One month later
“Alright, princess, what’s in there?”
Karin grinned at me. “Take a guess.”
I narrowed my eyes at the door in front of us. Karin had taken us to a restaurant in downtown Manhattan, but for some reason, she had stopped outside the private dining room she’d booked instead of going in.
“I’m not taking another step until you tell me.”
Karin returned the arch look I gave her. “Well, I’m not gonna, so you’ll have to find out for yourself.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Knowing you, it could be a troupe of dancing pygmy hippos in tutus.”
“In a restaurant?”
“Like I said, knowing you.”
Karin giggled, her eyes curving in the way I loved. I returned her smile.
The past month had gone by like a dream, one I never dared hope for, much less thought possible. It seemed to me that I had spent my life loving Karin. To have her feel the same for me was the most humbling experience, and some days I was terrified that I’d wake up and discover that it was a dream.
“Am I going to like this surprise?”
“Not at first,” she conceded.
That got my attention. “If this involves another interpretive dance exhibition, you’re going to pay, starting with getting on your knees.”
“It’s not interpretive dance, and getting on my knees is not a punishment.”
“Oh, it will be, I assure you.”
Karin suddenly threw her arms around my neck and pulled me down for a deep kiss—just another perk of this dream.
I had the most idiotic grin when we parted. “If anyone wakes me up now, I’ll fucking gut him.”
“Do that after you go in.” She poked me in my side, careful to avoid my wound even though it had long healed. “Your surprise won’t stay in there for long.”
“Hold the fuck up, I’m going in alone? And my surprise is alive?”
“Hurry!” Karin made a shooing motion.
“Don’t make me regret this,” I warned.
She saluted me, then pointed at the door.
I gave her another narrowed look before pushing it open.
“Oh, hell no.”
In the room was a large round table, and around that table sat four of the last people in the world I wanted to see.
I turned on my heel, but the door shut in my face with a decisive click.
“You’re going to pay for this,” I called.
Karin snorted from the other side of the door. “I know right? Who woulda thought a private room would cost this much?”
“Take a seat,” Ryland muttered. “None of us want to be here any more than you do.”
“I honestly doubt that.” I stared back at Ryland, Gabriel, Cam and Allie, who were each regarding me with varying levels of hostility. “You look like a reluctant, bastardized version of the Knights of the Round Table. That’s not a compliment.”
“Then you must be Lancelot, AKA the traitor.” Gabriel folded his arms and rocked back on the hind legs of his chair. “That’s not a compliment either.”
I took a seat across them. There was plenty of time for retorts; I was evidently going to be here for a while.
“What’s this about? And don’t give me the bloody “I” word; I’ve gone through enough of those to last a lifetime. All credit goes to my ex-secretary.”
“Mrs. Smith, isn’t it?” Cam shook his head. “She doesn’t know how bad you got, does she?”
“No,” I said in a deceptively pleasant voice, “and it will stay that way.”
Cam bristled at my silent threat. “I agree, so watch the way you’re looking at me. And yeah, this is an intervention.”
“Sure you gave Estelle up after ten years,” Gabriel said snarkily, “but you’re still swimming in so much shit I can smell it from here.”
I returned with a smile I knew he absolutely loathed. “Classy as ever, Easton, but with the number of diseases you’ve caught—”
“Theo, shut it. And Gabe, let it go.”
“Don’t Elsa me, Wyatt, I’m telling this asshole exactly—”
“Give me your best, I can go all day.”
“For fuck’s sake, let’s all just shut the hell up for one second—”
“I should have punched your face in when I had the chance—”
Allie cracked her palm on the table. “Gabriel, sit your ass down!” she snapped. “And Theo, stop taunting him. I don’t want to be the one to tell Karin this meeting she planned was a failure. Any takers?” She looked around at each of us. “No? Good, then let’s have a civil conversation.”
I folded my arms and got comfortable. “By all means, intervene away. Can’t wait to hear the sob stories you’ve prepared.”
“No sob stories today, Valentine, we’re just here to talk.” Ryland looked like the past two minutes had drained half his lifespan. “Look, this decade has been one hell of a ride for us. We fucked up and hurt an innocent man and his two daughters. We paid for that in our own ways, but I don’t know if it will ever be enough, and that will always be on us.” He clasped his hands on the table. “But now that part of our lives is over. It’s done. Allie and I for one are ready to move on.”
“No kidding,” Allie muttered.
“I propose we set the record straight once and for all. Everything off our chests, and then we’re done. Who’s gonna start?”
Four pairs of eyes watched me warily. No doubt the idea of talking about feelings appealed to everyone like pulling their own teeth out.
Gabriel broke the silence. “I’ll go first.”
“Of course you would,” I muttered.
He stared me down from across the room. “You,” he said clearly, “are a piece of shit. From the first day we met, you’ve been a selfish, neurotic psycho, and it’s only gotten worse. I don’t know how you managed to be an even bigger asshole than you were back then, but congratulations, you did it. You’d be dead if not for Karin.”
“I agree,” I said, taking them aback with my admission. “Anything else you’d like to add?”
“Oh, fuckloads.” He scowled when Ryland shot him a warning look. “But I’ll save it for next time.”
An awkward silence ensued.
“Well thank you, that was heartfelt, and I could feel the hateful passion in your words.” I turned to Cam. “Your turn.”
“Giving Estelle up doesn’t change the fact that we got a man killed, nor that you betrayed us. We trusted you and you turned your backs on us.”
“I did, and I take full responsibility for it.”
“That’s what I wanted to talk about.” Cam shifted uncomfortably. “I know why you did it, and I’m not sure I would have done differently if I’d been in your shoes.”
I stilled. Was that a glimmer of understanding? It stunned me how much I wanted their forgiveness as well, and not just Karin’s.
“I take responsibility for my part in this, Valentine. It isn’t entirely on you.”
“Same goes for me.” Ryland’s mouth curved sardonically. “Though you could have made things a lot less complicated.”
My jaw tensed. “I agree to that as well. And for that, I… apologize.”
“For betraying us ten years ago, or for betraying us two months ago?”
Jesus, but Gabriel was relentless. “For both.”
“Whatever, you’re still a fucked-up asshole.”
“As opposed to yours?” I asked idly. “How much is it going for these days?”
“Nothing you can afford, junkie.”
“Update your sources, Easton, I’m not doing any of that shit now.”
“I don’t buy it.”
“I do.” Ryland watched me closely. Of the three men, he was the only one who understood the effect Karin had on me, simply because he felt the same with Allie.
The woman waiting for me outside the door, the only person in the world who ever had faith in me—she was reason enough for me to be better.
“Allie cat? Anything you wanna say?”
Allie didn’t take her eyes off me. “Yeah, but I’ll speak to him privately.”
Ryland nodded easily, and I knew I was getting no help from him against his future wife. “Now that you’ve gotten a decade of resentment off your chests, I’m going to declare this intervention over.”
All of us visibly cringed at that, including Ryland himself. This was too much like a Dr Phil episode.
“Our forgiveness won’t come that easy, by the way,” Gabriel muttered. “You gotta earn it, and we’re expecting interest.”
“I was considering buying your firm. The three of us are starting a new company, in case you haven’t heard. We need our asses covered, you know the law and how to work it like putty.” Cam smiled pleasantly. “Basically, you work for us.”
I gave him that smile right back. “Kiss my arse, Lancaster.”
“We'll be partners,” Ryland amended.
“I’ll think about it.”
“We’ll also appreciate if your assistance is pro-bono.”
“I’m a changed man, Ryland, not a fucking prat. I’ll have a quote sent round to you.”
“Dammit.”
“And thus concludes our…” I checked my watch, “...eight-minute discussion. I’ll be billing you for that as well, which, by the way, will be charged as per my weekend rate.”
There was another collective round of cursing around the table, but aside that, each of the guys looked relieved, as if a noose had just been taken off their necks.
“Dealing with you takes years off my life, man.” Cam got up first, adjusting his jacket over his massive torso as he went to the door. He paused as he passed me. “It’s good seeing you again, Valentine.”
“Let’s keep it to a minimum, yeah?” Gabriel headed out after him.
“I’ll wait for you outside,” Ryland told Allie. They shared a look, and he brushed his knuckles over her cheek before he left as if he couldn’t go too long without touching her.
I felt a strange understanding with him in that moment. It was the exact way for me when it came to Karin.
I watched Allie closely as the room cleared out. She sat across me, her eyes unblinking and watchful. While Karin’s were dreamy and luminous, Allie’s were hard, the color of flint.
“I don’t know what my sister sees in you,” she said quietly.
“I don’t either.” I exhaled through my nose. “But she’s chosen me all the same. I won’t let anyone stand in my way of having her, not even you.”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve threatening me when Ryland’s around.”
“Just a friendly warning. I’m sure you can fend for yourself just fine without Wyatt.”
“I know.”
I realized then that Allie’s hardened expression belonged to someone who’d had to fight for everything she had. She had kept Karin safe the past ten years, and that was something I’d always owe to her.
“Thank you,” I said stiffly. “For entrusting Karin to me.”
“I didn’t entrust her to you, but when she wants her way no one can stop her.” Allie tapped her fingers restlessly on the tabletop. “You swear to make her happy?”
“I do.”
“Well, you’d better, ‘cause I’ll kill you if you hurt her. Ryland, Gabriel and Cam will kill you too, but I doubt there’ll be anything left once I’m through with you.”
“I’ll hold you to it.” I couldn’t hold back a wry smile. “Karin said you were protective. I didn’t expect a pitbull.”
“Karin underestimates a lot of things,” Allie retorted. “You, most of all. But for some reason I’ll never understand, she’s also happy, which is the only reason why you’re alive right now.” She got up and strode past me, apparently done with the conversation. “Keep making her happy, you hear me?”
“Loud and clear.”
The door slammed behind me as the last of my interrogators left. I massaged my forehead wearily and waited for my girlfriend to come in.
The door creaked open moments later. “That bad?”
“You sneaky little thing.”
Karin slinked into the room, coming over to me. “I just wanted the best for you.”
“You want to drive me fully insane, more like.”
She grinned unrepentantly as she slid herself into my lap and laced her arms around my neck. “How did it go?”
“As can be expected. We cursed and insulted each other’s genitals. Your sister probably wants to cut mine off.”
“Oh crap, did I make things worse?”
“I think it quite solved some of the underlying issues we had with each other,” I admitted. “The jury’s still out on your sister, however.”
Karin patted my arm reassuringly. “You’ll change her mind.”
“So sure of me, princess?” I shifted her in my arms, pulling her closer. “I might disappoint you.”
“You won’t. Just do your best for me.”
It wasn’t going to be easy winning Alecia Beckett over, but Karin was worth every bit of the coming battle. “How did you know?”
“That that’s what you needed?” Karin shrugged cheerfully. “I know you care about them, even if you’ll never admit it.” Her smile turned smug. “I told you I could help with your problems. Tell me everything you guys said?”
My heart clenched in my chest. Karin knew me so damned well it was uncanny—and humbling. “Later. First, there’s the matter of the punishment I promised you.”
“Punishment? But I helped solve things with them!”
“Especially because you did. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing more of them again, and sooner than I’d like. That’s a bloody nightmare.”
“Hmm, I guess that does deserve a punishment. Can I choose what?”
“I already have one in mind.” My lips curved. “How long do you have this room for?”
“About another half hour?” Karin bit her lip, a light flush tinting her skin. “But we’re in public…”
“We’re in a private restaurant, princess, and I fully intend to eat.” I set her on the table, my hands already roaming over her body. “Now lie back and take it like a good girl.”
Karin gazed at me through her lashes, her cheeks going pink the way I adored. “Yes, sir.”
***
Six months later
The worn stones of the watchtower were rough under my fingertips. It was summer now, and the forest was at its thickest, creeping into the tower with green tendrils and young shoots. This place was old, but it was bursting with life.
I drew in a deep breath, breathing in the scent of grass and sunshine that I had last smelled over ten years ago.
“I never thought we'd be back here.” I threw my arms out and stretched, taking in the area that was barely the size of a small room yet held so many memories for me. “I thought it was bigger.”
Theo leaned against the stone wall, taking me in with a lazy smile. “You were tiny back then. Naturally everything seemed large to you.”
“I wasn't that tiny.”
Theo’s smile widened at my protest. “Keep telling yourself that. What's that thing you said you needed to do?”
“Ah, right.” I fished around in my pocket for the reason I'd dragged us all the way across the country, back to San Juan. “You remember this?”
Theo was surprised when he saw the small pebble between my fingers. “The one you picked up on my first night here. You kept it all these years?”
“Yep. You weren't the only one hoarding memories. You may have my paintings but I have our special rock.” I brandished it in satisfaction. “This is what brought us back here together.”
“Or a plane,” Theo said dryly.
“Oy, you're spoiling it.” I carefully placed the pebble back on the spot where I’d taken it years ago. “I told you this place was magic, but you always laughed at me.” I frowned. “I think I even told you about fairies once. That one was embarrassing.”
“You still believe in them,” he pointed out.
“I just like to think they exist, that's all.” I went to him and settled back against his chest, watching the sun dip towards the horizon beyond the sea outside. “Time goes by so fast, huh? Sometimes it feels like yesterday that we met, but it’s been ten years.”
Theo brought his arms around me, holding me close. His fingers sifted in the locks of hair curling at my shoulder, something he always did when he was relaxed and content. “Close to eleven years, actually.”
“See what I mean?” I exhaled, feeling strangely wistful. “Everything just seems to speed by.”
Estelle’s trial was underway, for one, and it was going as smoothly as we could hope. I never thought that I’d be grateful for Theo’s less than legal ways, but I found that I was glad for it as long as it protected instead of harmed.
As for the fact that Theo was threading the line that separated the law from the criminal, I had begun to accept that I would never be able to completely tame him. He would always have a streak of bad in him—and I loved him all the more for it.
And as for Allie’s and Ryland’s wedding…
Well. It never happened.
Allie, being ever-pragmatic, had decided that a wedding was too much trouble. The both of them simply eloped and got married in Paris, dashing my dreams of being a bridesmaid.
But my sister was blissfully happy, and that was all I could wish for.
Still…
“I wish Allie had a wedding,” I sighed wistfully.
“Do you, now?”
“Yes! I even had a dress picked out and everything.” I exhaled again. “It’s so disappointing.”
“What do you say to a wedding of your own?” Theo asked lightly.
I went still. “You mean…?”
He raised a brow at my questioning look. “You're not the only one who came here with a rock.”
I stared as Theo withdrew a small velvet box from his jacket. He opened it to reveal a simple rose-cut pink diamond ring nestled in the black velvet.
Holy. Heck.
Theo rested his chin on my head. “I've racked my head for weeks about what to say, but I'm not good with things like this,” he admitted. “I doubt the words even exist to describe what I feel about you. I thought I’d prove it to you instead, if you’d let me.”
My mouth opened and shut soundlessly.
“Do me the honor of being mine, and you'll make me the happiest man in the world. And also because...” Theo trailed off, smiling self-deprecatingly. “I don't know how else to put this, Karin, but quite simply, I need you.”
I gazed up at the man who was watching me with a mix of hope and uncertainty. The past months hadn’t been a bed of roses, but that was life, and there was no one else I wanted to do it with.
And all I needed to know was that Theo loved me more than life itself. He would always put me first, and that was enough for me.
Theo tensed at my prolonged silence. “Too soon? We could wait—”
“No, no. Sorry, I was lost in my own thoughts.” I nodded firmly. “It's a yes.”
“Bloody hell, Karin, you scared me for a second there.”
“Yeah, I gotta work on my timing.” I grinned and waggled my fingers at the ring. “Come to mama.”
Theo took the ring from the box and slipped it onto my finger. The cool metal warmed immediately from my skin, settling there as if it had been made just for this moment.
“You like it?”
“I love it.” I held my hand up, admiring the way the ring caught the light from the setting sun. It fit me perfectly. “You're doing great, you know.”
“It'll get better. You have my word.”
“I'll hold you to it.” I sighed happily, looking around the room that Theo had once called a bloody pile of rocks. “I'm gonna miss this place. It holds so many memories for us.”
Theo frowned down at me, looking like it pained him to not be in a bed with me. “Any chance of an elopement too? I want to make you mine right away.”
“No freaking way! Between Allie and me, at least one of us has got to have a wedding. I want a big one, with lots of flowers and lots of people.”
Theo looked disgruntled. “I detest flowers. I detest people even more.”
“You'll just have to deal with it, I can't have a wedding with no one,” I pointed out. “I want a huge banquet, and half of it will be dessert.”
“I'm sure we'll work something out. Any other demands from the bride?”
“Just one more, the most important one. I want the groom to be very, extremely happy.”
“Already done.” Theo smiled into my hair, his arms going tight around me. “I do adore you, you know,” he murmured.
I pulled back to grin at my future husband. “All this time?”
Theo laughed softly, his amber eyes relaxing with warmth and love.
“Always.”
THE END