Epilogue
GWEN
Six Months Later
Iwoke slowly, pulled from the depths of sleep by the rhythmic, muted drumming of rain against the bedroom windows.
I didn't open my eyes immediately. I simply lay there, letting my senses map the quiet reality of the Medina estate.
Outside the thick glass, the sweeping, gray expanse of Lake Washington was perfectly calm, its surface dimpled by the morning drizzle.
Even with the windows tightly shut against the Pacific Northwest winter, the faint, remarkably sweet scent of the early-blooming Daphne Odora drifted up from the manicured garden below.
It was a gentle, restorative morning. But the most profound shift in my reality wasn't the weather or the garden. It was the solid warmth pressed flush against my back.
Reid was already awake.
In the darkest years of our marriage, mornings like this simply did not exist. By the time the sun breached the horizon, Reid would have already been armored in a bespoke suit, a cup of black coffee in one hand and a smartphone in the other.
He would have been fielding an international conference call, pacing the hardwood floors, and halfway out the door before I even had the chance to say good morning.
The house used to vibrate with his frantic, corporate anxiety, leaving behind an echoing, suffocating tension the moment his town car pulled out of the driveway.
That tension was completely gone. The man who had starved our marriage had been systematically dismantled and replaced by the partner who had fought a wildfire to save me.
Reid was lying beside me in the dim, gray light of the bedroom.
His chest rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm against my spine.
His arm was wrapped securely around my waist, his large hand resting flat and warm against my stomach, anchoring me to the bed.
He wasn't rushing. He wasn't checking the stock market. He was just holding me.
I shifted slightly, tangling my legs with his beneath the thick down duvet.
Reid responded instantly, pulling me a fraction of an inch closer. He buried his face in the curve of my neck, his morning stubble scratching pleasantly against my skin. He pressed a soft, lingering kiss to my bare shoulder.
"I love the rain," Reid murmured, his voice a deep, gravelly whisper that sent a shiver racing down my arms. "It makes the estate so quiet. It's incredibly peaceful this morning."
I smiled against his chest, a deep, genuine warmth blooming in my chest.
I moved my hand, placing it gently over his where it rested against my stomach.
My thumb lazily stroked the prominent knuckles of his hand, tracing the faint, silvery scars he had earned swinging a fire axe on the island bluff six months ago.
They were physical reminders of the lengths he had gone to in order to rebuild our foundation.
I took a slow, deep breath, my heart picking up a sudden, nervous flutter.
"It's not going to be quiet for much longer," I told him, keeping my voice soft in the quiet room.
Behind me, Reid paused. The slow, soothing sweep of his thumb across my skin came to an immediate halt. The relaxed, sleepy posture of his body subtly shifted, a sudden, focused alertness replacing it.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
I turned over within the circle of his arms, rolling onto my back so I could look at his face. The gray light filtering through the rain-streaked windows illuminated the sharp angles of his jaw and the intense, questioning focus in his dark eyes.
"I took a test two days ago," I admitted, my voice trembling just the slightest bit as the reality of the secret finally slipped past my lips.
"I didn't want to say anything until I knew for sure.
But my doctor called me yesterday afternoon.
She confirmed it with the blood work." I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat, offering him a watery, luminous smile. "I'm pregnant, Reid."
Reid froze.
For a fraction of a second, the brilliant, calculating mind of the billionaire CEO completely short-circuited.
He stared down at me, his breath hitching audibly in his chest. I watched the realization hit him, a physical impact that wiped away every trace of his usual composed, impenetrable demeanor.
The shock in his eyes rapidly dissolved, replaced by a fierce, raw, completely unguarded joy.
He didn't say a word. He couldn't. He just let out a fractured, shaky breath, closed the distance between us, and pulled me into a tight, desperate embrace.
He buried his face deep in the crook of my neck, his arms wrapping around me so securely I could feel the rapid hammering of his heart against my own.
I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders, holding him just as tightly, feeling a hot tear slip from my lashes and soak into the pillowcase.
When Reid finally pulled back, his eyes were suspiciously bright. He framed my face with his hands, his thumbs gently wiping the moisture from my cheeks. A brilliant, staggering smile broke across his face, transforming him entirely.
"A baby," he breathed out, the words carrying a profound reverence. "Gwen. We're having a baby."
"We are," I laughed, a breathless, joyous sound that filled the quiet room.
The dam broke. The man who spent his life executing multi-billion-dollar corporate strategies completely abandoned his stoicism and immediately began plotting the future of our family.
"We need to set up the nursery," Reid said, the excitement bleeding into his rapid cadence.
His mind was already moving a million miles an hour.
"Not the room down the hall, it's too close to the stairs.
The guest suite at the end of the east wing.
It gets the absolute best morning light off the lake.
And we need to childproof the lower cabinets in the kitchen.
I should call the contractors about the patio fencing?—"
"Reid," I interrupted gently, placing a hand against his chest to slow his frantic, beautiful momentum. "We have months to figure out the patio fencing."
He stopped, letting out a breathless laugh at his own ridiculousness. He looked down at me, his hands sliding from my cheeks down the length of my arms, settling firmly on my waist.
I looked back at him, feeling the solid, steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath my palm.
The fire that had nearly consumed my sanctuary, and the emotional wreckage that had nearly destroyed our marriage, were entirely behind us.
We had done the agonizing work of clearing the debris and laying a new, unbreakable foundation.
For the first time in years, looking at the man holding me, I knew exactly what my family's future looked like.
It looked incredibly bright.
The overwhelming emotion and profound relief swirling between us in the bed slowly began to shift. The sweet, tender joy melted into something much hotter, a heavy, simmering heat that settled deep in my veins.
Reid felt the shift instantly. His dark eyes darkened further, the frantic excitement of the future narrowing into a laser-focused, burning attention on the present. His undivided focus was entirely on me.
His hands slid down my waist, his grip tightening as he pulled my hips flush against his. The physical evidence of his desire pressed heavily against my thigh, a stark contrast to the soft rain drumming against the glass outside.
He leaned down and captured my lips. The kiss was no longer soft or reverent.
It was deep, hungry, and urgent, carrying a desperate, consuming heat that stole the breath from my lungs.
I tangled my fingers in his dark hair, pulling him closer, matching his desperate rhythm as his hands mapped the curves of my body.
Reid reached down and grabbed the edge of the heavy down duvet, pulling it up and over our heads, completely shutting out the gray morning and the rest of the world to celebrate our new beginning.