Epilogue
Two months later
CAM
Mars and I walked up the flagstone path to my mom’s new care home, hand in hand. Nearby, birds serenaded us. He carried a bouquet of yellow roses and wore a smile on his face.
Napoleon’s mom had found Mom lodging at Greenbriar, which was located not far from Mars’ office, in West L.A.
, and got her a lovely room by shamelessly using her friendship with the facility’s director.
Mom had been here for two months now, and Mars and I visited her at least two or three times a week.
She seemed to be happy here. She still had her bad days, but they’d changed her medication and more often than not, she recognized me when we came to visit.
I’d moved in with Mars after Josiah Sterling and that horrible woman, Lavinia Moss, had been killed that night at the port.
Sterling’s entire operation as well as his cartel contacts had either been badly wounded or died when Mars and his fellow agents had put an end to his operation once and for all.
We were still getting used to sharing Mars’ apartment but it mostly worked.
Though I refused to fold my underwear into squares, neither of us let that come between us.
We’d fallen into a happy routine. His teammate, Rex, was teaching us both to cook, and I had to admit, I’d taken to it.
I was a lot better than Mars was at it, that was certain.
He still tended to burn things on a regular basis which still made me laugh… most of the time.
I’d enrolled in mechanic’s school with the eventual goal of becoming a master mechanic.
Best of all, though, Mars had introduced me to a friend who raced cars and I’d become proficient at changing all four tires in under five seconds as part of a twenty-man pit crew.
It was great fun. He took me out to the racetrack almost every weekend.
We’d been back to Vegas three times in the last two months, staying for the auctions.
He was still waiting for the FBI to pony up the dough to fix the Camaro.
It sat, covered—of course—in the subterranean garage back at his apartment, waiting for the day when the Bureau would finally come through with a check…
red tape being what it was. Meanwhile, he’d won a bid on a 2021 royal blue Audi RS7, damned fast but we liked road trips together, so we’d had it brought back on a flatbed courtesy of his friend at the FBI.
I absolutely loved seeing the joy on his face the moment he slid behind the wheel.
“Hi, Mom.” We’d found her where we usually did, sitting outside in the garden, surrounded by other patients and their families.
She lifted her face and smiled at me. “Hello, Camden. How lovely to see you.” I squatted beside her chair and she reached out, cupping my cheek as she looked into my eyes. “Thank you for coming, sweetheart.”
“Of course, pretty lady.”
Her smile widened and she held out a hand to Mars. “Hello, Mars. I’m so happy to see you, dear.”
He took her hand and bent over it, placing a kiss on her knuckles. “Lovely to see ya too, Mrs. Demarco. These are for you.” He held out the flowers, and she took them, smiling widely as she put them on her lap.
“Oh, you!” she said, laughing. “Such a charmer.” Mars winked at me. “And Camden is so happy. Just look at his smile.”
Mars’ gaze roved over my face, then reached out to cup my cheek. “’E makes me very happy, too, ma’am.”
She clapped her hands, smiling widely. “I’m so happy you came.” She looked around. “Pull up some chairs and sit down, boys. Cam tells me you got a new car, Mars, and I want to hear all about it.”
I nodded and took hold of Mars’ hand, pulling him close. “She wants to hear all about your new car, sweetheart.”
He chuckled, leaning down to kiss me. “Anything ya want, luv...anything a’tall.”
“Love you,” I mouthed.
His gaze held mine. “Back at ya.”
He winked, and I grinned.