My cringe deepens. “I might have been annoyed by your…uh…meanness. So I made you into my first two villains.”
Dorian’s hands tighten around my waist. He laughs. “Really? What happens to them? Remind me.”
“They…uh…well…one of them has a bit of a gruesome death, and the second one turns out to be insane and also…uh…endures a gruesome death.”
“You and your gruesome deaths,” he murmurs sweetly, nuzzling my neck.
“This is serious, Dorian.”
“I think it’s funny.” He lifts his face to me. “Just make it up to me in the next one.”
My face breaks into a smile. “It’s a deal.”
epilogue
dorian
THREE MONTHS LATER
We’re shovedinto Luke’s office with every other member of my family—except one—as well as some friends and coworkers. The energy is palpable. I catch my dad’s eye over the sea of heads and note a decided twinkle, which makes my stomach flip. What if we’d never caught his heart disease? Would he even be here to see tonight unfold?
I’m so glad he is. I’m grateful for his good doctors and for Mom’s diligence in keeping his diet and exercise on track. He’s improved so much in recent months, both physically and mentally, and I know how lucky we’ve been.
I’m also pretty happy that Piper helped me see the importance of fictional stakes. Yeah, maybe nothing in my books will ever come close to meaning as much as my own father, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important in their own way. Writing Paul and Kiley’s final story gave me closure in so many ways I didn’t know I was seeking.
My editor, agent, and publisher loved the book, and it’s in its first round of edits now. I have a feeling readers are going to be satisfied with the ending.
And no, Kiley doesn’t get murdered. She completes Paul. She brings him joy. He questions their relationship in the beginning of the book, but they’re still happily married by the end of it.
Just like I know I’m going to marry Piper. But I haven’t asked yet. It’s probably too soon. And I was the first to tell her I loved her last month while we walked through the farmer’s market hand in hand, though she said it right back.
I’m still trying to decide if it’s a sin to cut out the center of a book just so I can hide a ring in it. Will the engagement override the pain of seeing a book destroyed? With Piper, I just don’t know.
Avery is sitting on Luke’s desk, arguing with Caleb. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but my younger sister and Luke’s best friend have never quite gotten along.
“Enough, you two,” Mom says gently. “You’ll give us away.”
Avery rolls her eyes. Caleb looks smug. What a punk.
Piper leans in close. “We have to get Elena here somehow.”
“Why?”
“She’ll go crazy for this house.” She widens her eyes. “It’s every real estate agent’s dream.”
“True. You know Luke would give her a grand tour too. Why don’t you invite her to the next game night?”
“Harper.”
“She could come.”
Piper shoots me a look. “It’s too late, Dor.”
Didn’t think of that. “I bet Luke wouldn’t care if she just came over and looked at the house sometime.”
“Yeah, maybe. Or, if the next family barbecue is here, I’m bringing her.”
“Deal.”
