Five years later…
“TIME TO COME inside,” I holler out the back door. “Dinner’s ready.”
When I walk back to the kitchen to start dishing out the kids’ plates, I groan to find Land still swinging despite Toto’s obvious attempts to boss him around. Her blonde hair is in uneven pigtails because I kind of suck at doing little girl hair. They bounce each time she yells at him and points at the house. He sticks his tongue out at her but refuses to get off the swing. Little shit.
I put their plates in the refrigerator to cool off while I go round up my kids. As soon as I step out onto the back porch, Land flies off the swing set Ren put together for us several years back. He regards me with an innocent stare. Problem is, that little boy is just like his momma. The innocent looks don’t work on me. Especially when I know he’s been bad.
“In the house, Toto,” I tell my daughter.
She huffs. “Daddy, you promised you’d start calling me Toni Lynn. Jackie at school says I’m the dog from The Wizard of Oz.”
That little Jackie is a fucking bully, and if I knew where she lived, I’d scare the living daylights out of the mini bitch so she’d leave my Toto alone.
“Okay, sweet girl. Go get the plates out of the refrigerator please,” I instruct.
She hugs me before running inside. When I turn my attention to Land, he manages to produce tears for theatrics. I hate seeing my kids cry, and this kid fucking knows it.
“Come here.”
He runs over to me and hugs my legs. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”
I scoop the tiny thing into my arms and kiss his messy dark hair. “Don’t rile your sister up, okay?”
He nods and rests his head on my shoulder as we go back inside. Once they’ve both washed up and are at the table, Toto takes it upon herself to say grace.
“Dear Jesus. Thank you for this yummy food Daddy made. I love you and Daddy and Mommy and all the squirrels that eat the bird seed out of the feeders. Amen.” She beams sweetly at me.
Land huffs. “What about me?”
“What about you?”
“Daddy,” Land cries out and glares at his sister. “She said she doesn’t love me.”
I groan. “Your sister loves you—”
“No I don’t,” Toto argues.
“Daddy!”
“Toto,” I grumble. “Tell your brother you love him.”
“No,” she says before bursting into tears. “H-He’s mean and he doesn’t listen. I hate him.”
They start yelling at each other, both of them crying now, and I rub my palm across my face. This parenting thing is hard to do alone.
“I miss Mommy,” Land wails.
I manage to calm them both down and urge them to eat a little more. They both end up passing out the moment I put a movie on after dinner. I tuck them both into bed and take my time picking up the house. Tomorrow, they’ll just ransack it again. If I don’t clean every night before bed, it’s fucking atrocious by the end of the week. Once the alarm is set, so I’ll know if they escape the house, I go to my room and grab my lanyard from the top of my closet and slip it over my head. I make a pass through the kitchen, snagging a few things, before I head down to the basement for some me time. Daddies need me time.
The door is triple locked and tricky to unlock with all the shit in my hands, which is why I put the key on a lanyard, but I eventually get it open. It’s quiet, but I’m not alarmed. My footsteps are heavy as I thud down the stairs. When I reach the bottom, my head darts to the left. Always to the left.
God, what a beautiful sight.
“Hey, babe,” Hannah chirps, her eyes never leaving the screen in front of her.
“Who’s winning?” I ask as I set down her plate of leftovers on the table just outside her door.
“Daddy,” she groans.
I smirk to see War wearing the same intense expression as her on the screen. Those two spend countless hours playing chess online together. I’m pretty sure he kicks her ass every time, but it doesn’t stop her from trying to win.
“Where are the kids?”
“Asleep. They were both tired as fuck. If I would have brought them down, they’d have begged to spend the night with you and that would have just led to more temper tantrums,” I grunt.
I grab on to one of the bars outside her cell and stare in at her. Five years ago, I discovered a way to keep my wife without having her be a danger to herself or others. I didn’t have to kill her. And while we were in Buenaventura, Ren did me a solid and finished out this basement for me so I could keep her safe. And everyone else safe from her.
My gaze skims over her makeshift prison. There’s plenty of space for my girl to roam. She has a comfortable bed that we can both sleep in easily, a bathroom complete with a tub, and a table. Her space is painted in bright colors and the kids’ drawings decorate the walls. It looks like any other room in our home—except this room has bars and a locked door. My little inmate has been sentenced for life. And, thank fuck, she’s happy.
Getting her inside it proved to be tricky, though, but once she realized I had no intention of killing her, she settled into her new home easily. It gives her peace of mind, knowing she can still have her family but that when the dark thoughts consume her, she can’t hurt them.
At one time, I didn’t have an answer when it came to Hannah. I thought I would have to kill her. Hell, that’s the reason I brought her to Colombia with me. Despite my conversations with Ren about making her a cell, I’d had my doubts it could work. After she and I had eliminated Esteban, I had my hand around her throat. I almost murdered my wife in the pouring rain. It would have been easy to dump her beside Esteban’s body. But goddamn was she beautiful. Mine. I was too fucking selfish to let her go. Ren and I would have to make it work. We did make it work.
“Checkmate,” War says smugly.
I laugh and Hannah shoots me the bird. “Goodnight, Daddy. Same time tomorrow?”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
They end the call and she sits up in the bed on her knees. My little hellion is the picture of innocence in her pink T-shirt and jean shorts. But the moment she starts stripping off her shirt, I’m reminded of how not-so-innocent she is.
“You coming in here, babe?” she purrs.
I laugh as I rip off my own T-shirt. “Fuck yeah I am. I’ve been dealing with bad ass kids all day. I need some mommy and daddy alone time.”
She giggles and tugs away her bra, freeing her luscious tits. We both pull off the rest of our clothes pretty much at the same time. Now that my dick is heavy but free, I unlock the door to her cell.
“I’m hungry for you right now,” she says, her voice husky. “Dinner can wait.”
I chuckle as I saunter in and lock the door behind me. “Didn’t I already feed you my cock today while the kids were at school?”
She lies back on the soft bed, her blonde hair spilling on the pillow around her, and bites her lip as she caresses her tits. “You know you have to feed your little animal often.”
I growl as I pounce. Her squeals are music to my ears when my mouth finds her neck. I may be old as fuck but this girl keeps me young and on my toes. Never a dull moment with this one. She wraps her long legs around my waist and urges me closer. My fingers tangle in her pretty hair as she grips my cock to guide me inside her. Once I push into her, we both groan in unison.
This is exactly where I’m supposed to be.
“I love you,” I breathe against her perfect plump lips. “I love you so goddamned much. All of this is for you.” I thrust into her hard enough to make her cry out. “You know this, right? It’s always been for you.”
She nods and kisses me hard. Our bodies are one as I fuck my wife right into an explosive orgasm. I’ll eventually get mine but until then, I plan on pleasuring her with my tongue and fingers.
For most of my life, I screwed shit up and took the wrong paths. It was engrained in me. But with Hannah, I did something right. With my kids, I did something right. Even the bad guys can be good every once in awhile. I try not to make it a habit. Don’t want to get soft, like War.
“Oh, God!” my wife cries out in ecstasy, her body clenching hard around mine.
“That’s it, sweet girl. Give it all to me. It’s mine,” I growl. “You’re mine.”
She unravels with my name on her lips, and it makes me so goddamned happy. This life—our life—is perfect. Undeserving but ours. Nobody will ever take this away from us. Not now. Not ever.
Happy endings aren’t for villains…
But we fucking take them anyway.
This really is THE END, baby.