Reveal (Wicked Ways #2)(107)

But then there was Ryker. The man who proved to me that you don’t always have to find love in the sunrise because it can often be found in the sunset. The man who said he didn’t believe in love, loving the woman who said she never could love.

And the rest is history.

We found our sunset.



Ryker

One Year Later

People are milling about on the green lawn down below. Decorations and flowers and lights strung across the terrace illuminate the space.

It’s perfect, if a man can ever really think shit like this can be perfect.

But when her arms slide around my waist and the heat of her body presses against my back, I know I was wrong.

This is perfection. Her. Now. The ring on her finger. My last name attached to her first name. The life we’re starting together from here on out.

“What are you doing up here all alone?” she asks.

“Just taking it all in.” Just taking a breather to realize how much she changed my fucking life from a miserable existence of meaningless flings to actually wanting to share my life with someone.

“You know your friends down there are taking bets, right?”

“Bets?” I shift so that I can wrap my arm over her shoulders and pull her against me. When I look down at her, my breath catches again.

Who knew a woman could look so damn amazing in white?

“Yep.” She smiles. “They’re all taking bets on how long we’re going to last.”

My laugh rings out so loud it pulls the attention of our guests below to glance up at us. “Well, I guess I better go put my bid in too, then.”

“Is that so?” She lifts a brow in mock protest, but her smile says she knows I’m joking.

“Yep,” I say, repeating her word. “Everything we have to the winner that this till-death-do-us-part thing will be how long we’ll last.”

“Aw,” she says and then leans up and brushes a kiss to my lips.

And every part of me—right here, right now—knows I’ve never done anything more right in my life than her.

No question.

I look down at her something borrowed—the key on the chain that was first Samantha’s and is now Lucy’s—and I can’t help but smile and know it’s the perfect time to do this.

It’s the right moment to let her know.

“I have something for you,” I say and reach into the front pocket of my tuxedo jacket where I’ve had it all night, waiting to give it to her.

“We promised we weren’t going to give each other wedding gifts,” she says in exasperation.

I don’t respond. Rather, I hand her the folded piece of paper and watch as she opens it.

Confusion etches the lines in her beautiful face, and her eyes flash up to meet mine. “I don’t understand.”

“I bought something for you, Vaughn.”

“I see that, but—oh. Oh!” Her voice breaks when I think she finally gets it.

“It’s an empty lot now. When I bought it, there was an extravagant house on it that many said was gorgeous. They told me I was crazy to raze it to a level lot. That I’d lose a ton of money by doing that. But I didn’t care about the money. I cared about demolishing the last thing that could ever physically remind you of him or the memories it held.”

“Ryker . . .” Tears well in her eyes, and they are the last thing I want to see there today.

I point to the deed of her uncle James’s property in Greenwich. The one that states her name as its sole owner.

“Take the lot. Sell it and use the money to start the charity you’ve wanted to establish for the Lucys of the world. Keep the lot and build something that’s all yours. I don’t care what you do with it, Vaughn—it’s yours. All I care about is that you know it’s no longer standing. Any chain you had holding you back from enjoying this incredible life we’re going to make together is gone.”

She opens her mouth to speak and then closes it in that way that tells me she has so much to say but can’t put words to it right now. Instead, she frames both of my cheeks in her hands and presses a kiss to my lips. Our foreheads rest against each other’s.

“Thank you, Ryker.”

“Anything for you, Mrs. Lockhart.”





ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Just a quick thank-you for the continued support to all my readers. It’s been six years now in this unexpected career of mine as an author, and you’ve been there with me every step of the way. Thank you for having faith in me, for trusting that I’ll take you on an adventure in each book, and for being so passionate about my stories and characters. Sometimes the slightest thing can change the direction of someone’s life . . . and you were that thing for me. Thank you.