Epilogue
Two months later
“I think—no, I know—that Yvette would be so, so happy to see all of you living your best lives.” Pilar sat next to Krystal, a glass of wine in hand as Nick and Berkley were on the dance floor at their wedding.
They’d just finished their first dance as a married couple and Berkley looked as if she’d stepped out of an actual fairy tale.
Her backless A-line dress had a long tulle skirt with a floral applique that had been hand stitched.
It was gorgeous, with an ethereal drape to it that shimmered with each step Berkley took.
That combined with the crown of flowers in her hair made her look like an actual forest princess.
She loved that Berkley had gone all out for this wedding even though it was her second.
Because this one would last forever. Everyone knew it.
“I agree.” Krystal looked over at her three boys who had moved onto the dance floor with some of their cousins who’d been too nervous to go out by themselves when Berkley told everyone to join in.
“And your siblings are lucky to have you.”
She half shrugged. “Thank you.”
“Don’t brush off my compliment.” Pilar set a gentle hand on her forearm. “You kept your siblings all together, and look at them. You helped break years of generational trauma—your mom certainly had enough. And your father…” She made a face that looked like she wanted to puke.
Which made Krystal smile. “Fine, I guess I did do all right.” She looked out at all of them again, her heart so full she swore it could beat right out of her chest.
Cormac was dancing with Daniela—who had a new, sparkling engagement ring on her finger.
They’d moved in with each other right after Thanksgiving and had been engaged a second later, something Krystal was glad for.
And Daniela would be opening a new gallery in Sanctuary Falls soon, starting over in a new location without any bad memories attached to it.
They both deserved all the happiness in the universe.
Clover and Micah were cutting it up with a couple of the teenagers in what might be a ridiculous dance-off. Apollo and Silvia were on the edge of the dance floor, basically just holding each other close as they swayed to the music.
But Pilar was right. Krystal loved her siblings and had only ever wanted the best for them. Not just to get them to adulthood, but she’d wanted them to flourish.
And they were.
She cleared her throat when a rush of tears threatened to push up. “I’m so glad you could make it today. How are you feeling anyway?”
“It’s a good day, so I’ll take it. And I’m glad that son of a bitch is going to prison for life,” she murmured even though the music and crowd were loud enough to drown out their voices.
Krystal’s smile widened and she wondered if that was messed up, but then decided she didn’t care. Alexander Hill would never be seeing the light of day. She’d been at his sentencing—with her siblings and his own children. He’d avoided looking at any of them.
And in that courtroom he’d been…small. Defeated. Nobody.
He would never hurt anyone again, and her mom and Daniela’s mom had justice.
Even before the sentencing, they’d had a memorial around New Year’s.
She’d been surprised when so many of her mom and Pilar’s friends had come, but she probably shouldn’t have been.
It had truly been a special day filled with reminiscing and a bunch of new stories to add to her memory bank.
As she sat there with Pilar, feeling content, her husband stepped out of nowhere, looking too gorgeous for his own good.
“Do you want another piece of cake?” Mike asked as he looked at both of them.
Pilar shook her head with a grin.
“No, but you’re wonderful for asking,” Krystal said.
“Good, then you’re dancing with me. We need to show these kids how it’s done.” Mike grinned as he held out his hand just as a new song came on. “They’ve never seen all our moves.”
Laughing, she let him pull her onto the dance floor, so grateful for this day where all the people she loved were under one roof, happy and safe.
She liked to think that her mom was looking down on all of them. And smiling.
Thank you so much for reading Knight’s Redemption.