The men are thrown on the floor at my feet, and I stare at my biological father in confusion.
“I wasn’t able to protect you for the first part of your life, so I thought I should make up for lost time.” One of the men groans and rolls over. I don’t recognize him, but Riku’s eyes widen in surprise.
“That’s Urie Sokolov.”
“Yes, it is. He will be found in a hotel room, which will be booked by my men under his name, this afternoon. Conveniently, he will have five kilograms of coke on him, enough to put him in jail for a long time,” Diego says conversationally.
Ash nudges the other lump of meat, because these two have been beaten within an inch of their lives and can’t be described as anything else. This one is fully unconscious, and when Ash manages to roll him over with his foot, I gasp. “That’s Matthew Shaw! What the fuck?”
“Yes, it is, and I should cut off his hands and dick for what he did to you.” Gone is the kind and quiet man I’ve gotten to know over the last few days, replaced with the crime lord he had to become to survive. “But I am pretty sure that would upset you, so he will go on a flight back to the States to await trial for his wrongdoings. I’ll make sure that his judge will throw the book at him. Who knows? He might just wind up with coke on him too, so even if he gets off on the sexual assault charge, they can’t overlook the cocaine trafficking.”
I blink a couple of times before throwing my arms around him. When we met, I just wanted answers. He owed me no other penance, nor did I expect him to make up for my mother’s shortcomings. I thought we could get to know each other as friends, then become family with a little more time. I didn’t expect him to treat me like this… like his daughter. I’m overwhelmed by the feelings bubbling up inside me, but in this case, it’s a good thing. All I can feel right now is a sense of belonging and love. This just feels right, like he was always meant to be another shield at my front and guard at my back. It’s okay, I realize, to feel this way about him. I know Dad would be proud of me for making room for another special person in my life, especially knowing what Diego has just done for me, and just like that, I make a decision.
“Thank you, Dad,” I say, and his arms immediately wrap around me in that tight kind of hug that only a father can give.
“Anything for you and Jax.”
When we break apart, I notice the guys have all drifted away. I’m assuming they are in the car. Diego says something in Spanish while snapping his fingers and pointing to the two beaten men. His guys pick them up and haul them away. There’s no fanfare about it, which is fitting. These two assholes don’t deserve to be a big deal. They deserve to be quietly caught and serve the time they have earned.
“I guess we better get going. You promise you’ll come up when their baby is born next month?”
“Yes, my identity as Diego Blanco is well established, so I can come and go as much as I want. Plus, it helps that my daughter, son, and best friend have a private plane at their beck and call.” He escorts me out to the car.
“Well, I’ll see you then, and again, thank you for everything.”
He smiles and waves to the guys in the car. “If any of them give you any trouble, just let me know.”
I give him a kiss on the cheek, taking one last moment to appreciate the ease between us now. “They won’t, but okay.”
I climb in the back next to Cole, who puts an arm around my shoulders.
“Why do I get the feeling that your dad just offered totake careof us?”
I look back as the car makes its way down the driveway, my dad getting smaller and smaller until he’s out of sight. “Because he did. You all better watch your backs. I’ve got two dads now, and neither would hesitate to bury you in a shallow grave.”
“They’d probably do it together,” he grumbles before kissing me hard.
When he pulls away, I sigh and lean into him for the trip to the plane. “I don’t know about all of you, but I’m ready to get home. I want to start making plans for our house and get life back to normal.”
“Sounds perfect,” Ash says from the driver’s seat.
“I can’t wait to see your house and the tigers and the horses and Willow Castle and the zoo.” I smother a smile as Edie rattles off a list of every single thing she’s excited about for our future. Edie and Ash are going to move into Dad’s place on my and Hope’s floor until we can find a rental big enough for all of us. Just the thought of our future, all of us being together in one place, making a home, has my cheeks straining with a smile. I seriously can’t wait to begin the rest of my life with these guys.
None of us knows what the future has in store, but this princess finally has faith that it’ll be her happily ever after.
Epilogue
“Ican’t believe it took me so long to convince Tom to tell us where she was,” Harlow complains as our limo pulls up in front of a small castle hidden away in the south of Ireland.
“It was only because the baby is coming soon that he finally caved and gave me the information. Well, that and some seriously bendy sex positions that I surprised even myself with, but that’s neither here nor there.”
Harlow grins as I wrinkle my nose and gag a little bit. “Ew, I don’t want to know those details.”
She scoffs, but it’s playful, the easy back and forth that sisters should have. It’s been both a long and short journey for us, but we love each other, and I know my life is more complete because I have her in my life as my sister. “AndIdidn’t want to know details about your foursome with men I basically consider brothers, but you were happy to share many details of Jace’s, Alex’s, and Shane’s talents.”
I smirk and shrug. “Fair enough. Sex talk with each other is off the table. Agreed?”
“Agreed, but Hope is still fair game.”
