Epilogue
The two men following him were making a fatal mistake.
Declan strolled past the shuttered bars on the Augusta, Georgia, street. Lamplights shone down on him, and he caught the faint pad of their footsteps as the men closed in on him.
He really was not in the mood for this shit. Marley was waiting for him, and he did not like to keep her waiting.
An alley branched to the right. He could duck into it. Let the fools follow him. Take care of them in less than a minute and be on his way to meet up with his fiancée?—
“Declan!” A hard shout. “ Declan Flynn!”
Or he could just go toe to toe with the stalkers right then and there. Sighing, he spun around. As he spun, he palmed the knife he’d been carrying.
The two men were tall, with broad shoulders. Both seemed to have dark hair. They stayed just out of the lamplight so he couldn’t see their faces clearly.
“You really fucked things up for me,” the one on the right groused.
Declan shrugged.
“Do you have any idea how long I waited for that kill?” he continued. “What shit I had to do in order to get close? And then you just eliminate the bastard with a few clicks on the keyboard?”
Declan’s eyes narrowed. “Sounds like we have a problem.”
“Yeah, yeah, we have a—” His words ended in a gasp. Probably because a knife was now at his throat. Courtesy of Hunter—Hunter had slipped up behind the man speaking and now had his blade killing close.
“Problem?” Hunter finished.
Declan waited for the second figure to attack. The guy didn’t. Instead, he burst into laughter.
“Aw, shit, Eb, someone got the drop on you!” More laughter. “Wait until I tell Marley. She will never let you hear the end of it!”
Eb. And… Marley. He’s going to tell Marley.
Declan’s mouth dropped open. And he realized that… “Hunter, I think you have your knife to the throat of Marley’s brother.”
“Fuck,” Hunter cursed.
Yes, exactly.
Hunter withdrew the blade. And Eb—as in Ebenezer— swiped away a drop of blood.
“Told you that Declan would have a shadow close by,” the other guy said.
And Declan realized that if he was staring at Ebenezer Jones, then the man with him had to be—“Jacob?”
“That’s me.” He ambled from the shadows, offering his hand. “Hope we can be friends. Not like I want to be enemies with my sister’s soon-to-be husband.”
Declan stared at the hand. Then at Jacob’s face. Hard, intense. Strong. The guy looked nothing like Marley, but Declan knew he was, in fact, staring at Jacob Jones. After all, he’d seen a picture of Marley and her brothers. Back at her place. When a knife was plunged into the photo.
Jacob and Ebenezer. Twins.
Ebenezer—Eb—moved more into the light. “You beat me to the punch,” he said simply.
Declan shook Jacob’s offered hand. Released it. And raised a brow at Eb. “What punch would that be?”
Jacob slapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Eb has been undercover in max security. You really think we were just gonna let Glass get away with what he’d done to Marley? Hell, no.”
“Hell, no,” Eb echoed.
“So we pulled some strings with people we can’t talk about, and we were just about to take care of the problem…when you went tap, tap, tapping on your keyboard.”
The brothers had planned to kill Sebastian Glass?
Shit. We might have more in common than I thought.
Eb flashed a smile at him. “I know you’re supposed to meet our sister soon, but…how about we buy you a beer? She’s usually late for meetups with us. We should have time for a round before she shows up.”
A knife had just been at Eb’s throat, and he seemed completely unfazed.
Okay, I might just get along with her brothers after all. “I love your sister.”
“Well, sure, you killed for her.” Eb nodded.
So did Jacob.
“Figured you had to love her to do that. And she saved your ass—figured she has to love you in order to do that.” Then Eb waved toward Hunter’s still form. “You’re the first SOB who has gotten the drop on me in five years. That means your drinks are on me.”
Hunter ambled forward. “I don’t drink.”
“Fine, then your cheap pretzels are on me.” Eb brushed past Declan. “Better hurry. We’ll have our first round, then meet up with Marley. If you get me drunk enough, I might just tell you where all the bodies are buried.”
Where all the bodies are buried.
Hunter caught Declan’s arm. “He’s joking, isn’t he? Not like Marley and her brothers have buried bodies.”
Declan frowned after the brothers. Jacob had joined his twin. They were walking in perfect sync and blending easily with the shadows.
Damn. He knew trouble when he saw it. “Marley might not have buried any, but I think they have.”
Hunter whistled. “Are we going to like them?”
“Let’s go find out.”
And they headed off after the brothers. But when they reached the bar, Marley was already there. Declan didn’t have time to talk about buried bodies. He was too busy staring at the woman who was his world. Celebrating his engagement. Laughing with her brothers and Hunter and…
Too busy being happy.
So this is what it fucking feels like.
And he smiled as he toasted his soon-to-be bride.