44. Epilogue
Epilogue
Sasha
Iwoke up before her.
I always did. I didn’t move for a few seconds, taking the time to just watch her.
Addy was sprawled across my chest, one leg tangled in the sheets and her hair a mess. One of her hands was lying right across the spot where my heart was beating.
Mine.
The word settled into my chest as though it had been carved there permanently.
She was mine because she had chosen me, and I was determined to make sure nothing or no one would ever take her from me again.
I carefully reached for her hand, admiring the contrast between her smooth, creamy skin and my rough, tattooed fingers. She didn’t stir when I slid the ring onto her finger.
It fit perfectly.
Of course it did.
I had commissioned it weeks ago, and it had finally been ready yesterday.
As I watched it settle there, gold against her skin and the diamond shining in the early morning light, something deep in my chest tightened with a quiet, vicious kind of satisfaction.
My little devil was finally irrevocably claimed.
Her fingers twitched against my chest and a second later, her eyes blinked open.
“Good morning,” she murmured, her voice husky from sleep.
“Good morning indeed.” I couldn’t take my eyes off her; my face hurt from smiling so widely.
She slowly tilted her head upwards, her eyes narrowing slightly as she met my gaze.
“What’s going on?”
My smile never wavered. “Why do you think there’s something going on?”
“Because you’re never this chipper in the morning.” The suspicion was clear in her voice.
“Ah, yes.” I nodded sagely. “That would be because today is a special day.”
Her brows furrowed. “It is?”
“Very much so.”
“How come?”
“Because we got engaged today.”
There was complete and utter silence for a moment, then she slowly lifted her hand off my chest and stared at the ring.
“… Did you put this on me while I was sleeping?”
“Yes.”
Another pause followed.
“I see.”
I slid my hand around the back of her neck, pulling her closer before she could overthink things.
“We’re getting married next month.”
She studied my face for a long moment, perhaps searching for hesitation or doubt, but she wouldn’t find any.
“You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
Then, unexpectedly, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. “You didn’t even ask.”
I shrugged. “You would have said yes.”
“That’s … You know what? I should’ve expected nothing less.”
“I already invited my brother.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “You did what?”
“He’ll be here next month,” I continued, unbothered. “He’s been wanting to meet you.”
Technically speaking, this was stretching the truth.
Hunter had not actually expressed an interest in meeting Addy.
In reality, my brother could not have cared less about any other woman than his own fiancée, Ella.
He would cross continents for her, forgetting the rest of the world even existed. Including me.
But that wasn’t the point. The point was, he was coming, and I hadn’t seen him in a long time.
Something unfamiliar pressed briefly against my ribs at the thought. Anticipation, and something feeling suspiciously like joy.
Addy was still staring at me. “You invited your brother to a wedding I did not agree to yet.”
“Yeah.”
“So I can’t say no now.”
“No.”
She narrowed her eyes. “That’s manipulative.”
“Is it, though? I mean, we both know you would’ve said yes either way.”
She stared at me for another second and then started giggling. “You’re unbelievable.”
“Eh, but you love me.”
Addy looked down at the ring again, turning her hand slightly to catch the light.
“You really thought this through.”
“I thought about giving you some more time,” I said honestly.
Her gaze snapped back to mine. “And?”
I lifted one shoulder. “I didn’t like that option.”
Something shifted in her expression then. “You’re insane.”
“Yeah. Thought we’d established that.”
She gestured between us. “And this is your version of romantic?”
“This is my way of saying I’m never letting you go and you are mine for eternity.”
Her breath caught slightly, then she exhaled and shook her head as if surrendering to something inevitable.
“Okay.”
Zero dramatics and zero hesitation. It hit harder than anything else she could have said.
My hand tightened at the back of her neck.
“Okay?” I echoed.
She smiled softly at me. “Yeah. Okay.”
The sun glittered across the pool, light catching on water and glass and everything I had built.
Addy was already outside, barefoot and arguing with one of the guards about mango distribution like it was a matter of national importance.
I leaned against the doorframe and watched.
I always watched. Each of her movements pulled at something instinctive and brutal inside me.
The way she laughed.
The way she didn’t hesitate.
The way she existed like no one had ever taught her to be afraid.
It made something in me want to burn the world down preemptively.
She playfully tossed a mango at one of the guards and he fumbled it like it might explode.
“She gonna get someone killed one day,” Kyrill muttered behind me. “By accident.”
“Nah. She won’t.” My voice was calm and certain.
Truth was, I didn’t care what she did because she’d always be mine, no matter what.
Kyrill studied me for a second, then snorted quietly. “You’re fucking whipped, bratan.”
“Yes.”
He glanced toward the terrace, where Addy was now attempting to reorganize something she definitely didn’t have authority over. Then his expression shifted — subtle, but I caught it. Interest and amusement transformed into something sharper.
I narrowed my eyes and studied my best friend. “How are things with your friend?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He took a drag from his cigarette. “She doesn’t like me.”
I snorted. “Can’t say I blame her.”
He smirked faintly. “I think she might be a problem.”
“Oh, but I know you enjoy those.”
“I intend to.” Something about the tone told me this might not stay as uncomplicated as he thought it would.
Did it ever?
Addy
We were lounging around the pool on one of the big sunbeds, basking in the sun. I was busy staring at the ring. His proposal had — objectively — been utterly unhinged.
People didn’t normally wake up engaged because a man decided it was happening and scheduled it like a meeting.
And yet I didn’t feel trapped or pressured. If anything, I felt … seen.
Like he had looked at me, really looked at me, and decided — correctly — I wasn’t the kind of woman who needed a question. I was the kind of woman who needed someone sure enough to make a decision and trust I would meet him there.
Which, apparently, I had.
Again, I looked at the ring, turning my hand slightly.
It was beautiful.
Of course it was.
Sasha didn’t do anything halfway. But it didn’t feel like a mistake — it felt like inevitability.
It was as if something had been set in motion the moment we started writing letters to each other like idiots who didn’t realize they were already in too deep.
My phone buzzed and I glanced down to discover a message from my sister.
Savannah: Addy, please call me when you can.
The absence of emojis and emotion in general didn’t come as a surprise, but her use of my nickname made me pause for thought. For years — ever since she’d met Nathan — she’d only called me Adelaide. Something about her calling me Addy had a small, uneasy feeling settling in my stomach.
Weird.
I started to type back, then hesitated and decided to call her later. It was probably nothing.
I tucked my phone away but Sasha was still watching me.
“What?” I asked.
His hand slid around my waist, pulling me closer like distance was something he simply didn’t tolerate anymore.
“You’re staying in touching distance today.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Is that right?”
“Sure is.”
I grinned. “Good luck enforcing that.”
He tightened his grip slightly, his rough fingertips digging into my skin.
“I always do.”
And he did. The worst part was, I didn’t actually want to get away. Instead, I leaned into him, resting my head briefly against his chest.
“You’re lucky, you know that?” I murmured.
His hand stilled slightly against my back. “Lucky?”
I tilted my head up, meeting his gaze. “Yeah. Lucky you found me.”
A slow, dangerous smile pulled at his mouth. “I would have found you anyway.”
“Stalker.”
“I prefer the term proximity enthusiast.”
I burst out laughing and he gently pulled me closer. Sasha’s hand tightened on my waist, the ring catching the sunlight.
I was his and he was mine. Everything felt like the beginning of something utterly beautiful.