Epilogue
Three weeks later
“ S o, what do you think?” Jakob asked as they stood on the lanai of his new home.
He’d decided to pick an area closer to Honolulu since he would be filming there. Also, he thought, he couldn’t get over the view. He’d found the house by chance in the Manoa Woodlawn area of Honolulu. It was a bit cooler in the hills and boasted a ton of acreage—not that common for the region. It was also off the beaten path. Not a lot of celebrities lived in this particular area.
There had been a lot of changes over the last three weeks. The hospital had released Lani the day after the shooting. He had done everything he could to force her to rest, but she had been crafty. She’d convinced him she needed him near her to rest. She ended up seducing him—not that it was that hard to do.
Rick had pleaded guilty. He had made noises about fighting it, but it was easy enough to recover Royal’s second phone. She hadn’t erased any of their conversations. Messages were going back at least four years on that phone. California and Australia were also investigating, and Jakob was sure various other charges would come soon.
Sienna was currently being observed, tested, and interviewed. According to the DA, she would probably be found noncompetent. Rick had not been the first celebrity she had obsessed over, but he had been the only one she’d ended up dating. Her long history of mental breaks would probably give credence to the not guilty due to the insanity verdict. He heard that she was still asking for Rick.
“I like it,” Lani said. “A lot. I told you that when we looked at it the first time.”
And now came the uncomfortable part. His palms were sweaty, his head and heart were pounding, and his throat was closing up.
“Could you see yourself living here?”
She glanced over at him, holding onto her hair. The trades were insane today, but he liked it when they whipped her hair about.
“Are you asking me to move in with you?”
He shook his head, and she frowned.
“Oh.”
He didn’t understand the tone.
“I don’t want us to just live together.”
Her brow furrowed as she studied him in silence.
He sighed. “I am cocking this up, aren’t I?”
“I don’t know what this is.”
He stepped closer and took her free hand.
“I want you to live here with me as my wife.” Her eyes widened, but she still said nothing. Jakob plowed ahead. “I know it’s fast. It’s insanely fast, but when you know, you know. And I know. I know I want to marry you and have babies with you. I want to hang out together watching TV. I want to be with you always. And I understand if you want to wait. And I also understand if you want a long time to plan a big wedding. I’ll wait. As long as you want me to.”
She blinked a few times. “I don’t want a big wedding. Something small with mainly family and very close friends.”
His heart turned over. “Are you saying yes?”
Her expression was serious, then…her lips curved. “Jakob Wulf, I love you. Of course, I’ll marry you.”
There was a beat of silence before what she’d said registered.
“Yes!” Then he grabbed her up off the ground and spun her around.
She was giggling. “Put me down before you make me sick. You know I get motion sickness.”
He set her down, then pulled a velvet box out of his pocket. “I had this made, but if you don’t like it, we can get something else.”
Popping the box open, he showed her the ring. A square diamond sat within a platinum setting made up of plumeria flowers. Twisting vines encircled the piece, and a rose gold thread was in the inlay pattern. He heard the click of her swallow.
“Jake, it’s stunning.” When she looked up at him, her eyes were filled with tears.
Happiness warmed him as he took the ring out and slipped it on her finger. It fit perfectly.
“I love it.”
He pulled her into his arms. “I love you.”
Bending down, he brushed his mouth over hers and was thinking about taking it much further to celebrate, until he heard someone clearing their throat. With regret, he pulled back and looked over his shoulder. Ben stood at the gate that led to the backyard.
The last few weeks had been hard on Ben. Not that Jakob didn’t think his best friend kind of deserved some of it, but he hated seeing his friend suffer. Ben and Lani had talked once or twice, but Jakob knew they needed to clear the air.
“I guess she took pity on you, huh?” Ben asked. He was dressed down, even for him. His Kingston Surfing t-shirt, which had seen better days, was tucked into a pair of khaki shorts.
“Wait, Ben knew?” Lani asked.
Jakob nodded, looking down at her. Her eyes were narrowed on him. “What?”
“Please tell me you didn’t do something stupid and ask his permission. That will just piss me off.”
He snorted. “No. I asked for his help with the ring. I created the design, but I wanted a second opinion.”
Her expression cleared. “I love my ring.”
Jakob smiled. “I have a phone call to make, so I thought you two could talk.”
Leaning down to kiss her cheek, he whispered, “Try and clear the air, love. You both need to move on.”
She nodded, but he could tell she had gone on her guard. Jakob understood. The man she had admired had been an ass the last year or so, and she wasn’t ready to trust him just yet.
Walking to the house, he nodded to Ben and left them alone. He knew that Lani needed her brother, but Ben needed her more. Even with their insanely huge family, he was alone in the world now.
Lani didn’t know what to say to her brother. He looked a mess, his hair needing a trim, and he had lost weight. They had spoken a few times since the insane events at the house, but it had been mainly over the phone.
“You look happy,” Ben said, walking closer.
“I am.”
He offered her a solemn smile. “Good. I never saw how much you two liked each other.”
“I didn’t like him. He was annoying.”
His expression lightened. “I’m not sure if he wanted me to help him convince you to marry him or if he really wanted us to talk.”
She rolled her eyes. “It didn’t take much to convince me.”
“Then, I guess it was mainly to let me talk to you. You look good.”
“Thanks.”
He sighed. “I don’t know where I lost my way.”
Lani stared at him. He was still the brother she loved, but so much had happened that she didn’t know if she could trust him again. Not yet, at least. Lani waited. Usually, she would step in to make it easier for her brother, but Ben needed to fix things. At least, he needed to prove to her that he really wanted to fix this.
“I never believed in that hype around our name, you know.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “Then, one day, I realized that it had been resting on my shoulders, and I didn’t fuck it up. I started believing the hype. It wasn’t me.”
Now, she would step in. “Ben, you are good as the head of the company.”
“I get that. Dad taught me just like Grandpa Ben taught him.”
Just hearing the name invoked memories of his big laugh and even bigger hugs. “I miss him. Them.”
He looked at her. “I miss my sister more.”
For the second time that day, tears filled her eyes. “I miss you too, Ben.”
“I’m not sure how we fix this.”
She went to him then and took his hand. “We start by talking like this.”
“Come back to Kingston, please.”
She wanted that but on one condition. “I don’t want to do PR. I want to use my law license.”
Hope brightened his eyes. There. That was the look she remembered from her brother, before all the BS of the last year.
“You got it.”
“And I want to work on contracts for Dillon Security.”
He nodded and pulled her into one of his big hugs. “I’ll try my best not to be a dick.”
Another fresh wave of tears streamed down her face. She knew they had a lot to work on. She needed to speak up more and stand up for what she wanted. He needed not to be a dick.
“I’ve missed you.” She leaned back and looked up at him. “I’m sorry about the baby.”
“I am, too. Not sure if Royal and I would have made it, but I wanted that baby.”
She squeezed him. “You would have been a great dad. And you will be when you find the right woman.”
He rolled his eyes. “I am off the market for a while. I have a lot of work to do on myself and the company.”
She nodded. “As long as you leave a day free to walk me down the aisle.”
“Aw, Lani, you’re gonna make me cry. I don’t deserve it, but thank you. It would be my honor to walk you down the aisle.”
“All better out here?” Jakob called out.
“He was really nervous about buying you that ring,” Ben whispered loud enough for her to hear. That warmed her heart even more.
When she looked around her brother at Jakob, he frowned and strode over.
“Why are you crying?” He tugged her away from her brother and into his arms. “I said you could come over as long as you were nice to her.”
She peeked at her brother, who looked amused at Jakob’s antics.
“Jake, they’re happy tears.” She leaned back. “We’re going to work on communicating more.”
He sighed. “Good.”
“How was your phone call?”
“It was fine.”
“There was no phone call.”
He shared a look with her brother. “Your sister already had my number. And no, there wasn’t. But I did call in an order for lunch. It will be here soon. Come look at our new home, Ben. It has an elevator, which, according to Emily, makes me Ritchie Rich. She spent all her time in it during the walk-through.”
Several Months Later
A light breeze filled the press area for the premiere on the beach for Task Force Honolulu. Jakob could hear the buzz of the fans that were filing in. The sun was sinking lower and lower, and his stomach was doing all sorts of somersaults.
As always, he looked for his constant. The one person who centered him. Lani was at the back of the press room, her smile shining. She had been the one who told him it was a good idea to have a premier on the beach. It was the day before the TV premiere, so the people of Hawai’i had a chance to see it first, as they should. It didn’t take much for the studio to agree to it.
“How excited are you about the new premiere of Task Force Honolulu?” Simon Andrews asked Jakob, pulling him back into the conversation.
It was a stupid question, but he had played this game for a long time. “I’m beyond thrilled. I’m so glad the people of Hawai’i have accepted us.”
He saw Emily roll her eyes. She stood next to Lani, ensuring no one bothered his fiancée. She wasn’t on the job. She just saw it as her job to keep people from messing with Lani. Aaron was on the other side of Emily, his gaze always on alert. Ben stood next to Lani. The siblings had been working hard to repair their relationship, even if Ben took it to the extreme to become more of a workaholic.
There were a few more questions for him and the rest of the cast before it finally ended, and they could join the fans on the beach. He strode through the reporters to get to Lani.
The plans for their wedding were in full swing, but they were waiting until after he’d wrapped filming for the first season.
“Where do they get these idiot reporters?” Emily asked. “Like, if you didn’t care about the show, you would have said so. Hey, Mix, what are you doing here?”
Sure enough, Ian, his sister Autumn, her husband, and the TFH Team Bravo were there. He had it on good authority that the agent still did not like his nickname.
“We got special tickets from Jake. Why are you here?”
“I’m Lani’s bestie.”
“Exactly,” Lani said, fist-bumping Emily. His own family were making their way over to them. They were a little late, thanks to a major accident on the Pali Highway.
Seeing everyone there to support him almost had him tearing up. He had to be the luckiest man alive at the moment. “Let’s all head down to the beach. The cast and our guests have an area set aside to sit.
He waited for everyone to file past, then slipped his arm around Lani’s waist.
“Ready for your big premiere?” she asked, smiling up at him.
All his nerves dissolved. “I’m ready for anything with you by my side.”
Together, they walked out of the press area and out into the rest of their lives.