I turn my head to see Maya coming our way. She eyes us somewhat warily before she makes it to us and stops a few feet from Soren.
Reon and Lilith walk away, not wanting to be around her, while I stay still, glued to Soren.
“Soren. Cressida,” she greets, nodding to us both but looking at her brother.
“I can go. Let you two talk,” I offer.
“No, you are my family. You stay,” Soren insists, and I see Maya visibly flinch at the words.
“I want to start anew. I’ve been working. Doing therapy. And I’m trying to change. Do you think you can accept me back?” she asks.
“It’s not me you need to ask. It’s not me whom you hurt so badly,” Soren tells her.
Maya turns her attention to me now. “You are clearly someone special to Soren, and I accept that.” I raise a brow at her. “I do. I’ve come to realize I can’t continue to use him the way I have. I want to have a new and better relationship with him andwith you, if you will let me. I won’t come around unannounced, and I promise to keep my distance from your son.”
I want to tell her to get fucked, that I would never allow someone so crazy in my son’s life. Yet, as I look up at Soren, I want him to have a relationship with his sister because family isimportant. I understand that more than anyone. I love both of my sisters, and I know I would be lost without them. So, part of me can empathize with the loss she’s feeling over not having someone who has always been hers.
“It will take time. Alotof time. But, yes, I will try,” I finally tell her.
She nods and then excuses herself.
We’re all quiet until she’s out of earshot, and Arlo speaks, “Well, that was good work. You have a woman with her head clearly on right,” he says.
“Yeah, now if I could just get her to marry me,” Soren says, looking down at me with a half grin.
“Tomorrow, nine a.m. Meet me at the courthouse,” I tell him.
Arlo looks on with amusement, and Cora beams at us.
“Done,” Soren says, but then his usual calm cracks just a little. His eyes darken with something raw, relief, maybe even disbelief, and before I can blink, he leans down to kiss me, slow and sure, like he’s making the moment real for himself.
Tomorrow, I will be his wife.
But tonight, I will be his Hurricane whore.
EPILOGUE
SOREN
The courthouse isn’twhat most people imagine when they think of forever.
No flowers. No aisle. No white dress trailing across polished floors. Just the faint hum of fluorescent lights and the soft sound of papers being shuffled.
But when Cressida’s hand slips into mine, the world stills.
Her thumb grazes the edge of my palm, a quiet reminder that somehow, against every odd, every obstacle, we have finally found our way here.
She’s in a simple cream-colored dress that hugs her curves and makes my chest fucking ache. Her hair is down, loose, and defiant, like her. Arlo’s leaning against the back wall, smirking like he planned the whole thing. Cora’s wiping away tears she swears aren’t falling, and Oliver is standing beside me, beaming like the sun.
When the clerk asks,“Do you take this woman to be your wife?” the word “Yes” comes out steady and easily.
No hesitation.
No doubt.
Just truth.
Cressida’s eyes glisten when it’s her turn. Her voice wavers only once, but I feel the strength behind every word.
