"Hades?"
"Yeah, Angel?"
"Thank you.For everything.For saving me, for loving me, for giving me this family."
"Don't thank me for loving you.That's the easiest thing I've ever done."
"Still.Thank you."
"You're welcome.Now sleep.Tomorrow we start planning a wedding."
"A small one," she murmurs, already drifting."Just family."
"Whatever you want."
But I'm smiling in the dark because I know what family means now.The club, the kids, Evangeline and me.That's not small.That's everything.
I listen to her breathing even out, waiting until I'm sure she's asleep.Then I let myself relax, sinking into the mattress.
My mind drifts over the past six months.The phone call about Marcus and Calla.The funeral.Meeting Evangeline again after years of wanting her from a distance.Taking in five grieving children.Ethan's betrayal and death.The warehouse.Nearly losing everything.
But we made it.Against all odds, we built something beautiful from the wreckage.
Calla, if you're listening, I hope you're proud.I hope you know your kids are safe and loved.I hope you know I found my way out of the darkness you always said I could escape.
Thank you for trusting me with them.With her.
I'll spend the rest of my life proving I was worthy of that trust.
Sleep pulls at me, gentle and insistent.I let it take me, secure in the knowledge that I'll wake up to this.To her.To them.To home.
Hell's behind me now.This?This is heaven.
And I'm never letting go.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
hades
Six months later,and the backyard looks like something out of Evangeline's dream.
White chairs are arranged in neat rows.Flowers strung between posts.String lights are ready to glow when the sun sets.Simple, elegant, exactly what Evangeline wanted.
I stand at the makeshift altar, Tempest beside me as my best man.The rest of the brothers line the front row, cuts polished, expressions solemn.This isn't just a wedding.It's a promise.A vow that family is everything.
Mason, Jake, and Emma sit in the second row, dressed up and trying not to fidget.Lily holds Sophie's hand, both of them in matching lavender dresses that Evangeline spent weeks picking out.
My kids.All of them.
The officiant, a retired judge Ghost knows, gives me a subtle nod.Any minute now.
Music starts, something soft and acoustic that Evangeline chose.The guests turn, and my breath catches.
There she is.
Evangeline walks down the makeshift aisle toward me.She's choosing this.Choosing me.Choosing us.
Her dress is simple, cream-colored and flowing.Her hair is down, natural waves catching the late afternoon light.No veil, no elaborate makeup.Just her, beautiful and real and mine.
