Epilogue
“How ya doin’ kiddo?” Darren dropped onto the bench next to me.
It amazed me how much life could happen in only a couple months.
I gave him a wry smile. “I’ll be better when all of this is over.” I couldn’t help but glance at the bank of elevators across the lobby. I’d been forced to stay in the lobby when Vaughn was escorted upstairs for his standard Starlane exit interview.
“I can only imagine, after being one of the star witnesses in the trial of the millennium.” He leaned his back against the wall behind us, mirroring my own posture. “How are you feeling about all of that?” he asked cautiously.
I shook my head. “Honestly, I hated every second of it.”
One of his bushy grey eyebrows arched.
“I hated the attention. I hated that my family got dragged into all of this. But most of all, I hate that it took me so long to see him for who he truly is.”
Darren grunted in agreement.
I shifted to face him, leaning my shoulder against the wall, instead of my back. “Will it ever get better?” I asked, knowing he wouldn’t have an answer for me. “People always say time makes it easier, but with X, time has only made things worse.”
His expression softened at my vulnerability.
“I’m glad that I finally know what happened, and that Xavier wasn’t knowingly helping him, but it doesn’t make any of it easier,” I told Darren. “It won’t bring him back.”
Immediately upon the news breaking that the true Phoenix had been discovered and captured, all the corrupt officials our decoded correspondence had exposed had been rounded up. Many had turned on Cassidy in an attempt to lessen their sentences, which worked for a few, but not most.
Their cooperation resulted in mountains of evidence, which easily buried Cassidy.
With so many key figures exposed and apprehended, as well as their leader, Meridian had crumbled, as we’d hoped.
Still, only time would tell how things would turn out in the long run.
Vaughn kept reminding me to focus on what we’d accomplished, rather than the unknown.
“I will never be able to equate the boy I grew up with, to the monster he became.” I shook my head, still in a daze over all of it.
I felt numb about the fact that Xavier’s life was lost because he’d wanted to help a friend and then tried to do the right thing when he’d realized what he’d walked into.
I still harbored so much anger over his loss, but I was proud that he’d stood up for what he knew was right.
And I was thankful that Xavier had protected me from Cassidy while we were growing up.
If he hadn’t, I didn’t want to think about how things would have turned out for me.
“None of us truly saw him for who he was,” Darren tried to comfort me.
“It always rubbed me the wrong way how covetously he watched you, and the glint of jealousy in his eye when he regarded Xavier, but it never would have crossed my mind that the kid would turn into the most prolific criminal the system has ever seen.”
“It’s always the things you notice when nobody realizes you’re watching,” I commented absently.
I couldn’t help but let my mind wander to Vaughn at that moment.
I loved the way his eyes would roam over every inch of me when he’d talk to me while I showered, his fingers clenching the counter, like he couldn’t stand to be so close but unable to touch me.
Or how his attention would zero in on anyone in the crew when they were talking to him, as if they were the most important person in the world.
Or how tightly he held me every night; he could never get close enough.
Despite how hard he fought to put up this big brash facade of the captain, he was so gentle with his intentions.
It was hard to think of Vaughn compared to Cassidy, whose icy veneer during the trial flummoxed me, so far from who I’d thought he was, and such a contrast to Vaughn, who couldn’t help but wear his heart on his sleeve with those he cared about.
It was difficult to look Cassidy in the eye when I’d testified against him, but a necessary evil, and a position he’d put me in.
In court, I’d finally seen who he was inside: cold, calculating, and brutal to his very core.
He was given a life sentence, but many speculated he wouldn’t get a chance to live out his time, given that so many people had been affected by the things he’d orchestrated.
I should have felt vindicated when the verdict came back. But Xavier was gone. There was no relief in learning Cassidy’s fate, just guilt and remorse.
Other than Vaughn and the crew of the Radiant, the only good thing that had come from the Phoenix was the bounty that was delivered immediately after the trial.
I transferred my share to Vaughn, which he’d been arguing with me about ever since.
But I didn’t want the money. It wouldn’t bring Xavier back, and it was better for Vaughn to have it.
“Things seem to be going well with Vaughn,” Darren hedged.
I narrowed my eyes at him. He was like a second father to me, and discussing my love life with him felt like a special kind of torture. “I’m not talking to you about Vaughn and me.”
“But there is a Vaughn and you?” The old man was too nosy for his own good.
“We’ll see,” I brushed him off. I didn’t need to give him the continued satisfaction of knowing that his little stunt of forcing us to work together had actually been successful.
“What’s next for you? I hope you’re not going back to those shitty gigs in Tharsis.”
“She better not be.” Vaughn’s voice surprised me as he approached. He leaned down to wrap me in a quick hug. “Miss me, Trouble?” he whispered suggestively in my ear before placing a chaste kiss to my cheek, then releasing me to shake hands with Darren.
“So you’ll be sticking together then?” Darren smirked.
Vaughn couldn’t hold back a smile as he said, “I was banking on her staying on the Radiant because we’ve already got freelance jobs booked out for the next year, and a good engineer is hard to come by, let alone one that is as clever and gorgeous as Lark.”
I buried my hands in my face in embarrassment.
“Plus, if you aren’t around, who will constantly undermine my authority with the crew?”
“It was one time! And I was right, wasn’t I?” I challenged.
“Yes, you were.” Vaughn’s smile grew wider.
“Well, if neither of you are staying at Starlane, I can submit the paperwork to dissolve the exception then,” Darren offered.
“NO!” Vaughn and I shouted in unison, earning a roar of laughter from Darren.
It only made sense to celebrate the fact that none of us had to work for Starlane now that Vaughn owned the Radiant outright, which was an absolute feat in itself.
Over dinner, I observed the crew, all of whom would be staying on with Vaughn’s new venture.
Somehow, this ragtag group had become the family I hadn’t realized I was missing in my life, and in such a short period of time.
It became clear to me in that moment just how much I had isolated myself since Xavier’s death, while I’d spiraled and lost myself, looking for the Phoenix, hoping to feel some sort of sense of justice, which, funnily enough, still eluded me.
“The captain definitely values my opinion over yours,” Ethan asserted through a mouthful of food.
“Think what you will.” Jordan rolled her eyes, “My friend is much more qualified for the comms position than yours.”
“Yeah, but my buddy is a hell of a lot more fun.” He leaned in toward Jordan, pointing his fork at her. “You could stand to have a little fun.”
She merely scoffed in response.
I found it amusing that Ethan seemed to be the only person who could get a rise out of the normally stoic Jordan. He just knew every button of hers to push.
“You two should just fuck and get it over with,” Natalie commented through a teasing smile.
Jordan and Ethan froze.
My eyes widened. What had we stumbled upon?
“I’ll fuck her when you fuck Rion.” Ethan turned to point the fork at Natalie.
Rion went beet red next to her.
Natalie rolled her eyes. “Leave him out of this. You want to fight, you can do it with me.”
Rion slunk farther down in his chair, but stole a glance at Natalie.
Surely she knew the crush she harbored was mutual. I wondered if maybe Natalie didn’t want to risk their friendship by pursuing things. I knew firsthand that testing out a new relationship while stuck on a ship in the middle of space was a terrible idea.
“No fighting.” Vaughn stopped his conversation with Darren to assert his authority over the crew.
The three instigators immediately changed the subject.
He squeezed my thigh with one of his big, warm hands, under the table, and heat pooled at my core in response.
I leaned back in my chair, continuing to listen in to the conversations at the table, while Vaughn proceeded to possessively stroke up and down my thigh, knowing he was driving me insane by doing so.
I watched Vaughn, allowing my eyes to trace the planes of his face. And I realized Cassidy was so wrong about him. Xavier would have loved Vaughn. He would have loved him because I loved Vaughn. And he would have loved how much Vaughn cherished me and always put me first.
Vaughn glanced over to me and smiled mischievously, giving my thigh another squeeze, before he leaned over and whispered, “Wanna get out of here?”
I bit my lip in anticipation and nodded in agreement.
***
Riding Vaughn had become one of my new favorite things.
Sometimes, it was nice to have slow, intimate, sensual sex with him, and other times, I just wanted his hands all over me and his moans filling my ears. This night was much more of the latter.
Even better, we were alone on the Radiant, having abandoned our hotel room for the quiet of the ship and the coziness of our little bed nook, especially since we had put the sheet back up on the journey back to Phobos from Ganymede.
Vaughn’s hips thrust in time with mine, meeting me at every moment and allowing me to chase my oncoming orgasm. He felt so much deeper in this position, and who was I kidding, I liked being in control.
“Fuck, Lark, you feel so good, baby.” Vaughn’s hands gripped my hips tighter. I secretly hoped there’d be marks left when he was done.
I doubled down, grinding against him, and sensing I was close, Vaughn’s fingers found my clit, moving them just the way I liked until I shuddered through my release, continuing to ride him until I felt him tremble beneath me as he came.
With a whimper, I dismounted and collapsed in the bed next to Vaughn, ignoring the sweat slicking my skin as I nuzzled against him.
He ran his fingers through my hair, placing a soft kiss to the tip of my nose as we caught our breath.
After a few minutes, I could sense him getting restless.
“I’m nervous about this next chapter for us,” he confessed.
“About us?”
“No.” He shook his head, his eyes finding mine. “Going freelance,” Vaughn clarified. A sly smile lifted his lips. “I love you. I’m not nervous about us.”
“I love you too,” I returned the sentiment, feeling it through every fiber of my being, especially when he looked at me like I’d hung the moon.
After another moment, he continued. “This will create a power vacuum. I’m worried about what will fill the space that’s been left by the implosion of the Phoenix’s network—what new drug will come next, despite the fact that they’re working on shutting down all the pieces of the supply chain and distribution network they could find.
Like it or not, he built an industry within Meridian’s empire, and I just don’t see that going away overnight. ”
I nodded against him. “Then we keep fighting.”
He sighed, perhaps not liking my answer, but agreeing with me nonetheless.
“Oh,” Vaughn started. “I forgot—I got you something.” He scooted off the bed.
“What?” I squeaked.
Lifting up the edge of the curtain, I admired the muscles contouring his naked body, as he dug through his pants draped over the desk to find his comm.
After crawling back into bed, Vaughn sorted through his communications until he found what he was looking for and handed it to me.
I felt his body go tense next to me as I read through the document, and then read through it again when I was sure that what I saw the first time had been a mistake.
I looked up at Vaughn. “Tell me this is fake.”
He shook his head, his nervousness suddenly replaced with amusement.
He told me he’d relented and paid off the Radiant with the bounty, despite disagreeing with keeping the entirety of it. I didn’t think he’d be rash enough to list me on the deed to his fucking ship.
“Undo it.” I shoved the comm back at him. “Undo it, Vaughn,” I pleaded.
His smile grew wider.
“Vaughn…” I shook my head. “The Radiant is yours.”
“Ours,” he corrected me. “The deed is a fifty-fifty split.”
I could feel my eyes filling with tears as he continued.
“I’m in this life with you. I’ll always do right by you. And this was the right thing to do.” He reached up to cup my face in his palm.
“You’re sure?” I managed to get out.
“Yes, I’m sure.” His voice was so confident, and his grin so brilliant.
All I could do was give him a watery smile in response. I was building a life with this wonderful man, and despite everything I’d been through, somehow it all seemed to have been worth it, in that moment.
“Ready for what’s next?” He leaned his forehead against mine.
“I’ll follow you anywhere.”