63. Epilogue

Epilogue

One month later…

"This is definitely going to work," I say.

Reese looks from the sliding glass doors by the pool back to the ones up on the deck. He shakes his head, putting his hands on his hips.

"I don't know," he says again. "What if it falls?"

I scoff. "You think I'd risk my baby falling? You're fucking crazy."

"Just seems like it would be easier to go in through the patio door and up the stairs."

"It won't fit up the staircase. I measured it."

I turn and walk to the crane that's sitting in the backyard.

"Stay," I tell Franz, who is lying in the shade by the fence. Far enough away he won't be in the way.

"He's going to be mad. You know that right?" Reese calls out just before I step onto the machine.

I grin at him. "They knew not to leave us together. They did it anyway. Not my problem."

Reese laughs. "This is why I love you!"

I climb into the seat and turn the key. The ignition fires up. I mess with the levers, causing the crane to go higher and lift my piano off the ground. Glancing at Reese, I notice his eyes are lit up like a Christmas tree. Any ounce of reservation he had over this are gone. He's as excited as I am.

It worked out perfectly that she was being delivered today, when Justin and Josie decided to trust Reese and I to be alone together. Why? Not a clue. But it was a mistake, that's for sure.

The rest of my things are already here. My guns, knives, oddities. All of it. Justin didn't argue about any of it, and he's asked when the piano was coming because he knew I wouldn't leave it behind. I may have avoided the conversation because I knew he wouldn't approve of how I was getting it into the house.

"Stop gawking and get up there!" I shout to Reese.

He looks at me and nods like a crazy man, then runs inside the house. He pops out from the sunroom and onto the deck a few moments later.

The sliding glass doors are already off, and there's a large portion of the deck railing missing too, so we could fit the piano.

"You remember what to do?" I call loudly enough he can hear me. He throws me a thumbs up.

His job is pretty simple. All he has to do is guide my baby onto the dolly so we can wheel her into the house. If he fucks this up, his body will end up in a cornfield with all his organs missing. Of course I didn't tell him this, but he should know.

As carefully as I can, I lift the piano from the ground. Once it's high enough, I grab the lever that makes the crane turn. I go as slowly as I can, so the piano doesn't swing around and knock into anything. Like the house. The last thing I want to do is scratch or dent it—my piano, not the house.

The thing means the world to me. Yes, Justin is still number one, but she's right there behind him.

Reese gives me a few hand signals letting me know which way to turn and when to stop.

I grin to myself when he gives the signal to start lowering it. That means we're almost done. I've missed her so much, and I can't wait to get my fingers on her keys.

"What in the actual fuck is going on here?"

Fuck.

I pause, bringing my attention to the patio doors. Justin is staring wide-eyed, his jaw on the ground. He slowly walks out, taking in the crane, then the deck and the large open space where there should be glass doors.

"Sevastian!" he shouts, whirling toward me. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Josie walks over too, looking up until she spots Reese. She shakes her head at him but all he does is make the heart symbol with his hands at her.

"I'm almost done!" I call back to Justin.

"You're almost—You… what the fuck!"

I wave him off, then go back to lowering the piano down. Reese moves the dolly in place beneath her and gives me another stop sign with his hand when she's in place. I check to make sure the harness is loose enough, then shut off the machine and hop out.

"What are you doing?" Justin seethes.

I gesture toward where Reese is. "Uh, moving my piano into the house. What does it look like?"

He makes a weird choking sound, and gestures to the crane. "Do you even have a license to use this thing?"

I look at it, then back at him, frowning. "Do I need one?"

"Where did you get this from?" he barks.

"A friend."

"You don't have any friends," he argues.

"I take offense to that."

"I'm his friend!" Reese calls out, waving his hands around. I grin and look at Justin.

"See. He's my friend."

"Reese did not get you that crane," Josie says adamantly.

I narrow my eyes. "You sure about that?"

Her eyes widen and she looks back at him. Then she looks at Justin. "I knew leaving them alone was a bad idea." She walks away, disappearing into the house.

Justin opens his mouth to argue, but I lean in and kiss him to shut him up.

"Baby, don't worry," I say cheerily. "She made it up there okay. Everything will be just fine. Once she's safely in the sunroom, I'll put the doors back on, fix the railing, and return the crane." I shrug. Justin just gapes.

His phone rings and he answers it, so I take the opportunity to head inside so Reese and I can get my baby into the house. I'm halfway up the stairs when Justin's booming voice echoes in the house.

"You stole the crane from the bookstore job site?!"

Whoops.

"Borrowed!" I shout but keep going.

"Ezra is going to fucking kill you!" Justin returns. "Then he's going to kill me!"

I move through the hallway and into the sunroom which will now be the piano room. Justin's heavy footsteps follow behind me.

"You know I won't let anyone kill you, baby."

"He found out?" Reese whispers, his gaze shifting from me to Justin. He's obviously more afraid of Ezra than Justin. Probably smart. Though, he should be afraid of me more than either of them, so I'm not concerned.

I nod. "Looks like it."

Reese's eyes widen and he takes a step back. I turn to Justin who looks angrier than I've seen him in a long time. It's adorable because it reminds me of the first time I took him. One of my favorite memories. I go to him and put my hands on his shoulders.

"How about you go downstairs and have a drink. I'll be done soon. You can come with me to return it if you want?"

"I can co—are you fucking crazy?"

I nod. "Yes. We've already talked about this."

"Sevastian, this isn't a joke."

"Of course it isn't." I gesture to the piano. "You know how much I love her. What did you think would happen?"

"That you'd hire professionals!"

I scoff. "And risk them hurting her? No fucking way. Nope."

We hold each other's gaze for a few moments, until he finally relents. He curses under his breath, mutters a bunch of things to himself, then glares at me.

"Everything better go back exactly as it was, especially the crane, or I'm moving out."

I purse my lips, holding his gaze. "Liar."

He gets really close. "Try me," he says through gritted teeth. Then he spins around and stomps downstairs.

"Told ya," Reese says.

I roll my eyes. "Once I suck his dick he'll forget all about it."

Reese nods. "Yeah, I totally get that. Josie does this thing with my balls that makes me forget my own name."

"Huh. I'll have to ask her about that…"

We get to work moving stuff around. Reese helps with everything I need, and soon enough, my baby is safely in the house, exactly where she needs to be. I'd spent hours in this room at different times of the day trying to decide where I should put her, and ultimately decided the wall opposite the door was the best. The way the light shines through the windows in the morning is perfect. I get a perfect view of the moon at night. And when I open the sliding glass doors, the breeze hits in the most perfect way.

Once she's all set, we put the doors back and fix the railing. Honestly, I think it's sturdier than it was before. It takes us a couple of hours, but there's still so much time left in the day. We head downstairs when we're done, and Justin is still glaring. Josie doesn't look mad, but she doesn't look happy either. She shakes her head at Reese again, but when he kisses her, she just laughs. All is forgiven.

Justin will forgive me too. He always does. Besides, he knew what he was getting into when he agreed to be mine.

"Why don't you order pizza while we go return the crane?" I say to Josie.

"Good idea." She reaches for her phone as Reese and I head outside. I go to the crane, and he goes to the car.

See, the thing is, if you just act like you belong, people don't ask questions. Which is how I was able to get the crane in the first place, and it's how I get it back safely. It's Saturday, so I knew the workers wouldn't be on site at the bookstore today to ask questions, and people aren't thinking you're stealing a crane when you drive it on the streets. They just assume you're heading to a job. Thankfully, we don't live far so it doesn't take long.

And I don't get caught.

"How did Ezra find out?" I ask as I get into Reese's car.

"No clue," Reese answers. "But I'm sure you'll hear all about it when we get back to your house." Yep, he's probably right. "How long is he going to be pissed for?"

"He's not even pissed. He's just… shocked probably. Maybe a little impressed." Reese chuckles. "Stop somewhere I can buy him flowers. That should help."

Reese laughs. "Is that how you get away with all the crazy shit you do?"

I shake my head. "Nope. I get away with it because he loves me."

And love makes you do some crazy shit.