“Jace insisted on being thorough.”
“And Axel?”
“Axel insisted on being present for the interrogation. Apparently, he has ‘techniques.’”
“Should I be concerned?” Harper asked.
“Probably.”
She laughed again, and I pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She fit against me perfectly. Like she’d been designed for exactly this spot.
This was my life now.
This.
Family. Love. Second chances I’d never dared hope for.
I looked around the room one more time, committing every detail to memory. The way Ryker watched Faith like she was his whole world. The way Jace and Scarlett whispered to each other about futures and possibilities. The way Axel pretended to be unaffected by the baby while sneaking glances at Dakota that said he was already doing the math on timelines.
The way Harper’s hand rested over my heart, like she was checking to make sure it was still beating.
It was.
For the first time in fourteen years, it really was.
I’d missed years of moments like this, stolen by choices and consequences and steel bars. But starting now? I wouldn’t miss another second.
Harper looked up at me, those green eyes soft in the afternoon light. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“I love you.”
Three words. Simple. Devastating. The kind of thing I’d never thought I’d hear from someone who knew the truth about me.
“I love you too.” I pressed my lips to her forehead. Gentle. Reverent. “More than I ever thought I was capable of.”
“Good.” She smiled, and it was the kind of smile that made me want to burn down the world and rebuild it just for her. “Because you’re stuck with me now.”
“That a threat?”
“A promise.”
I looked at her. At this woman who’d walked into a prison infirmary and changed everything. Who’d seen my scars and my sins and my silence and decided I was worth saving anyway.
I’d spent fourteen years surviving.
Now I was finally going to live.
EPILOGUE
KNOX
Two months later, Axel got his wish.
The Sinners and Saints mansion had been transformed into something out of a magazine spread. Music pulsed through hidden speakers. Lights cast the massive living room in warm amber and soft blue. A DJ booth had materialized near the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city, and the bar was stocked with enough top-shelf liquor to fund a small country.
I stood near the edge of it all, nursing a whiskey, still adjusting to the concept of celebration.
