EPILOGUE
TROY
SIX MONTHS LATER
“Monkey! Check out this slide!” I cupped my hand around my mouth to get Grace’s attention from across the playground. We had made a slight detour on our walk around Tribeca that morning. It was my off day, and we made the best of our off days together. Not just because it was a gorgeous August summer day in New York City, but because life was about to get crazy.
School started next week, and Maddie was the newest 1 st grade teacher at a private school just two blocks away from our condo. Her teaching certificate had been conditionally approved by the state of New York three weeks ago, and the moving van containing the last of her things had arrived only days after—driven by her parents, who’d been visiting for the past two weeks.
I caught Maddie’s gaze from across the playground. She sat on a bench with her mom and dad, deep in conversation with them. The last I’d heard, they were considering getting a place up here as well, something that they could sublet as needed but also use as a base for when they visited. Her parents were also falling in love with the city, which was just perfect.
Because my monkey needed her grandparents too.
Shit was lining up so perfectly I could hardly believe it. I’d never made a more natural step than to bring Maddie and Grace into my life. Her transition into living full-time in New York happened as soon as the school year ended in Kentucky, which was also when she resigned from her job. And ever since the three of us had been happily sharing the Tribeca condo, I couldn’t remember a time where we hadn’t been living together.
It just felt right. It felt good. Even though part of me was still horrified I’d put down roots like this…I only wanted more.
My past didn’t have to dictate my future. And here I was, having a fantastic fucking time as a family man. The thought made me grin as I lifted Grace onto the ledge of the slide.
“Toy! Let’s go fast!”
I pushed her down the slide and she tossed her hands into the air, screeching with delight. Hell, I was having so much fun as a family man, I thought about making another little monkey with Maddie someday. But that would come once she got settled into the city and her new job. Now that I was six months into my job with Nash Nightingale, I was confident this job would extend…mostly because I’d signed onto a five-year contract with the brothers.
My phone rang just as Grace ejected from the bottom of the slide and ran around for another round. It was Nash. I answered the call, my gaze sliding back to Maddie. “Sup Nash?”
“Trojan. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” His rough voice held an edge to it that I couldn’t immediately place.
“No, no. Just went on a walk with Maddie and the fam. What’s up?”
An uncharacteristic pause filled the air between us. Nash was a man who knew what he wanted to say and how to steer the conversation. So this hesitation felt like a warning.
“I might need to steal you for a few hours today,” he finally said.
“Shit. Is everything okay?”
He expelled a sigh. “I got some major news and I…I’m honestly not sure what it all means yet. But Archer and I found out today that we are set to receive a pretty major inheritance…from a grandfather we never knew about.”
My insides tightened. “Whoa. That’s huge.” Grace shrieked with glee as she zipped down the slide next to me. Thankfully, she’d figured out the slide-to-shriek pipeline on her own. “Wait, what grandpa?”
“Yeah, we had the same question.” Nash laughed. “Someone from my biological father’s family.”
“The dad you never met or knew about?” I asked.
“Yeah. That one. Archer and I were listed as the recipients of this money and it stands to be a lot.”
“How much?”
“Billions.” He coughed. “But there’s a catch.”
“Do I want to know what it is?”
“According to the lawyer who reached out, Archer and I need to be legally married if we want to inherit the money.”
I blinked a few times, digesting the weird stipulation. My gaze slid from Grace, who was making another round on the slide, over to Maddie and her parents, who were laughing at something together. “So you’ll do it…right?”
His rich laughter filled my ear. “Hell yes. You know anyone who wants to be married long enough for me to inherit this cash?”
“The only unmarried lady I know is mine, and I don’t share,” I told him. As if on cue, Maddie looked my way and sent me a shy smile. I blew her a kiss, which she pretended to capture and press to her cheek. “I’m sure you can find someone…”
“Yeah. I’m working on it. Anyway, we don’t want this to leak. Shit has been nuts lately anyway with the tabloids, so, if you could spare us an afternoon, I’d like you to come along for this meeting with the lawyer. I’m worried it could get weird. I don’t even know who this family of ours is.”
“I’m there.” It wasn’t a question. Nash had brought me into his family, and was financing the life of our dreams in New York. I knew Maddie would want me to be there too. And she’d hear all about it soon enough.
When Nash and I hung up, I assisted Grace on a few more rounds on the slide, until she got bored and we wandered toward the swings.
But not without a quick stop to kiss Mommy, from both me and Grace.
“I love you, Mommy,” Grace said with a sweet smile. And then she swung her gaze up to me and grinned. “And I love you, too, Toy.”
She skipped off toward the swings and I almost fucking cried.
I’d never get tired of hearing that.
I’d never get tired of being the man my girls needed.
I swooped down for my own kiss from Maddie, and then I followed behind Grace.
I was living the dream…the dream I never knew could actually be mine.
THE END