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“What just happened?” I said.

“Chaos balanced things out,” Kaden replied, grabbing hold of my hand. “Herrick’s gone.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

A month later…

We walked into the fanciest restaurant in L.A. It was a place I’d never dreamed I’d dine in.

I was dressed in beautiful designer clothes, my hair perfect. Kaden was his naturally handsome self. As we walked in, people noticed us. They wanted to know who we were, and be around us. It was the type of entrance most people yearned to have, the presence people wished they had.

And I didn’t care. I’d always yearned to be wanted, to be respected, but now that the admiration came so easily, I realized the only opinions that truly mattered were from the ones I cared about most. I wore the dress because Soleil had insisted. We’d come here because Cookie liked a band that was having a private show nearby, and Dice liked the food.

I could’ve been back in the Wastelands with a cask of wine and rough-hewn cotton clothing, in hand-me-down boots, and it wouldn’t have taken even the slightest shine from my happiness. I was exactly where I wanted to be because the people I loved were with me.

“They have a really good Cabernet here,” Kaden said as we took our seats.

“Bet it’s not as good as Tiber’s,” I said.

“We’ll get there next week.” He smiled.

Tiber and Luisca split their time between Nowhere and the Wastelands. A place that had become home out of necessity was now their weekend retreat. We were supposed to join them there in a week, along with Soleil, who was debating moving there permanently.

“I’ll be back in a minute.” I headed toward the bathroom, glimpsing a private party in the back. Just as I was about to go in, a man stepped into the hall from the opposite direction.

He wasn’t just any man. He was my father.

He walked toward me with a curious look on his face, as if he couldn’t place me but thought he should.

“Do I know you?” he asked, smiling the way men did when confronted by a beautiful woman.

I stood there for a moment, debating what to say. Then decided the truth was best.

“You’ve never known me, and I think that’s for the best. Have a good evening.”

I took a seat at the table a few minutes later, and from the looks I was getting, it was pretty clear they’d spotted him as well.

Kaden laid a hand on my leg, and then looked at me, checking in.

I smiled and gave him a short nod, letting him know I was all right. Better than all right. I was amazing.

“Was that your dad?” Cookie blurted out.

“I can go bust his kneecaps if you need,” Connor offered. Dice nodded, seconding that recommendation.

I shrugged as I spotted our waiter heading over. “No. Our food is coming. It’ll get cold.”

There was a half a second of silence before Dice looked at our dishes. “I am starving.”

“So am I. Did anyone order the crab appetizer?” Connor asked.

“I did, and I’m not sharing it with you pigs because you eat everything,” Cookie said.

They continued to bicker as if nothing had happened, as if my father’s presence didn’t matter at all—because it didn’t.

Nothing mattered but that I was with people I loved and cared about, who cared for me. That I was with a man I couldn’t wait to spend every single day with, for however long our lives lasted.

“If you keep staring at me like that, we’re not going to make it through dinner,” Kaden said.