Epilogue

S aint had become a man on a mission. Once he’d been able to finally tell Mia he loved her, he couldn’t stop saying it. Making her his forever became his top priority, and the last twenty-four hours had been a whirlwind. He’d married his kitten faster than you could say “Vegas wedding.”

After the party, he’d made love to her throughout the night, whispering endless promises in her ear. Waking up, he’d never felt more satisfied in his life. The woman lightly snoring on his chest was his everything. She had helped him heal and opened him up to a future he never thought possible. At least, not for a guy like him.

Mia made sure he knew he was worthy. After years of believing he was worthless, her faith in him—the pure love in her eyes when she looked at him—meant more than he could express.

He watched her sleep, slowly stroking a hand up and down her bare back. It wasn’t long before those gorgeous azure eyes opened and she smiled sleepily.

“Good morning, Mrs. Vasilevsky,” he murmured and dropped a kiss on her lips.

She stretched lazily then sat up, pulling the sheet with her, tucking it under her breasts. “Good morning, Mr. Vasilevsky. Your friends sure know how to throw a party.”

“Yeah, well, I think we all needed something to celebrate.”

“It all happened so fast.” She looked down at the wedding band on her finger and twisted it.

“You don’t have any regrets, do you?” He sat up, studying her closely. If she did, his heart would break. Living a life without her sweetness wasn’t an option.

Her head snapped up. “No, not one. You’re my forever, you silly man.”

They reached for each other, lacing their fingers, focused on the platinum bands they each wore.

“I’m glad I can give you a new last name. Even though it was self-given.”

“It’s yours and that’s all that matters,” she said. “And, you gave me more than one. I feel like I have aliases—Mrs. Valentine, Mrs. Saint, Mrs. Vasilevsky.”

She chuckled.

“They’re all yours, Mia Grace. Choose whichever one you want.”

“I’m choosing Mia Vasilevsky.”

He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. Hearing her say their combined names was music to his ears.

“And it will be our children’s.” She tilted her head, cheeks turning pink. “If you want kids, that is.”

“I want everything with you, kotyonok .”

She touched the tattoo above his ring. The circle with a dot inside that marked him as an orphan.

“You have a family now,” she whispered. “I think we should get this covered.”

The idea of having his own family—a wife, a couple of rugrats, maybe a dog—filled a hole in his heart. No one had ever wanted him and now this amazing woman was his wife, his home, his life.

His reason.

“You don’t have to rely on only yourself ever again,” she assured him.

The purest joy flowed through him and he could’ve sworn his heart nearly burst. Their mouths came together and they tumbled back in a tangle of limbs, deciding to stay in bed a little longer.

◆◆◆

After lingering in bed and then taking an extra long shower, which ended up with Nik’s face between her thighs, Mia yawned as they walked into the common area of the warehouse, hand in hand. Her new husband certainly knew how to wear her out.

The team was already up, drinking coffee and talking in the living room area.

“What’s going on?” Nik asked jovially. “After consuming all that vodka, I thought you’d all be in bed nursing hangovers.”

Gray touched his temple, flinching. “Please, lower your voice.”

Mia couldn’t help but smile. She’d taken a few small sips, but nothing major, and Nik needed to drink a helluva lot before it affected him. Her man was just too big. Plus, he was used to the stuff.

“Grab some coffee and I’ll fill you guys in,” Braxton stated.

Uh oh. That didn’t sound good.

After pouring some caffeinated goodness, they headed over to the somber group. Nik sat down in the big leather chair, pulling Mia onto his lap. “Who died?” he joked.

Everyone looked at Braxton. “That would be me. Well, almost, anyway,” he stated, holding up a bandaged hand.

“What happened?” Nik asked, tensing beneath Mia.

Brax explained how he’d received the mysterious text then left to investigate. The others gave him hell for going alone, but he reminded them they’d been drunker than skunks at the time.

“I would’ve gone with you,” Gray insisted.

Braxton arched a dubious brow. “And what? Puked on the tripwire?”

After telling them every detail of what happened at the parking garage, he finished with the kicker.

“It was Quinn,” he stated.

“Who’s Quinn?” Inda asked.

“My ex-wife.”

His reveal caused jaws to drop.

“When the hell were you married?” Ryland asked.

“Five years ago.”

“Why would she try to kill you now?” Zane frowned, pushing his glasses up.

“I thought about it all night and kept coming back to the same answer. She’s working for The Agency.”

A slew of grumbled curses filled the air and Mia tightened her fingers around her mug.

“Is she former military?” Nik asked.

Brax shook his head. “No. Former CIA.”

“That’s not good,” Zane stated dryly.

“No, it’s not,” Brax agreed. “After leaving the CIA on, ah, bad terms, everything sort of fell apart. Until last night, I hadn’t seen her in five years.”

“Graves…” Zane tapped a finger on the side of his mug and exchanged a look with River who nodded. “You think she’s the one?”

“Yep.” River set her coffee down and reached for her laptop. “I bet she’s the Graves on the list we decrypted. Not Brax.”

Mia looked over at Braxton and the color drained from his tanned face.

“We divorced,” Brax said. “Why would she keep my last name?”

“Maybe she’s still pining over you,” Inda suggested and Brax snorted.

“She tried to kill me,” he reminded her.

“True.”

“I’m going to do a deep dive on Quinn Graves and start running some searches,” River announced. “What’s her middle name?”

“Noelle,” Brax replied flatly.

“I’ll help,” Lucas said, then turned to Brax. “Don’t go anywhere in case we have questions.”

“Oh, I have a lot of questions,” Inda said, crossing her arms and focusing her attention on Brax, who merely scowled.

As the team’s hackers got to work, Nik led Mia out onto the balcony where they finished their coffee. They looked out across the morning sky, admiring its beauty, listening to the birds sing and the occasional ship’s horn blare in the bay. After a minute, he moved in behind her, caging her between his big arms.

“I used to spend a lot of time out here. Smoking. Alone and miserable,” he admitted, nuzzling her neck. His stubble tickled and she loved its scratchy feel against her skin.

It reminded her how masculine he was and the incredible things he could do to her body. As big and strong as he was, though, he was also only human. She’d do her best to vanquish his feelings of doubt and unworthiness whenever they surfaced, because he was a good man and she loved him fiercely.

A shot of the purest love moved through Mia and she turned around, wrapping her arms around his neck. “No more being lonely and miserable. You belong to me now,” she reminded him, then pushed up on her toes, meeting his mouth in a long, slow, lingering kiss that sent sparks shooting down every limb.

When they finally came up for air, she looked up into her husband’s charcoal eyes and smiled. Her world had never felt so full of promise.

“Remember when we were in Perm?” Nik asked softly, pulling her closer.

“Mm-hmm. How could I forget?” She hooked an ankle around his leg and rolled her hips against his hardness.

“You asked me what I wished for after we visited the Izhevsk Bear.”

“And you said you don’t make wishes anymore.”

“Normally, I don’t. But you laid my hand on the bear’s nose and encouraged me to try. I’ve been trying ever since, kotyonok , and I’ll keep trying. I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy.”

“What did you wish for?” she asked softly, searching his face.

“I wished for you.”

“Oh, Nik.” She tightened her arms around his neck. Sometimes, he said the sweetest things. “See, wishes do come true.”

“You’re making all mine come true. You’re my miracle, Mia.”

“And you’re mine,” she whispered.

They kissed each other again and Mia knew her grumpy frog had turned into her Prince Charming. A prickly prince covered in tats whose spirit animal was a dragon, with a sarcastic tongue and still very dangerous, sure. But she loved him exactly as he was, and she wouldn’t change a thing.

I hope you enjoyed Saint and Mia’s story. I absolutely loved writing these two. Next up, Braxton and his deadly ex come to blows in more ways than one in the final book of the FPD series.

Get ready because the end is coming…

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And, finally, I want to say thank you so much for reading this book and taking a chance on a small indie author. I hope I was able to entertain you and you were able to lose yourself in a bit of magic for a short amount of time. I love writing these romantic suspense stories filled with action, and if you love reading them, please help spread the word by leaving a review. It helps so very much--thank you!