Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five Kade

It’s finally the day.

It feels childish, the excitement I have for this day to finally come together after so many months of planning and hiding things from Scar. It’s a pure rush of joy and a type of thrill I’ve never experienced before.

I’m not the only one either.

The stress of not finding anything at the first three locations is starting to wear on all of us. Especially Scar. She’s thrown herself into everything she can, reopening Steel Roses, finalizing plans for the new club, Poison, plotting next moves with Rachel, looking into the list Charles and Noah have created. She barely even sleeps anymore.

No one can survive being that on all the fucking time. We are past due for a fucking break and for something good.

Scar has known we’ve been hiding things from her. We all may have infallible poker faces, but I don’t think anything could hide our anticipation. Not from her. She catches me staring at her and gives me an indulgent smile. Yeah, she definitely knows something is coming.

“Am I finally going to be included in the circle of trust?” she faux whispers. Noah pinches her ass and she yelps in surprise before smacking him.

“Yes, pretty girl. You finally get to find out your surprise,” Declan appeases her. “But first, we have somewhere we need to be.”

She gives us all a suspicious look before asking, “Does this have to do with the surprise?”

Yes. How much are we telling her?

Now that I think about it, how are we taking her there?

Luca and Declan have a silent conversation before Luca nods and takes the lead. “Yes,” he answers. “We’ll drive and then put a blindfold on you.” Okay, that answers that.

She thinks about arguing but decides against it, just nodding with a shrug. “Do I need to change?” She’s wearing ripped up black jeans and a loose crop top. Should be fine. We’re all dressed casually as well.

“You’re looking perfect, Ladybug.”

She gestures to the door. “All right, lead the way.”

Her easy compliance is amusing. She’s been acting like she’s happy to be left out of the loop, but I know she’s been dying to find out what we’ve been up to. She has more willpower than I expected. It’s hard to believe she hasn’t asked even once.

I grab the keys off the hook by the door and lead the way to the car. A different type of tension fills the car as we drive down a few streets. Not being too far was one of our requirements, but we did want it to be a bit further into the hills. More isolated. Not off a street that anyone could drive down.

Scar taps her fingers against the window as she watches all of us, showing her curiosity openly now. As we start to get close, Noah says, “Alright, baby girl. Blindfold time.” I glance at the rearview mirror and see the mischievous smile she gives him as he holds the long piece of black fabric in front of her.

“Oh, I like where this is going,” she teases.

She yelps as Noah scolds, “Behave.” He must have pinched her. It’s the only time she ever makes that sound.

“Not my forte,” she grumbles, but when I look back her eyes are covered with the fabric. Nerves build in my stomach and my fingers dance over the wheel. Luca catches it and gives me a look, silently asking if I’m good. I shrug, and I can see he understands. We know Scar better than anyone, and we all agreed she would love this. We thought about her every step of the way. Every decision made with our new motto, ‘What would Scar do?’ Might as well get WWSD tattooed across our foreheads at this point. She should love this. But… it’s a lot. Even I can admit it’s a lot.

What if it’s too much?

I pull out onto the private street and begin the climb up. Guess it’s too late now. No going back. I swallow thickly, catching the same nerves in Luca’s eyes. It unsettles me more. Ah fuck. I’ve never been this nervous before.

Large hands land on my shoulder and squeeze. Declan’s calm eyes shine back at me in the mirror. They help steady me and remind me how excited we’ve all been for this day. All the work that led up to it. Everything is going to work out. She’s going to love it.

The gate swings open as soon as it comes into sight. I wave to Adam in the guard booth, but don’t stop. Scar would definitely recognize his voice and he already knows he’s welcome to come up to the party after securing the gate behind us. We have enough security without the guards posted at the front, but if we’re no longer hiding, if Roe is going to be known as ours, we aren’t taking any risks. This place will be locked down tighter than any fortress.

Parking at the center of the circle driveway on the farside of the fountain gives the best view of the entire house for Scar to get her first look. House doesn’t feel like quite the right word. Coming from nothing, the extravagance almost makes me uncomfortable. But this is what Scar deserves.

Alright, let’s do it.

Taking a deep breath, I turn the car off and throw my door open. Noah and Ryder help Scar out of the car, keeping her blindfold in place. They situate her next to the car, just off to the side of the fountain so she can take it all in. We surround her and I can’t take my eyes off her face if my life depended on it.

We all hesitate, holding our breath but when Luca nods, Ryder takes the blindfold off. My chest aches and my stomach is filled with bees in anticipation. Her eyes widen as they scan over the large property.

The house is surrounded by lush, green trees, making it feel even more private than it already is. From every window in the house, all you can see is greenery and city lights in the background at night. Far enough to feel like a secluded getaway while being close enough to keep our commutes easy, no matter what businesses we have on the agenda for the day.

The rich greens seem all the more vibrant against the modern design of the massive mansion. We wanted to tone down the excessive opulence and mimic some of the elements of Luca’s house. It’s black with white trim but the accents of over-grouted stone and sawn wood siding on the garages keeps the structure from being too overwhelming or dark. The contrast reminds me of Scar herself. Intimidating, dark, but still warm. The perfect place to call home.

The stone driveway is empty except for us, just as we instructed everyone. The driveway curves around the farside of the house and leads to an underground parking garage.

“Surprise,” Ryder whispers, breaking the silence.

Scar turns wide eyes to us, her mouth parting open in shock. I wait for her to say something, anything, my stomach flipping as she closes her mouth only to open it again. Nothing comes out.

Declan clears his throat, and Scar shakes her head slowly before turning and walking away. My nerves intensify, that doesn’t seem good. I’m not the only one doubting this plan based on all the fidgeting among us.

We all trade looks before we follow after her. At least she isn’t climbing back into the car? It has to be a good sign she’s walking to the front door. Right? Fuck, I hope so.

Scar stops at the front door, her fingers tracing over the plaque we have on the stone pillar of the entry.

“Everhart Estate,” she whispers softly.

Noah grips the back of his neck. “Is this a bad time to mention this wasn’t the only surprise we have planned?”

A surprised chuckle spills from her. “You guys are insane,” she says. Relief washes over me like a storm pouring down on drought-ravished lands. More potent than almost anything else I’ve experienced when I see the smile playing on her lips and hear the affection in her voice.

“More than you know,” jokes Ryder, and fuck if he isn’t right.

“Is this real?” she asks.

I brush a piece of her hair behind her ear. “Of course it is, Ladybug. You deserve the best home. A place to let our family grow even more.”

Luca adds, “It really is the best, Letty. We’ve planned for everything, had renovations done to suit all of our needs. Added even more security features than the house has now.” He continues to explain to her as we stand on the porch, her fingers absently brushing over the name plaque while she listens to the features. The guard house, tunnel access from multiple points in the house, a new security room for us to work in that includes a separate section dedicated for our team meetings, the safe rooms in every bedroom, the hidden tunnels within the house. She laughs, and tears fill her eyes, and pride fills the rest of us as we watch her fall in love with the future she never dreamed of having. A future that looks past her revenge. That looks into the next chapter. There really is more for her on the next page.

“How the hell did you guys pull this off?”

Luca is smug as he shrugs. “Wasn’t my first time.”

She rolls her eyes. “So you used my plans for your house as a reference?”

Ryder wraps his arms around her waist and squeezes her until more laughter spills from her lips. “Obviously, boss lady. We’re all helpless without you. Don’t you know that by now?”

Declan smacks him upside the head. “We did expand on your plans,” he defends.

“You guys did amazing,” she soothes him. “I can’t believe you named it Everhart.”

Ryder kisses her cheek. “It’s our home, of course we had to name it after our family.”

Her brows draw up as silence balloons over our group once more. Noah clears his throat. “About that other surprise I mentioned.” At his cue, we all pull out our new IDs and hand them over to Scar. Confusion mars her features for only a moment before she throws her head back and cackles. She’s not getting it quite yet.

“You guys created new identities?”

“Wrong,” Ry taunts her and I can’t help but smirk. For some reason, this part doesn’t make me as anxious. The house had me worried, but she will love this. We did it the right way. The way she would have preferred if we did give her a choice.

“You legally changed your names? All to Everhart?” She sounds mystified.

“Getting hotter,” I tease.

She’s not going to get it on her own. I nod, and Noah grabs the papers to hand to her. Before he gets the chance to, Ryder sweeps Scar off her feet and cradles her in his arms bridal style.

“Welcome home, wife,” he declares as he pushes through the front door and carries her through the threshold.

I scoff. Should have expected him to go rogue. He’s been on cloud nine since we drew names out of a hat. Bastard saved up all his luck to be the one that got to be legally married to her.

Cheers of congratulations drown out anything she might have said in response, but we’re all quick to follow them into the house where everyone is waiting. Confetti rains over us but Scar’s brilliant smile as she laughs shines brighter than any of the glitter in the air.

She understands. She knows what we did. At least part of it.

It takes a few moments for everyone to calm down after Ryder steals a very thorough kiss in front of them all. But he finally releases her, putting her feet back down on the floor. Noah hands her a piece of paper to confirm what she already knows.

She snorts as she looks at the marriage license with her forged signature on the bottom. I wink at her. “It was an honor to be you for a day.”

“Oh, did you also put on a big, white dress and walk down an aisle?” She arches a brow. “Because I don’t recall doing that.”

“I mean,” Declan drawls, pulling her into his arms, “there’s still time to arrange that.”

“No,” she shouts, making everyone in the room laugh. D steals his kiss and all the nerves and anxiety were worth it. The months of work we put into this house and marriage. For that smile, the light shining in her eyes. Yeah, I would have done all this a hundred times over to see her like this.

Luca pulls her to him next, and I can’t even be mad. There’s a reason they say save the best for last. She smacks his chest after he whispers something in her ear I don’t quite catch. But she’s happy, and that’s all that matters.

Noah spins her in his arms before dipping her and kissing her. Everyone cheers, including me. The kids giggle and no moment has ever filled me with more peace and happiness. This really is our new home. Our new future.

When he pushes her into my arms, I don’t hesitate to pull her in for my own kiss. One so consuming, so enthralling, it erases every trace of every other kiss I’ve ever had until all that’s left is her. Years of filling the hole she left in my life vanish under the truth and hope and depth of the feelings shared between the two of us.

She’s breathless and grinning when I finally pull back, but I still don’t release her. She feels too good in my arms. Everyone else already had their turn, another reason why I was willing to wait. No one to pass her off to now. I get to keep her.

“Did you also say yes for me?” she teases. “There are a lot of steps of getting married I don’t seem to remember.”

I run my fingers down her arm, from her shoulder to her forearm. My fingers trace the ink permanently marked on her skin. “This was our proposal,” I explain. “It was also your yes.” Her smile dips, but not in anger or disappointment. No, it’s awe and understanding that fills her features. Of course she understands. There was never a doubt she would.

She is ours.

We are hers.

“The rest is just for legal purposes.”

“Is that why you all changed your names? That doesn’t change anything legally. You know that, right?” I don’t know what’s funnier, her concern that we may not have known that, the groans from Luca or Declan, or the amused chuckles from Noah and Ryder. Some of us found our solution a lot funnier than others did.

It’s not even surprising it’s Ry who gives her a cheeky grin. “Did you know when you file for your marriage certificate and change your name, there’s no rules about what name you take?”

Her eyes dart from him to Declan rolling his eyes, to Noah blushing, Luca’s blank expression, and finally landing on my own classic dopey grin.

“No,” she drawls, shaking her head, laughter bubbling up.

“Oh yeah, baby!” I release her and startle Noah when I yank him to me and smack a kiss against his cheek. “Mrs. Everhart, allow me to introduce you to Mr. Everhart,” I start pointing to myself, “and Mr. Everhart,” I finish, patting Noah’s cheek where I kissed him. “And of course, our other lovely couple, Mr. and Mr. Everhart,” I add as an afterthought, pointing to Declan and Luca.

Even the two hardasses crack a smile as Scar doubles over in her laughter, her whole body shaking as the sound fills the room. She’s not the only one either. No one knew Noah and I and Luca and Dec also filed marriage licenses. We couldn’t all marry her, but there are definite perks to being legally married. While in most situations, we don’t care very much for legal avenues, it’s always best to have all of our bases covered.

Ryder has been the smuggest bastard ever since it was decided he would get to marry Scar and the rest of us were marrying each other. Luck has never been on my side.

Joe snorts from behind Scar. “This makes how you saved Noah from that waitress all the funnier.”

“Thank you!” I exclaim. I didn’t get enough appreciation for saving my husband.

“Congratulations, girlie,” he says, kissing Scar’s forehead as she finally calms down, wiping tears from her eyes. “I’m proud of you,” he whispers and her eyes shine with a different type of moisture.