Griff helps me to my feet, keeping his arm around my waist. My entire body aches. No broken bones, but three bruised ribs, a sprained wrist, and five deep cuts—three of which required sutures—have left me weak and unsteady. But Jacob, who refused to be admitted, despite his concussion, brought us food a couple of hours ago. I ate an entire serving of french fries and half a hamburger before my nerves took over and refused to let me take another bite.
“Ms. Marsh should make a full recovery. She lost approximately one third of her liver, but she was quite lucky. If anyone had pulled that knife out before we started surgery, there would have been nothing we could have done. She will have to stay here for at least a week, and I do not recommend she fly back to the United States for at least three weeks. But you can see her once the anesthesia wears off.”
My legs give out from relief, and only Griff’s arm keeps me upright. “Thank you,” I manage before I bury my face against his chest, crying softly.
“We’ll arrange for her to recover somewhere close by,” Griff says, and the way his voice rumbles under my ear settles me like nothing else can. “We’ll be staying in Zurich until she’s able to fly back to New York with us.”
“What?” My head snaps up, and I meet his gaze. “We’re staying?”
“She’s your best friend. Of course, we’re staying. She shouldn’t be alone.” Confusion creases his brow. “Did you really think—?”
“I don’t know what I thought,” I whisper.
“We’re going to get that vacation we deserve, sweetheart. And you and Marina will have your girls’ time. Even if she’s confined to her bed for most of it. We’re safe. She’s safe. Everything else…we can figure out as we go. Together.”
Looking around for the doctor, I see him disappear through the swinging doors, and Jacob sinks down into a chair behind Griff, his head in his hands, muttering, “Thank fuck.”
Standing and under my own power, I run my fingers through Griff’s hair. “I love you. For so long I didn’t think I’d ever find another person I was willing to trust. To let in. It was too dangerous. But with you? It was so easy. You made me feel safe from the very first time we talked—even before I knew who you were. You saved my life. And now this? I don’t know what to say. How to tell you just how much you mean to me.”
“You don’t have to, Sloane.” He smiles, soft and gentle, his deep blue eyes locked on mine. “Because I feel the same way. You see me. All of me.” Griff shrugs his left shoulder. He took his prosthetic off hours ago, and it’s wrapped in his tux jacket on the chair next to Jacob. “All my flaws. All my damage. And you accept it. Even when I don’t.”
Leaning in, he claims my lips in a possessive, but tender kiss, and for the first time in forever, I know I have a future. One with an amazing, protective, and strong man who loves me despite my flaws, my history, and the lies I lived for so long.
We found one another, and whatever happens next, we’ll face it together.
Epilogue
Griff
Leaving the two-bedroom flat that’s been our home for the past three weeks was harder than I thought. So much healing took place there. Sloane tossed away all of her contact lenses, and told Marina everything. Including her former name.
She also switched up her anxiety meds. The dizzy spells scared the fuck out of me, but her tardive dyskinesia tics have faded dramatically, and more importantly, when her anxiety flares, she stays present. Talks to me. Lets me help her through the worst of it.
With Austin, Dax, Wren, and Ripper’s help, there’s now a paper trail showing her legal name change from Sophiana Lebdev to Sloane Sanders. I don’t know how they did it, but no one will question Sloane’s dual Russian and American citizenship now, and she can finally be whoever she wants to be.
In the spring, we’ll visit her mother and sisters, but for now, it’s enough that Wren was able to siphon off more than three million from Volkov’s bank accounts and distribute it to Sloane’s family.
Her mom and youngest sister are moving to Moscow, along with the oldest, Sasha, who left her abusive husband after more than twenty years of living in fear. Sloane’s third sister, Irina, loves the man she married, but soon, they plan on moving as well, so the whole family will be safe and never want for anything again.
The car service turns onto a quiet, tree-lined street, and Sloane grips my hand tightly. “You can’t see the house from the road, but park at the end of the cul-de-sac,” she says, leaning forward, a wide smile on her face.
As we walk under a green, leafy canopy, she pulls out her phone and shows me the screen.
Marina: My doctor cleared me to go back to work right after Christmas. Thank God. Any longer without something to do besides read, watch movies, and gossip, and I would have started to lose my mind. Miss you! Can’t wait for our spa week in February!
We stop at her front door, and Sloane digs in her purse and comes back with a small, rectangular box tied with a red ribbon. “Open it,” she says, smiling.
Cradling it in my left hand, I pull the string and lift the lid. A silver key on a Zurich, Switzerland keychain rests inside. “Sloane…”
“I loved spending the last month with you, Griff. Well, besides the bruises and worry over Marina and all the stress.” She laughs, but I can tell the memories of what we all went through will stay with her forever. “But that wasn’t…real life. Not exactly. This is. I want us to be together. Long term. Maybe even…” She lifts her gaze to mine, and her brown eyes hold so many emotions. Fear. Anticipation. Love. “Maybe forever. I don’t care if we stay in San Diego or move somewhere else, but for now…this is my home. And I want it to be yours too.”
Pulling her against me, I kiss her, loving how she fits perfectly in my arms. How she opens for me. I can feel the vibrations of her moan, and I want her naked. Just as soon as I figure out where her bedroom—our bedroom—is.
“I love you, sweetheart. Now and forever. My home is wherever you are and always will be.”
* * *
Hours later,with a fire burning in the hearth, Sloane curls against me on the sofa. Her breathing changed a few minutes ago, slowing when she finally fell asleep, and I stretch out my right arm to snag my phone from the side table.
