Claiming Felicity (Ace Security #4)(74)

The door opened, and the detective looked up into Logan’s concerned face. It wasn’t until right that moment that he realized the man might take his showing up in person the wrong way.

Glancing behind Logan, the detective saw the entire Anderson family was there. Blake and Alexis. Nathan and Bailey. Even Felicity and the Anderson’s half brother, Ryder, were there. Logan’s wife, Grace, stood at his side, their other baby, Ace, in her arms.

Not wanting to stress this family out more than they already were, Detective Baker smiled and announced, “We found him.”





Epilogue

“Are you sure you don’t mind sharing a wedding day with Blake and Alexis?” Ryder asked Felicity.

She smiled and shook her head. He’d asked her many times over the past few months, and every time she’d given him the same answer. “Absolutely not. He’s your brother, and I love Alexis. Of course I don’t mind.”

Felicity marveled at the close relationship Ryder had with Blake, thinking it somewhat ironic considering their rocky start.

They’d even bought a house in the same neighborhood as Alexis and Blake. Felicity never spent another night in the apartment over the gym. She couldn’t. It held too many bad memories. Not only of being stalked by Joseph, but the horror she felt knowing Nate had been kidnapped from there right under her nose. She’d stayed with Ryder in an apartment he’d rented on a short-term basis until they’d completed the purchase of their new home.

The proposal Ryder had teased her with came about a month after Nate was returned home. Ryder had taken her down to Colorado Springs to hang out with his friends and to shoot some pool at The Pit.

She’d had the time of her life. Ryder’s friends were hilarious, and she’d had too much to drink. After she’d lost her tenth game of pool, and had laughed her head off at how bad she was, Ryder had handed her an envelope full of papers.

She’d opened it and been completely confused at what she’d found.

Inside were court papers officially changing her name from Felicity Jones to Felicity Megan Sinclair. Also included was a driver’s license, a passport, and a Social Security card with her new name. Ryder had also included a bank statement, this one with both their names on it, and a contract for the house they’d decided they wanted to put a bid on.

She’d looked up in confusion and saw that he was on one knee.

In front of all his friends, and with no embarrassment on his face, he’d said, “Will you marry me?”

And what had she said? Yes? Nope, her drunk self had said, “But you already changed my name to yours.”

He’d laughed and patiently explained. “I pulled some strings. After you were cleared by the Chicago PD for any involvement in Colleen’s death, your mother’s, and even of those bogus drug charges, I thought about what a pain it would be to try to get all new, legal identification documents. So I had the guys take care of it. They cut through the annoying red tape and got you new identification. Figured if we were going to get married, it would be more expedient to just change your name now, rather than after the wedding.”

Laughing, she’d put her hands on her hips and said, “But I haven’t said yes!”

“You will,” had been his response. Then he asked again. “Will you marry me, love? Live with me? Make me the happiest man alive?”

There was no way she could’ve held out after that. She’d agreed, and now here they were. Ten minutes away from walking down the aisle.

They’d decided that since neither had any parents, they would walk down the aisle together. Arm in arm. Just like they wanted to be for the rest of their lives.

“We should’ve just eloped,” Ryder murmured, running his hands down the silky-smooth material of her white gown. It wasn’t a typical wedding dress, merely a silk sheath. No lace. No pouf. But Felicity loved it. The sleeves came down to her wrists, and it had a high neckline. From the front it looked modest and demure, covering every inch of her skin. But the back of the dress dipped low. Very low.

Felicity felt sexy and very feminine. Ryder had seen her that morning in her dress for the first time when he’d accidentally walked in after she’d pulled it over her head. He’d ordered Grace and Bailey out and had proceeded to show her how much he liked it.

Felicity shrugged at his elopement comment. “Maybe. But I have to admit, I love that we’re sharing this with your brother and Alexis. And that all your friends came up for it.”

“Yeah, me too,” he agreed. “I have something for you. It’s not much, and I know you said it didn’t matter, that you were an adult, but I did it anyway.”

Felicity held out her hand as he handed her a festive bag with a ton of tissue paper sticking out the top. She peered in and pushed the wrapping to the side. When she saw what was inside, her eyes got huge. She pulled out her giraffe. The one Joseph had beheaded. With everything that had happened, she hadn’t really had time to think about it. And being sad about a stuffed animal being destroyed felt stupid, all things considered.

She pulled it out and hugged it to her chest for a moment. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Ryder kissed her forehead gently. “It’s important to you; therefore, it’s important to me.”

“I have a present for you too,” Felicity blurted, carefully placing her giraffe back into the bag.