Epilogue
Ronan
Ihave to remind myself I’m at the beach with the woman I love, not about to fight someone. The way my palms are sweating and my heart pounds in my chest, you’d think I’m about to do something dangerous.
But no.
For the first time in thirty-six years, my hands aren’t steady.
“I still can’t believe you own an entire island.” Rayne gestures to the expanse of pristine beach stretching before us, palm trees swaying against the darkening sky. “Normal people have vacation homes. You have a small country.”
I raise an eyebrow. “It’s hardly a country.”
“It has its own dock, helipad, and staff quarters.”
“A modest setup.”
She laughs, the sound mixing with crashing waves. “There’s nothing modest about you, Ronan Ward.”
The ring box burns in my pocket—platinum band, three-carat oval diamond with smaller stones flanking it. Classic, timeless. Like her. I had to conspire with her mom to make sure it would fit her perfectly.
“You love it,” I say, keeping my voice even despite the thunder in my chest.
“I do.” Her smile softens as she looks out at the horizon. “It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.”
I don’t tell her I’d buy her a hundred islands if she asked.
Instead, I watch her take everything in—the way her eyes widen at small wonders, how she trails her fingers across every surface like she’s making sure it’s real.
Three weeks since she told me she loved me on my jet, and I still catch her looking at me like she can’t believe this is her life.
Tonight, I’m asking her to make it permanent.
“How’s Ryan doing with his new tutor?” she asks, bending to collect a shell.
“Thriving. His reading scores jumped two grade levels in a month.”
“That’s amazing.” Pride colors her voice, as if Ryan were her own. The way she’s stepped into his life, filled spaces I didn’t know were empty—it still knocks the wind from me sometimes.
“He asked when we’re coming home yesterday.”
She turns, surprise flashing across her features. “He did?”
“Said he has an art project he wants to show you. Something about dinosaurs and spaceships.”
“The classic combination.” Her smile turns wistful. “I miss him.”
“We’ll be home in three days.”
She nods, studying the shell in her palm. “I know. It’s just ... it’s strange how quickly he became part of my life. How quickly both of you did.”
My pulse quickens. “Strange good or strange bad?”
“Good. Definitely good.” She looks up at me. “Sometimes I worry I’ll wake up and all this will be gone.”
I catch her hand, enveloping it in mine. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?”
I stop walking, turning to face her fully. We’ve reached the spot I had prepared earlier—a semi-circle of lanterns casting golden light across the sand, rose petals scattered near a small bonfire that flickers and dances in the evening breeze. A blanket waits nearby, champagne chilling.
Her eyes widen. “What’s all this?”
“Sit with me,” I say, leading her toward the fire.
She follows, confusion evident in the slight furrow between her brows. “Ronan, what are you—”
“What if this wasn”t just a trip?”
“What do you mean?”
I take both her hands in mine. “What if this—us—was forever?”
Her mouth opens, but no sound emerges.
“I’ve never been nervous about anything in my life,” I tell her, the confession raw even to my own ears. “Not closing billion-dollar deals. Not facing down competitors. Nothing … until you.”
“Ronan…” Her voice is barely audible above the surf.
I release her hands and reach into my pocket. The velvet box feels simultaneously too small and too heavy. I drop to one knee, sand warm beneath me, and watch her eyes fill with tears.
“The first time I saw you, I knew.” The admission costs me something—pride, maybe, or the last remnants of the walls I’ve built. “I knew you’d change everything.”
A tear slips down her cheek. She doesn’t wipe it away.
“You walked into a room full of people who thought they could buy a weekend of your time, and all I could think was: they don’t see her. Not really.” I open the box, revealing the ring that took three jewelers and seven designs to get right. “I wanted forever from the beginning.”
Her hand covers her mouth, eyes fixed on the diamond catching firelight. “Oh my God.”
“You brought life back into my home. You made Ryan laugh, and you loved him as your own. You made Christmas—” My voice almost breaks. I clear my throat. “You made Christmas mean something again. You made everything mean something again.”
The wind picks up, sending embers from the fire spiraling upward into the darkening sky. Her hair lifts in the breeze, and I’m struck again by how beautiful she is—not just physically, but in every way that matters.
“I've built empires, but nothing scared me until you.” I take the ring from its velvet nest. “Because save for Ryan and my parents, nothing else mattered enough to lose.”
She’s crying openly now, silent tears tracking down her face.
“Marry me, Rayne.” I’ve never begged for anything in my life, but I’d beg for this. For her. “Be mine. Not just for tonight. Not just for a weekend. Forever.”
She laughs through her tears, the sound breaking and mending me all at once. “You’re ridiculous, you know that? You could’ve just asked over breakfast.”
My heart stops. “Is that a yes?”
She drops to her knees in front of me, sand coating the hem of her dress. “Yes. Of course it’s a yes.”
Relief crashes through me with the force of the waves behind us. I take her left hand, which trembles slightly in mine, and slide the ring onto her finger. Perfect fit, just as I knew it would be.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispers, staring at the diamond now adorning her hand.
“You’re beautiful.” I cup her face, brushing away tears with my thumbs. “Mine.”
“Yours.”
I kiss her then, slowly at first, savoring the salt of her tears and the warmth of her lips. She presses closer, fingers curling into my shirt, and the kiss deepens, becomes something hungry and fierce. A promise.
When we break apart, she’s breathless, eyes glassy. “We’re really doing this?”
“We are.”
“You, me, and Ryan.” She says it like a prayer. “A family.”
Family. It used to be just Ryan and me at home. But not anymore. Now, we have her. Rayne with her soft eyes and steel spine, Rayne who faced down threats and debt collectors, sacrificed for her Mom, and still found room to love my son.
“A family.”
“I love you,” she whispers. “I love you so much.”
I pull her into my lap, wrapping my arms around her as the fire crackles beside us and the ocean roars its approval. The diamond on her finger catches firelight as she brings her hand up to touch my face.
“I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure you never regret this,” I tell her, the vow as binding as any we’ll exchange at the altar.
She smiles. “I could never regret you.”
Above us, stars emerge one by one in the deepening blue.
Around us, lanterns glow like earthbound constellations.
The air smells of salt and smoke and her perfume.
I commit every detail to memory: the weight of her in my arms, the sound of waves keeping time with our heartbeats, the exact shade of joy in her eyes.
For my entire life, I’ve lived by simple rules. Take what you want. Never apologize. Trust no one. Love was a liability I couldn’t afford.
But holding her now, watching the ring on her finger catch and scatter light, I understand what I’ve been missing. This isn’t weakness. This—her, us, the family we’re building—is the strongest I’ve ever been.
For the first time in my life, forever doesn’t seem like a prison sentence. Forever sounds like her laugh, like Ryan’s excited chatter, like waves breaking on a shore that belongs to us alone.
Forever sounds like home.