By now, I have tears pouring down my face; no use in even trying to stop them. Ryder steps forward, sinking his fingers into my hair. “I’ve loved you for a long damn time,Il mio sole. I’ve been lucky enough to watch you grow into the woman you are today. You’re perfect. Perfect for me, perfect for us. You gave me something I never thought I’d have…you. I love you.”
Zane steps forward, handing me a tissue. With a laugh, I wipe my face. He captures my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “When I met you, you captured my attention from that pointforward. No one would ever compare to you. I loved you then, and I never stopped. You gave me a second chance with you. With love. With a family. I love you so damn much.” He jerks me to his chest. “I love you, Beautiful.”
Zane pecks my lips and steps back in line with the other guys. As one they drop down to one knee, I cover my mouth with a gasp, not believing what I’m seeing.
Gage pulls a ring box from his pocket and flips it open. “Will you make us the luckiest guys in the world and marry us?” I look closer and realize Gage has tears in his eyes. “I know we can’t do it the legal way, but Pretty girl, we want to make you ours as officially as we can.”
There was never a doubt. “Yes,” I cry out. “Oh my god, yes!”
Gage whoops and jumps to his feet, swinging me in his arms and making me laugh. He plops me back on my feet. He gently pulls the ring from the box and slides it onto my finger. “We did some modifications, but this was your mom’s.”
I look closer and start crying again. It’s my mom’s huge princess-cut diamond engagement ring, with six smaller diamonds surrounding it, representing all my guys again. “It’s beautiful.” I look at Gage. “How did you get them?” I thought they were long gone when the house blew up, lost to me forever.
Gage shrugs. “I had Micah dig around in the house to find them.”
“You did this?” I whisper.
“We all did,” he answers.
“Don’t let him play it off. Gage planned all this with our help,” Zane says, walking forward. He gently takes my hand, kissing the ring on my finger. “I always knew you’d be my wife, Beautiful.”
One by one, the guys kiss me again, telling me how much they love me, and I tell them the same.
Music starts filtering through, and I can’t stop the giddy laugh.Sure Thingby Miguel starts playing, the song that started it all the first night with Leo and Gage. People start appearing in the meadow, congratulating us. Mateo, Evander, and Micah are the first ones I see. Gerald, Boone, Lucas, Landon, and Noah. Marcella, Vincenzo, and Giovanni. Ghost and Caden. I squeal when I see Nina step out frombehind Alexey and Dmitri. Now that Viktor is dead, she’s free to do what she wants, but from the way Aldo is lingering close to her, I feel that Nina will be in New York for a while. Rocco and Katherine make it to me, jerking me into their arms. Everyone is there; this is my family.
Family doesn’t have to be blood. True families are the ones that make life worth living.
Many might not agree with our relationship, but I tell those people to fuck off. You don’t know love until you have love as I have with all of them. Love as my mom and dad had.
Even after everything in my life, I finally have that too. With my guys, my family.
We have our whole future ahead of us.
And I’m going to start living it as their wife.
Epilogue
ALESSA
6 MONTHS LATER
“Thank you for bringing me here,Il mio sole,” Ryder says, pulling me into his side.
We’re sitting on the beach behind the beach house just like we used to. It was our favorite spot to go growing up. I’m a ball of nerves because I brought him as a distraction.
They all worked so hard on the proposal and helped me with the commitment ceremony in three days that I have surprises for all of them. We wanted to wait to have the ceremony until the house was done, which, thankfully, it finally is. The shell of it anyway; anything else will be done by the time we get back from our honeymoon.
I replaced Zeus’s headstone for Zane and got his name cleared of any charges regarding Jay. I gave Leo free rein over all my businesses to do what he does best. They’re running even better than when I had them. His is slotted to open very soon. For Dex, I got a tattoo to cover Jay’s name carved on my back that matched the one he has on his arm, an angel licking a knife that he got years ago. I didn’t find out until recently that he got that for me.
Gage was hard because I didn’t know how it would turn out. I found his mom; something never sat right with me about her justleaving. I tracked her down, which took months to find out Conner ran her out of town when she refused to abort him. They still have some stuff to work through, but she truly is an amazing woman. And the woman Gage got his blue eyes from.
Ryder and Holden’s surprises are still left, which is why I have Ryder at the beach. Holden is next.
Right on cue, I hear the rumbling of an engine and jump to my feet. “Come on,” I say, jerking Ryder to his feet.
“What’s the rush?” Ryder laughs, kissing the top of my head.
I pull him up the pathway beside the house to the driveway, and he stops dead in his tracks.
