Epilogue
KALANI
One Year Later
“Yes!” I squealed and excitedly tapped my feet on the floor when I finally received the confirmation I’d been waiting for. My surprise delivery had departed from Los Angeles and was expected to arrive in Hilo on time.
I could barely contain myself. The surprise I’d been working on for months was finally happening. But it was my wedding day, and I had a lot of things to do before my present arrived.
I never thought about getting married before I met Sugar.
After my uncle murdered my mother because she didn’t return his love, I had a warped view of relationships—men were fine to friend and fuck, not love.
Learning that my father hired my uncle to kill my mother and me didn’t help my perspective.
But then I stabbed Sugar and the rest was history.
He accepted me for me from day one. He never shamed me or tried to change me. Ultimately, he showed me that love isn’t evil. Fake love is, but real love isn’t.
A few weeks after the club dealt with Trenton and Ashley, Birdie and I moved to Kahakai. She was going to stay in Makani until she found a place to rent, but Coochie claimed her as his Old Lady, so she moved in with him.
I was content as Sugar’s Old Lady. I didn’t want to get married or have a wedding, until I overheard a conversation between Birdie and Charli shortly after the move.
“Do the brothers still get married?” Birdie asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Who’s married besides you and Cooter?”
“Oh, I see what you’re saying,” Charli said. “Are you asking about Coochie?”
Birdie gasped. “No! I meant Sugar.” She sighed. “Chad and Hokulani eloped, and Chet never got married. After Sugar claimed Kalani, I thought there would be talk of a wedding, but there wasn’t. It was an assumption I made—one I didn’t realize would disappoint me.”
“Oh, Birdie.”
“It’s fine,” she said dismissively. “Kalani would hate it.”
Charli chuckled. “Sure, she’d hate a traditional wedding, but she might go for something different—red dress, black bouquet, a blood-stained cake.”
“I don’t care if she has someone wheel her down the aisle in a coffin, as long as I get to see it,” Birdie said.
I left without them noticing me and walked across the street to Liquid Anarchy. Sugar was in his usual spot by the front door.
“We’re getting married,” I said.
“Okay.”
“Okay,” I huffed and turned to leave but turned right back. “Okay? Just like that? No argument?”
“Do you want me to argue or do you want to get married?”
“Both!” I shouted.
“Fine. We can get married and argue about it when I get off work.”
“Fine.” I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes. “I don’t like this … agreeability you’ve got going on.”
“Noted.” Grabbing the hem of my shirt, he yanked me to him and covered my lips with his. “We can argue about whatever you want later.”
“Yay!” I knew what that meant—angry hate sex. My favorite.
During the short walk back to the clubhouse, I had an idea for the perfect wedding present for Sugar. It was going to take a lot of work, so I had to enlist some help.
It was almost time! Sugar was in the bathroom waiting while I put on the new lingerie I bought for the occasion.
He had no idea how much time and effort I’d put into the gift. It took months of work, and he didn’t know a thing about it.
My heart pounded in anticipation while I watched the minutes tick by on my phone.
Charli: They’re here.
As I moved to stand by the bed, Sugar called through the door, “How much longer? It’s fucking hot in here.”
“Another minute or two. Take your shirt off if you’re hot.”
“Why do I let you talk me into shit like this?” he grumbled over the rustling of clothes.
Charli: Heading your way.
Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly in an attempt to rein in my excitement. I was ready.
When I heard the lock disengage, I opened my eyes and positioned myself so I could be seen clearly from the front door but would also be behind Sugar when he came out of the bathroom.
Bean came through the door first—dressed as an employee of Charli’s Place. He pushed the luggage cart into the room and stepped to the side so Joshua Kane could enter.
Joshua smiled when he saw me, seemingly pleased with himself. “I knew they were wrong. You’re not no motherfucking catfish. Damn, baby!”
Eww!
The door to the bathroom opened, and Sugar stepped out. He stopped mid-step and took in the room.
While Joshua stared at Sugar, Bean moved behind him to block the door.
“What the fuck is going on?” Sugar demanded.
I raised my hands in a placating manner. “I can explain. It’s not what you think.”
“It better not be what I think,” Sugar said.
“I met Joshua online six months ago. We started chatting and really hit it off. I invited him to come to Kahakai so we could meet in person. He was just telling me his friends thought I was catfishing him.”
“Kalani,” Sugar said slowly.
“What the fuck is going on?” Joshua shouted. “You two know each other?”
“Yeah,” I admitted and met Joshua’s eyes. “I was catfishing you. He’s my husband.”
Joshua stared at me blankly.
Glancing at Sugar, I stage-whispered. “He’s your wedding present.”
I smiled when my favorite look appeared on his face. “And there’s mine.”
“I don’t know what the fuck’s going on, but I’m out,” Joshua shouted and turned to leave.
“Is there a problem with your room?” Bean asked menacingly, widening his stance to fill the doorway.
While Joshua had his back to Sugar, Sugar crossed the room and wrapped one arm around his brother’s neck and used the other to push Joshua’s head forward as he squeezed.
“As a wedding gift to me, your new sister-in-law tricked you into coming to Hawaii so I can kill you. That’s what’s going on, dumbass. ”
Joshua tried to fight against Sugar, but his carotid arteries were no match for my man’s strong arms. He lost consciousness in less than a minute.
Sugar released his hold on his brother and let him hit the floor with a thud.
“I fucking love you,” he said and pulled me in for a kiss.
“I fucking love you too.”
“Later, kids,” Bean interrupted. “Our ride’s here.”
“Our ride?” Sugar asked.
“You can’t kill him here. We have to move him to the clubhouse.”
“Right.” Sugar and Bean lifted Joshua from the floor and carried him to the golf cart waiting right outside the room.
“I can’t believe you did this for me,” he said.
“I didn’t do this for you. Watching you dismember that shit stain a few weeks ago while wearing that butcher’s apron was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen, and I want to see it again.”
“You weren’t supposed to be watching that,” he warned.
“Spank me for it later. You’ve got an apron to wear.”
“So, you got me a wedding present, but I have to kill it the way you want me to? Whose present is it?”
“I just told you I didn’t do this for you. You’ve been my husband for five fucking minutes, and you’ve already stopped listening to me!”