Page 129 of Almost Beautiful (Beautiful 3)

He tried to yank on the bars, getting nowhere. His eyes danced from me, to Thomas, to Liis, who had her federal badge hanging from a long thin chain on her neck.

Thomas patted me on the back. “Well done. Got everything we needed.”

“Wait. Your brother’s a … Wait a second!” Brandon cried.

I stepped toward Brandon, leaning in with a smirk. “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know, am I right?” I winked at him, and then followed the officers to the exit.

Thomas and Liis stopped there, and my brother shoved his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “We can’t go out there like this. They’ll ask questions.”

“Understood,” I said.

Thomas nodded to me. “Get that eye looked at.”

“Copy that,” I said, pushing out the door. My wife and family were waiting for me, smiling widely as I walked toward them.

Abby didn’t wait for me to reach them. She ran to me and jumped, wrapping her legs around my middle, pressing her lips hard against mine.

“Happy Birthday!” She kissed me over and over, and then threw her arms around my neck, squeezing. “Oh my God, I was so afraid I wouldn’t get to tell you that in person today. You okay?” she asked, leaning back to look me in the eyes.

“Brandon was a bigger fish to fry. I got him to admit to everything, and now I’ve got immunity.”

“Really?” she cried.

I sat her on her feet. “Really. We’re home free.”

She hugged me again, and then my brothers surrounded us with linked arms like a solid, steadfast Maddox fortress.

“I’m not sure what’s going on,” Trenton said, “but it seems like you’re in the clear.”

“I am,” I said, trying to keep Abby from getting squished as they hugged us tighter.

Abby looked up at me with tears in her eyes, and then hugged me again, curling her body into me.

“Let’s go home,” I said.

“You’re my home,” she said softly.

Her words melted me. She was referring to what I’d said to her the time she’d tried to leave me. Not too long ago, I’d begged for her on my knees, in front of everyone who was staring at us from inside the campus cafeteria, not giving two shits what any of them thought. Nothing and no one was more important to me than the woman looking down at me, tears in her eyes, unsure if she could trust me. Then, it didn’t feel right spending a day without Abby Abernathy. Now, there was nothing I was more certain of than knowing I couldn’t survive without Abby Maddox.

I cupped her jaw with my hands, kissing her like it was the first time. I was married to the love of my life. And, as cliché as it sounded, my best friend. We had the rest of our lives together, and we could finally enjoy our happy ever after.

“I can’t believe I almost ruined this,” I said. “What a fucking idiot.”

Abby shook her head. “You can’t ruin this. I can’t ruin this. Because this… this is forever.”

I looked around at my brothers, each one with their arms around their girl. I nodded my head in the direction of the parking lot. “Let’s get the fuck outta here.”

Trenton flipped off the police station as he turned, simultaneously squeezing Camille and pressing his cheek against her hair as they walked. Abby handed me the keys, and the doors unlocked with a click of a button. I opened the door for my wife, then waited as she slid into her seat. She giggled as I stole a kiss before closing her door, then I wasted no time jogging around to my side.

She sighed as I started the engine, her shoulders relaxed.

I put my hand on her thigh. “We’re gonna be all right. All that bullshit is behind us now.”

She put her hand on mine. “I know,” she breathed. “It’s finally over. It’s almost hard to believe. And I’m so proud of us, for so many reasons. But you know what I’m the proudest of? Even on our worst days, we never stopped loving each other.”

I shook my head. “That day will never come for me, Pigeon.”

She smiled. “No one could ever convince me otherwise; not even you. I keep thinking about the beginning, wondering why I fought this so hard. I had to dig really deep, and while you were sitting in that jail, I realized it was because I once thought that to have real, lasting love it had to be perfect. But what makes love last is to be brave enough to push through the challenges and trust that you’ll come out stronger on the other end. I knew that no matter what happened in there … I don’t know. I just had this peace come over me. I knew that whatever happened, we’d get through it. Because the beauty of it is being almost perfect.”