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Mae tugs at my hand. I glance down, and she’s looking up at me with her wide, thoughtful eyes. “Can we have pancakes?” she asks.

Finn laughs like she’s just said the funniest thing in the world. “Absolutely. We’ll make a big batch right now. With lots of chocolate chips.”

Mae gives a firm nod, as if that was the final confirmation she needed. “Good. Then you can ask Ani again later.”

Jonah chuckles behind me, a low sound that rumbles through his chest. “Later, huh?”

“After pancakes,” Mae says with a shrug.

I press a hand over my mouth, trying to catch the sound that slips out. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy in my whole life.

For the first time, I’m not just surviving. I’m living. I’m choosing.

And they’re choosing me right back.

Sheriff Collins leaves shortly after, giving us time to settle back into our routines. Mae is humming quietly to herself as she draws at the table. Finn flips pancakes on the stovetop, whistling along with the tune Mae is humming. Jonah is beside the sink, cleaning as he goes.

Boone is hovering, but he’s still here.

I sit with my legs curled under me on the far end of the bench, a mug in my hands and a quiet in my chest that feels earned.

I’m just and I’m safe.

I’m not just protected by strong men in a mountain cabin far removed from the noise of my old life. They didn’t just rescue me. They dismantled something. They made it impossible for my past to reach out and drag me under.

They handed over everything. A clean, airtight file went straight to the kind of contacts who wear wire-rimmed glasses and speak in acronyms. FBI. DOJ. Places my father used to say were easy to avoid if you kept your paperwork clean.

Apparently he wasn’t clean enough though.

A RICO investigation has been opened. My father is no longer looking for a runaway daughter. He’s trying to keep his empire from burning. Davit, too. His family is scrambling, the ones who aren’t cutting ties are turning state’s evidence. My name isn’t in the papers now. But theirs are.

If they move now—if they make noise or send anyone after me—they risk drawing the wrong kind of attention. The kind that doesn’t go away with a check or a favor.

So they’re cleaning up.

And I’m free.

I didn’t expect that part. The pressure I’ve lived with my whole life has just disappeared..

I don’t have to hide. I don’t have to run.

I can stay.

Mae pushes a plate toward me with both hands. “Yours has extra chips,” she says.

I smile, reaching for the fork. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt this much joy over a pancake, but here I am.

I’m safe.

I’m loved.

And now I know what true happiness feels like.

Epilogue | Ani

The porch swing creaks gently beneath me, the wood warm against my thighs. I tug Jonah’s old shirt tighter around my shoulders, folding the collar up against the back of my neck. It still smells faintly of him—cedarwood and soap and the low, smoky scent of last night’s fire. The sleeves are too long, and the it swallows most of my legs, but I have no desire to wear anything else.

My fingers rest against the soft curve of my stomach.