Epilogue
Valentine’s Day and the POT representatives look bored. Almost dead. For a committee so focused on making pairings, they sure don’t seem to care about true love.
I asked Grandpa to host another event for me. And he readily agreed.
Dad’s business associates fill the white tent, along with Ace Donovan’s. Half the mafia from Lecherton is here, thanking Donovan for dealing with the Morettis. An entire family now nothing more than bones and ash.
I’m sipping bourbon, waiting for my appointed to enter. But I know Ashlyn. She’s no longer interested in white, plain, and invisible…
She feels safe enough to be seen.
My heart skips a beat when she does. A couple of Theta brothers open the double doors to the house, and in she walks like an empress.
Shining smile that lights her freckles.
Golden hair aglow and flowing down her back.
And my green dress. The one I bought for her and wanted to show her off in.
Her radiance steals my breath.
A collective gasp rings through the tent, and her smirk broadens as she waves like a prom queen at everyone parting the way for her.
“Mr. Cardell,” she says, dipping into a curtsy.
I set my drink on a passing waiter’s tray and take her hand. “Can I have it back?”
Head tilting, her lashes flutter. “Have what back?”
I press my lips to her knuckles. “My heart. How dare you steal it.”
She folds into me, laughing wild and free, and I spin her onto the dance floor as the five-piece picks up a slow jazz tune.
Clasping her hand, I lead us into a waltz—the only dance I actually know.
“Dancing and a green dress… You trying to spoil me, Viscount?”
“Look around you, Ashlyn. Everyone’s watching you. You’re breathtaking.” I pause, the truth catching in my throat. “And if I were honest, I’d confess something.”
Her blue eyes narrow, studying me and waiting for the punchline.
I swallow. “I rigged the poker game. Because I couldn’t stand to be away from you for a single second.”
A flash of pink crosses her cheeks, and my pulse pounds harder. Was it a manipulation to tell her here? In the middle of the dance floor, in front of the city and her family and mine, when I’m about to propose to her with my grandmother’s huge diamond ring?
Yes.
“So…I think I have a choice here,” she says, gaze darting up, as if calculating my demise.
“What’s that?”
“I could either milk this confession for years to make you do whatever I desire. To lord over you with demands and requests. Fill you with guilt for our entire marriage.”
That’s what I was afraid she’d do. I already had my counterargument locked and loaded—the baby card.
“Or?”
“Or…”
When she doesn’t answer, I dip her low, lips grazing hers. “Tell me now, you little hellkitten, or I swear to fuck, I’ll lock you in the pillory.”
“Well, now I kind of don’t want to finish my sentence.”
I pull her up, glancing around the room for any help. “Fine. No dick for a week.”
Her nails dig into my hand. “Okay, okay. I’ll tell you the truth.”
“I’m waiting.”
“I knew.”
I blink several times, clearing my blurry vision. “You what?”
“I knew you cheated, but…” She presses her cheek against my chest. “But I wanted to be yours.”
Something about that little confession hits me with warmth. Instead of following the steps, I hold her. Rocking back and forth. The crowd clinks their glasses, and I lean down to kiss her. Deep and long, gripping her face and pulling her tight.
Before I even think twice, I’m on one knee, ring box open wide.
And Ashlyn’s acting as if she’s surprised.
“I love you, my mirror. My life. My world. There was never another choice but you, Ashlyn Iyla Donovan. Because if I was born for ruin, it was only ever to burn beside you.”
Tears streak her cheeks as I lift her hand. “Will you mar—”
“Yes!”
She’s in my lap before I can blink, kissing me so hard I almost drop the damn ring, my family’s heirloom Tiffany diamond. Traditional marquis cut. And huge. Somehow, I still manage to get it on her finger.
“I love you, Aiden. You’re the only one I can be myself with, the only one who’s ever really understood me. And I can’t wait to drive you crazy for the rest of my life.”
She smiles against my lips—radiant, wicked, and mine.
Love was never meant to save us. It was meant to set us alight.
And my reflection, my flame, will burn in me forever.
THE END (FOR NOW)
STAY TUNED FOR THRILLER THURSDAY