CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Vica felt a million times better after a shower and a change of clothes. She did the best she could to scrub the day off her, but she knew that no amount of Wyatt's delicious body wash or a vigorous rub with the loofa would do what only patience and time could do.

They all sat around Wyatt's living room sipping tea and debriefing Gabrielle on the morning's events. Wyatt also called Sergeant Fox in Seattle, and they filled him in too.

"I can put a call out for any cops in the area looking to either transfer or pick up extra shifts on the island doing locum work," Sergeant Fox said over speaker phone. "But I'll reach out to Officers Bruce and Jacobs about that. They've certainly got their hands full."

"And their jail cell," Wyatt added.

"Wyatt's not going to get in trouble for shooting a cop, is he?" Vica asked, snuggled into the crook of Wyatt's arm on the couch. "It was self-defense." Then she laughed humorlessly. "However, he was dressed very sexy. So maybe he was asking for it?"

Wyatt squeezed her close. "Cheeky. "

Everyone else chuckled.

"Officer Jenkins is still alive, and hopefully the dash cam and body cams of Bruce and Jacobs were all on; so there should be no repercussions there."

"Dom also filmed most of it on his phone," Wyatt added.

"To add to the good news," Gabrielle chimed in, "we have located two more women willing to testify on Vica and Evie's behalf."

Evie and Vica exchanged small smiles across the room.

"As well as three women who are willing to testify against Wyndham Croft himself," Gabrielle went on. "I already have Barnes and Brier locating them. And we're working on secure housing."

"This is incredible," Vica said. "So we actually have a shot at winning this?"

Gabrielle nodded. "I think we do."

"That reminds me," Sergeant Fox said, "I found one of those two guys that you said came to the pub to commemorate a fallen friend, after Dom sent me the credit card information for him. I've done some digging, and with a little heavy-handed persuasion from some friends of mine, I think he might be willing to rat out Track. The guy's got a few drug charges he'd like to see disappear, as well as a mistress and no prenup with his wife."

Dom, Wyatt, Bennett, and Burke all smiled at each other around the room.

"Thoughts and prayers for the poor guy," Wyatt said with a snort.

Sergeant Fox snorted too. "All right, I'll touch base with all of you in a few days. But I'm glad everyone is safe and okay." He went quiet. "Well, almost everyone. I'll reach out to Bruce and Jacobs and see if they want me to contact Ginny's next of kin."

They said their goodbyes to Sergeant Fox then disconnected the call.

Silence thudded annoyingly around the room as they all reflected on the events of the morning. Just because the mole and the dirty cops had been dealt with, didn't mean the threat of Wyndham Croft had been eliminated. They weren't safe. They were just safe for now .

If anything, now that Wyndham didn't have his local thugs to take care of business for him, he might resort to more skilled professionals to get the job done quicker.

Wyatt's arm tightened around Vica. She glanced up at him and he kissed her forehead.

He cleared his throat. "Do we need to go on lockdown until Wyndham has been neutralized?"

Dom, Bennett and Burke all met his gaze. He didn't have to say a damn word for them to read his mind and know exactly what he was thinking.

Maybe they all just needed to catch the ferry and take care of Wyndham themselves. Get the job done once and for all. Wyatt was a scout sniper. He could sit, unmoving, on top of a building for days until the right shot presented itself. And after the mayhem Wyndham Croft had let loose on Wyatt's island, against those he card about, he would not miss the shot.

"We definitely can't let our guard down just yet," Bennett finally said.

Gabrielle nodded. "Things are coming together. We have witnesses who are willing to testify. And if Jenkins and Fischer know what's good for them, they'll plead guilty and turn on Croft. I say we remain vigilant, keep our heads swiveling, and continue being cautious. But also hopeful."

"So, we're doing this?" Wyatt said. "We're taking down Wyndham Croft?"

Everyone nodded.

"Ginny died because of him. His own son died because of him. If he hadn't continuously bailed Track out and set such a terrible example for his son, maybe Track wouldn't have been the monster that he was. Wyndham Croft deserves what's coming to him." Gabrielle locked eyes with everyone in the room, one by one. "And I think we're just the crew to deliver it."

One week later …

When Gabrielle Campbell set her mind to something, there was nothing stopping her. She put together an entire team of female lawyers who went for Wyndham Croft's jugular. Not five days after Fischer, Jenkins and Nadine were arrested, Wyndham Croft was arrested on the golf course of his country club on the twelfth hole, and was being charged with murder for hire charges, sexual assault, and rape. As well as at least seven other felonies—including conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering, embezzlement, and fraud—that Gabrielle and her wonder team managed to dig up and pin on him. The man was going to be going away for a very long time.

But she wasn't stopping there. She planned to go after Track's brothers too. She had lawyers in the states where they lived looking into things, since Daddy was no longer available and able to bail them out.

The threat had officially been neutralized. They could all breathe easy and sleep with both eyes closed.

It was Sunday, and the pub was closed to the public for a memorial service for Ginny. Islanders were, of course, welcome, along with her friends and family. Wyatt and Dom catered the whole thing, and the McEvoys covered the cost of everything.

Vica didn't have anything appropriate in black or gray to wear. So now that she was safe, she went with Brooke and Justine to the Town Center Grocery Store for the very first time since arriving on the island nearly a month ago. She headed to their small clothing section to find something for the memorial.

"You look nice," Wyatt said as she made her way down the stairs back at the house. She wore the simple black shift dress she found on the clearance rack. "I know you're probably still getting used to it, but I really do like your hair."

That instantly made her fiddle with it.

He met her at the bottom of the stairs and took her chin between his thumb and finger. "I know we're headed to a funeral of sorts, but you seem off. What's wrong?"

Where to start?

Swallowing, she lifted up the new phone that had arrived two days before, and she was still loading it with what she'd been able to recover from the cloud. "I got an email from an engineering firm in San Francisco. They've offered me a job."

His eyes lit up with excitement. "That's amazing. See? When one door closes, another one, or a window, opens. Only, the fog is definitely going to roll in through the window. San Francisco is very foggy." He was all smiles and joy for her. So how could she be anything but happy as well?

They never had addressed the fact that she said she loved him and he said nothing in return. And it seemed stupid, petty, and pointless to bring it up now, considering everything that they'd been through. She needed to accept the fact that Wyatt just didn't feel the same way about her as she did about him. He cared for her, but he didn't love her. He didn't allow himself to be blinded by their growing connection, or amazing sex, and believe there was more between them than there was. He saved her, but he knew this was temporary and never wavered from that.

Even though they celebrated with hugs and kisses, fractures began to form along her heart.

"How do we look?" Griffon asked, coming to the top of the stairs with Jake.

They both wore dressy, gray shorts and matching plaid short-sleeve shirts with blue bow ties. "Uncle Jagger said bowties are coming back," Jake added.

"I didn't know they went anywhere," Wyatt said. "You two look very dapper. "

"Do we have to cry at this?" Griffon asked, wrinkling his nose. "Because I don't know if I can make real tears. I can make the crying sounds, but I can't promise you real tears." Then he turned to his brother. "You could punch me in the face—"

"Nobody is punching anybody in the face. And no. You do not have to cry at this. We are just paying our respects to Ginny, her family, and remembering her. Nobody has to cry."

Griffon looked relieved and it was the comic relief Vica desperately needed. She held out a hand and Griffon bounded down the stairs and took it while Jake sidled up next to Wyatt. Then they headed out the door like a big, happy, temporary family.

Ginny's service was lovely, albeit tremendously sad. She had indeed suffered from generalized anxiety disorder, which she took medication for, but it was part of the reason why she came off so skittish, and why everyone just assumed she was the mole.

It gave a lot of them something to think about. That you really can't judge a book by its cover. Nobody suspected Nadine because she was calm, poised, bubbly, and knew all the right things to say.

Both Dom and Wyatt gave short speeches, as well as a couple of the front of house staff who struggled to get their words out through the tears.

But it was watching Ginny's family, her parents and three younger siblings—two sisters and a brother—that really eviscerated Vica's soul.

Such a senseless death. And even though she knew deep down that it wasn't her fault, she still felt guilty. She still felt inadvertently responsible.

Sitting on a chair just inside the restaurant, Griffon came over. "It was sad," he said, climbing onto her lap without even bothering to ask if he could. She liked that he felt comfortable enough with her that he knew he was always welcome. "I didn't know Ginny, but I am sad for her family and friends."

Vica's throat grew tight, and she kissed the side of his head. "It is a very sad day, yes. "

"Maybe like … my dad, and Uncle Dom, and stuff, could put money in a jar for Ginny's sisters and brother. So that when they go to school, they have some help. Because that's why Ginny was working here. Right? To make money for college?"

Vica nodded. "Yes, that's right."

"So, like a piggybank for her sisters and brothers? They're younger. It might be a while until they go to school. Maybe they could save like fifty or a hundred dollars by then."

Oh, this little boy was putting Band-Aids all over her heart and he didn't even know it. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his head. "Oh, lupetto, I think that is a wonderful idea. You should definitely bring it up to your dad after the service.

Wyatt was standing off in the corner, a drink in his hand, as he spoke softly with Ginny's parents. He caught her eye and smiled, lifting his glass slightly.

She nodded, but that lump in her throat grew even bigger and tears stung the back of her eyes.

The guillotine poised over her neck had officially been removed. She had a job offer in San Francisco, which would come with a work visa. She no longer needed Wyatt's protection, or his citizenship. Their arrangement was effectively over, and as much as she didn't want to leave, she knew that she needed to. Staying any longer would just prolong the agony and take larger, more irreparable, chunks out of her heart.

Griffon snuggled tighter and deeper into her, yawning and closing her eyes. "I love you, Vica."

Dammit, she tried so hard to keep the tears at bay, but these wonderful little boys just had a way of pulling them out of her. She rearranged her arms around him and kissed the crown of his head. " Ti amo, lupetto. "

Not bothering to open his eyes, he gave a little howl like a wolf pup that added another Band-Aid to Vica's heart and made her laugh, hugging him tighter.

By the time they returned to the house, after cleaning up after the service and saying goodbye to the last of the guests, the boys were exhausted.

"I just want to have a shower and go to bed," Griffon said, ripping off his clip-on bowtie and trudging up the stairs like his socks were full of concrete.

Jake nodded. "I'll read a chapter or two of my book, then go to bed." He followed Griffon up the stairs, his eyelids heavy and hanging halfway across his blue-hazel eyes.

Once the boys disappeared, Wyatt approached Vica. "You okay?"

Could he not see that her heart was a tattered mess and covered in bandages? That she was holding on by mere threads? "I, um … I think maybe I should leave."

His eyes went wide. "L-like now?"

"Well … the threat has been neutralized. I do have an apartment in Seattle I haven't been to in a month, and plants that are probably dead. Um … it's probably for the best. Now that I have a new job offer with a work visa attached, we can get a divorce, and you can move on with your life. I have disrupted it enough." Then she held out her hand for a handshake.

Wyatt stared at it like she was offering him the mangled corpse of a runover squirrel. "What the fuck?" he finally breathed, his voice low. "Why are you … a … a divorce? My disrupted life? Are you being serious right now?"

Vica swallowed and bit down hard on the inside of her cheek to keep from crying. "This was only ever temporary. We both knew that. You helped me when I needed it most. You gave me safety and security and your protection. You married me to keep me from being deported, and I'm not sure how I can ever repay you for that. But … I need to move on with my life and you need to move on with yours."

"Vica!" Griffon shouted from upstairs. "Now that nobody wants to kill you, can we go to the beach tomorrow?"

"How do you plan to tell them ?" Wyatt asked, ire slowly seeping into his tone. "Or do you plan to leave once they're in bed? With no explanation? And leave me to pick up the pieces of their shattered little hearts? "

"Vica?" Griffon called again. "Can we go to the beach?"

"Why aren't you in the shower?" Wyatt called up.

"Jake's in there and I don't feel like showering together. Where's Vica?"

"We can talk about it later, lupetto, " Vica said, wiping away a stray tear.

That seemed to satisfy Griffon, and he didn't yell anymore.

"Why are you doing this?" Wyatt asked.

She blinked at him. "Doing what?"

" This ." He threw his hands wildly up into the air. " Leaving . Why are you leaving?"

"W-well do you not want me to?"

"I—" His nostrils flared, and he blinked a bunch before raking his fingers through his hair, spinning on his heel, and stalking into the living room.

"When I told you about the job offer in San Francisco, you were excited."

He faced her again, confused and exasperated. "Because I am excited."

"But that means I have to leave. So which is it, Wyatt? Do you want me to stay? Or do you want me to go?"

A low, animalistic growl rumbled in his chest a moment before he surged forward, gripped her by the back of the neck, and kissed her hard enough to bruise her lips. When he pulled away, they were both out of breath, staring at each other, chests heaving. "I want … this ," he said, whispering the last word and resting his forehead against hers.

She blinked back tears. "I don't even know what ‘this' is."

Twin muscles at the corners of his jaw bounced as he clenched and unclenched his molars. "Why does anything have to change?"

She huffed a humorless laugh. "Because this is not reality. We were living in a bubble. I was not even allowed to leave the property, and eventually, not even the house. Someone was trying to kill me. You married me out of convenience, not love. You let me live with you to protect me, not because you love me. Not because we were building a life together. And unless any of that has changed, we need to pop the bubble and rejoin reality .

"Rejoin the world that is on fire, and try to maybe help smother some flames wherever we can." She cupped his jaw. "I will never be able to repay you for the kindness and generosity you have shown me. And the love I have for your sons is unlike anything I've ever experienced before. You are an incredible father, and should be so proud of the wonderful young men you are raising." The lump in her throat was near impossible to swallow past now. "I will tell them. I will say goodbye." Then she leaned forward, pressed her lips to his as another tear fell, before she headed upstairs to go and pack her bag, leaving Wyatt standing there in the living room.

She couldn't look back at him, because she knew if she did, leaving would be impossible.

He hadn't yet asked her to stay, which meant, deep down, he didn't want her to.

He cared for her, but he didn't love her. He didn't want his world disrupted. He didn't want his family to change or grow. And that was okay. She'd infiltrated their three-man team long enough, and now it was time for her to move on and let them be. Even if it destroyed her in the process.

Wyatt sat on the chair in the living room while Vica sat with the boys on the couch, one on either side of her.

"But I don't understand," Griffon said, sobbing, "we were going to go to the beach tomorrow. And you promised to make us pizza before you left, and you haven't. You promised."

"I'm sorry, lupetto. I am. I have received a job offer and I must go back to my old life. Back to my apartment, and begin the process of moving. "

"But don't you love us?" Jake asked. "What did we do wrong? What can we do to make you stay?"

She squeezed him into her tighter. "Oh, orsetto , I love you more than my heart has space. My heart has grown bigger to accommodate my love for you. You have done nothing wrong. Your love and kindness has helped me more than you will ever know."

"Then why are you leaving?" Griffon asked before looking to Wyatt. "Do something, Dad."

"She's made up her mind, Griff. We all knew this was temporary." His throat was tight, and his body vibrated with a thousand different emotions as he sat there preparing for the fallout when she left and he had to pick up the pieces of his sons' eviscerated hearts.

"Can't you stay a few more days?" Griffon begged. "Please?"

"I wish I could. But I will come back to visit you. And we can write letters to each other."

He shook his head. "It won't be the same."

There was a knock at the door and Wyatt cleared his throat, then got up to answer it. The whole family was there. Bennett and Justine with the girls, Brooke and Clint with Talia, Dom with Silas, and even Jagger. Burke and Evie were behind them all.

"We came to say goodbye," Brooke said, stepping into the house. She shot Wyatt a glare that he didn't understand, then she rolled her eyes and shook her head. Justine did something similar.

What the hell was that about?

Both Griffon and Jake were crying as Vica stood up from the couch. She hugged and kissed them both several times before finally making her way to the door where she went through every family member and said goodbye. Lastly, was Wyatt.

It was like hugging a stranger, and he hated every second of it.

"You're a wonderful man, Wyatt McEvoy. Thank you for saving me. "

He pressed his lips together. "Thanks, uh … for your help in the restaurant."

Her brows hiked up her forehead and her eyes widened before she nodded, pressed her lips together in a small smile, and said, "You're welcome."

He could have sworn he heard Clint, Bennett, Brooke, and Justine all scoff.

"I'm taking Evie over to Seattle tonight for a deposition in the morning," Burke said, a sling across his chest to hold his left arm in place where he'd been shot in the shoulder. "So I offered to give Vica a ride."

Wyatt had been so caught up with his surprise at her decision to leave that he hadn't even asked if she needed a ride to the ferry, or how she intended to get there.

Pulling in a deep breath, Vica gave him one last smile, leaned in for another hug, kissed him on both cheeks, and stepped over the threshold and out into the driveway.

Burke snagged Wyatt's gaze and shook his head, adding an eye roll for good measure.

What the fuck was everyone's problem?

Griffon and Jake came to stand by Wyatt on either side of him and he wrapped his arms around his sons, each boy trembling as they fought, and failed, to hold back their tears.

"I love you, Vica," Griffon said.

"I love you too, my little wolf."

Her gaze only flicked to Wyatt's briefly before she nodded at Burke, and he took her duffle bag from her and tossed it into the bed of his truck. She climbed into the backseat, and Evie and Burke climbed into the front.

The whole McEvoy clan stood in the driveway and watched as they drove away, hearts crumbling to resemble the gravel beneath their feet.

When Burke's license plate disappeared, so did Dom, Jagger, Bennett, Clint, and the girls. Only Brooke and Justine remained. Along with Wyatt and his boys.

Brooke gave Wyatt a look. "You never said it back. "

Wyatt wrinkled his nose. "Huh?"

"When she told you she loved you. You never said it back," Justine said.

Griffon and Jake both gaped at their father.

"Take away all my books as punishment, Dad," Jake said, shaking his head, "but you're an idiot," Then he stomped into the house and up the stairs.

"Yeah. Take away all Jake's books, but you're an idiot, Dad," Griffon repeated. Then he followed his brother, making sure he really thundered up the stairs, even if it took him longer because he had to stomp hard.

Wyatt opened his mouth, but Brooke cut him off before he even said anything. "Women talk, dumbass."

"She told you she loved you. You either pretended you didn't hear her, or just didn't know what to say back. But either way, you left her hanging." Justine shook her head. "Your kids are right. You're an idiot." Then, still shaking her head, she headed back inside Bennett's house.

"Your kid doesn't seem to have any problem telling a woman he loves her. Maybe you should go get some tips from Griff." Then Brooke walked past Bennett's house and disappeared inside Clint's, leaving Wyatt standing there on his porch confused as fuck.

Eventually, he went inside and upstairs to where his boys were in Jake's room sitting on his bed talking quietly. He sat on the corner of the bed. "I know this is hard. You loved Vica. But we all knew her time here was temporary. We were helping her. And now she doesn't need our help anymore."

Jake glared at Wyatt. "She told you she loved you and you didn't say it back. Why?"

"I—"

"Vica makes us all happy, Dad," Griffon argued. "She is fun, and smart, and kind, and beautiful. And she teaches us things. Like how to make noodles and speak Italian. You speak Italian and you haven't even bothered to teach us. Why would you let her go?"

"She doesn't want to be here," Wyatt protested. "She wanted to leave. "

"Is that what she said?" Jake challenged. "Did she say, ‘I want to leave'?"

"Did you even ask her to stay?" Griffon followed up. "Do you want her to stay?"

Jake met Wyatt's eyes. "Do you love her, Dad?"

Wyatt dropped his gaze to the comforter.

Jake growled. "It's okay to move on after Mom. You can love more than one person. Uncle Bennett loved Aunt Carla, and he loves Justine. Uncle Clint loved Aunt Jacqueline, and he loves Brooke. You can love two people. So if you love Vica, why didn't you tell her? Why didn't you ask her to stay?"

Griffon lifted his tearful gaze to Wyatt's. "I'm not just mad at you, Dad. I'm disappointed too. I think I need some space from you right now so I can cool off. Can you leave me and Jake alone, please?" His little bottom lip trembled, and his eyes filled with more tears. Then he shuddered. "My chest hurts."

Oh, dear god.

Jake hauled Griffon close and wrapped his arms around him for comfort. Then he brought his eyes to Wyatt's. "If you love her, if you want her to stay, then you need to tell her. Because we love her, and we asked her to stay but she still left. Because she doesn't think all the men in this house love her and want her to stay."

Griffon, still snuggled up with his brother, turned to glare at Wyatt.

How was it that his sons were more emotionally mature and able to express themselves than Wyatt was? He did love Vica. He was madly in love with her, and probably had been since nearly the day she arrived at his house and sat at his table with him and his boys. She hadn't been in their lives long, but Griffon was right. She'd already taught them all so much. Most of all, she'd taught him how to love again. How to be vulnerable and real with another person again. And when she told him she loved him, he was still so emotionally stunted, so caught up in his own head, that he didn't know how to react.

And now that might have cost him.

They were married, for Christ's sake .

Husband and wife.

Even though he'd married her to save her from deportation, now he wanted to stay married to her because he couldn't fucking imagine life without her.

He stood up from the bed and the boys both looked at him. "You're right."

Excitement filled their watery eyes.

"I do love her. And I should have asked her to stay."

Griffon extracted himself from Jake's arms. "Then go get her, Dad."

"I … she's headed to the ferry."

"Then run!" Griffon hollered, bouncing on his knees. "Run like the wind!"

Jake snorted. "Or drive. You know, ‘cause that's faster."

Wyatt darted out of the bedroom and bounded down the stairs, the boys hot on his heels. He ran next door and didn't even bother knocking before he barged in on Justine, Bennett, and the girls sitting on the couches in the living room watching a movie.

"About fucking time," Bennett said with an eye roll. He glanced at Justine. "What time did you have in the pool?"

She looked at her watch. "Ooh, this is my time frame." She grinned at Wyatt. "You just earned me fifty bucks."

"I don't have time to berate you all for betting on my love life. Can you watch the boys?"

"Obviously," Bennett said with a bored tone. "Keys are on the console table there."

Wyatt grabbed Bennett's truck keys, kissed the tops of his sons' heads, then bolted out the door.

"Go get her, Dad!" Jake cheered as Wyatt swung behind the steering wheel.

"Don't come back without Vica!" Griffon added. "I'm serious. I'll live here with Uncle Bennett."

Wyatt rolled his eyes as he backed out into the big open driveway, his sons whooping and fist pumping the air even in his rearview mirror when he reached the newly fixed security gate .

He knew the ferry schedule like the back of his hand. He had roughly twenty minutes before it started loading. If he stuck to the speed limit, he could make it to the ferry terminal in fifteen minutes.

But if he got stuck behind some mainlander, Sunday driver, he might miss his window.

Come on fate, please finally throw me a bone.

The ferry was just pulling into the terminal when he arrived. So he had time.

It still had to unload its current passengers, then start to board the ones in the line.

But the line to leave San Camanez was always really long on Sunday evenings and he was forced to park way the hell at the top of the hill.

Normally, people knew to park better so those not wishing to get on the ferry, but still get down to the terminal, could do so. But tourists were idiots with sunburns and too much money. So their consideration for others was about as existent as their philanthropy not simply for the tax break.

Growling, he made a U-turn, took the next right, and parked on the shoulder on a side street. Then he jumped out of the truck and started to run down the hill, glancing at every big, black Dodge Ram he could until he could spot Burke behind the wheel.

Why, all of a sudden, did every third person in the line have a black Dodge truck? What the fuck?

He was nearly all the way down the hill, just twenty cars from the front when he spotted Burke coming back from the little kiosk with three bottles of water in his hands. His gaze snagged Wyatt's and he smiled .

"Who won the pool?" he asked, as Wyatt reached the truck the same time Burke did. "I had you screaming on the end of the dock as the ferry sailed off toward the mainland."

"I love how my love life and happiness has become a moneymaking scheme for all of you," Wyatt said, slightly out of breath.

The back passenger door opened, and Vica stepped out. "Wyatt?"

"I'm an idiot," he said. "Jake and Griffon both said so. And they're right."

Her brows knitted together.

"I didn't say it back because I was scared. Because I'm an emotionally stunted forty-year-old man whose eight-and six-year-old sons are more emotionally mature than me. But they're right. I can love two people. I can love Sheila, and I can love you. Because I do. I love you, Vica."

She pulled in a deep breath through her nose and exhaled out of her mouth.

"I came here to ask you about our divorce."

Even Burke's brows lifted near his hairline.

"I wanted to know if maybe you … didn't want to get one? If maybe you wanted to stay married to me? And stay here. Live here. Love us. Be a family with my boys and I? I don't know what that means for your job, and I don't want to stand in the way of that, but … I should have asked you to stay, and I didn't. So I'm asking you now. Stay. Please."

Evie crawled across the front seat and poked her head out the open driver's side window. "It's impossible not to eavesdrop, obviously, but my brother is an engineer and does a lot of remote work. I think he goes into his office once or twice a week." She shrugged. "Just saying."

Vica's eyes glittered. "You don't want to get a divorce?"

He shook his head. "Not if you don't. I like that you're my wife."

"I like being your wife."

"Does that mean you'll stay?"

Her smile lit up the evening sky as tears filled her beautiful brown eyes, and she nodded. "Yeah. I'll stay. "

Wyatt whooped, then swooped in and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her off her feet, and twirling her around before setting her down on her feet, taking her face in his hands, and kissing her silly.

The loud, obnoxious ferry horn startled them both, making them jump and separate.

"I'm glad you came to your senses," Burke said, slapping Wyatt on the back. "Was worried about you for a second there."

"I'm a slow study," Wyatt said, wrapping an arm around Vica. "Some might—and have —called me an idiot."

Vica's giggle was like a bird song. "I do have an apartment, and plants that I have probably killed. So maybe this week we can go over and start getting things organized?"

He nodded and kissed the side of her head. "Anything you want. As long as your answer to staying and being my wife is still ‘yes.'"

She beamed. "It is."

"And I fully support your career. So we'll figure that out too."

"If you're done with engineering, we could always use another dishwasher in the kitchen," Burke chided.

Vica's laugh stitched up the last remaining frayed fragments on Wyatt's heart. "I dunno, won't people think I got the job because I'm sleeping with the boss?"

Wyatt pinched her butt. "You're married to the boss, which makes you Mrs. Boss. You can have Burke's job it you want it."

Burke flipped Wyatt the bird, then climbed into his truck, while Wyatt and Vica—along with her duffle bag—started the long climb up the hill back to Bennett's truck.

With their fingers laced together, both of them vibrating with love and excitement, it took them a while to reach the truck. They kept stopping to kiss. So by the time he opened the door for her, the line of vehicles had loaded onto the ferry and it was twilight.

She climbed into the passenger seat of Bennett's truck and Wyatt ran around the front of the grill and slid in behind the steering wheel. They held hands the whole way home, constantly looking over at each other and grinning.

It was fully dark by the time they pulled into the driveway on the property, but he hadn't even turned off the engine before the front door of Bennett's house flew open, and Griffon and Jake came barrelling out, tripping over each other. They opened the passenger side door and threw themselves onto Vica.

She had tears in her eyes as she embraced and kissed them both.

"You're here to stay. Right?" Griffon asked.

She nodded. "I'm here to stay."

"And you're going to stay married to our dad?" Jake added.

"I am."

The boys cheered, and Vica and Wyatt both laughed. His face hurt, and he was sure hers did too they were smiling so hard.

As much as he expected their reunion to be a sexy one, the boys wouldn't allow it. They fell asleep—the four of them—in his big, king-sized bed, snuggled up.

"Thanks for not being an idiot anymore, Dad," Griffon said with a big yawn, his arm draped across Vica's stomach. "I love our family."

Jake yawned as well. "Me too."

Vica and Wyatt exchanged looks over the heads of the boys.

"Me too," he whispered. "And I'll never be too scared to tell you I love you again. Because I do. Forever and always, Mrs. McEvoy."

Tears shimmered in her eyes. "I love you too." She kissed the boys' heads. "All three of you."