EPILOGUE
The thing about being a greedy, billionaire bastard was all that money. After a guy died, it had to go somewhere. Now Eric knew where.
Mysteriously, the birthplace of modern democracy was able to turn its failing economy around. Who knew, right? The islands of Greece made for a beautiful second honeymoon, too. Secluded sandy beaches. Ancient, mystical ruins. The most amazing cuisine with tasty cheeses, olives, and wines, not that Shea could have any alcoholic beverages at the moment. Not with the next Reynolds bun in the oven. Make that buns.
The moment they’d hit Northern Virginia, she’d wanted one of those OTC pregnancy tests kits. Eric stopped at the nearest drugstore to oblige. She made her quick purchase, ran into the restroom, and all but glowed when she’d returned and showed him that little pee-stick lit up with the magic word: pregnant.
Talk about the understatement of the year.
Eric smiled at the prominent baby bump between her bikini top and bottoms while she soaked up rays on the beautiful, secluded Zakynthos Island. Apparently humping like bunnies in Ireland was magical. Shea was only three months along and already showing like five. Triplets will do that to a gal.
Call it luck. Call it another paradox of sly Mother Nature. Hell, call it the residual effect of dynamic energy displacement. But yeah, they were expecting three babies this go round. He couldn’t have been happier. After he’d filled out his final report on Operation Find Finn, he’d re-married his pregnant wife and booked a cruise to the Med for their second honeymoon.
Alex was back from Ireland by then. It seemed he’d gone there not so much to bust Carlson’s chops as to hunt down the diabolical hacker who’d brought most of the world, along with a good portion of its power grids, to its knees. He’d found the guy, thanks to Mother’s and Ember’s sharp tracking skills, inside one of Carlson’s many corporate offices, this one in Belfast.
As a result of Carlson’s bombastic ego, his chip was now illegal. His monopoly on communication had been broken, and all was well with the world—at least until the next megalomaniac lifted his or her ugly head.
As to how Hugh Carlson made it to JFK before they did? Eric hadn’t the nerve to tell Shea yet, but she hadn’t truly divested him of all his wealth in her dramatic stand-off with the evil narcissist. He’d hidden assets in so many shell corporations—some in his deceased wife’s name and some in his unborn son’s name—that all he had to do was make a call and the minions who owed him favors came running. Which proved once again that money can buy just about everything—but happiness.
The dynamic energy displacement gizmo? Safe in the hands of McCormack Industries, where it could be carefully studied instead of weaponized. Carlson was right on that point. Phoenix Berglund’s discovery needed substantial funding, and with the country in economic crisis at the end of every fiscal year, well, Jed, another billionaire, was the man for the job. He promised full disclosure. Didn’t every politician?
An inquiry into Carlson’s first wife’s death blew up all the gossip rags for a day or two. Prentiss Carlson’s murder evoked a passionate discourse between Hollywood and Washington D.C. about gun control, but in the end, as usual, there was nothing to be done. The sniper for hire who’d assassinated her wasn’t a U.S. citizen, so the second amendment debate didn’t apply to him. He ended up being one of Carlson’s ex-Berets Verts. France wanted him back. The United States was happy to oblige.
Carlson’s other two ghost files? The Justice Department was knee deep in that little mess.
“Lose the suit,” Eric ordered the National Security Agency’s newest hire in their cyber-crime department.
Shea rolled to her side and lowered her Raybans with one fingertip. “Excuse me? Here? In public?”
He scanned the solitary beach from his chair. “I don’t see any public, but I do want to see your bare ass. Now strip.”
She lifted up from her towel and faced him with her hands on her hips, and her feet spread just enough to complete the perfect triangle. Two long legs that led straight to heaven. “What if someone sees me?”
He pointed to the sand between his bare feet. “No one’s around for miles, and you know it. Drop that string you call a swimsuit and get over here.” He almost said please, but stopped himself just in time. Please gave her a way out. Not this time. Not the way the sun kissed her golden skin, and not with her biting that lower lip like she was. He wanted his wife naked and he wanted her naked now.
Shea cocked her head, coy all of a sudden. Shy. Had to be because of those triplets and the fact that her body was changing in the best ways possible. Sometimes she actually thought she was unattractive. Her? The sexiest woman on the planet? Oh, hell no.
She shrugged the strap off one shoulder. Then the other. Bending forward, she dropped her bikini bottoms, her full breasts on display and—
He needed more room in his swim trunks.
“What now, husband?” she asked as she straightened, her tone deepened. She moistened her bottom lip, then clamped down on it with her top teeth. The way she sometimes clamped down on him.
Eric lifted out of his chair and discarded his trunks. He sat again and patted his thighs, his ankles together. “Come here, baby.”
She tiptoed across the warm sand, her eyes hooded. The sway of her hips and the bounce to her breasts enflamed him all the more. Pregnancy looked good on Shea.
Planting one foot at each side of his chair, she straddled him. He palmed her backside, spreading her until he had her right where she belonged. Tilting forward into his forehead with a soft sigh, her sun-swollen lips begged to be kissed. The tips of those perfect, perky breasts skimmed his pecs. When he palmed her swollen nipples, her body tightened around his.
Fire licked up his body, filling him with the need to rock into her. Her body echoed his natural rhythm. Rocking. Deeper. Closing the deal until…
Squeezing her eyes shut, she clenched his manhood with a grip that made him hiss, and—damn. He slammed home. Coming home. Again and again.
Shea matched him every inch of the way until their bodies melted together under the pleasant Greek sky. It was hard to know where he left off and she began. Aftershocks trembled up her spine, clenching him. Clenching her.
At last spent, and for the moment sated, she settled under his chin. Eric closed his eyes and gathered her into his arms, blessed by the sun and triply blessed by the woman straddling his lap. This was as close as he’d ever get to his unborn babies, but he couldn’t fathom anything better than being inside of her body with them.
Cheyenne’s three brothers or sisters were tucked between two brave souls who’d conquered more demons than most people would face in a lifetime. And they’d done it together. He smoothed one hand up Shea’s sun-warmed back as the wild Aegean Sea lapped at the shore.
She tipped back in his palms, her hands on his collarbones and her eyes bright with mischief. “Skinny dipping?”
He chuckled. “Ah, now you’re brave.”
Before she could answer, Eric pulled her into his mouth, hungry once more. At last, he planted a sealing kiss to her forehead and muttered, “Let’s.”
Lifting his wife to her feet, he took hold of her hand. The wind ruffled her short locks, and Eric knew to his soul that not all runners were cowards. Surely, not Shea. If anything, she’d proven her bravery every step of her two-year journey back to him. It took time, and yes, it was hard, but that was the epitome of courage, wasn’t it? To be strong enough to admit to making the worst kind of mistake, then to face the person she’d hurt most. To be humble enough to beg forgiveness when forgiveness was what she’d most needed to give herself. To leave herself vulnerable to hurt once more. To believe.
Even there under the blue Mediterranean sky, Shea stood at the edge of another scary adventure. Motherhood. Of triplets.
But for now, the sapphire surf beckoned them to come play. Eric lifted her hand to his lips and together they ran like Adam and Eve into the rest of their life. This was after all, the way any fairytale worth the telling ended.
Happily. Ever. After.
The End