Epilogue

GEMMA

One Year Later

T he fact that I get to leave the Gold Royale office before 9 p.m. is a testament to overhauling the entire business. All of the sketchy drivers are no longer employees, and every customer is vetted by my new client manager. Pop gets to sit in his house or visit his friends or whatever he likes to do in his retirement while I manage the business with a hands-off approach.

Every few days, I pop into the office to make sure things are running smoothly, but running around like a chicken with my head cut off is a thing of the past. A successful business that only took a few felonies to get here. They say the first million is never legit.

I laugh to myself as I head away from the office and make my way to the train. The commute is fast, but the walk to my building always feels shaky, like I'm being followed. The hairs on the back of my neck are on end. Leaves rustling and dumpster lids lifting all sound like someone stalking me.

Normally, I imagine it's Knox, but he's out of town until next week. Besides, we have rules for the uh… surprise attacks. One time, he didn't tell me he'd returned from a business trip and found himself on the receiving end of pepper spray. The expression on his face still tickles me, but the memory isn't enough to distract me from the sound of someone coming up behind me.

Their pace quickens and so does mine. By the time I catch sight of my lobby door, I'm ready to sprint. Yet, when I turn around, no one's there. My eyes scan the street and the few people out there must think I'm a lunatic. Shaking away the self-induced fear racking my body, I go home where shadows in the dark make me reach for the lights immediately.

"Boo!" Knox shouts as the lights come on, scaring me half to death.

I fling my bag at him, slapping his arms and beating my fists against him. "I told you about that. You scared the shit out of me."

"You maced me," he deadpans.

"That was weeks ago and you said all was forgiven," I tell him as I try to get my pulse back down to a normal rate. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to Egypt or Morocco or something."

"I am," he says. "I decided to come home because I wanted to bring my fiancée along with me on this next leg of my trip."

"Fiancée?" I hold up my ringless hand.

When I put my hand down, Knox is holding a leather ring box in his hand. It opens in the middle to reveal a beautiful ring on a platinum band that looks like ropes entwined around one another.

"Gemma Arnold. We don't have the most traditional or conventional relationship. Marriage is something neither of us actually wanted until this relationship started between us. We're allowed to be ourselves and that's all that matters. I love you and I want to spend the rest of our lives surprising the fuck out of you. Will you marry me?"

"Of course, I will. I couldn't imagine spending my life with anyone else. I love you too, Knox. Now come here, Sandman. You need to make up for scaring me half to death, and putting me to sleep with multiple orgasms is high on my list."

He smiles, wrapping his arms around me with a passionate kiss to seal our futures together. The moan rumbling from the depths of his throat makes my nipples hard because Knox aims to please.

One hand grips my ass and the other raises to stroke the side of my face before grabbing my neck. He licks my lips and pulls away. "Your wish is my command. Let's get you fed and fucked. My God, how'd I get this lucky?"