Epilogue

Cade

T hree Years Later

"Okay, kid," I growl, watching the little blond warily from across the room. "We can play this one of two ways. You can come with me quietly, or I can chase you down. Either way, you're coming with me."

The boy throws his head back and laughs.

"The hard way it is," I sigh, not surprised.

At sixteen months, Titan James Kincaid, TJ for short, isn't afraid of much.

Tossing my weapons—his clothes and shoes—down on the changing table, I lunge for him.

He squeals and darts forward as fast as his chubby little legs will carry him. Laughter rings out all around us as I chase after him down the hall, scooping him up before he can get too far.

"Daddy!" he yells and wiggles like a little eel in my arms.

I press my face into his soft stomach and blow raspberries, making him scream with laughter and wriggle harder. He grabs my hair, tugging on it. I swear, his mom taught him to do that shit. I melt like a fucking Popsicle every damn time he reaches those fat little fingers out and grabs my hair.

"You're not getting out of it, TJ," I tell him anyway, hefting him over my shoulder and carrying him back into the nursery. "You gotta get dressed."

"No," he whines, his little lip poking out into a pout when I plop him down on the changing table.

That melts me, too, but I don't let him see my weakness. If I do, I'll never be able to get him dressed again. I'm not sure what he has against clothes, but he strips them off at every available opportunity. Doesn't matter where we are. If he's left unsupervised for more than two seconds, he's naked. I'm pretty sure he gets that shit from his mom because she's always running around in tiny little shorts and tank tops that cover nothing.

"Sorry, buddy," I murmur to him, leaning forward to kiss his forehead. Swear to God, he smells like sugar. He definitely gets that from his mom, along with his blond hair and emerald eyes. He's January made over, though I think he's probably going to get his size from me. He's already taller than most of the kids in his daycare. He's also got my dimples, which he flashes at his mom all the time. Which is why I'm the one who has to wrestle him into clothes every day. He flashes those dimples at her, and it's all over with.

"Mama?" he asks, wiggling this way and that as I pull a shirt over his head.

"Let me get you dressed; then you can see, Mommy," I negotiate, trying to fight one arm into the hole, only to have him slide it right back out. It takes a good five minutes to get it on him the right way, finally.

He narrows his little eyes at me and huffs loudly when I finally do.

"You definitely get that shit from your mom," I say with a chuckle. She's always glaring at me and huffing when I piss her off, which I still do a lot because I'm me. What? It's part of my charm. She always forgives me, though. Usually because I give her orgasms until she forgets why she was mad at me. It's working out great for me.

"Shit."

"Fuck. Don't say that, TJ. Your mom will kick my ass. Jesus." I tip my head back and take a deep breath before I teach him every curse word in the book in one sitting. I keep forgetting he's learning how to talk by repeating whatever he hears. January's going to kill me if he starts screaming all these new words across his daycare…which he probably will do because he's my kid, and I can't stop cursing to save my life. I tried. Ended up putting ninety dollars in the damn swear jar in one day. That whole experiment ended pretty quickly after that.

I swear, this kid looks just like his mom and acts just like me. I fucking love it.

When we first found out January was pregnant, I was terrified out of my mind that I'd be a terrible father. It's not exactly like I had any strong male role models in my life growing up, and I spend most of my time around gangbangers and criminals. But the first time I held him in my arms, I knew I'd do anything for him.

Turns out, I'm not as bad at parenting as I thought I'd be. At least, I think I'm doing an okay job at it. He seems to like me most of the time. When I think I'm fucking it up, I just ask myself what January would do. That seems to do the trick most of the time. I've only had to call Tristan and Roman a couple of times for advice. They usually laugh at me, so I hang up on them and figure it out myself.

My friends are assholes.

Life is pretty fucking great.

"Here's the deal, dude," I tell TJ, sliding a pair of pants up his legs and then standing him up to pull them up over his diaper. "If you keep your clothes on today, I'll buy you ice cream."

"Cade," January laughs from behind me. "Are you seriously trying to bribe him?"

"Mama!" TJ shouts and starts bouncing up and down and clapping his hands.

"Fuck, I love when he does that," I say, grinning from ear to ear. "You used to do the same shit when you were excited about something, baby girl. It's cute as hell."

"Hell!" TJ yells, reaching for January. "Shit!"

"Fu-frick my life," I growl, shaking my head. "You're supposed to be on my side, little dude. Stop snitching."

January steps up beside me and swats me on the arm, laughing. As soon as I catch sight of her, my dick turns to steel in my slacks. She's wearing a blue dress that flows around her body as she moves. Her hair is loose around her. She's too damn perfect.

"You're a cop, Cade. You can't tell your son not to snitch," she tells me. "Hi, sweet boy." She holds her arms out for TJ, who practically catapults into them. Naturally, as soon as she wraps them around him, he snuggles in and gets still.

I don't blame him for that shit. Being in her arms is my favorite place, too. Still…where was that stillness five minutes ago when I had to practically hold him down to get a shirt on him? He's definitely my kid. He's all about his mama. I'm all about his mama, too.

She's grown so damn beautiful since having TJ. Most of the time, she's so fucking happy it takes my breath away. She glows all the time like she did when we were little, only it goes deeper than simply happiness now. It's like the inner peace and strength she found pours out of her. You can see it in her eyes and in the way she carries herself. She's so goddamn perfect.

Wrapping an arm around her waist, I tug her closer and press my lips to her forehead.

She sighs happily, resting her head on my arm.

I love moments like this when I've got her and TJ in my arms, and they're both safe and happy. It's the future I always wanted for myself—the one I thought I'd lost a long damn time ago. It's even more perfect than I ever thought it could be.

I'll be thanking God for the rest of my life for giving me another chance to grasp it.

January and I spent a long time in therapy, working out our shit. We still have bad days, but we make it through them together. I hold her when she cries, and she reminds me that I'm not a monster.

Two years ago, she married me. A week later, we found out she was pregnant with TJ.

I wouldn't change a second of the last three years.

"I love you," I whisper, tugging on her hair.

"I love you too." She tilts her head back to peer up at me.

I lean down to kiss her, but TJ decides to cockblock me and kicks me in the chin while trying to escape from his mama's arms. She laughs and kisses him on both cheeks before setting him on the floor.

As soon as she lets him go, he's on his feet, racing toward the door and then down the hall.

"We need baby gates," I mutter, pulling January into my arms.

"We had baby gates," she reminds me. "He climbed over them. He'll be fine in the living room. Luke is out there."

"You spending time with Santiago, baby girl?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at her.

She rolls hers at me. "You do remember he's got his own girl now, right?"

How the hell could I forget? He almost died trying to save his girl. I'm grateful as hell he survived. He's been my partner and one of my closest friends for the last two years. I still don't want him around my wife, though.

What? He's good looking and I'm a jealous bastard. Sue me.

He used to get off on that shit. He thought it was hilarious to hug January just to get me going. Now that he has his own girl, he doesn't think it's as funny. Which means I annoy the hell out of him as often as possible by hugging the shit out of his girl.

Thank God January thinks it's funny. I wouldn't do it if it bothered her.

"Kinley's with him," January says. "Roman and Mila are running late."

"Yeah?"

She nods.

Good. Kinley and Luke will keep TJ occupied for a little while.

"Does that mean I got time to get you off?" I ask, picking her up in my arms and striding across the room to kick the nursery door closed. Once it clicks shut, I put her back against it and grind my dick into her pussy.

"No," she moans even though she wraps her arms around my neck and wiggles on my dick.

I slide my hand up her thigh, shoving her dress up as I go. When I reach her panties, she's already soaked. "I think you need to get off, little monster," I whisper, sliding them to the side. I run one fingertip down her slit, groaning when I feel her sticky juices on my hand. "Don't want you all wet and needy today."

"Cade," she whimpers.

"Kiss me, January."

She gives me what I want, wrapping her hands in my hair and kissing me like we've got all day. As soon as her tongue meets mine, I plunge two fingers into her while working her clit with my thumb. I swallow her cries as she writhes against my hand, using me to get herself off. Little whimpers fall from her lips, but I swallow those, too. My tongue teases hers before I bite her bottom lip and suck it into my mouth.

Within seconds, she's crying out my name and coming all over my hand.

I wring her out, watching as she rides the waves with her head thrown back and her cheeks flushed. Her body is splayed across the door, completely open to me. My dick throbs in my pants, demanding that I let him out and then let him in , but I know we don't have time for that. And that's not what this was about anyway.

My girl is pregnant again and greedy for it. Her hormones are wild. She can't make it through an entire day without begging me to make her come. Not that I'm complaining or anything. Getting her off is the highlight of my fucking life. I live for watching her come apart for me. I feel like a rock star when she's moaning my name like it's the only one she knows.

"I needed that," she says, blinking open her eyes and giving me a lazy, sated smile.

I kiss her lips and then slide my hand out from between us and suck my fingers clean.

"Cade," she moans and wiggles on the door, her eyes going dark with desire.

"Later," I promise, straightening her panties. "We gotta go, or we'll be late."

Octavio Hernandez's girl is graduating from college. Yeah, we're cool now. And January and his girl are tight. We worked together to save his girl right after January was released from the hospital, and the charges against me were dropped. I never blamed him for doing his job in the first place. He's a pretty good dude.

January narrows her eyes at me and then huffs, exactly like her son does. "Fine," she grumbles, pouting. "But I want two orgasms when we get home."

"I'll give you three orgasms and let you suck me off," I say, sliding her down my body until her feet are on the floor. I keep an arm around her waist until I know she's steady, and then I flatten my hand across her belly. "How's my little boy doing in there today?"

"You mean your daughter, and she's doing fine," January says, her tone prim.

"Told you a thousand times, baby girl. You aren't having a girl. She'll look too much like you and I already got enough problems." It's still too early to find out what we're having this time, but part of me hopes it is a little girl who looks like her mama. The other part is fucking terrified to have a girl who takes after January. Watching her grow up was hard enough…and she had me, Titan, and an entire MC to keep anyone from getting their hands on her. If we have a girl, TJ is going to have to start a crew of his own to keep her safe.

"Whatever," January says with a little laugh, not buying my bullshit. "You know you want a little girl to dote on."

"Maybe I can just get her around-the-clock security," I mumble, kissing my girl and then pulling open the door to the nursery. "Then TJ won't have to start a gang, and I can actually sleep at night. We still have my trust fund. We can afford to hire people. I bet Naz could give me some names."

His personal security team is comprised of fucking former assassins and spies.

"Don't you dare," January says as we walk toward the living room. "We aren't hiring security."

TJ's sitting on the floor, banging together two blocks while Kinley and Luke watch him from the couch. Luke has his arm around his girl, cuddling her close to his big body.

"Luke, tell January we need to hire bodyguards," I demand, knowing he'll have my back. He's a guy.

"Bodyguards for what?" Kinley asks with a little laugh.

"Because God hates me, so we're probably having a girl," I say, huffing because that should be obvious by now. "We need to surround her with big guys with guns so no boys fuck with her."

"Puck!" TJ happily agrees.

"TJ, man! Stop snitching," I say, throwing my hands up in the air.

Luke throws his head back and laughs loudly.

Kinley just blinks wide eyes at me and then grins. "So you want to protect your daughter from guys by hiring guys?" she asks, that grin widening.

"Dammit," I curse, shoving my hair back from my forehead. I didn't think of it that way.

"'Ammit," TJ whispers, which makes Luke laugh again.

January smacks me in the chest. "Stop cursing in front of the baby," she growls at me, stomping her little foot. "That's the fourth time today he's repeated what you said!"

"Baby girl, it's not my fault you're talking about having girls and shi-stuff. You can't expect me to be rational when you walk around looking like a goddess." I wave my hand in her general direction. "If you give me girls, they're going to look like you. You're too goddamn beautiful. TJ and I are going to need backup."

Luke narrows his eyes on Kinley when she giggles. "Why the fuck didn't I think about that?" he mutters, glaring at the little brunette like it's her fault she's hot and he's going to need security too.

"You're both ridiculous," January says, burying her face in my chest before she starts laughing loudly.

Luke growls at Kinley, who pats him on the cheek and then laughs too.

"Security," I mouth to him. "Big guns."

He nods his head in agreement, which makes me feel better. At least someone besides me knows what's up, because January and Kinley have clearly lost their minds if they think boys won't be beating down the doors to get at their daughters. They will be. I damn sure didn't wait until January was grown to claim her. As soon as she turned those bright emerald eyes up at me, I was hers.

No way am I letting a motherfucker like me near our daughter.

"We could still have a boy," January says softly, tipping her head back to peek up at me.

"Please, God, do me a solid and give me another boy," I pray, clasping my hands together and tilting my face up toward the ceiling. "I'll never use your name in vain again if you come through with this shit."

"Shit!" TJ yells.

January turns that glare on me, and Luke roars with laughter.

I groan and hang my head, knowing damn well I'm probably going to end up with a little girl.

"Fuck, baby girl," I growl, holding January's hair in my fist and watching as my dick disappears over and over in her mouth. The sight is hot as hell. Her eyes are wide and dilated, her cheeks flushed. Her free hand is hard at work between her legs. Even though I've already given her two orgasms, she's greedy for another. "Swear to God, you're too damn good at sucking my cock."

She flicks her tongue over the head of my cock before plunging down, making my balls draw up tight. I release her hair and grab her around the waist, gently tossing her on the bed.

"On your hands and knees, little monster," I order, stepping up to the edge of the bed with my cock in my hand. I squeeze the head, trying to relieve a little of the pressure and keep myself from coming.

January scurries to obey, which only makes me harder. Seeing her with that luscious ass in the air and her little slit peeking out from between her thighs is almost enough to have me shooting off all over her. But I'm not coming until I'm inside her.

"Cade!" she shouts, throwing her head back when I line myself up with her tight pussy and slam home in one deep thrust. Her hair flies back, falling in waves down her back. It's so damn long. I love it.

Wrapping my hands in it, I crane her head back, taking her mouth in a deep kiss.

She whines and rocks back and forth, impatient.

"You gotta be quiet," I remind her before I bite her lip. "If you wake TJ up, I can't make you come again."

If she wakes the baby up, he'll be a little ball of energy. He crashed hard on the way home from Faith's graduation party. I guess running around with other kids wore him out for once. I don't know where he gets the energy from, but he is always on the move. If his eyes are open, he's running around like a tiny crazy person. He's lucky he's so cute because I love getting inside his mama. He does not make that shit easy.

January bites her lip, trying to hold back another loud moan when I ease out and then thrust back inside her. I run my hands all over her body, squeezing her ass cheeks and then spreading them apart so I can watch my dick disappear inside her, only to reappear covered in her sticky juices when I slide back out.

"Cade, please," she begs, her voice soft. She arches her back, lifting her ass higher as her hands fist in the sheets.

"You want more?" I ask her.

She nods.

"Fuck. I can't ever tell you no." I grip her hips tightly and pound into her, fucking her so hard the bed rattles beneath her. My balls draw up even tighter, and I know I'm not going to last long. With her, I never do. No matter how many times I get inside her, it's always like the first time all over again. "You gotta come for me. Having my dick in your mouth while you played with your pussy got me too worked up."

She gasps and rocks back onto me, clawing at the sheets.

I slide one hand around her hip and then press my thumb to her clit. As soon as I touch her, a moan breaks from her lips, and she clamps down on me. She drops forward on the bed, burying her face in a pillow as her orgasm blasts through her, making her scream.

I pound into her hard and fast. Within seconds, I'm following her over the edge, roaring her name. I come hard, spilling into her until I'm gasping for breath.

"Fuck," I pant, slumped halfway on top of her. My eyes dart to the baby monitor on the nightstand, but TJ doesn't make a sound. Thank God. I groan and roll to the side so I don't crush January or the baby.

Once I'm on the bed beside her, I pull her into my arms, laying her on top of me. She snuggles up on my chest, her legs spread around mine, and her cheek pressed over my heart.

I run my hands through her hair, just enjoying the moment as we both come back down.

"I've been thinking," I say a few minutes later.

"Hmm?"

"We still haven't touched my trust fund."

"I know," she whispers, sounding sleepy and content.

"Maybe it's time we find a way to put it to use."

She lifts her head up and cracks her eyes open to look at me. "What do you mean?" she asks softly, pushing my hair away from my forehead.

"I mean, we're never going to use the money," I murmur, rubbing my thumb along her bottom lip. As far as I'm concerned, we don't need the money. I make enough to provide for my family and keep us comfortable. The trust fund has just been sitting there all these years, collecting interest. "Maybe we should set aside a portion of it and start an after-school program in the neighborhood, offer mentoring and scholarships or something to kids who want to go into law enforcement."

She watches me intently for a minute and then smiles. "We can do whatever you want to do, Cade."

"I talked to Roman and Luke about it. They'd be down to mentor kids. We could probably convince some of the other guys to help out too—give these kids something to do other than get involved with all the gang bullshit around here."

"Who would run it?"

"I'm sure we could find someone qualified. Or I could do it."

"What about your job?" she asks, her brows furrowing.

I shrug my shoulder. "I'll still work with the Gang Unit. It'll just be a little less often."

"You want to quit?"

"I've been thinking about it," I admit, still tracing my thumb along her bottom lip. It's so damn soft. My job is important to me, but my family is more important. "I hate worrying that someone I pissed off might come after you and TJ and the baby."

I've seen it happen far too often. Most people don't mess with my family because they know I will fuck their worlds up…but Kaleo came after January before she killed him. Gangs, MCs, and cartels have targeted my friends and their families. I worry history might repeat itself. January, TJ, and the baby are the most important things in the world to me. I don't want to risk their safety. I do as much as humanly possible to protect them, but we live in a rough neighborhood with new bullshit popping up all the time. It worries me.

"Do you want to quit?" she asks.

I huff out a reluctant breath and then shake my head. "This city needs motherfuckers like me, baby girl."

She eyes me for a moment and then sits up, straddling my hips. "If you seriously want to do this, I'm in," she says, making me smile. "But I think we need to compromise."

"On what?" I ask.

"On you quitting."

"I want you guys safe more than I want my job, little monster."

"What if we move somewhere safer?"

My eyebrows shoot upward, shock running through me. I've wanted to move her somewhere safer pretty much since I got back to Los Angeles, but she was never ready. And I get it. This house is the only piece of Titan and her mom that she has left. I'd never ask her to give that up, even if getting her into a better neighborhood would make me happy as hell.

"I love this neighborhood," she whispers as if reading my mind. "I grew up here. I fell in love with you here. It's such a huge part of my life, but I don't want TJ and the baby going through the same things me, you, and Titan went through. You've worked so hard to clean up this neighborhood and make it safer since I killed Kaleo, but you can't take down every gang that pops up. I don't want TJ and our daughter to grow up thinking that hearing gunshots at all hours of the night is normal. I don't want someone targeting TJ like Kaleo targeted you and Titan."

"You're serious."

It's not a question, but she nods anyway. "I'm ready to move," she whispers. "And I know that, regardless of where we live, Titan and my mom will always be with us. We won't be leaving them behind if we leave here."

"We will never leave them behind," I promise her. "They're part of us. That won't ever change."

"I know that. I think I've always known that, but I just wasn't ready before, you know?"

"I get that, baby girl. If you seriously want to move, we'll start looking. But if you aren't ready, you just say the word, and we'll stay here. Regardless of where we live, I will keep TJ and the baby safe, I promise you that."

"I know," she says, giving me a bright smile.

The trust in her eyes takes my breath away.

Fuck, I'll never get used to the fact that she loves me and trusts me to protect her and our family. Her unwavering faith in me makes me feel like a goddamn king.

"But I think your job is important, and it's important that you keep doing it. You've saved so many people, Cade." She smiles like she's proud of me. "I don't want you to give that up because you think you have to do it. If you want to start a program for kids, I can run it."

"What about your job?"

"My job was never about the teaching, necessarily. It was about the kids. All I ever wanted to do was work with kids. I can still do that by helping run this after-school program you want to start," she says, tracing her finger over one of the tattoos on my chest.

Not long after I was cleared of the murders, I told her what each and every one of them meant to me. They're all memories of her that I had inked into my skin so I would never forget how much she loved me and how it killed me to know I failed her. Aquarius—her zodiac sign—is an air element. She was always my air, the thing that kept me breathing.

Those tattoos are now a reminder of what I stand to lose if I fuck up again. They motivate me to make it home to my girl and to give her the life she deserves. Titan told me to treat her like a princess, or I'd answer to him. She's not a princess, though. She's a queen. She's my queen. And I will never again do anything to risk losing her.

"You'd seriously give up teaching?" I ask.

"To make a difference for kids who need it most?" she says and then nods immediately. "By the time they make it to you, most of them are already in too deep to walk away easily. You save people from them when no one was able to save them. I'd like to be the one who tries to save them before they get that far."

I'm not sure how I feel about her working with kids headed down a dark path…but that's not my decision to make. If she wants to do this and I have the means to give it to her, I think I have to do it. She deserves a chance to show herself what she's made of. This will give her that. Besides which, if anyone can keep these kids from joining up and tripping down the path guys like Kaleo set before them, January can.

If she could keep my ass in line, I know she can make a difference for some of these other kids too. I have no doubts at all about that.

I'll just have to make sure we have on-site security to watch out for her when I can't be there to do it myself.

"Let's do it," I agree, leaning up to kiss her.

She wraps her arms around my neck and slides her fingers through the hair at the nape of my neck, pulling me closer. "Yeah?" she breathes against my lips.

"Yeah." I kiss her slow and sweet. At least, it starts out that way, but then it turns hot and heavy. By the time I manage to tear my mouth away from hers, she's bouncing on my cock and crying out my name again.

What? She's hot, and she's naked. It's not my fault my dick knows where his home is when it's right in front of him.

I spent seven years in hell without January. If she wants to ride me into heaven at every available opportunity, I'm certainly not going to stop her. I may do some dumb shit, but I'm not a complete idiot. Give me a little credit here.

Once I make her come again, she passes out, a sated smile on her lips. I lay beside her for a long time, just watching her sleep. She's so goddamn perfect. I don't know how I got so lucky. I'll never stop being grateful she gave me a second chance. Hell, she gave me everything .

I'll spend the rest of my life making her happy.

"Shit!" TJ shouts from the other room, letting me know he's awake.

"TJ, man," I grumble, climbing out of bed and pulling on a pair of boxers. Once I'm decent, I head across the hall to find him trying to climb out of his crib.

"Daddy!" he yells when he sees me, and then he army crawls the rest of the way down the front of the crib. He lands on his feet and then turns to face me, grinning and lifting his arms up like he's a gymnast who just finished a wicked routine on the balance beam.

"Dude, you gotta stop cursing and climbing everything," I tell him, bending down to pick him up. "Your mama is going to kill me because we all know you get that shit from me."

"Shit," he says and smacks me in the face.

"Yeah, shit," I say with a shake of my head, chuckling.

Fuck, I love my life.