Bonus Epilogue
ONE MONTH LATER
NOAH
“Babe, come on. We’re going to be late,” I shout up the steps.
We have the company party today officially celebrating Jeremy and me taking over the firm. We rented out an event center near Jeremy’s new house, just down the road.
I didn’t feel like cooking, obviously, so we had the whole thing catered by a company that specializes in southern barbecue.
I did it for Willow because she loves barbecue, and the owner was born and raised in Texas so I figured it would be something special for her since she’s been feeling down a lot the last couple of days.
I’m so excited for her to try his food. I sampled some when we signed the contract, and it was the best damn barbecue I’ve ever tasted.
Willow slowly makes her way down the steps and sits halfway down the staircase. Her hair is in a messy bun, and she’s only wearing one of my long T-shirts. The sight alone has my cock hardening. No matter how long we’ve been together, the sight of her in my clothes still does something to me.
“I’m not going tonight,” she says as she rests her head against the banister.
I finish straightening my tie in the mirror and walk up to where she’s sitting then sit next to her.
“What’s wrong? You were excited this morning.”
“I know…I just don’t feel good.”
I place my hand against her forehead, but she doesn’t have a fever. Maybe she ate something bad last night at the restaurant. We went out to a new place downtown, and the food wasn’t the greatest, but I didn’t think it would give her food poisoning.
I glance at my watch and realize I need to leave in the next ten minutes or I’ll definitely be late. Maybe I should just stay home with her. Things have been a bit chaotic since Jeremy and I took over.
“I can stay home with you…”
“No. You need to go. I’ll be fine. I’m just going to take a bubble bath then go to bed.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yep. Positive. Go have fun being the boss. Just come home as soon as social etiquette allows you to get the fuck out of there,” she laughs as she leans against me.
I place a kiss against the top of her head then tilt her face to look at me.
“Only if you’re sure. Jeremy can handle it without me.”
“Go.”
“Fine,” I groan.
Honestly, I was hoping she’d tell me to stay home with her. I don’t mind these company things, but ever since we took over, I haven’t gotten to spend as much alone time with her as I want. Without her by my side, I’m going to be on edge all night.
I kiss her gently one last time before standing and making my way toward the door. When I open it, there are two packages sitting on our porch. I pick them up and turn to find her right behind me.
“What are these?” I ask curiously. I know I didn’t order anything.
“Just women's things. You know…”
Ah. That might be why she isn’t feeling good. Usually, around her time of the month, she gets severe cramps and her mood is…Um…Let’s just say Jeremy stays away for the first day or so. My little rabbit is vicious.
I pass her the packages then pull her against me one last time. I hate leaving her. I’d rather spend all day curled up with her in our bed, but unfortunately when you’re the boss at a law firm as big as ours, you have social requirements. It’s stupid.
“I love you, Little Rabbit.”
“I love you too.”
“Snuggs,” I shout.
A loud thump can be heard from the front room as he jumps off the couch then runs into the foyer.
He’s grown more in the last few months than the vet originally thought he would.
We still have no clue what he’s mixed with other than Great Pyrenees.
All we know is that he’s still a pup, so he is going to be massive.
“You stay by your mom and keep her company. Don’t leave her side,” I order.
He barks in response, apparently understanding what I said before climbing the steps and heading towards the other set of stairs that leads to our room.
“Okay, go. You’re going to be late,” she teases, practically shoving me out the door.
“I’m going, geez. Can I have one last kiss?”
She rolls her eyes at me but leans forward, allowing me to kiss her again. As I said before, no matter how long we’ve been together, she still affects me as much as the first day I saw her after fifteen years of searching. I’m obsessed.
“I’ll hurry home. I love you,” I say before stepping out onto the porch.
“I love you, too.”
She stands there watching me as I climb into the truck and pull away. I hate being separated from her. It still causes a knot to form in my stomach every single time. As I make my way toward the event center, my phone dings notifying me of motion in the kitchen.
I ended up installing a few more cameras after everything that happened.
We haven’t had to use the labyrinth since that night, and the only target we’ve eliminated was Vallero last month.
I’m not going to lie, seeing my little rabbit so crazed covered in blood, was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.
After I brought her to Jeremy’s new house and his doctor came to give her a clean bill of health besides a severe headache, a broken nose, and bumps and bruises, we had one of the hottest nights of nonstop sex I’ve ever had. The woman was insatiable.
I can’t wait until we can hunt down some of the past targets, but I don’t see there being any new ones anytime soon.
My father’s greed no longer runs this firm, so the clientele are different.
After he retired, against his will, I might add, Jeremy’s dad retired within the week.
It has been a month, and we can already notice a difference.
My phone rings, vibrating in the dash mount as my cousin’s face fills the screen. I have two minutes until I’m considered late; there’s no way he’s calling me about that already, is there?
“What?” I ask, annoyed.
“Geez. I figured with you being late, you’d be getting laid, but you’re grouchy, so I’m guessing you didn’t even get your dick sucked?” his voice booms through my speakers.
“Jesus, Jeremy. Please tell me you aren’t around anyone right now.”
“No. I’m in my car hiding.”
“Why are you hiding?”
“Because Veronica is here and she brought her boyfriend.”
“Veronica works for our company, and it’s a coworkers and families event…Of course she’s going to be there.”
“Yeah, but it’s just…weird. You know…”
“No, Jeremy. I don’t know because I specifically made it a rule never to sleep with coworkers…Maybe you should have listened to me back then.”
“Maybe…Welp, I gotta go in since someone is late.”
“I’m one minute late, and I’m about to turn into the fucking parking lot.”
“Willow, can you keep her occupied while I sneak in?” he jokingly asks.
“She didn’t come. She’s not feeling well.”
“What?! Who the hell am I going to bullshit with?”
“Me? Your other coworkers?”
“No. I can’t do that anymore. You know I can’t say any of my usual jokes around them. We’re the bosses now. We have to be completely professional.”
“Oh, is that what you call yourself? Professional? I specifically remember you doing body shots to celebrate our father’s retiring?” I scold him as I pull up next to his car. He looks over at me and stupidly waves.
“Listen, I was already shitfaced. We were finally rid of our fathers. We could control who we represent and finally start making it into the firm we’ve always wanted to. So yes, body shots were very professional for the occasion.”
I very dramatically stab the end call button on my phone before shutting off the truck and hopping out. I lock the doors making sure to double-click it to arm the truck. I have too many weapons inside to risk it getting broken into.
“That was rude. You hung up on me,” Jeremy whines as he walks over.
He’s dressed casually today in jeans and a black V-neck, whereas I decided to go business casual.
Black dress pants, a black button-down, and a matching blazer.
My hair is slicked back making me feel like I’m trying too hard.
Everyone else is dressed for a party, but I’m dressed for the office.
Jesus Christ, I don’t know if I’ll ever get the hang of this boss thing.
I don’t have to be professional all the time… Do I?
As soon as we step through the door, we hear our names being called.
“Noah. Jeremy. Hey,” Veronica calls out, waving us over.
Jeremy audibly groans as he tries not to show the agony on his face. She doesn’t seem to care anymore, so I don’t know why he’s acting so weird. She’s moved on.
“Hey, guys. This is Tom, my fiancé.”
“Fiancé?!” Jeremy says, stunned.
“Congrats, you two,” I quickly say.
“Yep. He proposed last night at dinner. Where’s Willow? I wanted to tell her in person and show her the ring.”
She holds out her hand flashing the ring to both of us, and snuggles up to her man.
“Hello, Tom. Welcome to the party. I’m Noah, and this is my cousin, Jeremy. We’re the senior partners at Andersons’ and Sons.”
Soon to be Anderson and Anderson, Attorneys at Law.
“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you…Both of you.”
He glances at Jeremy with those last words, and I can feel the tension.
Things were kind of a clusterfuck last month with everything that happened.
Jeremy is still recovering from the aftermath, and apparently she told Tom who Jeremy is.
Thankfully, I hear someone else call my name.
It provides the perfect excuse to get out of this awkward situation.
“Excuse us. Duty calls. Enjoy the party, you two, and congrats again on the engagement.”
“Thanks, Noah. Bye, Jeremy.”
Jeremy and I continue around the party mingling with our employees and their families. One of our employees, Amanda, has been off for three months for maternity leave, and I’m surprised to see her here and with the baby as well.
“Amanda. It’s so good to see you. David, nice to see you again. Congrats on the baby.”
“Thanks. I’m glad we could make it. Our sitter fell through, but I figured getting out of the house would do us all some good,” she says, cuddling the wrapped bundle against her chest.