Epilogue

King/Dante

I stood in the middle of the newly renovated home we had just moved into a few weeks ago, watching my wife as she took the last batch of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. The kids weren't home, and I had plans for recreating our first kiss on top of the granite island before they got back.

We'd been married a little over a month ago, under a white, arched trellis covered in flowers, courtesy of Dorothy, who had been thrilled to take a flower order from me that wasn't for a butthead bouquet anymore.

The wedding had been held in the courtyard behind the clubhouse, at Ella's suggestion. Sinner had officiated, and Hunter and Mia had flanked their mother as they walked her down the aisle to me.

We'd decided against having bridesmaids or groomsmen, wanting to keep things simple.

We said our vows in front of my family, both club and blood, along with Camille, Kim, and Ella's aunt and uncle. Pictures of my mom, Ella's grandparents, and BeBe were placed on empty chairs in the front row, since the ceremony wouldn't have been perfect without them present in some way.

It had been Ella's idea, and I swore I'd seen a tear in Sinner's eye as he stared at my mom's face before the ceremony began. We celebrated with a blowout barbeque right there in the compound, which included the announcement that my adoption of Mia and Hunter would be signed off on by the judge the next day. Ella and I had danced to what had become our song, when "Leather and Lace" blasted out of the sound system the DJ had set up.

Jagger and Rome had taken their new job as protective big brothers seriously, and between the two of them and Hunter, Mia would probably not be allowed to date until she was thirty. That was fucking fine by me.

I'd already had to warn Tony that if I caught him eyeballing my daughter again, I was going to rip the prospect cut off his back, then rip his eyes out and piss in the empty sockets. He'd listened and kept as much distance as possible from her from that point on.

Now, as I instructed the smart device to play our song again, I pulled Ella into my arms and slowly danced around the kitchen with her. When the last notes faded away, I put a finger under her chin and whispered, "I need some sugar."

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The End