I reach to the nightstand. Pull out the small box I’d hidden there.
Her eyes widen.
I open it. A ring. Simple. Silver. Engraved inside with one word:Always Mine.
“I was gonna wait,” I say. “But I don’t want to. Not after tonight. I need you to know. You’re it for me.”
She gasps.
“Marry me,” I say. “Let me protect you. Love you. Build something real with you.”
Her hands shake as she takes the ring.
“Yes,” she whispers. “God, yes.”
I slide it onto her finger, and then I pull her down, kissing her like a man who just found his whole damn heart.
Because I did.
We fall asleep hours later, tangled in sheets and each other, the ring glinting on her hand.
My woman.
My world.
Mine.
Epilogue
Ava
Thesunfiltersthroughthe trees, casting warm golden streaks across the tall grass where the blanket is spread. It’s late afternoon in Lovestone Ridge, the kind of quiet summer day that feels like a deep breath after the storm.
Venom is stretched across the edge of the picnic blanket, kitty paws in the air, belly exposed like the lazy menace he is.
Chaos is crouched nearby, eyes fixed on a butterfly with the kind of single-minded focus only a cat can pull off.
And Muffin—our enormous, slobbery, fiercely protective mutt—is lying beside me like a weighted blanket with a heartbeat. He thumps his tail lazily every time I shift.
It’s been a year and a half.
One whole year since Mason “Viper” Kellen rescued me from that basement. One year since he carried me out of thatnightmare and into something that looks a hell of a lot like a future.
We married just weeks after he proposed. Neither of us wanted to wait. There were no fancy plans. Just a courthouse, a patch, and a promise. And now? We live in a bigger cabin we built together up in the ridge, one with wide windows and a deck that wraps around the side, perfect for watching thunderstorms or making out under the stars.
We’re trying for kids now. It hasn’t happened yet, but the trying has its moments.
My stepfather, Richard Smith, is rotting in prison, serving time for kidnapping, assault, and a laundry list of things he thought he got away with. The woman who helped him is locked up too. Turns out she had a history of running "errands" for men like him. She won’t be walking free any time soon.
Nadia moved to Lovestone Ridge not long after I did. After her own adventure, if I can call it that without my stomach dropping into my shoes. But maybe she was meant to find him. She found the love of her life, and now she’s safe. That’s all that matters.
A shadow falls over me, and then Mason lowers himself onto the blanket beside me. His cut’s draped across his lap, and he’s shirtless beneath it, golden skin kissed by the sun.
He’s got a bottle of lemonade in one hand and a smirk playing on his mouth like he knows exactly how good he looks.
“You think Chaos is ever gonna catch that butterfly?” he asks, watching the cat with lazy amusement.
“Not a chance,” I say, smiling.
