Epilogue

Fifteen Months Later

Annika wiggles around my lap, focusing on the table. She has watched and waited.

My father chuckles, flipping his cards. "You know, Cassian, you've got a lot of good things going for you. Perhaps you should let beating me at cards go."

I laugh derisively, shaking my head.

Annika pulls my clenched fist off the table, bringing it to rest on her swollen baby belly. "How about I play for Cassian?"

My father laughs heartily. "You want to risk…" He eyes my chips. "Over seventy grand?"

"Why not?" I shrug, palming Annika"s baby belly. "She"s an extension of myself. Unless you"re concerned you won"t be able to beat her?"

My father"s eyes narrow, and he nods to the table. "Five hand maximum."

I tilt my head, studying Annika"s feral smile.

"Perfect," she purrs, swiping up the deck of cards. "Since I"m busy baking your first grandchild, I think it"s only appropriate that I deal."

"You"re terrible at bluffing," my father says, shoving his chips toward the middle of the table.

Annika does the same. "If I"m so awful, then why are you taking the bait?"

"Flip your cards," my father growls.

My eyes widen as Annika flips two kings. There"s already one on the board and a pair of eights.

I dart my gaze to my father, and he has a pair of queens and an eight to match. They both have a full house, but Annika"s kings take the pot.

My jaw falls as Ward's chair flies backward as he stands, clapping. "That was a hell of a game," he mutters.

My father eyes the table suspiciously.

Annika carefully stands, cradling her swollen stomach. "Good game." She stretches a hand over the table, and her stomach messes up the cards and chips.

"By the way, I don"t want the rest of my inheritance," I say to distract my father. "You can feel free to start a robust college fund for the baby, though."

My father laughs, scratching his thick beard. "You cheated."

Annika smirks, and she"s so goddamn beautiful, it takes my breath away. "Can you prove it?"

Dad laughs even harder, shoving his chair back. He comes around the table and pulls Annika in for a hug, but his eyes meet mine. "You picked a good one, son."

"I have a feeling I'm going to greatly regret this decision in a few hours," Annika says, popping open the container of boneless buffalo wings. The spicy smell makes my nose wrinkle. "But this little guy is craving straight spice."

"They"re kinda making my eyes burn." Kane takes a bite of one of the mozzarella sticks.

"Just wait until those hit her digestive tract." Grady laughs, ducking out of the way as Ward slaps at his shoulder.

Annika grabs her fork with one hand and flips Grady off with the other. "I really do question why I put up with you at times. Then I remember how much I love your piercings."

Grady laughs, swiping his long blond hair back from his face. "You can take advantage of them anytime." He wiggles his eyebrows. "You know how hard the baby belly makes me."

"Ugh, God, TMI," Kate huffs, coming into our living room with her arms loaded down with bags. It really is mind-blowing seeing how similar she and Annika look. Although, I"m baffled how she got inside. I didn"t hear her knock, and we just gathered the food from the delivery driver. "Vale is doing a little spring cleaning, and she asked me to drop off all of this shit."

"Anywhere is fine," Annika says around the bite of food she"s chewing.

"Don"t pop in unannounced, and you won"t have to hear about our sexual escapades," Kane deadpans, rolling his green eyes.

"Well, I"m not taking it all back." Kate drops the bags on the living room floor. "And my trunk is full of baby seats and stuff. If you don"t want it, you can return it. I"m not hurting her feelings."

"Help Kate unload the car," Annika says with a huff. "Ohmigod, I"m so excited to go through all of that stuff. I just got ridiculously happy for no reason." She laughs. "Or that might be because these boneless wings are really hitting the spot."

Kate snorts. "And this is why I"m still extremely grateful to be child free, but enjoy your wings. You deserve them."

I snort and nod at Ward. "We"ll help."

"Thank you," Annika mumbles without looking up from where she"s dousing another boneless wing with ranch.

"I think I"m developing a fetish with watching her eat," Grady says.

"Jesus Christ." Kane snorts. "Wait for me. I"ll help."