Without another word, he gets back into the car. His driver circles to the other side, climbing in and driving away before any of us can say another word.
“Well, that was extra fuckin weird,” Iris says, and we all exchange humorous looks of agreement.
“Never a dull moment in my life, huh?” I tell them, following the guys inside.
Once the door to the break room opens, Aurora is up and rushing into my arms. I catch her, holding her close and reveling in the realization that this bullshit is finally over.
“Everything okay?” She asks, her hands smoothing down my chest like she’s looking for unseen injuries.
“Yeah, princess. Everything is fine.” She nods, trusting that I have things under control and I’ll let her know if I don’t. I want to be open with her. I’ve tried the alternative, and it got us all in deep shit. From the moment I said I do, I made the commitment to be a part of a team. From now until the very end, it’s her and I against all the world’s problems.
epilogue
BREAKER
It’s beensix months since I’ve had blood on my knuckles. Six months since I told my wife I would back off from the field work, and I meant it. But this was a special case, a personal job. I’ve been searching for the man who is now tied to a chair in the warehouse for nearly a year. Since the day Aurora explained every detail of the pain in her past to me, I made the promise to myself that this man would die at my hand.
He wasn’t hard to find. Erik Butler is an executive financial counselor for his father’s consulting firm. I found him so easily. But getting my hands on him was a different story. Had he been married with 2.5 kids and volunteered at church on the weekend, I may have felt some guilt about capturing him. But he’s just a big of a piece of shit as he was the night he laughed in Aurora’s face as she suffered.
I found him in the back room of a strip joint in Atlanta, snorting coke off some chick’s ass while another one went down on him. Obviously this man is a model citizen, and the world is really gonna miss him.
“What the fuck do you want, dude? Was one of those bitches your woman or some shit? Because nobody said anything to me,” he snaps, tugging on his restraints. His pupils are the size of saucers, almost covering the natural brown of his iris’s completely. He’s sweating profusely as his body comes down from the high.
“Oh, you’re not here because of those women, Erik. You’re here because ofmywoman,” I reply, picking up a blade from the table next to the door.
“Whoever she is, I swear she wanted it, bro. They always fucking want it,” he spits back at me, his cocky smirk telling me the torture he inflicted on my wife was not the last of his crimes.
“I can assure you, shit stain, my wife did not want it,” I tell him, crouching in front of him and balancing the tip of the knife against his kneecap. “While I am certain she was not your last, I feel comfortable suggesting she was probably the first woman you raped.”
His eyes, unfocused only moments ago, snap back to reality as realization dawns on him. Memories flood back as the blood drains from his face, his skin turning pale and ashen.
“That wasn’t rape, dude. Rory was my girlfriend, okay? That night… she agreed to come to the party, dude. The way she was dressed, I mean, she was practically begging for it. You married her, you’ve seen her body. You didn’t know her back then, okay? How was I supposed to tell them no when she was so wasted, she was hanging off of everyone?” With every word he speaks, fury builds in my bones. I’m furious for the girl who lost everything that night. Her passion, her self-worth, her trust in other people, all wiped out in the blink of an eye.
“You think you knew her because you saw her naked? Tell me about her dreams, what breaks her heart, what is she passionate about? You had an opportunity to know such a fucking goddess among men, and you destroyed her. You've seen her skin, and you've touched her body. But you still know as much about her as a book whose cover you’ve never opened. You didn’t fucking know her then, and you never will. She put herself back together after you tore her apart. Watching your worthless life end? Thats for me.” I tell him, his eyes flashing in shock for only a moment, before I draw the edge of my blade across his throat. I don’t wait to watch him die. I simply shoot off a text letting Iris know to call the cleanup crew, and I leave the warehouse.
I feel the peaceful sense of resolution wash over me as I ride home. I meant what I told him. His death was purely for me, to fulfill my need for vengeance in her name. But I’m glad to know her nightmares won’t be plagued by shadows of that man anymore.
I pull my bike into the garage, washing my hands in the sink there before walking through the side door into my house. Devil in a Dress by Teddy Swims blares through the sound system and I see Aurora’s hip swaying to the beat where she stands in front of the stove.
She’s been teaching for a few months now in her own studio, and it’s been the greatest joy of my life to watch her fall in love with dancing again. She comes home with a smile on her face every single day, even when Scarlett gives her a run for her money during her ballet lessons.
Stopping behind her, I wrap my hands around her hips, pulling her ass against me as her arm snakes back to wrap around my neck.
“Don’t distract me, Negan. You know how badly I want to fuck you every second of the day right now. If I walk away, dinner is gonna burn,” she says, laughing lightly.
My hands slide forward, smoothing across her growing belly and feeling a small kick from our son. I never get tired of feeling him move inside her, knowing that despite all the odds stacked against us, we’re living our happily ever after. Getting pregnant so soon wasn’t exactly what Aurora and I planned, but birth control made Aurora crazy, and I fucking hate condoms. We both came to the conclusion that if it happened, then it happened. And when a man and a woman love each other… shit definitely happens.
Our son and Everett and Kelsea’s daughter will only be a few months apart. With the Harding twins leading this circus, I know we’re all gonna get our payback for any trouble we caused our parents growing up. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. Watching Aurora grow our child has been the most incredible miracle, one I am completely undeserving of. But like the greedy motherfucker I am, I’m going to take every happiness she gives me without argument.
“Am I distracting you?” I ask, kissing down the column of her neck. She releases a soft moan, the sound stirring a need within me that has never diminished for this woman.
“Jason Francis Negan, go sit down.” Her use of my full name, my real full name, stops me dead in my tracks. My hands still against her body, lips frozen in place. How the fuck did she figure it out? She turns in my arms, a sly smirk gracing her perfect face.
“How did you-” I ask, but she cuts me off.
“I had a nice long conversation with your mama today about baby names, honey.” The look of pure satisfaction on her face right now is hilarious. “Imagine her shock when she found out I didn’t even know your middle name?”
“Now you’re conspiring with my own mother?!” I say, feigning shock but desperately holding back my laughter from breaking free.
“Oh, you’re totally screwed now, babe. But I’ll tell you right now, I will not name my son Francis. Middle name? Maybe. But that’s all you get,” she says, turning back to focus on dinner.
Doesn’t she know by now? I’m a fucking slave for this woman. I would carve my own heart out and present it to her on a silver platter. She should have told me no the first time I tasted her, but it’s too late now. She’s a part of me, and I’ll never let her go.
