Epilogue
Jade
A couple of months later
This can’t be happening. It’s the middle of September. I finally have a day where I don’t have to do schoolwork. Ezra and I are supposed to be going apple picking. I’m supposed to be getting a fuck ton of apples so I can work on making a habanero and apple tart.
I’m not supposed to be sitting on the closed toilet seat with a positive pregnancy test in my hands.
Everything else in my life has gone in the opposite direction it should. Nothing is in the right order, so I’m not surprised this isn’t either.
I let out a shaky breath, staring at the other three tests lining the counter.
How do I tell Ezra? Does he even want kids?
I know he wants to have a future together, but we’re not even engaged yet. We haven’t even started to talk about anything beyond building a life for ourselves. Kids were never even mentioned.
But this could be the start of something really good.
I’m going to be a mom.
We’re going to be parents.
The door to the bathroom opens, and Ezra pokes his head in. “I’m starting to get worried about you. What’s—”
His gaze drops to the test in my hands, and then it drifts to all the ones lining the counter.
His eyes look like they’re going to pop out of his head.
Then a slow grin starts spreading, his eyes lighting up like I’ve never seen them before.
Two seconds later, his eyes widen and his face goes pale white. “I don’t know how to be a dad.”
It’s the first thing he blurts out, and oddly enough, I think it’s the most comforting thing he could’ve said in that moment.
“I don’t know how to be a mom.”
Ezra comes over and sits on the edge of the bathtub. He clasps his hands together in front of him, looking between me and the test like he’s scared one of us is going to bite him. “So…how do we feel about this?”
“I don’t know. Excited…I think. I know we didn’t talk about this, and then there’s everything with Noah and the fact that he keeps attacking anyone he even thinks is associating with us.
So, I don’t know if it’s the best time to bring a baby into the world, but I also don’t know if any time is a good time.
And then there’s my age. I’m only in my early twenties, and I’m going to school and the restaurant only opened last month and I don’t know what having a child is going to do to my career, but I’m terrified that it’s going to halt it. ”
He reaches out and takes my hands in his. “I need you to breathe.”
“I am breathing.” I put the test beside all the others before getting up to wash my hands.
“I don’t know what we’re supposed to do, other than have the baby.
Which I want! God, that sounded horrible.
I mean, valid, but horrible. There are other options, but I want to have the baby is what I’m trying to—”
Ezra laughs and pulls me into a tight hug, kissing the side of my neck. “I know what you’re trying to say. We’re going to be parents, and it’s scary as hell. Neither of us knows what we’re doing, but I don’t think you need to worry about this impacting your career.”
I spin around, wriggling out of his arms and pacing back and forth. “What do you mean? Of course, it’s going to have an impact. Childcare is insanely expensive, which means I’m going to have to be around until our kid is old enough to go to school.”
“You’re forgetting that I’m here too.”
“You, who is still doing the underground fights and risking your life?” I stop pacing and give him a flat look. “Please. That’s not going to work. You can’t just bring a baby to a warehouse in the middle of butt fuck nowhere and hand it off to Aiden while you fight.”
Ezra shrugs. “He did a decent job raising you.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? I’m a goddamn wreck most of the time, and you want to hand our baby over to him? Where the fuck do you think my issues came from?”
He laughs. “I was kidding. I talked to Aiden, and I’m going to be stepping back from fighting. He’s got other young fighters who don’t have a huge target on their backs.”
“Okay, well, the income I make from the family businesses should be more than enough to support us, but if we have to go underground and everything shuts down, we’re fucked.
Especially when I can’t be at the restaurant all the time.
And then there’s the concern of what happens if the government catches up with us.
Noah might be the biggest worry right now, but he’s not the only one we have. ”
Ezra puts his hands on my shoulders, stopping me when I go to pace again.
“I’m going to open my own gym, and the baby can come to work with me.
You don’t have to give up anything. I have a space picked out, and there’re going to be trainers everywhere, so that’s one more legitimate business for me and you to make money off of. ”
“The government can still freeze everything.” I bite the inside of my cheek, a million other worst-case scenarios running through my mind.
“We’re going to make a fuck ton of money, keep a good chunk of it in cash and in offshore accounts. We’re going to have a baby, and it’s going to come to work with me while you work on building your own career. And we don’t have to worry about Noah forever, just until he’s dead.”
I laugh and shake my head, the shock fully setting in. “I can’t believe we’re going through all the ways we’re going to die or end up in jail right now. Aren’t we supposed to be celebrating?”
He arches an eyebrow, amusement in his eyes. “Do you want to be celebrating?”
I pause, considering it for a moment before nodding.
Ezra sweeps me up and spins me around. “We’re having a baby!”
Laughing, I hold onto him, some of my fear starting to fade.
He’s with me, and we’re going to get through this together.
I can’t spend a bunch of time worrying about what could happen. I just have to let things go and fall where they will.
He sets me down on the ground and brushes a quick kiss over my lips. “I love you, and this is a great day. We’re going to have a baby.”
Tears spring to my eyes as I look up at him. “We are. I love you too.”
“Let’s go have a good day and enjoy apple picking with the family.”
My jaw drops. “You invited all of them?”
He shrugs and takes my hand, pulling me out the door behind him. “I figured it’d be quicker if we put their energy to use. Might do them all some good to work together.”
I snort and shake my head. “You’d think after the last few months you’ve spent around them, you’d know more about what’s going on.”
“I know I love you, and you love your family, and that means I have to tolerate the abundance of energy and the fact that all of you spend too much time arguing and not enough being productive.”
“So, what I’m hearing is you love us?”
He opens the front door, waiting for me to leave the apartment. “I think you’re a pack of hyenas fighting over a fresh carcass, but yes. I do happen to love you, specifically. Zoe and Gia and the kids are great. So is Ellie. The rest of them are questionable.”
I laugh as we head down to the car.
I don’t know what’s going to happen with all the family getting together today, but I’m sure there’s going to be fighting of some kind. I wouldn’t trade my family for anything in the world, though.
Ezra pulls down a couple more apples and puts them in the basket. “Isn’t this nice?”
“Yes.” I smile and put the basket down, standing on my toes and reaching for more apples.
He pulls out his phone and snaps a couple of pictures of me.
I turn around, back to him, reaching for the reddest apple I’ve ever seen.
When I turn back around to put the apple in the basket, Ezra is down on one knee, and there’s a gold ring in his hand with a shining diamond in the middle.
I drop the apple, and it hits my toe before rolling away.
“Jade, I’ve loved you since the first argument we had about Hemingway, and I know I’m going to love you long after I’m gone. And I’ll be honest. I thought about reading you some poetry. Some people do that sappy shit, but I think you’d take me to get my head checked then.”
I laugh, hand coming up to cover my mouth as tears blur the edges of my vision.
And then the gunfire starts.
Bullet after bullet ricochets off the trees.
Ezra throws himself in front of me, using his body as a shield as he ushers me behind one of the big oak trees at the edge of the orchard.
Screams echo from around us, and people start running.
Bodies drop to the ground, blood running and staining the grass.
One of the guards Aiden likes to keep close rounds the tree only to fall at my feet.
I suck in a sharp breath.
Blood oozes out of the bullet wound in the back of his head.
Ezra looks down at me, panic wild in his eyes. “Are you okay? Is the baby okay?”
“We’re okay.”
He gives a sharp nod and crouches down, ripping the gun from the dead man.
Someone runs by, but they slow when they pass us, turning to face us.
Noah looks at us with an evil glint in his eyes. “Did I hear that right, cousin? You’re going to have a baby?”
Ezra aims the gun at Noah’s head, his finger wrapping around the trigger.
As Ezra takes aim, he moves in front of me, keeping my body shielded between his and the tree.
He squeezes the trigger, but nothing happens.
Instead of wasting time being shocked, he throws the gun as hard as he can at Noah.
Noah darts to the side, but Ezra is quick, driving his shoulder into Noah’s chest and taking him to the ground.
Ezra gets the upper hand, his hands closing around Noah’s throat.
I want to help him, but I don’t know how. I didn’t grab my gun on the way out the door, and I can’t get in the middle of the fight and risk something happening to the baby.
Noah laughs, but it turns into a cough, his face turning red. “You’re not going to want to leave me alive, Ezra. If you do, I’m going to take that baby of yours and turn it into the good little soldier you were never going to be.”
Ezra squeezes tighter, the veins in his forearms standing out.
He’s not pressing hard enough to collapse Noah’s throat, though. It looks like he’s holding himself back, torn between killing his old family and killing the man who just threatened his child.
Ezra looks over his shoulder at me. “You should be the one to do this. Your family’s been the one feuding with him. He tortured your family.”
I look around for anything I can use to kill him. If Ezra isn’t going to be able to finish the job, I need to. Ezra wants me to, and though he says it’s because I should be the one to kill him, I really think it’s because Ezra can’t.
It doesn’t matter. I’ll murder the bastard who just threatened my baby.
A few feet from us, there’s a sharp stick. If Ezra holds Noah down and I ram that through Noah’s eye, I should be able to kill him.
My stomach turns at the thought, suddenly queasy about all the blood.
And then the gunfire stops.
It’s silent, except for the sound of Noah choking.
Two men come running and haul Ezra off Noah, throwing him to the side.
I rush toward them, but it’s too late.
They lift Noah to his feet and take off running. One of the men pulls out a gun, and I take off behind another tree.
Ezra runs after me, pressing his body against mine.
The man never fires a shot, though. If he did, Ezra would’ve been wounded before he got to me.
Ezra looks down at me as the men disappear into the woods. “Are you okay?”
I look around as the rest of my family appears, the children safe, though Royce is sporting a new bullet wound.
Sean and Joshua both have guns out, and people who work for Aiden are starting to swarm the orchard.
My sisters are all huddled together, pulling out weapons from wherever the hell they hid them on their bodies.
I look up at him, letting out a deep breath. “Yes, I’m fine. And I’ll marry you, but I want something small and peaceful. I’m so tired of all the excitement.”
He laughs and pulls me into a hug, kissing the top of my head. “I’m sure we can manage that.”
“Take me home?”
“Hell, yes.” He keeps an arm looped around me, nodding to Aiden. “We’re going to get out of here.”
Aiden looks like he’s ready to go hunting. “Meeting tomorrow. We’re going to find that bastard, and this shit is going to end. For good.”
Ezra nods. “Understood.”
As we leave, I continue to hope for the day where there isn’t some psycho trying to take out my family. Where we’re back to running New York and there’s nobody who challenges us.
One way or another, my family is going to make sure it’s safe for the generations to come.
This war is going to end in a bloodshed unlike any other.