Epilogue
Six Weeks after the Rescue
Belle
Ifilter out the sound of Piper’s squeals as I turn the page of my book. When I draw up my knees on the sun lounger and squeeze my thighs, I hear a soft chuckle next to me.
“Chapter thirty-one?” Maddie asks.
I look up from my book. “How did you know?”
She smirks. “My favorite too.”
“I can’t believe you’ve corrupted Belle with your filthy novels.”
I lower my sunglasses to the virtuous woman stretched out on the lounger on the other side of me. “Quinn, you were the one who told me to read this one next.”
She smooths her hand over her taut and rounded belly. “I never said I wasn’t corrupted too.”
Lily arrives with a tray of cocktails, and only hears the final part of our conversation.
“You think Reid’s corrupting you? You’re lucky you’re not married to Mace.
The things that man does to me are unrepeatable.
But ask me again after a few of these, and I might spill all,” she says, eyeing our drinks. We all look at her. “What?”
“We were talking about books, Lily,” Maddie says.
“I knew that,” she says, not even blushing as she passes Quinn her glass. “Here you go, it’s a virgin for you.”
After grabbing our cocktails, we stare out across the grass to the four beautifully sculpted men and one five-year-old caught up in the middle of a water fight. Two of the brothers are already rolling on the ground. Piper’s winning.
“You do make a good point though, Lily” Quinn says. She lifts her glass. “Here’s to being corrupted by a Griffin.”
Maddie snorts. “Funnily enough, that’s a scene in the romantasy I’m currently reading.”
We break into fits of giggles and the tears of laughter rolling down my cheeks feel good.
How did I get so lucky? How have these wonderful people accepted me so quickly and completely after the pain I inflicted on Ash?
But in the last six weeks, his pain has faded along with my bruises. We’re all healing.
Reid is the first to make a tactical retreat, and Quinn shrieks as he slides behind her on the lounger, dripping wet. “I thought this was meant to be a relaxing Sunday?” he complains. “I’m done for.”
I set down my book and reach for the stack of towels Connie left out for us. I toss one to Reid, then hand another to Hunter, who’s the next to escape.
“Thanks, Belle,” he says, wrapping it around his neck before perching on Maddie’s lounger. His hand rests on her thigh, and as he softly strokes her skin, his hand deftly moves higher. “I’m not disturbing you, am I, little bird?”
“Always,” Maddie says, setting down her book and sitting up so she can rest against him. She threads her fingers through his before his wandering hand can move beyond the point of public decency.
I sit cross-legged, sipping my cocktail as I continue to watch Ash and Mace firing water blasters at each other.
They’re in a battle to see who can win Piper’s favor.
Ash is on the ground, and when Mace fires a jet of water at him, Piper steps in front.
It hits her square in the chest, and there’s panic in both men’s eyes as they wait for her reaction.
Piper takes a moment to recover from the shock, but as soon as she shrieks with laughter, Ash jumps up and sets her on his shoulders. She’s saved him in more ways than one.
Mace drops his water blaster and holds up his hands as he walks away. When I throw him a towel, he wipes his face then drops it onto the patio so he can pick up Lily.
“Get off! You’re freezing!”
Ignoring her protests, Mace pulls her onto his knee as he takes her place on her lounger. “I thought you liked me getting you wet, Slayer.”
“Child present,” Hunter reminds him as Ash reaches us with Piper.
“I didn’t say anything!” Mace argues, his face a picture of innocence.
“Why does everyone pick on you, Uncle Mace?” Piper asks, as Ash sets her down so I can wrap her in a towel.
“Because he’s a–”
Mace interrupts Hunter before he can finish. “Child present,” he mocks.
“That’s why,” says Ash as he dries himself off.
His face glows with something that has nothing to do with the last of the summer’s heat, and everything to do with the little girl he’s smiling at. It’s the most relaxed and content I’ve seen him since coming back to me with a sleeping Piper in his arms.
It had been almost dawn, and I’d lain with Piper in my arms and Ash against my back, waiting for a new day and our new life to begin.
Ash had been worried about Piper waking up with him in our bed, but she hadn’t questioned it.
More than that, she’s been seeking him out whenever the house gets a little too chaotic and she needs comfort.
And there’s no doubt that it has been chaotic and stressful at times as we deal with the fallout from that night. That stress seeps back into Ash’s expression as his phone lights up silently on the table next to me.
“It’s been ringing on and off. The usual suspects,” I say. I want to tell him it can wait another day, but I know there are a lot of people working hard to make life easier for me and Piper.
Ash throws his towel over his shoulder as he circles behind me, but instead of reaching for his cell, his hand slides around my neck, tipping my head back so he can kiss me. After the book I’ve just been reading, I’m ready to deepen the kiss, but I feel Ash’s lips curve into a smile.
When he pulls away, I notice the small hand tangled in his hair. Piper is there in our faces, watching us intently. “Do you love my mommy very much?” she asks.
He kisses the top of our daughter’s head. “Almost as much as I love you,” he whispers.
It’s the first time he’s said it to her, while she’s awake at least. We haven’t wanted to rush her, given the trauma she suffered at the hands of the last man who claimed to be a father-figure.
Piper’s been transplanted from a cold and loveless home, to one where she has the open adoration of Ash, his three brothers, and their partners. There’s also the extended family. Connie dotes on her, as do Jake, Simon and Levi, who are permanent fixtures in our new home.
The sudden change has been a lot for a five-year-old to deal with, and we’re taking it slowly for now.
I’ve explained to Piper that I knew Ash a long time ago, before she was born, and that I fell in love with him, but we got separated.
The rest of our story will slot into place eventually, but from the beaming smile she gives Ash, our daughter is taking it all in her stride.
As Ash straightens up, there are sniffles all around us. Mostly the girls, but I think all of us have tears in our eyes. Damn, I love this family.
Reluctantly, Ash picks up his phone. “Piper, am I allowed to go work in my study? I promise I’ll only be half an hour.”
She gives him a hard stare and taps the invisible watch on her wrist. “I’ll be timing you, Ash.”
“I should help,” I say, but as soon as I go to move, he presses a hand to my shoulder to keep me in place.
“I’m only making sure all our ducks are lined up. And we’ll both be busy enough next week. Relax a while longer,” he insists. “Dream up more plans for relaunching the Simmons label. I won’t be long.”
I don’t argue because there’s nothing I can say that will change his mind.
I know, because I’ve been trying. Killing Barrett might have seemed like a quick solution, but his death is going to have a lasting effect on our lives.
Ash has been shielding me from most of it.
He argued I needed time to recover from my injuries, and to help Piper recover from her ordeal, but sooner or later, he’s going to have to accept that we’re a partnership now.
After pulling a t-shirt over Piper’s head, she wanders over to Mace and Lily, who get her involved in some game they’re playing on his phone. I’m halfway through my drink and my book when she slips past me and goes to pester Quinn.
“Can you feel it?” she asks, staring at Quinn as she guides Reid’s hand to where their baby’s kicking.
“He… or she,” she adds, because it’s still a secret she’s only shared with a select few, “is being a little energetic today. They keep kicking their daddy’s hand away.”
“Do you want to feel it?” asks Reid as his wide hand splays across Quinn’s abdomen.
Piper’s face is a picture as she looks between them. “Ew, no thank you. Isn’t it gross having it inside your tummy?”
Quinn laughs. “It takes some getting used to, but thankfully, babies start off so tiny that you don’t notice at first.”
I hide behind my book. I can see where this is going, and Piper doesn’t let me down.
“How did it get in there?”
There’s silence, and then, “Belle, do you want to answer that one?”
“No, you carry on,” I tell Quinn, holding back the snigger.
“When two people love each other,” Reid tries, opening with the classic. “They… They…”
“Reid put the baby inside me,” Quinn says with an exasperated sigh. “It’s a bit more complicated than that, even for your smart brain, but that’s it in a nutshell.”
Piper’s eyes narrow, but she seems satisfied with the answer as she climbs onto my sun lounger and starts playing with my hair. I close my eyes, thinking we’re settling in for an afternoon nap when…
“Mommy?” she whispers.
“Yes, honey?”
“Did my daddy in heaven put me in your tummy?”
Oh, fuck.
I don’t want to explain yet, not without Ash here, but neither will I lie to Piper.
“Daddy Ethan loved you very much,” I say, keeping my voice low, although I’m pretty sure everyone’s listening. “But you were already in my tummy when I met him. We can talk about it later.”
“OK,” she says, still playing with my hair. “Can I go help Connie in the kitchen?”
“Only if she says you’re not being a nuisance.”
As Piper saunters off, I blow out a breath. I dodged a bullet there.
Ash
I scan the scribbled list on my notepad before looking back at the video link. “We have the numbers?”
“We do,” Rory says. “Belle can call the shareholders’ meeting tomorrow, and by the end of the week, you and I will be running amok on the board of Emerson Holdings.”