“As I understand, you’ve got the Barlowe brothers’ property, Wild Heart Ranch, and the Hernández property. I believe my ranch abuts the Hernández property.”
Yaya and Emil sneak a look at each other. “Oh, so you’ll be our neighbor? How lovely. We’ll have to invite you over for dinner when you’re in town again.”
“My plans are to visit again around Christmas, so your generosity is most welcome.”
That old dog. I shake my head.
I’ve spent the last three months working with the horses and getting my family set up here. Wimberley, as they always have been, was helpful in getting the paperwork processed. It turns out my trafficking visa smoothed the way for bringing in my family. I’m sure buttloads of Wimberley’s cash took care of the rest of it, but I’m told not to ask questions.
Even though I cut short my revenge path, I did make quite a bit of money. Erik was right. Wimberley gave me the full value of New Orleans’ property. When I learned our neighbors were retiring, I made an offer on the land. The main house was lovely, and my family stayed in the bunkhouse until the renovations were done last month.
No one adores my family as much as Erik and I do, but we were relieved to see them go. I don’t know how many more silent orgasms I could’ve endured.
That’s a lie. I can endure many, many more as long as they come at Erik’s hands.
“Hey, what has you smiling?” Erik asks, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.
“Silent orgasms.”
He chokes on the beer he’s just sipped, laughing. “Excellent. We’ll save that thought for later tonight, but we’re about to begin dinner. You ready?”
I hug him close and nod. “I very much am.”
We gather around the table and begin as we always do, with our good, grateful, and leave-behind things. Bram orchestrates tonight’s round so that I go last. When it’s my turn, I take a deep breath and smile nervously at everyone.
“So…the one good thing from this week is I now know what I want to do. I appreciate that I’ve been given the time to figure it out. Finally, I am leaving behind a few old restrictions I didn’t realize I’d been putting on myself.”
Erik kisses the top of my head. “And what is it you want to do?”
“I’ve actually done the first thing I want to do,” I say, grinning at him. “Antonio Allende is not a name I recognize. I don’t know who that guy is. Ant Hernández, on the other hand? He is who I am inside. He is who I am most proud of.”
I open the envelope I’ve hidden under my plate, handing Gael the documentation inside. “This came in last week, and I wanted us to all be together when I showed it to you.”
He unfolds the papers, then holds them to his chest. “It’s a notification that your name change request was approved.”
I nod, and he reaches out to squeeze my hand.
My family surrounds me, pulling me into a group hug, nearly smothering me. My grandparents are in tears—happy ones. I feel sad my mother was estranged from her family in the end, but had she lived, I know the warmth of this family would have drawn her back in. I don’t say this out loud, but taking back her maiden name is my way of doing that for her after her death.
“Ant Hernández has a nice ring to it,” Erik says, kissing my hand as everyone takes their seats. “I can’t wait to hear the next part.”
Grinning at his impatience, I continue, “As for what else I’d like to do, I’d like to keep working with the horses. That has been so healing, and I’m oddly good at it, I think.”
Levy smiles at me. “You’reverygood at it.”
I keep going. “I’m sure I could stop there and be satisfied, but something is missing.”
Erik’s expression is thoughtful. “It’s hard to have a regular job when there’s so much work to be done.”
“Exactly. Initially, I assumed that meant being the one to take down the people who hurt me, but that didn’t go the way I thought it would.” I rub my chest, looking at a table full of people who’ve done nothing but love and support me. “The idea of me going after those people must’ve terrified you. Probably made you worry about my sanity too.”
An amused-sounding grunt leaps from Gael’s throat, but he coughs back a laugh and gestures for me to continue.
Narrowing my eyes at him, I also fight back a laugh. “Still, you supported me in the best way, and going on that trip gave me the opportunity to fall in love with Erik.”
We exchange disgusting, schmoopy looks, just like I’ve seen on the rest of the loved-up suckers here. It’s not so bad, really.
Erik pulls me in for a brief kiss, then I continue. “The trip also allowed me to discover that what Javier told me all those months ago was true. Revenge always takes its pound of flesh, and making my life about revenge is a sure way to stay in darkness.”
