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Epilogue - Xavier

Xavier

Four Months Later

“ T he couch stays.”

Disbelief coated Victoria’s face at my declaration. “You hate that couch.”

“I don’t hate it,” I drawled. “It’s unseemly.”

She half coughed, half laughed. “Oh okay. That makes much more sense.”

Snarky Victoria ranked quite high among my favorite Victorias. I chuckled, grabbing one of the last boxes sitting in the foyer.

“Where does this one go?”

“Upstairs. Charlotte’s old room.”

I trotted up the curved staircase to the first room on the right. Placing the box on a chair, I glanced around. We’d repainted the walls and donated most of the furniture. Victoria insisted on keeping the nightstand, which now displays a few photos of her and Charlotte from when they were teenagers. This room will mainly be just a quiet space for Victoria to use when she wants to feel closer to her twin.

“Hey.” She poked her head in the doorway. “I was wrong. The other box goes in here. Would you mind bringing that one down to the living room and the other one up?”

“Do I look like your valet?”

“No. You look like my hot boyfriend who only has a few days to help me finish unpack and get our house set up before training takes you away from me.”

Our house .

I fucking loved the way that sounded.

After I finished what little work needed to be done on this cottage, I sold my house and, well, we live here together now. At least while Victoria’s in England, which will probably be during her off-season.

I also kept my flat in London at her request.

“You win, city princess.” I picked up the box and stopped to kiss her on my way out. “But this is my last week of training. The season ends next Sunday. Then you can boss me around as much as you want.”

“I’d have better luck taming a dragon.”

“Maybe.”

I heard her giggling when I went downstairs.

After we got all the boxes sorted and in the right rooms, we ordered take away from Black Rose and curled up on the couch to watch some TV.

“Does it feel weird knowing this is your last week with the team?” she asked, sopping up the rest of the mayonnaise with her chips.

“Sort of. Don’t think it’ll really hit me until the final whistle blows.”

Announcing my retirement back in February set off a firestorm not just here in England, but around the football world. I was hounded by the media day and night. All of them wanted to know why I’d walk away from a storied twenty year career with the same club.

My responses of it’s time and I’m ready to start the next chapter of my life didn’t satisfy them at all.

Fans were a different story.

I’ve never received this much outpouring of support from every fan base. Players from all the clubs reached out, too. The countless messages and comments on social media from the lads around the league was humbling.

Not to mention the players from the German, Spanish, and Italian leagues, and the ones from as far away as Argentina and Brazil.

I was the most surprised to see the guys from the New York Legends send their congratulations. Noah, Tre, Jax, and Dante all posted photos from their time here in London with messages of support.

“Think you’ll change your mind after the big tournament in Italy?” Victoria brushed crumbs off her leg. She’d thrown on jeans and one of my t-shirts this morning. No makeup or perfectly styled hair. It was tossed up in a messy ponytail. She was still the most stunning creature ever. “I’ve seen it happen. Athletes retire, then they have second thoughts and, poof. They’re back.”

“I won’t change my mind.” My heart rate spiked.

“Wanna make a bet?”

I shook my head with a grin. “No. But I do want dessert. You?”

“Actual dessert or…?” She struck a sexy pose.

“Actual.” I pulled her close for a kiss. “I’ll snack on you later.”

“What did you order?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“I thought you didn’t like surprises.”

“I don’t.” I walked toward the kitchen trying like hell to calm my erratic pulse.

I expected to be nervous but not at this level. No, I wasn’t nervous about dessert or her teasing me about changing my mind. Busying myself with getting plates, spoons, napkins, and more food kept the focus off the knots tangling in my stomach.

I was nervous about what I planned to give her.

Something had changed within me over the last year. The dark, heavy cloud of anger I’d allowed to hover over me for so many years was gone. There were days when it edged its way back but for the most part Victoria’s light kept any darkness away.

At first, it felt weird. Holding onto all that anger was like a shield. Dr. Frances knew it the first time we met. He’d been rather pleased when I finally said it out loud at one of our sessions earlier this year. Letting it go allowed me to lower my defenses.

That shit was terrifying.

But I didn’t need any barriers with Victoria. She saw through all of them anyway.

“Are you making the dessert yourself?” The sound of her voice startled me. “You’ve been in here forever.” She hopped up on the stool and leaned forward onto the counter. “I see plates and utensils but no dessert. What are you up to, Maddox?”

I smirked, opening the refrigerator and pulling out a tin. “We still have to work on your patience, love.”

Victoria’s face lit up when she opened the container. “Eton Mess? I haven’t had this in years .”

“No excuse for that anymore. You live ten minutes away from the best Eton Mess in England.”

Spreading her arms, she squealed a little too enthusiastically over strawberries, meringue, and cream. “Get your sexy ass over here.”

I did, wrapping her in my arms tight.

“If I’d known this was all it took, I would have bought you dessert the first night we met.”

She dipped a finger in the cream and licked it off. “Too predictable. I wouldn’t change a thing about how we got here.”

The knots in my stomach tripled. I felt like the sixteen year old kid who walked onto the pitch at Royal City for the first time. Determined but scared about how the next chapter of my life would reveal itself.

It’s now or never.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a small velvet pouch. Victoria stilled, her emerald eyes growing wider and wider.

“I wouldn’t change anything either.” Turning the pouch upside down, a sparkling diamond ring landed softly in my palm. An official proposal was inevitable. Asking Victoria if she’d let me spend the rest of my life with her on New Year’s Eve cemented that. But I wanted the proposal to be just for us. No crowds, no cameras, no friends, no outside attention. The rest of the world can wait.

This was one of the most important moments of my life.

I only wanted to share it with her.

“You once told me you didn’t believe in fate. I didn’t either. I didn’t believe in anything that wasn’t football, the adoration of millions, or winning.” What the fuck is my voice doing? The shaking needs to stop. “But then one day I was driving home and saw this stunning redhead pacing frantically on the side of the road. I had to stop. Your smile captivated me immediately. Your sense of humor, intelligence, warmth, and compassion filled a part of my soul I’d neglected for years. All I wanted to do was heal your scars and make life beautiful for you. What I didn’t anticipate was your ability to heal mine. And now, not only do I believe in fate, I also believe in love. I believe in forever.”

A choked sob bled through the hand Victoria clasped over her mouth.

Clearing my throat, I held the ring up. “Victoria, will you spend forever with me?”

Her head bobbed up and down in a fierce nod.

Grinning, I pulled her hand away from her mouth. “I can’t hear you, love.”

“Yes.” She kissed me. “Ask me again. Ask me every day for the rest of our lives so I can always remember how this feels.”

“And how does it feel?” I slipped the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly.

“Like fire. Smoldering and warm and consuming.” She traced the tattoo on my neck. “It feels beautiful.”

Sweeping my thumb over her lips, I leaned my forehead to hers. “I’ll ask you every day.”

“Promise?”

“Count on it.”

When she kissed me again, a deep, euphoric ache spread through my chest, more intense than the thing I’d felt that first day we met. I don’t know what I’d done to deserve her. I don’t know how or why fate chose us.

What I did know was simple.

She was mine.

I was hers.

And I would never let her go.

“Let’s go lads, let’s go ,” Cade shouted, clapping his hands as he led us out of the tunnel and onto the pitch.

I looked down at Theo when he grabbed my hand and smiled. We always escort kids out with us before a game. I thought it was fitting to have my number one fan with me tonight.

Thousands of supporters roared and chanted and sang when we lined up on the pitch. The atmosphere hummed with anticipation. It was almost its own living, breathing beast.

The last match of the season was finally here.

My final match in a Royal City kit.

Of course it was against West London United. And yeah, it was for the league championship. Our third in a row if we walked away victorious.

The public service announcer asked everyone to turn their attention to the in-stadium monitor. Normally it featured the line-ups for each club.

Not this time.

My jaw dropped when a video started playing. I saw my sixteen year old self diving for the ball. Then I saw my sixteen year old self stumble his way through an interview.

Bloody hell.

I knew the club planned something but I was not expecting this.

Cade elbowed me. “Look at that handsome little face. What happened?”

“Piss off.”

“A bit heavy on the pomp and circumstance, don’t you think?”

“Wait until it’s your turn.”

He laughed. “Take it all in, Maddox. You’re a massive hero. An arse, but a well-loved one. You deserve it.”

“Just get the ball in the back of the net, mate.”

If I let myself get caught up in the tribute video it’ll throw me off. I needed to be focused. Especially with Zach Donovan ready to make my final appearance an unpleasant one.

We’d texted a handful of spirited jabs back and forth in the lead up to this game. Although I do think he tried to take the piss out of me a few times. The last thing I wanted was to end my Royal City career with someone scoring on me.

Thank goodness the video only lasted a minute. We had football to get to.

We all gathered in a huddle near midfield before the whistle.

As the captain, Cade usually espoused some words of wisdom. Tonight was no different.

“Listen up, gents. We know what we have to do. That trophy is ours. Let’s win it for the fans and for each other. And let’s give Maddox a final match to fucking remember.”

When we broke the huddle and I walked toward my goal, the fans started chanting my name. Always the crowd pleaser, I lifted an arm and waved.

I took my place on my line and looked up into the crowd.

Victoria was there, along with Bennet. I couldn’t see them from where I stood but I could feel her presence. Nobody knew we were officially engaged yet. We decided to keep it just between us for a little bit longer.

This last week with her has been absolute heaven.

I glanced up into the crowd again. I knew approximately where she’d be sitting.

My heart stilled.

A familiar red ponytail bounced as she trotted down the stairs to her seat. It helped that she wore my jersey. Not a store bought one. Mine. She’d kept it from when I spent last summer with her in Manhattan.

I loved seeing my name on her.

I loved knowing someday soon she’ll be my wife.

I loved that every struggle, every setback, and every triumph led to this very moment.

The whistle sounded to start the match.

The next chapter of my life has begun.

Not all masks hide the truth…

She’s the sole heiress to a fortune and the most successful American football team in history.

But she doesn’t want that life.

He’s the aristocrat who owns the Premier League’s marquee club, and has the world at his beck and call.

But he can’t have her.

Bennet and Hannah’s forbidden relationship is put to the test in the decadent world of money, power, and dark secrets in The Legacy .

Still to come in the Royals and Legends series…

The Elite

The Striker

The Trophy

Thank you so much for reading The Penalty . If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on the platform(s) of your choice. I would be so grateful. Reviews help spread the word. Every single one is appreciated.

xo,

Lynn

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