Epilogue

GINEVRA

“ H appy birthday!” We shout, and I can tell from the murderous expression on Blake’s face that we managed to surprise him. I told Arianna a surprise party might not be the best idea, but she assured me it would be fine. I made sure Blake came here unarmed, just in case.

“Magpie,” he growls.

I shake my head. “This is not my fault. Blame Arianna, it was her idea.”

Dimitri must have overheard me. “If you lay a finger on my wife, Baron, I’ll have your head decorating my Christmas tree next month.”

Blake stares at him, unfazed.

“Okay…” I drag him away from my sister’s husband so he can mingle with the rest of our guests. “Happy thirty-fifth birthday, old man.” Lifting to my tip-toes, I kiss him.

“Old man?”

“Yep. It’s official now.”

He swats my ass. “Once all of these fucking people are out of our house, I’m going to show you what it’s like to be punished by an old man.”

I giggle. Honestly, I can’t wait, and we both know it. By the time we have our house to ourselves, I’ll be begging for his flavor of wrath.

“Look, there’s Sophia and Roman. Let’s go say hello.” We weave our way through the crowd. Arianna must have invited half of Manhattan to this party.

Sophia hugs me as soon as we approach. “I heard you were accepted into Le Cordon Bleu. In Paris!”

“Arianna must have told you.”

She nods. “When are you leaving us to go live in Paris, lucky girl?”

“Not until late spring. We’re going to find a house, then school starts in August.”

“That’s wonderful. I can’t wait to be done with college. Three and half more years.” She groans. “Then I can live and work anywhere I want, too.”

“You could always transfer,” Roman points out.

“No. I want to finish here. But maybe after graduation, I’ll get a museum curator job in Paris. What do you think?” Sophia gazes hopefully up at her husband.

“Anything for you, principessa .”

I’ve always been envious of my oldest sister’s blissful marriage. Now I’m glad to finally know what it's like to be loved, cherished, and adored. I entwine my fingers with Blake’s. He gazes down at me, his eyes softening. I love the way he looks at me.

Arianna and Dimitri join our circle. Even though I know they are also happily married, seeing them together is still jarring at times. She’s so perfectly put together, a good girl with a strand of pearls around her neck. While he’s a tatted up pakhan who oozes bad boy vibes. They couldn’t be more opposite if they tried.

“I hope the party’s to your liking,” Arianna says, glancing from me to Blake.

He grunts.

I barely manage to hold in my giggle. “It’s absolutely per?—”

The front door bangs open, drawing everyone’s attention in the foyer.

Blake, Roman, and Dimitri shove us behind them, creating a shield with their bodies as Roman and Dimitri draw their guns. Blake curses.

But the person who walks through the door is hardly a threat.

“Ravenna?” I move around Blake to approach my cousin. She’s wearing a wrap dress with nothing over it, soaked through and shivering from the November rain. I open the coat closet and drape one across her shoulders.

My sisters join us, and together we usher a stricken Ravenna through the house to a rarely used sitting room. As soon as I close the door, the party sounds quiet.

Sophia sits Ravenna on a couch. “What happened? Ravenna, what’s going on?”

“I was worried when you RSVP'd but didn’t show up tonight.” Arianna settled on her other side, leaving the armchair for me.

Ravenna’s shaking, and I don’t think it’s only from the cold given the tears in her eyes.

“Ravenna?” I call her name, and she seems to snap out of her daze.

“I’m sorry. You’re the closest to me and I knew everyone would be here tonight. I didn’t know where else to go.”

“Why don’t you start by telling us what happened,” Sophia suggests in a soft tone.

Ravenna slowly nods. “H-he hates me.” Her voice cracks. “He p-put a g-gun to my head and t-told me he never wanted to s- see me again.” She breaks down into sobs, the rest of her words incoherent.

“Who?” Arianna presses, concern etches her features.

I lean forward to catch Ravenna’s response.

“Cian.”

Cian put a gun to his wife’s head and told her he never wants to see her again? What the actual fuck? I thought they were happy together. The Cian I know would never, ever treat his wife like that. What happened between them?

Thank you for reading Forever Fake! Please consider leaving a review, they are like tips for authors. If you enjoyed Blake and Ginevra’s story, I’d really appreciate it!