Epilogue
Penn
If I’d ever thought I was going to get Rita to ease up on the MRIs or anything, this latest situation killed that.
It had been three weeks since the wedding massacre—that was the only way to describe it. I was home and healing. At least this time I didn’t have any broken bones. The twins never left my side, and Gideon didn’t much either. I was going to be fine, though.
My bruises would heal; the trauma would subside…for me. For the twins, it wasn’t so easy. Gideon hired a therapist who had begun talking with them and Matteo about everything. It was going to take a lot of time, but we had plenty of that.
In the end, they’d be okay too. Of everyone, the only person who I thought was unrepairable was Alex.
I’d seen him a couple of times, and he was a shell of a human being.
Gideon was holding Mikhail, Ivan, and Benito in the crates, and I knew every day Alex went there for hours.
He’d come home bloody and none of the blood was his.
Every time Gideon asked if they were dead, he’d simply answer, “Not yet. It’s not time. ”
No one argued with him. This was his therapy, his vengeance.
We had a medical staff go in and keep the three of them alive.
Toni and Danny regularly provided updates on how they were, and it was gruesome.
Toni explained how Alex would remain quiet at times as he sliced into Benito and poured vinegar on his wounds and how at other times, he’d scream Mila’s name as he punched Mikhail and Ivan until they passed out.
Danny said Alex acted as if he didn’t want them to die, but to suffer forever.
But this was what Alex needed, and we’d give him that.
In our hearts we knew it wasn’t enough. Gideon wanted his own revenge on Benito for hurting me and subjecting the twins to my torture, but in reading the reports he realized that the torture Alex was inflicting was a result of his own personal nightmares and he felt no compulsion to interfere. Alex needed to work through his demons.
Mila was buried with her parents in the Hendrix plot. Gideon had said they were family, and that was where family slept.
Alex hadn’t spoken as their caskets were lowered to the ground.
Silent tears had fallen, and I knew a huge part of himself had died right along with Mila that day, and his soul lay to rest beside her now.
I wasn’t sure we’d ever get him to return to us.
Once the brothers and Benito were dead, what did that mean for Alex?
Danny rarely left his side. From the day Alex had gone to the hospital and every day since, much to Alex’s upset.
Danny didn’t care. He went to the crates with him, the cemetery, sat in his car when Alex wanted to go home and wouldn’t let Danny in.
Part of me believed that if Alex was going to make it out of this, it was going to be Danny who dragged him through it.
Benito had officially been reported missing and there was an investigation going on, especially after the shit show the authorities had found at his house. It was a useless case for the detectives to figure out, since they’d never find him.
Life changed. Laughter didn’t come as easily. What happened had altered everything, and we were all trying to find our way back from it. I held strong to the belief we would. While never the same, we’d be strong, we’d persevere.
Six Months Later
I sat on the deck and watched the fireworks light up the sky.
Gideon was beside me, and the twins were running around the backyard with sparklers.
It was the Fourth of July, and we were having a quiet celebration.
Gideon’s parents had finally left after being here for over five months.
They’d wanted to stay to help Gideon and me and to see how the investigation ended.
With Gideon’s connections and some of the obvious evidence, the detectives had linked what happened to the wedding with the murders at Benito’s home.
Bratva had double-crossed him, and this was the turnout.
We were fine with that…I was sure the Bratva weren’t.
Without Benito’s body, they hadn’t ruled him dead, but Monica was able to obtain access to whatever financials there were.
The twins and Matteo were doing amazingly in therapy. We talked about what happened and never ignored their grief. We didn’t avoid the subject of death. They wanted to visit Mila’s grave and when we took them, they’d cry. Only recently had they started smiling and talking to her about their week.
Gideon was struggling. Every time he dropped them off at therapy or saw Alex, his face would wither.
He believed he was everyone’s ruin, that he’d cursed us all.
He’d taken away the love of Alex’s life.
I spent every chance I had convincing him he was wrong.
And tonight I was going to drive it home.
“Babe?”
He looked over at me. “Yeah?”
“Know what I want?”
“Iced tea?”
I chuckled. “Well, yeah, but you know what else?”
He pursed his lips and thought. “Cake?”
“Okay, this is a bad game because I want that too. I’m just going to tell you.”
“That would save time.” He grinned, and I leaned in to kiss his lips.
“I want to change my name again.”
He jerked back. “You don’t want to be Pennsylvania anymore?”
“I do. That’s not the part I want to change.”
His brow dropped. “You don’t want to be Garrand anymore?”
I gripped his hands and fell to my knees in front of him. “Garrand was a name I used because I didn’t want to be connected to my parents anymore. There was never significance to it. I was happy being Pennsylvania Garrand…until now, until you.”
Gideon swallowed loudly. “What are you saying?”
“I don’t want fanfare; I don’t want toasts. Tomorrow morning, I want to go to City Hall, marry you, and take your last name. I want to be Pennsylvania Hendrix. What do you say, will you marry me?”
His eyes widened. “You want to marry me?”
“You’re the best man I know, Gideon, and I want to spend the rest of my life making you see that.”
“But I—”
“No, you don’t. Whatever you were going to say, no. Now, answer me.”
“You want to marry me?”
“I really do.”
He caressed my cheek with his hand. “I want to marry you, too.”
I lifted up and kissed him breathless. Life was messy, this life more so than most. But we had love, and while we lost it sometimes, it was always easy to find.
The next day Gideon and I went to City Hall and married in private with just the twins, Dean, Matteo, and Rita there.
We weren’t keeping our marriage a secret, but Gideon felt like Alex wouldn’t be ready for a big event, and I agreed.
Besides, I didn’t want a huge affair. Small, quiet, and peaceful was ideal.
As a wedding gift of sorts, we were notified that Amy Jackson was being granted a new trial, and I wholeheartedly believed she’d be found innocent.
A week later, when we were sitting in the living room relaxing the front door opened and Alex strode in, hands covered in blood. He stared at Gideon.
“It’s done.”
Six months, he’d kept them alive. The last report Toni had given us was a week ago.
He’d said none of them even had the ability to talk anymore.
He’d blinded them, cut out their tongues, and most of their skin had been peeled from their bones.
Medical teams supplied blood bags and performed lifesaving techniques just so Alex could break them apart a piece at a time for as long as he wanted.
I hadn’t needed any more details than that; my imagination was enough.
Gideon stood and went over to him. “What do you need now, Alex?”
Alex’s brow dipped as he regarded Gideon. “It doesn’t matter what I need or want, I can’t have it, I can’t have her.”
Gideon gripped Alex’s arms and pulled him close. Alex struggled, tried to break free, but Gideon held on, wrapping Alex in a hug. I watched Alex’s face go from anger, to discomfort, to grief. That was the moment he broke.
He crumpled to the ground, and Gideon went with him. He cried and screamed, and Gideon held him through it all.
I got up and poured a glass of water for him, knowing he’d be parched when he was all cried out. I placed it on the table and watched the two men on the floor wrapped in each other.
“I want the pakhan,” Alex growled as he gripped the fabric of Gideon’s shirt.
Gideon hadn’t spoken to the pakhan of the Bratva that was behind this, and they hadn’t reached out. He’d told me that at some point they’d have to pay for what they did, and it felt like that time was coming.
“I promise you, Alex, they will not walk away from this. But this is the Bratva, we can’t just walk in and start killing.”
Alex leaned back, his face red and puffy, but enraged. “Why not? That’s what they did.”
“We aren’t them. Once it happens, it will be flawless, and we will all walk away from this.”
Alex gritted his teeth and stared at Gideon for a good minute, not uttering a word. “Promise me, when the time comes, the pakhan is mine.”
Gideon held Alex’s face in his hands and, with more conviction than I’d ever heard before, he said, “You have my word.”
Alex fell asleep on the couch, and Gideon and I sat and stood watch over him all night. Danny came to check on him, and the look of relief once he found him didn’t escape me.
“Get some rest, Danny. We got him,” Gideon reassured him, and Danny appeared hesitant.
“You can take the guest room,” I offered, and I could tell immediately that he was grateful for the invitation.
I was sure what was to come would be dangerous, but we’d fight for peace. We’d fight for this family and do anything to give Alex what he needed to heal.
We were family. We’d do anything for each other…now and forever.
THE END