“What does this all mean?” my dad asked.
Papa was reading the newspaper, his eyes wide and bright. “Conspiracy, fraud, collusion,” he said. “It’s all here. I’m surprised they haven’t arrested?—”
“Senator John Salisbury?” a deep voice sounded from the end of the hall.
We all glanced up in time to see no fewer than six alpha policemen striding down the hall, looking like they meant business.
“Mr. Salisbury, you’re under arrest,” the alpha cop said.
“No! I refuse!” Salisbury shouted. “You can’t do this to me!”
Chester let out a yelp and turned to run. He didn’t really have anywhere to go, though, and two of the cops broke away from the others to chase after him.
The best thing I’d ever seen in my life, outside of Jack naked and hard, was cops tackling Chester as he tried to get away, then Chester bawling like a baby as they cuffed him and read him his rights.
Thirty seconds later, Salisbury was in handcuffs, too. He didn’t fight or cry or try to get away, but he shouted, “You’ll hear from my lawyers about this!” and threatened everyone in sight as he was marched away. “I’ll never forgive you for this!” he shouted at Jack before they goosestepped him around the corner. “You’re no son of mine now!”
“Good,” Jack said, not with anger or spite, but with relief. “I don’t want to be anyhow.”
“Go on with your days, folks,” the alpha cop announced to the room once Salisbury and Chester were gone. “There’s nothing more to see here.”
“This is all so incredible,” Gretchen said, still recording. “I’m going to post this all over my socials.”
“If you really think that’s a good idea, dear,” my papa told her.
“I think it’s an excellent idea,” Gretchen giggled. She lowered her phone, finally, and gaped between me and Jack. “Do you know what this means?” she asked, hardly able to stand still, she was so giddy. “It means that the two of you can get married now! Aaw!” She clutched her hands and phone to her heart and tipped her head to the side, like Jack and I were a couple she’d been shipping for ages instead of five minutes.
Jack turned to me clasping my face in his hands. “It does mean we can get married now,” he said.
My jaw dropped. “You would really want to marry me?” I asked, head spinning. Not only that, my sever seemed to be throbbing with new life and energy, like it was determined to heal with or without ReBond, because it knew Jack and I belonged together.
“Absolutely,” Jack said, leaning down to kiss me.
It was the most beautiful kiss in the history of the world. It made me hot and sparkly and so confident all at the same time. It was a symbol that the two of us could and would be together, no matter who tried to stand in our way.
I pulled back and glanced worriedly up at Jack. “What about your mother? Will she try to get revenge because of your dad? And what if the charges don’t stick? What if he comes after us again?”
“Mom won’t care,” Jack said, exuding confidence. “She’ll probably take as much money as she can before the courts really get to work and run off to some European country.”
“But you?”
Jack’s smile deepened. “I don’t need my dad’s money or anything that comes from him. I only need you.”
Tears filled my eyes, but they turned into laughter when Gretchen “aawed” loudly.
She had gone back to filming and prompted us with, “Kiss him! Kiss him!”
Jack sent her a wry grin, then focused on me entirely. “I love you, Quincy,” he said. “I don’t care what happens next or how difficult our path might be. I have dreamed of someone like you. You changed my world in a single night, and I can never go back. Whatever happens, we can make a life together. We are meant to be together.”
“We are,” I said, more certain of anything than I’d ever been in my life. “I love you, Jack.”
I could have smiled forever as my sever buzzed and sang with promise, but Jack drew me into his arms and kissed me thoroughly.
I knew we would be okay.
EPILOGUE
Quincy
