Epilogue
CALLAHAN
THREE MONTHS LATER…
Sal’s
“So, this couple comes in. I swear, I’ve seen them here before.
And they’re screaming at each other. The guy found another man’s socks in the laundry.
She swears she’s been faithful. Then whose socks are these he asks.
And I swear on my mother’s grave, he pulls out two socks from his back pocket and waves them in the air! ” Sal said.
“No!” Andi exclaimed, leaning forward as he continued.
“So, I says, hey man, you gotta go. You can’t be waving around dirty socks in my establishment.”
“Fair point,” I chimed in.
“You’ve got that right. So, he says, who are you? And I tell him I own this place and if he won’t stop, I’m going to throw him out.”
“What did you do?” Stella asked, hands placed firmly under her chin.
“I grabbed the guy by the back of his shirt and threw him out. His little girlfriend went running after him promising to never be back. Good riddance, I say. Now here’s your eggs.”
Sal plopped a matching plate of scrambled eggs, hash browns, and bacon in front of Andi and Stella.
“Thank you, Sal,” they said in unison.
Since being back in Starfell, both Andi and Stella had quit their jobs at the club and started working with me at a shelter for domestic violence survivors.
It was early stages yet, but it was really coming together.
We’d transformed the apartment complex the Underwoods owned into housing for those in need of shelter.
I was able to buy it up no problem once the government seized all their property.
The FBI raid at the compound had been their ultimate downfall, all because that little flash drive Stella stole had more than enough evidence to put them and their associates away for life.
Thankfully, Marco had scrubbed my name from appearing in those files.
I owed him big time, but he insisted that he did it for Stella.
And he warned me if I ever hurt her again, he’d put that information right back out there and see my ass locked up with the rest of the scum. I admired him for that.
“Pancakes for you.” Sal said, setting down my plate in front of me.
“Thank you,” I replied, cutting into my food.
Since the Underwoods were no longer in charge, the local community had flourished.
No one stalked around with fear anymore.
The streets were bustling, and the business owners were able to afford their bills again.
Sal even revamped the menu to accommodate his new budget, which meant bigger portions and better quality.
It was truly a sight to see. The crime family had been so saturated in every part of our everyday life that their absence was a relief. And while they didn’t catch every single person affiliated with them, they’d rounded up enough to make a significant difference.
“We’ve got a new family coming in tonight. I have to get their rooms ready. They’re coming with two little girls, and their pet dog,” Stella said, talking in between bites.
“You want some help with that?” I asked.
She lifted her lashes to look at me with a sly smile. “Why do you think I’m mentioning it?”
I chuckled.
“You two are disgustingly adorable,” Andi chimed in, glancing from me to her sister.
Since being back, she’d put on more weight and gotten her coloring back in her face.
And while sometimes she still had that haunted look in her eyes, it had dulled some.
She hadn’t disclosed all that she’d endured at the compound, she’d started seeing a therapist. Which, I’d considered seeing as well since I was processing losing Simon and shifting gears in my profession.
She spent a lot of time with Stella and her aunt, acclimating to normal life again.
It was especially tenuous that first week back and it required a lot of doctors’ visits.
We found out they’d performed an abortion on her while in the compound, without anesthesia.
That fact alone painted a perfect picture on just how brutally they treated the people there.
Andi said one time that she’d felt more like a possession than a person and was glad that her ex-boyfriend that brought her there had been killed in the shoot-out.
I still couldn’t believe it was Simon that kidnapped her.
He might have saved us by choosing to kill Carmine, but the fact that he’d participated in causing so much harm to those women, made it easier for me to mourn the man I thought he was, versus the man he really was.
As far as Stella and I went, she was slowly letting me back in. Us working together had helped build that bridge I’d burned back. But I knew she needed time. Time to heal, and time with her sister. And I was more than willing to wait for as long as she needed.
STELLA
I was finally feeling like I could breathe again.
My sister was home safe, and that fucking Underwood family was getting exactly what they’d deserved.
I’d even quit my job, which was huge. I’d only worked there because that’s what I’d grown up knowing.
It helped that I was good at it, but it wasn’t something I pictured doing with my life.
Which is why when Callahan pitched going into business together to open a domestic violence shelter, I jumped.
And Andi came too. A lot of our first survivors came from the same compound she’d been in.
They were all helping each other find their way out from the trauma.
But while I’d been busy healing and supporting my sister, I also had been slowly feeling that pull towards Callahan.
Watching him start up the shelter and throw himself headfirst into helping people just because he wanted to, was a fucking turn on.
He could have done anything with his money.
He could have bought a yacht and been in the south of France.
But instead, he was here with me, helping people rebuild their lives and find the safety and security they deserved.
The only issue was, I didn’t know if it had been too much time. Had I missed my shot? I wasn’t blind. I saw how women looked at him. I mean I looked at him the same way, and he was technically single. We didn’t owe each other anything. Except, I really didn’t want him to be with anyone else.
We paid our bill and headed towards the door, bundling up along the way. Cal went to leave a bigger tip, which made my heart squeeze.
“I’ll see you later, Stella. I’m going to meet up with Helena. We’re looking at apartments today.” Andi said, pushing her hands into the pockets of her coat.
“Okay, call me if you need anything,” I said, opening the door for her.
“The only thing I need is for you to stop being so stupid and go tell Callahan how you feel about him,” she said. I glanced over at Callahan to see if he heard her. He didn’t look up.
“It’s been too much time,” I replied, stepping out onto the sidewalk. Andi was right behind me. “He probably doesn’t want me anymore.”
“Don’t make me hit you.”
“What?”
“That man is so head over heels for you it’s outrageous. And don’t think I forgot about how the two of you literally said, ‘I love you’, right before you thought he was going to die.”
“Well, those were dire circumstances. My emotions—”
“You’re in love with him, Stella. And he’s in love with you. I know you wanted to make sure I’m fine, and I appreciate it. You have no idea how much I do. But you need to do this for yourself now. Okay? You deserve to be happy too. And that man? He makes you happy.”
She was right. She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.
“I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you! Now go get laid!”
I glared at her right as Callahan was coming out of the diner.
“What was all that about?” he asked.
When I turned to look at him, I saw a man I could build a life with. A man who would run into danger with me, no questions asked. Who would get tied up by me and still want to be with me.
“She’s got an appointment to go apartment hunting with Helena. They’re moving in together.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Are they—”
“Together? I don’t know actually. I haven’t asked, but if they are I’m all for it. They both could use a relationship where they’re treated right for once.”
“And what about you?” he asked, stepping closer. I didn’t back away but instead craned my neck to look up at him. I wasn’t wearing my heels today.
“What about me?”
“Is that something you want?”
“I don’t know. Are you offering?”
My stomach clenched and twisted waiting for his answer.
He reached out and grabbed the front of my jacket, pulling me closer to him. “If you’ll have me.”
I swallowed hard. “It’s not too late?” I asked. “I thought maybe—”
“Stella, I would wait an eternity if it meant I still got to call you mine.”
I blushed. His hand found my jaw and cupped it in his warm palm. His thumb traced the curve of my lips. “Tell me I can have you, Stella. Tell me you’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” I croaked out, and he smiled so wide it was mesmerizing.
Callahan leaned down, closing the space between us, taking my mouth in his. My hands wrapped around the back of his neck and scraped against his scalp. Fuck. I missed this.
His tongue swiped along the seam of my lips and I opened for him, feeling the swell of his cock hit my stomach. Heat pooled in between my legs as we pulled apart from each other.
“You want to get out of here?” he asked sounding breathless.
“We could. Or we could do something reckless, and fuck in the bathroom.”
His eyes were gleaming and his cheeks had turned an adorable shade of pink.
“You’re on.”
The End