Epilogue
Sander
eight months later
I firmly believe that no place in the world can compare to the beauty of Candora, but I’ll admit that this vineyard comes pretty close.
With the sun hanging low in the sky, casting the field of vines in a golden glow, and the scent of sun-warmed grapes wafting through the air, it feels like nothing can go wrong. Only happy times from here on out.
“I know that look,” Astrid says, and I turn my smile to her. “Don’t get cocky, Prince.”
“Me? Cocky? Never.” Chuckling, I wrap an arm around her and pull her back against my chest so I can press my lips to her neck. However beautiful the vineyard is, however good it smells, Astrid has it beat. “What about a vineyard for our wedding?”
She laughs as she arches her neck to the side to give me better access. “Candora doesn’t have any vineyards.”
“Italy isn’t too far.”
“You want to fly to Italy to get married? You, who almost didn’t get on the plane yesterday?”
Humming against her skin, I tighten my hold on her and focus on the way her body molds to mine.
Not on the embarrassment that rises up my throat.
“I’d never been on a plane before,” I argue.
“You can’t blame me for being a little nervous.
” The flight to London had some rough turbulence that didn’t help my anxiety, but the second flight to San Francisco was bearable and long enough for me to get used to the sensation of flying. I could handle a jaunt to Italy.
“If we’re going to get married,” Astrid says, and I can practically hear her eyeroll in her voice, “it won’t be in Italy.”
“‘If’?” I repeat in mock horror. “Astrid Storme, are you telling me that I don’t have a chance?”
Twisting to face me, Astrid gives me a long-suffering look I’ve started to get used to. The longer we’re together, the more relaxed and open I’ve become. It’s a foreign feeling. For a long time, Hex and I weren’t all that different, but I got too comfortable in his shadow over the last few years.
It’s been nice standing in Astrid’s light for a change.
Lifting her hand to my cheek, she brushes her thumb along my skin. “I’m telling you, Sander Alverra, that this is the first time we’ve ever talked about marriage, so I’m trying my best not to overreact.”
I grin and touch a kiss to the tip of her nose, then another on her forehead. “Good or bad overreaction?”
Her hand slides into the hair at the back of my neck and pulls me closer. “Good,” she says, then locks her mouth onto mine in the most delicious kiss.
Eight months with this woman, and I still never get tired of kissing her.
“Ahem.”
Maybe we should talk about marriage. Without any teasing involved.
“Oi!”
The thought of knowing she’ll be by my side for the rest of my life overshines any good feelings coming from the vineyard around us.
“Sander!”
Groaning, I pull away from Astrid and narrow my eyes at Hex. “What?”
Wrinkling his nose, he looks from me to Astrid. “Care to tell me why you’re crashing a wedding at Holloway Vineyards?”
That’s his question? I would have thought he’d go for something more pertinent, like “What are you doing in California?” or “Do you like the way I haven’t cut my hair in six months?”
Holding back a grin, I keep Astrid tucked against my side as I turn to face my twin and really take him in.
We text almost every day and video chat often, but it’s different seeing him face-to-face.
Yes, his hair is getting obnoxiously long, and it’s clear he spends a lot of time in the California sun.
He’s bigger too, and not just in muscle weight.
But beyond the physical change in him, there’s a completeness about him. Something in his eyes tells me he’s happy. He’s whole.
“Oh,” Astrid says, placing her palm on my chest as she looks up at me. “Are we crashing?”
“I’m not crashing,” I say with a firm shake of my head. “I don’t know about you, but I got an invitation.”
She narrows her eyes thoughtfully. “Did that invitation have your name on it?”
“It had a name on it.”
“Sounds legitimate to me.”
Hex clears his throat again and folds his arms as he scowls at us.
It’s strange how much more intimidating he looks now than he did a year ago, but I think I could beat him in a sparring match if he agreed to it.
We haven’t had an opportunity to see which of us is better, but I’ve spent the last half a year training with Astrid.
I like my odds.
“I know that look too,” Astrid hisses, glaring at me. “We have work to do.”
“Work?” Hex asks, his scowl turning to confusion. “In Napa?”
“Ah, right, I forgot to tell you,” I say lightly. “The director of the RIA decided to take a step back to better supervise the whole department, so he appointed someone else to oversee External Investigations.” I press a kiss to Astrid’s cheek.
Hex smiles. It’s subtle, but it’s more than he could have managed a year ago. “Congratulations, Storme.”
“Oh, it wasn’t me,” she says with a laugh. “Your brother took that role.”
The expression that takes over Hex’s face is such a strange mixture of pride and disgust that I can’t help but laugh as well.
This is exactly why I wanted to tell him in person, knowing his feelings about the RIA, and his reaction is better than I could have hoped.
He’s happy for me, but my new job is his nightmare.
It was one thing when I became an agent back in November; it’s another to be in charge of half the organization.
“Maybe they’ll actually get things done now,” Hex says, and his smile comes more naturally now that he’s had a moment to process this change.
I wonder if he’s thinking like I am about how I never would have gotten to where I am—with the RIA and with Astrid—if he hadn’t signed up for that television show.
He never meant to keep me in his shadow, but I would have stayed there as long as he was with me.
“I doubt that,” I reply with a grin. “One of my agents has a bad habit of going rogue when she thinks she knows better than her superior.”
Astrid yelps when I pinch her side and looks like she would pin me to the ground if she wasn’t wearing a body-hugging dress right now. “Who are you calling superior?”
“Myself, obviously.”
“In your dreams, Prince.”
“You always are.”
“Can we get back to why you’re here?” Hex asks. His fingers start tapping on his bicep, letting me know that he’s losing patience. “What could possibly affect Candora from the other side of the world?”
“Well,” I say, trying not to laugh at the scowl Astrid’s still giving me, “I don’t know if you knew this, but there’s actually a member of the Candoran royal family living somewhere in California.”
Hex groans.
“There she is,” Astrid says before Hex can respond.
I follow her gaze to the wedding reception happening several meters away.
The ceremony was beautiful and the dinner was delicious, but until now we haven’t had a chance to seek out our target.
Astrid’s right, and the Candoran woman in a shimmery gold dress is standing at the venue’s edge with a glass of wine as she watches the other guests dance and mingle.
“She doesn’t look like a criminal,” Hex says, shifting forward to get a better look at her.
“I look like an egotistical hothead,” I reply, “but that doesn’t mean I am one.”
“Ha.”
“She’s a curator at the National Museum in Invem and smuggled artifacts out of Candora,” Astrid says. “We’re here to get them back.”
Turning to face us, Hex fixes a warning look on us both as he says, “Whatever your plan is, don’t mess up this wedding.”
“Or what?” Astrid snickers. “Your girlfriend will dump you?”
“Don’t give her any ideas,” Hex grumbles. He points at us, another warning, then heads back to the large building behind the vineyard. He only looks back once, but his smile as he does tells me that he’s alright. I was worried about him when he left Candora, but he made the right choice.
Wrapping Astrid up in my arms again, I rest my chin on her head as we watch our target approach one of the wealthier attendees with a well-practiced smile. “Do you think she’ll find any buyers tonight?” I ask.
“Once she talks to me, yes.”
“And you’re sure she won’t recognize you?” Astrid hasn’t been in public much since the anti-royalist protest, but she still catches notice on the street sometimes.
Sighing, she reaches up and pats my cheek. “People only recognize me when I’m with you, Prince. You’re remarkably memorable.”
That’s one of the reasons I took the supervisor position when Director Torvik offered it to me.
I’d much rather stay behind the scenes like Callum, who happily took over Virek’s job back in the fall.
The other reason I accepted the promotion was because I knew Torvik would keep pushing for Astrid to take it if I didn’t, and she would much rather be out in the field.
“I trust you,” I tell Astrid as I slowly release my hold on her. “If you think she won’t recognize you, then it’s probably time for you to go save the day.”
“Are you telling me what to do?” she asks, spinning around and rising up on her toes to kiss me again.
“Never.” Deepening the kiss, I wind my fingers into her hair and press my hand against the small of her back to bring her closer, loving every blissful minute.
“Do I have to remind you that you’re on the clock?” a voice says in my ear, his Irish lilt full of irritation. “I thought you two said you could focus.”
“I’m incredibly focused, Callum,” I argue, then kiss Astrid again, smiling along with her as I do.
She pulls away and runs her fingers down my cheek in the most tantalizing way. She looks so happy that the only reason I don’t dive into another kiss is because she starts talking. “Callum, this is an external mission. Why are you here?”
“Because Miss Hollysham isn’t working alone. More artifacts have gone missing from the university in Skalridge, which means this is bigger than you thought.”
I shouldn’t be this excited to learn there’s more to the plot, but I’m not the only one who grins. Astrid’s eyes are dancing with delight, and I can already see her starting to work through the different puzzle pieces in her mind.
“We’ll start with Hollysham,” I tell Callum, spinning Astrid out as if we’re dancing but letting go of her fingers as soon as our arms are extended.
She heads straight for the target with confident strides, and I can’t hold back my proud smile as I watch her go.
“We’ll be back in Candora as soon as the stolen items are secure. ”
“I’ll keep an eye on you from here,” Callum says.
Technically we’re equals in terms of rank within the RIA, but I won’t complain about him having our backs.
Just as Astrid will never complain about me joining her on the occasional mission.
She can handle herself, but that won’t stop me from watching over her, just in case.
As I head up a curved staircase to take up my post on a balcony overlooking the reception, I find Astrid in the crowd and wait for her to look up. She does within seconds and smiles up at me before returning her focus to her target.
“Love you,” I say, even though Callum is probably still listening.
Astrid throws one more smile my way. “Love you back. Once we finish this job, let’s talk about that wedding thing, yeah?”
I press a hand to my heart, grinning like the lovesick fool I am. “Happily. Good luck, Storme.”
“Don’t need it, Prince.”
She doesn’t. There’s no one more brilliant and determined than Astrid Storme, and I am constantly in awe of her. But even if she doesn’t need luck, I’ll always be right behind her, basking in her light.
***