Epilogue- Loving You

PAOLI NUTINI

—ALMOST TWO YEARS LATER?—

"Ahhh, watch out! Lex!" I shout as I run through the house chasing the little shit. He's faster than I had ever expected at this age. So far we've knocked over two easels, a can of paint, and a table all in under two minutes.

"James, what the—Oh my god, seriously? You're just letting him run around like that? He's got paint all over his feet!" She steps into the doorway right in time to grab the wriggling puppy from the floor and shower it in kisses. "Oh, what's the matter? Was that big cranky daddy chasing you again?"

"He fucking likes it." I drop onto the floor and sprawl out, utterly beat. "He ate your shoes. He also redecorated the floors upstairs." I get out between gasps for air.

"Oh, look at those little red toes!" I watch her inspect the paws, spotting the remnants of red paint. "So I'm guessing it looks like a crime scene up there and our number one suspect fits your description, doesn't it, Mr. VanDerVander?"

She sits on the floor next to me and the puppy stops its wriggling and relaxes in her arms while a smile spreads across my face.

"James, we've been married for two years now. Are you ever going to stop looking at me like that?"

"if I do, it's because I've died." My hand slips up her leg and I growl, "Now put Count VanDerVander down!"

"He'll run through all the paint again."

"Let him." As soon as she releases the dog, he trots over to his bed and passes out. Meanwhile, I grab her arms and pull her down on top of me, covering her face and neck with kisses while she squeals in laughter.

"James! Seriously, there are paint cans all over the floor!"

I roll us over so I'm on top of her and her legs wrap around me. Her hands find my hair and I smear wet paint on her as I pull her sweater over her head. I kiss between her bare breasts and move further down as she continues to laugh.

"You're so beautiful."

"You're so cleaning up this mess!"

"Right after I make a mess of you, Cherry Blossom."

"The windows are open!"

"Mm-hmm." I slide her leggings down, kissing her thighs.

"Someone could see us!"

"Mm-hmm." I run my flattened tongue over her soaked panties and listen to the breathy ramblings of a woman being driven mad with lust. "Why do you bother to wear these things?" I rip them off and toss them over my shoulder.

"Y-you…. you… oh god!" Her tight grip holds my head against her as my tongue slides into her, coaxing a sweet song of shattered moans mixed with my name.

She tastes as sweet as the first time I had her, but now, the hesitation is long gone. She thought at first it had been a joke, a flippant comment that I made about worshiping her every day. Now she knows I was serious, because every damn day since I put that ring on her finger, I've listened to her sing my praise to a higher power while I worship her. While I devour her. While I shatter her around me, put her back together, only to do it all over again.

My name echoes in the mostly empty room, and she claws at my scalp. I can't help but smile against her and know that as soon as she's back down to earth, I'll bring her right back to the top of the mountain so she can scream to me once, twice, three times more.

I barely hear the doorbell and I certainly don't register what it is—too focused on her voice and the way her body responds to me.

"Shit, James!"

"Mmm," I hum against her clit and her back lifts off the floor like a bolt of lightning surged through her.

"Door. Someone… door."

"Are you asking me to stop?" She reluctantly nods as I grin at her with a glistening beard. "Should I go answer it like this?"

She laughs and pulls up her pants. "Oh, for fuck's sake. Damn it. I was so close!"

"Who said we're done? Stay here. I've got it." I get up, grab a towel from one of the ladders, and wipe my face before I head to the front of the house. When I pull open the door, I can't fucking believe it.

"Hello. Is my daughter in? I would like to speak to her."

I check my watch, realizing that today is the day the restraining order lifted. She wasted no time.

"She's busy." I didn't mean for it to come out like a growl, but I'm not mad that it did. I cross my arms and stare at her.

"Yes, I uhm," she lowers her head and stares down at her feet, "I heard. It won't take long, I promise."

"If you so much as raise your voice to her, or say a fucking thing to upset her in the slightest, I will end the conversation, drag your ass out of our house, and have the cops haul you off our fucking property. Do you understand?"

I walk her to the back of the house where Lexi is holding paint swatches up to the ceiling while standing on the larger of two ladders in the room.

"Lex, shit," I run over and hold the ladder for her. "I told you I'd do that. I don't want you up there."

"Oh whatever, I'm not—" She looks back and forth between me and her mother a few times, and then accepts the hand I offer her while she climbs down. She shoves her hands deep into the hoodie she stole from me years ago when we first started dating.

"Alexis…I," her mother starts, before her face twists up and she looks like she's about to have her own nervous breakdown. She takes a deep breath and my hand finds Lexi's as we wait to see where she plans on taking this conversation.

"I didn't expect you to come here," Lexi says when her mother still hasn't spoken.

"Yes, well, I didn't expect to come here either. Not after how we left things. Is all of this…" She motions around the room, ending with Lexi. "Alexis, are you…?"

Lexi snorts out a loud laugh, and a second later I realize where her mother is looking at her and I laugh, before kissing her on the head. This is not my dance; she knows I'll follow her lead.

"Yes. I should be delivering the antichrist any minute now. We just found out last week, and I forgot how quickly a demon spawn grows!"

Her mother glares at her. "That isn't funny, Alexis. Are you actually pregnant, or are you trying to fluster me?"

"No, mother. Jamie and I are not having a baby." She pauses before adding, "Ever."

"Oh, well, that's a shame. It's a woman's?—"

I clear my throat and level my gaze at her. She knows this will be the only warning she's going to get.

"Anyhow, I wanted you to be aware that your fath—I am moving. To New Mexico."

"His transfer finally came through? Wow! So is this the trial with the sixteen-year-old or the mother of two?" Lexi asks and squeezes my hand.

"Alexis, I wish you would think about what you're doing."

"Well, that was fun, time to go," I step toward her and she takes a step back.

"I just mean that, well, you've ruined his life enough, haven't you?"

"Get the fuck—" Lexi stops me by putting a hand on my forearm. I see the flame in her eyes go from a flicker to a raging inferno as she stares her mother down. It's the same look she had a year ago when she had to testify against her stepfather and the defense attorney tried to twist the events and victim-blame her. It's a look I hope she never gives me, but god does it turn me on.

My phoenix, my queen, my wife. She tore down the empire they built to imprison her. She stood in the flames, and I was beside her every step of the way.

"You could have stopped this. You could have spoken up and said something, could have listened to me or Bex. You don't get to blame me, mother, because you're the reason he ever came into my life. I can't wait—" I step between them and hold Lexi's arm to keep her from getting too close. She knows what I'm doing, and that I'm in no way protecting her mother. I don't trust her mother and wouldn't be surprised if she ran out of the house claiming Lexi attacked her, given the chance. Lexi stays calm, which is more terrifying. "I can't wait till they get you into that courthouse and behind that table, because they will. They're going to make you listen to everything he's done, every other woman he's assaulted, and they're going to know that you could have stopped it. They'll know you stood there and watched him do this to us."

"I don't believe you! Ronnie is a good man! He only wanted what was best?—"

"He's a fucking rapist! Now get the fuck out of our house and don't ever come back here. You had your chance. I did everything to try to make you happy. Everything but let your sick, depraved, disgusting husband touch me ever again!"

"You're okay baby," I whisper after I pull her into my chest and rock her. "Slow breaths, breathe with me, beautiful."

There's a shuffling behind me, and I close my eyes. "I'm going to pretend that's the dog and not your fucking dumb ass still in our house. Don't say another word. Get the fuck out." I hold Lexi to me, blocking her view as her mother leaves again and for the last time.

We'll call Morgan as soon as Lexi is alright again. He's been in touch with us a lot since Sam hired him. He's become more our friend than our lawyer. He even came to my birthday party a few months ago. Lexi's stepfather is trying to appeal. But when twenty-three other women came forward, we weren't worrying about him anymore. Equally surprising was finding out that Noah Jones wasn't the other dickhead's real name. In fact, he had five other names he used. Each of those is associated with a different family. Some of those families were with underaged women.

"Knock, knock," comes a familiar voice, and Lexi giggles in my arms as Chase comes into the room. "Woah, sorry. Am I interrupting?"

"No, Chase," she answers. She smiles up at me, grabs my face, and kisses me like she's feasting on my soul. She can have it; it's hers anyhow. When she pulls away, she winks, and I can't help but smirk. This beautiful woman is going to fuck my damn brains out the second Coop is gone. "We're fine."

"Cool. So, what are we taking with us?"

"I've got it all organized in the other room." Lexi stands on her tiptoes and kisses Chase's cheek. He hands her a giant iced coffee milk tea, and she heads out of the room. The puppy right on her heels having finally woken up again.

Coop hangs back, handing me a second coffee. "Figured you'd need a boost before the event."

"Thanks for coming with me. I know it's kind of a pain in the ass and all after that last movie and the awards and stuff."

"Hey, you had me at elementary school . If the paps wanna follow me there and deal with all those lawsuits, they can fucking have at it. I brought like two boxes of those little figurines with the big heads that I'm gonna sign for them while you do your thing. Do you think four hundred is enough?"

"Yeah," I laugh. When we started the program bringing art classes and speakers to different schools, I never in a million years thought Chase would be interested. Not only is he interested, he's an active member and high-level donator. He brings toys to the kids, answers their questions, colors with them—it's a whole side of him I've never even seen before. "Dani said there are only about two hundred attending and her sister is a teacher there, so she should have somewhere to store them for any of the kids that didn't make it. You really don't have to do that all the time."

"Are you boys going to come help with this, or do you expect me and COUNT VanDerVander to do all of this on our own?"

Coop laughs, "Fuck, I can't believe you named my dog that."

"Our dog, now, buddy. She called him mister earlier like he's some common peasant." I throw my arm over his shoulder. "He's a descendant of the Great and Magnificent Lulu Cooper. He's a Count at the very least." We head toward Lexi and I yell out, "Coming, Angel!"

"Eww."

"Dude, shut up."

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