SWNOVELS Chapter Twisted Collide: EPILOGUE
Eight Months Later . . .
I sit in front of his tombstone, Cup in hand. It’s been a year since I was last here, and since then a lot has happened.
The Saints won the Cup again, and I’m back here, but this time, I’m not alone. Sitting beside me is my little hellfire.
“Hey, Dad.” I take a deep breath, and from beside me, Josephine places a small hand on my lap and gives my thigh a squeeze, letting me know she’s here for me. “It’s taken me a while to get here, but I wanted to tell you that I forgive you. I forgive you for everything, and I love you. You weren’t always the best father, I know this, but you tried, you tried the best you could with the upbringing you had, and I forgive you.” I look over at Josephine and she gives me a small smile. “This is Josie. Well, Josephine. Or Hellfire.” I laugh.
“Hi,” she squeaks out, probably not used to speaking to a tombstone.
I pivot my body a little and look at the gravesite right beside his. “Mom, it’s been a while. I’m sorry I haven’t visited for a long time. I was a dick, but I’m better now, and this woman is the reason. Mom, I want you to meet Josephine. She’s everything you would have loved. She’s smart, funny, and so strong. She makes me a better man, Mom, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”
I hear a small gasp from beside me and move from where I’m sitting to kneel in front of Josephine.
Then I reach into the bag I brought, grabbing the little box I hid there.
“Hellfire, I love you more than life itself. You make me want to be a better man, a man who will make you proud. You are my reason for everything, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” I open the box. “Will you marry me? Will you make me the happiest man in the world?”
“Hmm.” She scoots back and slants her head, making a show of tapping her lip. “I’m not sure I can marry someone who keeps secrets.”
“Secrets?”
The fuck?
I arch a brow, hoping she’s messing with me because I cannot, under any circumstances, live without this woman. With a palm face down on an imaginary Bible, I hold up the other and declare, “I solemnly swear that I am not a serial killer. You won’t find any bodies in my closet. Literally and figuratively.”
“Pity. A body or two would be exciting.” She lifts her wrist and wiggles her bracelet. “You never told me what this means.”
“That knowledge is reserved for my future fiancée.” I shift a little. “FYI—my knee is killing me.”
Her eyes widen like she’s just remembered I’m still on my knee. “Yes!” She can’t help but jump up from where she’s sitting, and then start bouncing on her feet. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. “Of course, I’ll marry you.”
Standing, I place the emerald-shaped diamond on her ring finger, and she launches herself into my arms, showering my face with sloppy kisses. My cheeks, my forehead, the tip of my nose. And finally—fucking finally—my mouth.
She pulls away on a giggle. “Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair.”
I laugh. “I don’t think they care.” I pull out my imaginary Bible again and stick my other hand up, wanting to make this vow in front of my parents. “Josephine Moreau, from now until eternity, I will always be there for you.”
“Even when I want to walk the tightrope?”
“Always when you want to walk the tightrope,” I promise.
The last time I was here, I was a shell of a man. But through her, I’ve finally learned to love. Not just her but myself.
Life is ugly, and cruel, and twisted. All it takes is one moment to change your life. But it’s when you’re at your lowest point that you learn to appreciate the heights. My tragedies are beautiful because they brought me to her.
She tilts her head, a playful smile gracing her irresistible lips, and I know she’s about to fuck with me again because she’s hellfire. It’s in her blood.
“Even if I have conditions?” she asks, still grinning.
I sigh. “Well, I’ve already committed one crime. What’s another?”
“Why stop at two?”
With a growl, I yank her over my shoulder. “Just my luck to fall head over heels for the neediest girl on planet Earth.”
“Don’t think I didn’t see the La Mer face mask in your bathroom. Two hundred bucks for a single mask? Are you kidding me?”
I set her down in front of a thick tree trunk and flatten my body against hers, letting her feel every inch of me. “I’ll do you one better than a crime spree.”
She arches a brow. “Oh?”
I lift her wrist and toy with a charm.
The charm.
“Really?” she gasps against my lips.
I graze my lips up her neck, teasing her jaw until I finally reach the shell of her ear. And then, I tell her what the charm says.
What I’ve known since we met, even before she told me she will always come to me.
“I will always look for you.”