Epilogue
“Are you ready?”Addy excitedly jumps up and down as we stand in front of the Thomas and Mack Center.
I am dressed in a red graduation gown while underneath is a cute black cocktail dress that falls to just below my knees. I have some black ballet flats on that definitely provide more comfort than all the women wearing heels today. Comfort is the name of the game.
“I can’t believe it’s finally here.” I turn and look at the giant event center where UNLV holds their graduation ceremonies every year.
People are gathered everywhere around the front of it taking pictures with friends and family.
“Where are your men?” Addy looks around.
My men. It’s been almost three years since the death of my mother. Since that horrible night she died at the hands of monsters.
It has taken me a long time to get my head above water with all that happened. Xayden, Seven and Dekker have all been there to help me through it.
And our love blossomed as we continue to grow together.
“They’re coming. They dropped me off and went to go park the car.”
“Ah, yes. They can’t let their queen walk from the parking lot,” Addy laughs.
I shake my head with a rueful grin. “Whatever. I am not their queen.”
“That is where you’re wrong, Angel.” I feel the strong arms of Dekker wrap around me. His lips find my neck, and I let out a soft moan.
“Oh my God!” Addy scolds with a chuckle. “Can you at least wait until you get home?”
“Can never get enough,” Dekker says against my neck.
“You would think you could give the girl a breather!” Addy smirks. “Look, she needs to get in line and ready to graduate, so release her, Giant.”
Dekker’s arms let me go, and I turn to see Xayden, Seven, and Dekker standing in front of me. The three of them look beyond sexy in their button-down shirts and dress pants.
“Wow.” I breathe out the word.
“See something you like, Princess?” Xayden walks up to me and places a kiss on my forehead.
I look between the three of them and give them all a sly smile. I’m honestly wondering if I truly need to be at the ceremony or if we could just celebrate on our own.
“Rory,” a voice calls out from behind me. I turn and see Agent Caden Bradley walking toward us. He is looking sharp in his light blue button down dress shirt and his tan dress slacks. Such a difference from three years ago when he was undercover. “Congrats on the big day.”
“Caden!” I run over and give him a hug. “What are you doing here?” I step back and smile.
After everything that happened, Caden and I have kept in touch. It took a lot of talks to work through everything that happened. And I know he was doing all he could to protect me in the position he was in undercover.
“Well, I was invited to this amazing occasion.” He slips his hand in his pocket. “And also, to give you this.”
I take the envelope from him. “What is this?”
“We found this when we were going through Aaron Brooks’s house. It was addressed to you, from your mother, but we couldn’t release it until the case was officially closed. It was considered evidence.” Caden purses his lips.
“So, the case is done?” I ask him, my heart heavy.
“It’s done,” he confirms.
“I…” Words fail me as I peer down at the envelope. It’s all over. My heart is as heavy as it is light with knowing this.
“Why don’t you wait until later to open it? After the ceremony.” Seven comes up next to me, wrapping his arm around my side.
I nod. “That’s probably a really good idea.” I swallow over the knot in my throat. The ball of emotions I know will spill out when I actually open and read it. “Here, Seven, can you hold it for me? This gown doesn’t really have pockets.”
“Absolutely.” Seven takes the envelope from me and puts it in his back pocket.
“You did it, Princess!” Xayden wraps his arm around me.
“How does it feel, Ms. Graduate with a Bachelor’s in Architecture?” Seven places a kiss on my forehead.
“Um, I don’t know. Kinda didn’t think I would get here at one point, and then I felt like I was starting all over once I did. Just … surreal.” I look around at all the graduates taking pictures with their families and friends, and I can feel the lump of emotion start to well up in my throat.
Hands grab my shoulders, and I am turned to face an extremely handsome-looking Dekker. “You know she’s looking down on you. They both are.” He cups my cheek just as a tear falls from the corner of my eye.
I nod. “I know. I just know she worked so hard to see me get here. To see my dreams come together. And I-I just miss her.” I let out a painful sob as Dekker pulls me into his chest.
“Let it out, Angel,” he soothes.
I feel the presence of the other two come up behind me before their arms wrap around me and Dekker. We sit there for a few minutes before I hear Addy.
“Oh, hell no! We are not crying. Well, we can do happy tears, but we are not being all sad and shit today.” I hear Addy’s voice from behind me. I look up and see her and Caden watching the four of us.
“Sorry, I was just thinking about my mom and dad.” I wipe the tears from my cheeks.
Thank fucking God for waterproof mascara.
“Understandable, but they don’t want you crying, so cut it out. Besides, we need pictures. And you can’t look hot in pictures if you’re all snotty and teary.” Addy walks up and pulls me from the guys and hugs me. “You deserve all the happiness, so be happy, feel the love and soak it all up.”
I sniffle. “Thank you, babe.”
“Now, can we get some pictures of you and your hot-as-fuck men? I mean, they came looking smokin’ hot to this graduation.” Addy winks at me.
We spend the next hour taking pictures, serious and silly ones, all in front of the event center. I take some with Caden and Addy, and we even find someone to snap one giant group photo for us.
We eventually find ourselves out to eat where we laugh at jokes and tell stories of our time at Groveton. After a couple drinks and some very expensive sushi, the guys take me back home.
And for a moment, I don’t know what to do.
When I walk in the door, I stand there in the entryway and let out a sigh. We bought ourselves a nice little house in Northwest Las Vegas. It’s in a small gated community and has a giant backyard, which is rare in Las Vegas.
Inside the open floor plan lets me see into the living room and kitchen. Dark grey tile stretches across the entire downstairs and colorful rugs brighten up the floor under the kitchen table and by the couch.
“Princess? What’s wrong?” Xayden walks over to me from where he was standing in the living room.
“I-I don’t know. What do I do?”
“What do you mean?” Xayden says softly as he runs his hands up and down my arms.
For a moment, I just stand there silently, trying to find my words. “What do I do now? Everything I have done has led up to this day, this point in time. I never thought about what happens after.”
“You live.” Seven steps next to Xayden. “You do what you love. You smile. You laugh. You live in the moment.”
“I don’t know how to. This is the very moment my life has always been about. How do I get past it?”
“I think you need closure, Angel,” Dekker suggests.
“How?” I turn to look at him and watch him nod to one of the other guys. I follow his eyes and see Seven reaching in his pocket.
“I think maybe start with this.” Seven places the letter in my hand. “Maybe this will have some answers or give you what you need to move forward.”
“We will be upstairs. Just call out if you need us, Princess.” Xayden leans in and kisses me softly as Dekker kisses the top of my head. Seven squeezes my wrist and gives me a soft smile.
I watch as the three of them head off up the stairs as I stand there in the entryway. Peering down at the letter in my hand, it feels heavy. I have so many questions. Questions no one has ever been able to answer.
But maybe this has those answers.
My feet slowly make their way over to the couch, and I sit down and continue to stare at the letter. I take a deep breath and open the envelope.
With trepidation, I pull out the folded pieces of paper, slowly unraveling them. Preparing myself for the words I will find on them.
And then I let my eyes read what’s within.
My Dearest Rory,
My beautiful baby girl, I love you more than any words on this page could describe. You are my whole world. Rory, I am so sorry.
You are reading this letter because I failed to keep you safe.
I always thought my biggest regret would be that we left witness protection, but it turns out my biggest regret was letting myself feel safe enough to try to live. Letting my heart fall for a man again, after your father.
Because I never would have imagined he was the man he became.
So let me start at the beginning.
Your father and I were madly in love. When we married, I knew I had to accept who his family was. And that’s the thing, your father was nothing like them.
Your grandfather and grandmother were horrible people. They swindled people out of money with their schemes, which is what eventually led them to prison time. They both died while behind bars.
Your father was always a good man. Always trying to do right by everyone. His twin was the devil incarnate. Yes, you have an uncle. David is his name.
I continue reading about my uncle and his run-in with the law and how my father bailed him out so many times. How David was always trying to bring my father into his illegal business dealings. But my father always refused.
Rory, your father couldn’t take it anymore. When we found out we were pregnant with you, well, he knew he had to raise you in a safe environment. He didn’t want you anywhere near his family.
While you were growing inside me, your uncle came to him with this idea of using your father to design a casino. On the front, it looked fine. Like a normal casino. But your father wasn’t licensed yet. He would have had to forge documents and provide drawings that could get him in serious trouble. Not to mention the illegal activities that would have been going on there. No, your father didn’t want to play a single role in all that.
So, we did what we thought was right. Your uncle was a bad man. His connections went deep. We weren’t safe. We went to the Feds. We entered Witness Protection. We became the Dawsons.
Your father had to give up his dream of becoming an architect, and instead he started working at a mechanics shop. With the help of the FBI, we got our lives back on track. Everything went the way it should have with the bad guys being put away. We even decided to come out of Witness Protection. And that was the worst decision we could have made.
It’s what I now know got your father killed. And yes, the accident wasn’t an accident. I only learned that too late.
Rory, don’t trust Aaron. I caught a conversation he was having in his home office with David. It was the first time I realized that all of this was a lie. I am so scared, Rory.
You need to get a hold of Agent William Thacker. You will find his contact information at the end of this letter. Tell him what I just told you. Let him get you to safety.
Rory, I wish I had convinced your dad to not take us out of Witness Protection. We got comfortable, too comfortable. We lost him because of it. And of course, I got us into this mess.
Please, when you get this letter, don’t let anyone see. Go see Agent Thacker. I don’t know where I’ll be, but don’t worry about me. Let him know everything I put in this letter. Just get to safety.
I love you, Rory. I will do everything I can to get back to you. I promise. You are my world, sweetheart.
Love Always,
Mom
“Princess? You okay?” Xayden asks. I look up through my tears and see him and the other two slowly approaching me.
I sniffle and wipe my eyes. “No.”
“Hey, hey. Just let it out.” Seven plops down next to me and pulls me into him. I let out a sob as he tugs me into his chest.
The cushion next to me dips, and I feel a hand on my back. “Shh, Angel,” Dekker says sweetly, soothing me.
I pull back from Seven and see Xayden sitting in front of me. His hands fall to my knees as he grips them tight. “Do you want to talk about what was in that letter?”
Wiping the tears from my eyes, I clear my throat and nod. “We know some of the stuff that was in there. David, Aaron, and the Witness Protection. But she was trying to get me to safety. She apparently was going to mail this and send it to me at some point. She included an agent I should have contacted to let them know what was going on.”
“And she didn’t,” Seven adds.
I shake my head. “No. I have no idea when this was written, but it had to be before Aaron took her and kept her hidden. So, she was never able to send this out. She never made it back to me.”
Tears fall from my eyes down my cheeks.
“Princess?” Xayden’s thumb and index finger grab my chin as he slowly moves my face to meet his. “She did everything she could to protect you.”
“But she’s not here,” I choke out.
“Not physically, no, but she is,” Dekker says as he kisses the top of my head.
“She’s always with you, Firefly.” Seven rubs my back in circles.
“You know we love you,” Xayden starts off. “So, we decided to start a tradition that you had. In memory of your father and your mother.”
He hands me a box, and I hold it in my lap.
“Open it, Angel.” Dekker kisses my head.
Slowly, I lift the top of the box off, and my mouth drops open at the sight of what is nestled inside.
A beautiful snow globe surrounded by an angel watching over it. And inside the globe is a picture of my mother. Tears well in my eyes, and I look up at Xayden. Before I can even say anything, he hands me another box.
“Wait, what is this?” I scrunch my face in confusion.
“It’s called a box, Princess.” The corner of his lip tips up in a smile. “Open it.”
“Come on,” Seven says excitedly. “Open!”
“Okay, okay.” I sniffle and place my mom’s snow globe on the coffee table next to Xayden.
I tentatively open up the second box, and I am left speechless. I sob as I pick up a snow globe with an intricate metal base and a picture of my father in the center of the globe with “Loving Memory” scrolled across the top of the frame around the picture.
“See? They are always with you.” Seven runs a hand up and down my back.
“You guys didn’t have to do this.” I hold my dad’s globe in my hand and smile through my tears.
“No, we didn’t. But we wanted to.” Dekker takes my hand in his. “Your dad started something with you years ago and never got the chance to see it through.”
“We want to make sure we carried on his tradition,” Seven says softly. “We wanted you to have something to remember both of them by, and in a way that means so much to you. So, if you let us, we would like to continue what your father started.”
My eyes flit between the three of them as my heartbeat picks up speed. These three have been my backbone through all this. From hating me, to loving me, they have become my world.
I murmur, “I would love that.” I let the tears fall as I smile at the three of them.
“Good, because we have one more surprise,” Seven says as he hands me another box.
I slowly take it from him. “Another one?”
“Yes, Angel, another one.” Dekker smiles.
I open the black box and inside a snow globe with three grooms and a bride. I let out a gasp as I read the inscription on the front of the metal base.
Aurora, will you marry us?
“We love you, Rory,” Xayden says as his hands cover mine that are holding the snow globe.
“You… you want to… with me?” My eyes dart back and forth between Xayden, Seven, and Dekker. “Is this really happening?”
“Yes, we want to spend the rest of our lives with you, Rory.” Seven grips my chin and turns my head toward him. Every so gently, he places a kiss on my lips.
“What do you say, Angel?” Dekker asks.
I take a deep breath and a moment to take it all in. I knew that one day we may talk about possible commitment ceremonies or marriage, but I never expected it to be now.
“Yes. Yes. Yes!” I say as I let out a shaky breath.
All three of them take turns kissing me.
Each one of them get down on their knee as Xayden pulls out a Tiffany box. Ever so slowly, he opens the box, and three beautiful round diamonds sitting in a platinum band gleam up at me from within.
“Oh my God, it’s…” Words completely escape me. I am staring at the three of them in front of me, on their knees with a ring.
“It’s a beautiful ring for a stunning woman,” Seven says as he takes my left hand and holds it up for Xayden.
Xayden takes the ring out of the box and slides it onto my ring finger. “You ready, Princess?”
I scrunch my face as I look down at my ring and then back at him. “Ready for what?”
He smiles and cups my face. “The next and best chapter of your life.”
I give him the biggest smile. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this chapter.”
The End.