Epilogue
Seven months later
Elliot
My car pulls through the gates of Lane Manor.
It’s a Sunday and while I rather spend my Sunday doing something other than spend time with my family, its family dinner night. Usually, I have a companion for these things but since Aria agreed to cover a night shift for one of the other nurses, I’m coming alone.
Which works out, I need something from Henry and its better she’s not here for it.
Pulling up to the front of the house, I see that I’m the first one here.
Drake isn’t coming since he’s finishing up his internship and Sam and Grayson must be running late.
As for Charlie, if I read her text messages correctly, she is stalking some baseball player through California, whatever the hell that means.
Not having them here works out too.
Walking into to the house, I notice how quite it is. I’m used to the place being filled with noise coming from every corner. Is this how it is when we’re not here? If it is, it’s eerie as shit. I think they need more kids or something to bring in some life.
Given that I’m early, and don’t hear anyone in the living room or kitchen, I head straight to Uncle’s office. The house may be quiet, but there is no doubt in my mind that he’s working.
Sure enough, when I push the door open, I find him standing behind his desk, looking down at what looks like a map.
“Why is the house to quiet?” I ask, announcing myself.
Bennett looks up ever so slight over his glasses at me before looking back at whatever he’s doing.
“Ella is upstairs getting ready and Henry is doing whatever Henry does.”
I wonder if they ever get bored. What do three adults do in their free time? Do they have hobbies? Watch movies together? Binge a series? I only know this house with me and my siblings, so all of this is throwing me off.
I’m about to ask if they three of them even talk or if Henry just goes to his side of the house while Ella and Bennett fuck everywhere, but my uncle stops me.
“What are you doing here so early?”
I take a seat in a chair in front of his desk. “It’s not that early. Dinner is in an hour.”
A couple months ago, after we came back from Mexico and put everything with Harrison behind us, Aria went to dinner with Ella and Charlie.
Apparently during said dinner they talked about how we should have more family get-togethers.
It was decided that if we were in town or able to fly in, every Sunday we would have dinner as a family.
Every Sunday at six
It’s currently five.
And Aria is very much included, even if I’m traveling for work.
Bennett looks down at his watch. “I must have lost track of time.”
My eyes move to the map covering the majority of his desk. It’s a map of South America. More specifically Bolivia.
“Are you thinking of hiking through Bolivia?” I ask, taking note of the marking he made all across the map.
He’s looking down at the map as he answers. “Something like that.”
Bennett is not a hiker. He’s very much the rich kid that hate anywhere there were bugs. He’ll pay for luxury any chance he gets.
Him planning something like this is out of the ordinary for him.
Is this a midlife crisis type of thing? Can you have one at forty-four?
Instead of continuing to rifle through the map, Bennett folds it up and puts it away, sitting in his chair to face me.
“I’m guess you need something.” He raises his eyebrow at me as if to tell me he can see right through me.
I give him a smirk. “I wanted to ask Henry if I could look through your mom’s jewelry collection. A few years back someone mentioned a yellow diamond, and I wanted to see if it was still part of the collection.”
This is something I’ve been thinking for a bit now, asking for one of my grandmother’s rings to give to Aria.
We talk about not getting married, and I’m still very much on board with that, but just because I don’t need or want a piece a paper tying her to me doesn’t mean I won’t give her the promise of forever.
Because that’s what it is a promise between us that will be stronger than any paper filed in a courthouse. A promise and a vow.
It’s been one year since she’s been back in my life. One year, of her being in my bed, of hearing her laugh, of waiting to see what comes out of her mouth. One year of loving her, of us being just us.
In Vegas, she quieted the thoughts and she has done the same since she walked into my penthouse. She makes me feel like my own person. Not my mother’s son, or the replica of Bennett Lane. With her, I’m just Elliot.
She deserves a happily ever after and I’m going to give it to her. What will that look like? Who knows, but as long as she’s by my side, I don’t really care.
A surprised look comes across Bennett’s face. “You’re going to propose.”
It’s a statement. Like he was waiting for this moment.
I nod. “In a way. She mentioned a ring from Tiffany’s with a yellow diamond few times and I was close to buying it, but then I remembered the one I heard about. Thought that would be better.”
She’s in love with my grandmother’s bracelet, more so when she found out the real reason Henry gave it to her, so I know she would love the ring too.
The ring though won’t have a tracker like the charm on the bracelet has. Like the watch I’m wearing, jewelry passed down by my grandparents always seems to serve a double purpose. As long as it keeps Aria safe, I’m fine with it.
Bennett nods and picks up the phone sitting on his desk. He does something before bringing it up to his ear. “Henry, can you come in here please? And you may want to bring my mother’s jewelry.”
The call ends just as quickly as it was made.
“I was planning on going over there you know.”
He shrugs. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen the collection,” he says before quickly adding. “How’s your house guest?”
I roll my eyes.
My house guest.
That’s what he’s been calling my mother ever since I told him about my conversation with my mother in Austin.
In the conversation, I mentioned my offer and how she accepted.
He was mad, so was Samantha when I told her, but Bennett, at least, understood where I was coming from. My sister not so much.
Ever since then, she has been the house guest.
For someone who says their relationship with their uncle is strained, I do tell him a lot of shit.
I give him a shrug. “I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to her since I gave her the keys, but the property caretaker gives me a weekly report of her being there. So far she hasn’t done anything worth noting. I’m keeping my fingers it stays that way.”
Questions did come up from Bennett, Sam and even Aria when I mentioned to her what I was doing, over whether or not I trusted her with who was guarding the house.
The answer? Yes.
Every person I contracted to look over the property are trained by Lane Security. They know how to deal with someone like Marisela.
Aria also raised one question that stumped me; is she a part of my life now that I know where is? Now that I’m basically providing for her?
That one took me a few minutes to think about. But the answer was no.
Knowing where she is doesn’t change a single thing.
The person living at the house is just another person, a stranger.
She abandoned my siblings and I, because instead of coming back to us, she hid.
She still took Ella and nearly killed her.
Her confessing to what Harrison was doing doesn’t erase any of that.
She will not be in my life. Not now, not ever.
The way I see it, the house she’s in is a prison and I’m just the warden watching over it.
“And the second she does something?”
“It all stops and she can go back to hiding.”
He nods in understanding. “Good.”
Talking about my mother though does stir up something in my mind.
“Maybe now that we know where she is, we can use it to our advantage and have her help find dad.”
He hasn’t mentioned it in a while, but I know he is still looking for his brother.
I know he still experiences sleepless night trying to figure out if Robert Lane is somewhere out in the world.
He’s been searching since the month after we were left with him, and I don’t think he will ever stop. Not until he has a concrete answer.
There’s no question in my mind that my mom knows something, she as to. Why else still wear his ring. With a little probing she will tells us. She will have to.
He loses himself to his thoughts. “Maybe.”
We sit in silence for a bit. Bennett lost in his thought of finding my father and me letting him.
If it were Drake, or Grayson I would stop at nothing until I knew all the answers.
The silence is broken when the door to the office opens and Henry walks in with two jewelry carrying cases.
“Security notified me that Mr. Elliot was here. Figured if you were asking for jewelry, you wanted to see the rings.”
Turning in my chair, I watch as Henry places the boxes in the coffee table in the middle of the room and start opening them.
“Those two boxes are filled with rings?” I ask, getting up and walking over to one of the couches around the table.
“Your grandmother loved her jewelry. She had a ring for every occasion.” The British man answers.
He flips open the box and when I see what’s inside, I’m in awe.
There truly is something there for every occasion.
But I’m looking for something specific.
“Yellow. I’m looking for a yellow diamond.”
Henry nods, and swipes his eyes through the boxes, landing on what he was looking for.
How he found it is beyond me. I think I looked at the box twice and cam empty.
Quickly he polishes it with a cloth and hands it to me.
I’ve seen the picture of the ring Aria has been teasing me she is going to buy, more times than I can count. It’s a beautiful ring, but the ring I’m currently have in my hand is ten times better.
It’s a radiant cut, sitting a little over five carats, with moon shaped diamonds on either side on a pavé band. Its gorgeous and it fits Aria perfectly.
“Can I give this to her?” I ask, looking up at Henry.