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“Free,” she repeats. “To be who we want. What we want.”

“Yeah, Keepsake. Free as a goddamn bird.”

She laughs. “I can’t believe it. It doesn’t feel real. All my life, I’ve had them hanging over my head. Thank you, Dom. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I reply. “How’s the ring coming along?”

“It’s almost done,” she says. “I’ve messaged the customer. They want me to meet them in Century City tomorrow afternoon to hand it over. Would you mind coming with me? They might be some weirdo–or a Vulture in disguise.”

“The Vultures are over,” I snarl. “You don’t have to worry about them. But yes, I’ll come.”

After the phone call, I join my father in his car. He drums his fingers against the dashboard. “I guess this is goodbye, then,” he says.

“Not goodbye. But it’s the last time we do anything like this. You go back to the mob. I’ll go back to my legitimate business.”

“I haven’t had a chance to tell you, since we last spoke, I’ve moved a large majority of the operation to legitimate businesses. We don’t deal drugs. We don’t hurt people… unless we have to. I did it for you, Dom. So that, maybe, you’d be proud of me.”

I clap him on the shoulder. “That matters, Dad. It does.”

He laughs darkly.

“What?” I ask.

“You called me ‘Dad’, not ‘Father’. Call me sentimental, but that feels like it means something.”

“If tomorrow goes well, you’ll be ‘father-in-law’.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “Don’t you think it’s too soon?”

“There’s no such thing as ‘too soon’ for me and Evie.”

It’s our flavor of crazy, and goddamn, I love the taste.

CHAPTER 28

EVIE

Evie: I’m in the window seat of the cafe.

Itext Dom, a smile on my face, but that’s not a mind-blowing statement. This past week has been one full of smiles, of letting go, of accepting that, sure, we’ll never be ‘normal’ but ‘normal’ is overrated, anyway.

We’ve both got our fair share of darkness, especially when the nightmares come, but we’re there for each other. The confusion has diffused into a solid certainty. We started as a complicated mess, as a prisoner and her captor, but we’re something else now. We’ve evolved, and we’re going to keep evolving.

Forever.

At first, that felt like a weighty word, like I was venturing into territory I had no right in. I’ve spent so long living from moment to moment, from disaster to disaster, that ‘forever’ felt like a promise I had no right to make. But the more time I spend with Dom, the more believable it feels.

I deserve love. Happiness. And I’m done doubting.

Dom: I won’t be long. I’ll honk when I’m outside.

Evie: It’s going to be interesting to see who this mystery client is.

I sip my coffee. I’ve been busy the past week, focusing on the engagement ring, applying love and care to every detail. The ring costs two hundred thousand dollars.Two hundred thousand. I have to repeat it in my head just to convince myself this is my life.

I started in a cruddy apartment, struggling to pay rent. Now Tash and I have found men we love, who love us, and we have security.

Since the ring is so expensive, Dom agreed to take it to work with him this morning so that I wouldn’t have to carry it alone. I drove one of his cars from the estate into Century City. No–ourcars. That’s what he told me to call them when he showed me the garage last night.