Epilogue

I never knewwhat type of father I would be until my first child was born.

Finding out I was utterly devoted to my daughter came as a shock, because children have never been anything more than an annoyance to me. And they still are. All except for Evangeline.

Aunt Isabella rushes forward and grabs her up, tossing her gently in the air.

“Are you excited about being a big sister?” she coos as she sets my daughter down.

“Bro-der Nee-co gonna listen!” Eva says with a nod.

Ivy comes up alongside me and accepts a hug from my aunt.

“You look absolutely radiant,” Aunt Isabella enthuses.

“I don’t feel that way, but thank you.”

My sister Maria walks through the door with her new boyfriend, who is an artist. Her divorce was quite the family scandal, but she didn’t let that stop her from finding joy, and in the end, it doesn’t feel good talking shit about someone who’s found happiness.

Maria squats to greet Eva. “How is my little redheaded nieceling?”

“I’m hungry.”

Maria chuckles. “Then you’re in the right place. I gain three pounds every time I come to Sorellina’s.”

I watch Ivy as she mingles with the family, laughing with my mother and hers, who are now the best of friends.

Granddad enters the restaurant, and the grandkids flock to him. He’s an old goat, but he gets around like a man half his age, never tiring.

The only time I remember him looking frail was on that hospital bed. He’d gone in for a routine colonoscopy, then got a harebrained idea to fake an illness to get me to wed.

It worked. Even if he almost got me killed, it worked.

We eat, talking long into the night, and when it’s finally time to go, Eva begs to stay with her ‘grans’, because they spoil her rotten.

Jade greets us at the door, cocktail in hand. Over the last few years, Ivy and her have grown close, and now they’re practically sisters.

“How was forced family fun?” she asks Ivy.

“It was nice, but exhausting. Eva’s cheeks are probably bruised from all the pinching they endured.”

Jade laughs. “I put away all the groceries. Now I’m going to head over to Maverick’s.”

“Remember—text me all the details.”

“All right, you perv,” Jade says as she exits the penthouse.

I pour myself a drink and mix Ivy a mocktail, because even if she can’t have alcohol, she should still have something special.

“Thank you,” she says in that shy voice that never fails to get me hard. Truthfully, everything about my wife makes me want to fuck her, but now is not the time. Not after the long night we’ve had.

I look at my wife as she takes a sip, enamored by her perfection. She still wears the collar I gave her so long ago, placing strips of leather on it to match whatever she’s wearing.

And I love her for it.

I love that she wants to be mine. That she wants to be owned by me.

But the truth is, it’s me who’s owned by my beautiful spider wife.

We settle into the couch with our drinks and put on the latest true crime drama.

“Oh, that was totally a widow’s job,” Ivy points emphatically at the screen.

“Nah—”

“Seriously—it’s not always husbands. I promise you, it was The Web.”

I laugh at how crazy this all is. That our story is so absurd, starting with my grandfather faking an illness and ending with me marrying a would-be husband killer.

And I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Until I take my dying breath, I belong to my wife just as she belongs to me.

And heaven help the spider that tries to come between us.

The End