Epilogue #2
Serenity told me Halley was worried sick about her husband, and it looked serious.
Serious enough that they brought his son back from abroad, just in case he had to take over.
He hadn’t said a word to the council yet.
But if he really needed to step down as head of the family for his health, he should have done it already.
On the other hand, I couldn’t help but wonder what it’d be like working with his son—a guy none of us had ever met, just showing up out of nowhere.
Could he really be a good partner at that table?
Was he gonna keep that old alliance between the Marquettes and the Hollisters alive?
Too many questions, and we wouldn’t get any answers until the Hollister boy finally showed up at the Big Six council.
And speaking of Marquette, he had kept his head low ever since the Valery mess.
He wasn’t pushing for a new sixth family anymore, which was just fine, because nobody had the energy or focus to bring new blood to the council right then.
The old man was busy trying to fix his marriage, since Maureen had been freezing him out for months.
He had let Valery play him, and if he had given me a heads-up sooner, my wife wouldn’t have been in that much danger.
So at that moment, he wasn’t exactly on my good side either.
The only thing that kept me from making him pay for his bullshit was the fact that I owed him my marriage to Serenity.
If he hadn’t pushed for it back when I was still blinded by rage, maybe I wouldn’t have been standing here now, loving my woman and waiting on our babies.
Just for that, I decided to let his fuckups with Valery slide.
But none of that mattered. All I cared about was my wife, our honeymoon, and our wedding night. I had to make up for the first one I ruined.
When the party ended, I got rid of everybody and found my way to our room, where Serenity waited for me, just like that first night. I approached, heart pounding, every sense on fire.
Closing the door, my eyes locked on her, and the need to touch her was burning right through me. I moved in, felt her breath hitch, her lips parting for me. Every bit of her called my name, begging for everything I’d been starving for.
Sliding my hand up, my fingers slowly traced her cheek, her jaw, her lips. Her breath was shallow, trembling against my thumb, and her eyes were wide, pleading for me to take her. I leaned in, mouth close to her ear.
“You want me to fuck you, Serenity?” I whispered, just like that first night.
She knew why I asked her that question. She knew I was replaying the first night when I should’ve claimed every inch of her body. My words made her shiver before she answered.
“Yes…” she breathed. “Please, baby.”
That was all I needed. My mouth curved into a hungry smile. My hand slid down, hooked her thong, dragged it down her thighs to the floor. My other hand undid my belt, letting my pants drop just enough to free my dick, hard and ready for her.
I pressed her against the door, her body arching into mine, heat radiating between us.
Grabbing her thighs, I lifted her just enough and opened her for me.
My tip pressed against her pussy, holding her there, feeling her shiver, seeing her eyes darken with want.
Then I pushed in, slow and deep, her heat wrapping around my dick, pulling a groan from my chest. I filled her, claimed her, holding her tight as her breath caught and her nails dug into my shoulders.
“I’ll fuck you so good, baby. I’ll fill you up, take you apart, make you mine in every way you crave. And when I’m done, when you’re trembling and begging for more, I’ll hold you so close the world won’t exist outside this room. I’ll love you till the end, Serenity. That’s a fucking promise, baby.”
A few weeks after the wedding, we came back from our honeymoon.
The way I’d fucked my wife every damn day, I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up with babies with extra limbs.
But now there was something else I had to handle.
With those babies on the way, Valery out of the picture, and all the shit that had gone down, I didn’t want Serenity stressing over the Veylor Casino anymore.
I was ready to bring it up at the next Big Six meeting. My woman just wanted to be a mom, a wife, and chase her dreams in horticulture and landscaping. As her man, I was gonna give her every damn thing she wanted.
I cleared the visual and biometric security at the Big Six council room and walked in. All the other council members were already in their seats—Draven, Hollister, Marquette, and Crowhurst. Only the chair with the V for Veylor was empty.
I made my way to my seat, the one with the K carved into it, and sat down after nodding a greeting to the others.
“Alright. Now that we’re all here, we can start this extraordinary session. Korven, you called the meeting, so the floor is yours,” Judge Marquette announced.
I stood up, letting my gaze linger on each of them.
“We all know my wife took over the Veylor Casino, kept it running, kept the money flowing for the Big Six. But officially, the Veylor seat is empty and there’s no real structure.
We all know how strategic this business is for our families and this city.
And because I married the only Veylor left, I’m proposing the Korvens merge both houses, at least until there’s a new sixth family,” I told them.
Scanning their faces, I tried to read them.
Draven was with me, no doubt. But I wasn’t sure how the others would take it.
I knew Marquette and Hollister hated the idea of two families merging power, risking a natural hierarchy inside the council.
With the Veylor operation, the Korvens would become the top power of the alliance.
But I wasn’t doing this to supplant anyone.
If a real candidate came up for the sixth seat, I’d gladly let them in, as long as I could take this weight off my wife.
“We hear you. But, while I understand the merger, I don’t like the idea much. I’d prefer each family keep its sovereignty, and the power remains equal. A sixth family should take the council seat,” Marquette replied, just like I expected.
“I agree with Marquette. The Big Six should stay six for balance,” Hollister added, no surprise there.
“I’m with Korven,” Draven jumped in. “Let’s consider this a temporary fix.
Konflict isn’t after supremacy, and we all need the Veylor business to keep going.
Any slowdown hurts all of us. I’ve got to run the gun manufacturing to get what we need to reinvest in the city.
Hollister, your latest construction projects need real funding, and we can only use clean money for that.
Marquette, your department needs funds too.
Crowhurst can’t ensure our security without those resources.
The Veylor operation has to keep going, and only Konflict can guarantee that right now. The families should merge.”
Draven’s logic hit home, even if the two old men still looked skeptical. All eyes turned to Crowhurst, who hadn’t spoken yet. Two against two, he was the tie-breaker.
“What’s your position, C?” I asked.
Crowhurst stood, looked around at all of us, and declared, “There’s no need to merge the two families, because the Veylors still stand.”
That threw everybody off. While we tried to understand what he meant, the council room door swung open. A tall Black man walked to the center, and my face darkened the second I recognized him.
“You started the party without me?”
“What the hell are you doing here?” I said, jaw tight, fists clenched.
“Huh? Is that how you greet a new member of this council?” he answered, a mocking smile on his lips.
We were all shocked. The Big Six council chamber was only accessible to family heads as facial and fingerprint recognition were required.
For this guy to get in, he had to be registered as the Veylor heir.
With Vince gone, the heir was supposed to be Vernom and I personally killed that bastard in the fight with the Korvens. So who the hell was this guy?
Crowhurst finally ended our questions.
“Let me introduce Viper Veylor. Youngest son of Vince Veylor, half-brother to Vernom and Serenity. You never heard of him because he stayed out of Emberwick, living in Newfoundland and Labrador with his uncle after Vince killed his mother. He kept tabs on Emberwick through me. He’s here to claim the seat that’s his by blood. ”
We were all stunned.
Viper walked up to me, that crooked smile still on his face.
“Brother-in-law, I thought I’d get a warmer welcome after saving your ass the other night. If I hadn’t brought back Valery onto that yacht and given orders to keep you alive, my uncle’s men might’ve put you down. I figured you’d be a little more grateful,” he said, mocking.
This guy really got under my skin. I’d sworn I’d make him pay for putting a gun to my wife’s head and scaring her, even if it was just a setup to catch Valery. I still wasn’t over it.
“I don’t give a damn what you did for me. You put a gun to my wife’s head and made her cry.”
“Oh, come on, no hard feelings. I’d never hurt my little sister.
I just like a dramatic entrance, nothing serious,” he said, grinning wider.
“Let’s put it all behind us, alright? We’re family now, after all.
And with things the way they are, we’ll be seeing each other a lot more.
You’re not going to sulk at family dinners, are you? ” He stuck out his hand.
He really pissed me off. But he was right about one thing, if he was now the Veylor head and Serenity’s brother, we were going to have to deal with each other.
I couldn’t say if I liked him or not, but the fact that he’d slipped Serenity a gun that night, so she could defend herself, made me give him some grace.
He looked out for his sister, and I respected that, even if I’d never call him a friend.
We’d never be tight, but I understood his move.
I took his hand and squeezed it.
“I don’t trust any Veylor, except my wife. And she’s a Korven now, so that doesn’t apply to her.”
“Good, because I don’t trust anyone either.
Well, except for my favorite four-eyes over there,” he said, pointing at Crowhurst, which confirmed what I’d suspected earlier.
Those two knew each other, and that’s how he and his uncle slipped into the city without being caught by C’s security.
Crowhurst gave them the access. That told me, whatever their exact ties, there was a strong alliance there.
Viper let go of my hand and walked to the center of the room to address the council. He looked at each of us, then spoke, voice solemn.
“My father was a bastard. A son of a bitch I would’ve killed myself.
My older brother was the same kind of vermin.
Two people I never wanted anything to do with.
The Veylor empire meant nothing to me. For the record, that whore Vince Veylor spread his seed everywhere, and to avoid bastards, he killed every woman he knocked up.
My mother escaped him for a while and gave birth to me.
She felt threatened and left me with my uncle, War Windson, who protected me from Vince by hiding my identity.
My mother died when I was young—killed by Vince, just like every woman unlucky enough to cross him.
The only one who ever got a break was Serenity’s mother, and only because she was fucking a Korven.
It was just a way for him to satisfy his obsession with the Korvens.
Long story short, I never wanted a part of that toxic family, and the Big Six business never interested me. ”
We listened, taking in his story, which made his claim to the Veylor seat legitimate. But even after all that, one question hung in the air.
“Why now?” I asked. “Why claim the Veylor seat now when you never cared before? What changed?”
He gave a slight smile and held my gaze.
“Because it’s time for me to find her,” he said mysteriously.
His answer only made me more curious, because I could see the fire in his eyes. Who was he looking for? And why?
I glanced around at the rest of the council, and I knew they were all wondering the same thing. This guy was intriguing as hell, and one thing was clear, bringing him into the Big Six was about to shake up the balance of this group.
When he walked to the seat with a V engraved next to Crowhurst, it all became clear.
The council was now split into three alliances: Korven-Draven, Marquette-Hollister, and Crowhurst-Veylor.
Something told me that Emberwick’s first law—that no one interferes when two families go to war—was about to crumble.
Through all of this, the only thing that mattered, and would always matter, was keeping my wife and my kids safe, no matter what, because they were my everything.
The End