Epilogue
EPILOGUE
KRUZ
8 months later…
The campus is quiet at this hour, the late evening air cool and crisp, carrying the faint scent of fall. Leaves crunch under my boots as Ezra and I walk hand in hand along the cobblestone path leading toward the library. It feels strange to be here, back in the world I fought so hard to keep after everything we went through. Strange, but good.
Classes are back in full swing, and the usual chaos of deadlines and study groups consumes most of my days. Quinn and I meet for coffee in the mornings again, laughing about the mundane dramas of student life. It’s as if the storm that once loomed over me has finally passed, leaving behind clear skies and the kind of peace I’d almost forgotten was possible.
Beside me, Ezra is silent, his thumb brushing over the back of my hand absently. He’s not the same man who pulled me into the depths of his dangerous world. He’s softer now, more at ease, though that edge of intensity is still there, simmering just beneath the surface.
He did it. He managed to restructure the Assembly, breaking it down to its core and rebuilding it into something… different. Something better. The power it once held, the shadows it thrived in, are gone. What remains is smaller, quieter, operating under new rules—rules Ezra created.
It wasn’t easy, and it sure as hell wasn’t quick. There were battles I’ll never fully understand, sacrifices he doesn’t talk about, but he did it. And when he wasn’t working to dismantle the old system, he was here, helping me, grounding me, building a life that finally feels like it belongs to both of us.
It’s a good fucking thing, I think, my free hand cradling my massive belly.
“You’re quiet,” he says suddenly, his voice pulling me out of my thoughts.
I glance up at him, his blue eyes catching the faint glow of the streetlights. “Just thinking.”
“About?”
“How weirdly normal everything feels.” I smile, squeezing his hand. “I didn’t think we’d get here.”
His lips twitch into that faint smirk that always sends my heart racing. “I told you we would.”
I laugh softly, shaking my head. “You always say that, like you knew it all along.”
“I did.” His voice is low, steady, and his gaze is warm and unyielding. “You didn’t think I’d let anything happen to us, did you?”
I roll my eyes, but my chest tightens in that way it always does when he looks at me like this. So many fucking things happened to us. “Cocky as ever.”
He stops walking, tugging me gently toward him. His free hand slides around my waist, pulling me close, and the world around us fades.
“You’re here,” he murmurs, his voice softer now. “We’re here.” His hands grip the sides of my huge belly. “That’s all that matters.”
I tilt my head up to meet his gaze, my heart thudding. “You’re ridiculously sappy for a former crime lord, you know that?”
He leans down, his forehead resting lightly against mine. “Don’t let it get out. Wouldn’t want to ruin my reputation.”
I laugh, but the sound is swallowed by his kiss—slow and deliberate, the kind that makes my knees weak and my mind go blissfully blank.
When we finally pull apart, the warmth of his touch lingers, and I can’t help but smile.
This is it. This is our life now. No shadows, no fear, no storms waiting to tear us apart.
Just us. Together.
And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
I’m still technically Ezra’s TA, because of course he made sure of that again once the new school year started, but only for a few more months—just until I graduate in the spring, though, a lot of that time will be spent from home after the next month or so. The thought of finally finishing my degree, of walking across that stage with him in the audience, is surreal. I never thought I’d make it this far. Never thought I’d have a future that wasn’t dictated by survival.
Ezra is still a professor, though his focus has shifted. He doesn’t need the job, but he likes it, and maybe—just maybe—it gives him a sense of normalcy too. We both spent so long caught up in a world where nothing was certain, where every choice felt like a battle. But here, in this life we’ve built, things are steady. Safe.
We have a house now. Not a massive estate, not some over-the-top mansion hidden away from the world. Just a home. Ours. It’s nestled just outside town, surrounded by trees and quiet, with a porch that Ezra swears will be perfect for watching the sunset. I think he just likes the idea of building something of his own—something untouched by the past, something that’s entirely ours.
It’s been eight months, and somehow, despite everything, we made it.
And in a few weeks, we’ll be bringing someone else into this world—someone tiny, someone half him and half me. The thought terrifies me and fills me with something I can’t quite name all at once.
Ezra catches me staring at him, and his smirk softens into something else entirely—something that makes my heart ache in the best way. He pulls me in again, kissing me like he can read my mind, like he already knows everything I’m thinking.
“You’re happy,” he murmurs against my lips.
“I am,” I whisper back. And I really, really mean it.