Epilogue II
Lizzy
The anniversary party hums to life all around us.
Children run amok joyfully playing with each other.
Cecilia’s four eldest girls rob the passing servers of their triple chocolate mousse cake hidden from the watchful eye of their father, who’s distracted by his newborn daughter, giving his wife and her friend, Gracie, a bit of reprieve.
All around us, loved ones are gathered to celebrate my parents-in-law’s fiftieth wedding anniversary.
The healthy example they set for us makes me believe in happily ever after.
Bash and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary a few weeks ago, and that in and of itself was an accomplishment.
They say the first year of marriage is the hardest, and if it weren’t for the endless patience from my husband, ours would have been rough.
But between the two of us, we’re still in newlywed bliss.
The loud sound of smacking draws my attention downward, only for me to find the ginormous mastiff gobbling up the rest of my brisket.
Since it’s meat, I don’t worry about it making him sick.
Margot’s large dog is only intimidating in his size.
Sweet Benny is docile by nature from what I’ve seen.
And he is only willing to retrieve balls thrown by the children.
He somewhat listens to Margot, but not to Matthias at all.
“Oh, there he is!” a loud voice breaks through my haze.
Margot appears by our side, her son trailing silently behind her. Nico’s tranquility is contrasts with Margot’s bombastic self. I love my sister-in-law nevertheless. Nico marches over to Benny, and they both position themselves on the ground and crawl beneath the table.
“Don’t worry about them. They do that all the time,” Margot waves off their hiding spot.
Huffing, she takes a seat next to me. “Matthias didn’t want us to bring Benny, but with his new medicine, I didn’t want to leave him at home alone.
Plus, this is an outdoor party. But if he catches Benny stealing food off people’s plates, he’s going to be proven right.
And I hate when he thinks he’s right. That man isn’t allowed to be right over me. ”
Laughing, I take a sip of my champagne before responding. “It’ll be our secret.”
“Bless you, Lizzy.”
She looks under the table then back at me. “I love my boys, but sometimes I miss being around women. I’m not jealous of Cecilia with her litter of girls, but…”
The rest of her sentence hangs in the air, and I find it somewhat relatable. Marriage is great, but it can be lonely to be far from other women. I miss social interactions. A lightbulb goes off in my mind. “What you need is a girls’ trip!”
She lights up. “Keep talking.”
“Just us girls away from husbands and children. Getting wine-drunk without a care in the world. Spa days and rom-coms.”
“Oh my God. You’re making me wet!” She dramatically groans as she says it, causing an expected laugh to tumble from me.
“I want in on whatever you two are talking about,” a strong, feminine voice says. Katerina joins us, sitting in the chair to my right.
Margot lights up as our idea takes flight. “We were discussing bailing on our husbands and kids to go on vacation. We need to check with Cecilia.”
Katerina sighs. “We’ll have a hard time convincing her. Roman does well with the girls, all five of them, but Cecilia stresses about leaving them.”
“Has she ever left them before?” I ask.
The chair to Margot’s left becomes occupied as Gracie joins the conversation.
We’ve met at various events, and now, she’s as close to us as the rest are.
“She’s only ever gone away when there were just the triplets, and I watched the girls while they were away.
It was only for one night, and she called almost hourly, until I turned my phone on Do Not Disturb and told her to leave us alone. ”
“Gracie, you have to help us convince her to come with us. And you have to come too! You’re practically one of us,” Margot voices my sentiment.
Katerina leans forward, more invested in the conversation. “Where are we going?”
“Big city? Beach? Mountains?” Margot suggests.
“No big city for us. Staying safe and keeping security is too difficult in the crowded streets.” Katerina brings us to reality. Sometimes I forget I’m married to a mobster.
Margot sighs. “I’m not going to the beach without Matty there to drool over me. These stretch marks post-pregnancy are unforgiving. I’m not sure why I even offered it.”
“Girl, you’re beautiful. You know that,” Gracie tells her.
“It’s just hard with my body being so different after pregnancy. He did a number on me.”
“Nico or Matthias?” Katerina teases.
Margot smirks and winks. “Both.”
The woman of the hour finds a seat at our table. “Oh no. Why does Margot look wicked right now?”
“Because she’s talking about her husband’s big dick,” Gracie explains.
At Cecilia’s shocked, “Oh!” we burst into laughter.
“Actually, now that you’re here, we’re plotting a vacation away from those Montclair brothers and the kids they stuffed us, well mostly you, with,” Margot explains, an excited look overtaking her features.
Cecilia nods in agreement. “That’ll be fun for you guys.”
“Not so fast, missy. And you’re coming with. We’re thinking of going to the mountains. Getting a cabin in the snow. Does anyone know how to ski?” Katerina says, looking at us. A chorus of noes sound around the table. “Well, how hard can it be to learn?”
“I’m just not sure about leaving the girls for so long,” Cecilia explains.
Margot’s quick with her argument. “I’m fine leaving Nico. These Montclair men sure know how to be good fathers. You have nothing to worry about.”
“If you’re worried about all five being too much for him, I’ll send Uncle Bash over there. It’ll be fun for the girls,” I offer.
“I couldn’t ask that of him.”
“But I can. And if it means you’re coming on this trip, then hell yes, he can go babysit.”
After some hesitation, Cecilia grins. “If you’re sure.”
“Yes! Girls’ trip!” Gracie cheers.
A rough sigh sounds from above us. We turn to see all four Montclair brothers behind us, clearly eavesdropping on our conversation.
“What girls’ trip?” Dom asks with a suspicious smirk.
Margot glares at her husband accusingly. “How long have you been there?”
He looks her straight in the eyes. “Not long.”
“Liars. You’ve been here the longest, listening. That one,” Katerina says, pointing at her husband, “Came over two minutes ago. These two just got here,” she finishes, pointing at my and Cecilia’s husbands.
Dom leans down and presses a kiss to his wife’s head. “Nothing gets past you, tiger.”
“Well, can you catch us up on this whole girls’ trip thing?” My husband asks, also with a knowing look in his eyes. I wonder if somehow, he slipped past Katerina’s notice. Or if there’s a microphone on me that I don’t know about. Is he listening to me through my phone again?
Gracie grins at them. “I’m stealing all your wives away, and we’re going on a girls only vacation.”
“Girls?” Roman looks equally wary at the prospect of his daughters being away from him as he does relieved to get some respite.
“Women’s trip. Twenty-one plus,” Margot amends.
Matthias mulls over the words for a moment, then nods. “I’m fine with it as long as there aren’t any other men.”
“I don’t care if you’re fine with it. I’m not asking for permission, daddy,” Margot snaps back without missing a beat. At the nickname, Matthias’s gaze darkens, and I get the sneaking suspicion that one’s been used in bed. Ew.
“Well, I’m not fine with it. You five can’t be out on your own with no security in the middle of the woods. It’s not safe.” Roman sounds ever the voice of reason. The fact that his reason is his wife’s safety, not having to be home with his litter, makes me respect him all the more.
“I’ll be there,” Katerina cuts in, offended to be overlooked.
“Me too,” Gracie says, flashing a gun holstered on her thigh. Some of the men looked surprised by it, but I don’t. Gracie may not be as trained as Katerina, but I’ve seen her punch a man who wouldn’t take no for an answer at an event.
Dom nods, coming to a decision. “We’ll send guards with you. Five. One for each of you.”
“Do we get to pick which ones?” Gracie asks with a wicked grin.
Dom narrows his eyes at her. “I’m sending our women’s troop. But our soldiers aren’t allowed to partake in the drinking and partying. They’re there on business.”
In the years since Katerina joined and started running the Syndicate, she’s been building a crew made up of only women for certain tasks. I guess the wives in a cabin in the woods calls for this troop. I’m looking forward to meeting these badass women.
“I don’t know about this,” Roman repeats.
Bash turns to him and throws an arm over his shoulder. “Relax, brother. They’ll be perfectly safe having fun.”
Katerina’s eyes narrow. “You have something planned.”
“There are ways for us to look after them even states away from here.” My husband grins as he says it.
Roman immediately relaxes and ruffles Bash’s hair. Bash returns the favor by slapping his buzzed head. “Sly man. Our baby brother, the stalker. How could I forget?”
Already knowing what my husband is planning, I turn to him with my offer. “I’ll set up cameras in the house, Bash, if you stay with Roman and help watch the girls.”
“Deal.” We seal it with a kiss.
The ringing of silver against crystal catches all of our attention. We turn to the front of the garden where Mom and Dad, as my in-laws finally have me calling them, are standing ready to give a speech.
“Thank you all for coming to celebrate my victory in keeping this wonderful woman by my side for fifty years,” Dad begins his speech boisterously.
“Despite all the difficulties we’ve had, four of which we named and raised into good men,” he winks at his sons who stand straighter at the attention, causing the rest of the crowd to laugh, “we’ve never been happier.
Our love has grown deeper and truer with each day that passes.
All eighteen-thousand, two-hundred, and sixty-two days.
We wouldn’t be here today if not for her forgiveness that Monday morning all those years ago. ”
He chuckles on what must be a fond memory.
“I was working an overnight shift and decided to stop by a coffee shop before returning home, something I never did. When I got there, the beautiful woman working behind the counter stole my thoughts. I could blame sleep deprivation, but that’d be a lie.
Because fifty-one years later, she still leaves me speechless.
I was so tongue-tied, I was barely able to order. ”
“If I remember correctly, your exact order was, ‘large, black, strong,’” Mom chimes in.
He, along with the rest of us, bellow out in laughter. It’s hard to imagine this strong, formidable man who used to lead the Syndicate, fumbling over words.
“Of course you remember. And this fine woman didn’t laugh once.
She simply rang up one large black coffee for me.
The kicker is, I didn’t drink my coffee black, but I couldn’t get out ‘creamer,’ which is probably for the best.” He looks down at her and blushes.
“Well, I was so nervous, with shaking hands, I accepted my coffee from her, only to spill it all over her hand.” He lifts her right hand to his lips and pauses to kiss it.
“I was terrified I’d burned her, so I grabbed some ice, and threw that on her too.
She ran to the back to fix herself, and I was scared I’d never see her again. ”
“As if you’d let that happen,” Mom teases.
He grins a grin I’m very familiar with seeing on his son’s face.
“No. I couldn’t let this perfect woman get away from me.
So, I returned the next day, but she wasn’t there.
Then I returned the following day, and when she still wasn’t there, I demanded to know where she was and when she’d be back.
My sweet Evelyn had succumbed to second-degree burns because of me.
” The guilt that overcomes his features has the breath stealing in my lungs.
“She couldn’t work with the injury, so they fired her.
” His guilt turns to fury. “Which was unacceptable. So, I used my resources to track her down. I demanded she work for me in apology. She agreed to my made-up job, and suddenly, I had a secretary. I finally had her close to me, which posed a new issue. She refused to entertain her boss’s shameless flirting.
No matter what I tried, she remained professional.
It was hell having the woman of my dreams so close yet unable to touch her. So, I fired her.”
Mom turns into him and cups his cheeks. “So, I destroyed his office and messed up his calendar.”
“And I immediately dropped to one knee and proposed.”
“Which I found ridiculous.”
“But eventually, with lots of love, I was able to convince her.” He leans down to kiss her, and it goes on far longer than party-appropriate, earning a wolf whistle from Margot and cheer from Katerina, both of whose husbands look ready to throttle them.
“And now we have a big, beautiful family that we’re incredibly proud of.
A group of friends who came out to celebrate us. We couldn’t be happier.”
Mom stares adoringly up at him. “All thanks to the Montclair man who wouldn’t give up on his woman.”
A statement which rings true for all of us, leaving us with the happily-ever-afters we’re living in now.