, yes. Fuck, holy...yes!”
I slipped the ring onto his finger but didn’t manage to get up before he crashed into me, wrapping his arms around my neck and squeezing me tight as he kissed me hard enough our teeth knocked together.
His eyes were wet when he pulled back, and I remembered the flushed, embarrassed look on his face the first time he had run into me by accident.
He had been handsome then, but he was breathtaking now as he stared at me in a mingled confusion of love, happiness, embarrassment, and worry.
“You sure?” he asked softly.
I stood up, taking his hand, and felt my heart skip a beat as the metal of the ring pushed into my skin. “You’re damn right I am. You know I never do anything unless I’m certain, and I’m confident in this, beyond words.”
His lip trembled, and he sucked in a breath. “Spousal visitation, huh?”
“Spousal visitation.”
“Sneaky.”
“I have my moments.”
“Wanna go tell your family?”
“Actually, I was planning on showing you my old bedroom first.”
“I’ve already seen it.”
“I wanted to show it to you again.”
“Oh. Oh. Right, yes, let’s do that...then tell your family.”
“Soon to be our family.”
“You’re already getting a blowjob, you don’t have to oversell it,” he said with a laugh, letting me guide him back into the house, our drinks forgotten as we took steps down a new road together.