Page 150 of Guarded Knight

Luis gestures gently with a playful, hardly contained grin on his face. “Go on. Read the message.”

Poppy clears her throat.

“To Lara— To be loved by Kaian is lush. To be loved by Gabriel is divine. You already know the ending. You just have to turn the page.”

She looks up, brows pulled. “What does that mean?”

It hits me all at once… what this is. I turn, and Gabriel’s dropping to one knee. A silence falls like fog. Even the overhead lights feel dimmer. Every part of me knows what’s about to happen, but nothing prepares me for seeing it.

Even Theo stops mid-cookie.

Gabriel opens a box, and inside is a ring like nothing I’ve ever seen. Not just beautiful. Not just shimmering. It’s ocean and sky and starlight, set in sapphire and diamonds.

“You believed in happy endings, even when you didn’t believe in your own.” His voice is the only sound in the room. “And I didn’t know how to believe in anything… until you.” He swallows. “Lara Young. You are the strongest, funniest, smartest pain in the ass I’ve ever met. And if you let me, I’ll spend every last page loving the hell out of you.”

I’m crying before I even realize it. Tears spill hot and fast. I nod wildly, breathlessly, with every inch of me.

“Yes.” My voice breaks. “Of course, yes.”

He slides the ring on my finger and rises in one clean, practiced motion. Then his arms are around me tight, certain, warm.

And the bookstore erupts. It’s dizzying—this much joy all at once. My whole chest aches in the best way, like it’s too full to hold anything else.

Freya squeals. Ava cheers. Penelope starts chanting “Book club wedding!” like she’s leading a revolution, waving a glittery Pages and Perks bookmark like a victory flag.

Luis rubs at the corner of one eye. Julia threads her arm through his and lays her head on his shoulder.

Ava’s eyes shine like she’s watching a sister’s dream come true, and I can’t wait to make her mine.

Anton just smirks, like he saw it coming a mile away and bet on the outcome.

Even Rio claps, slow and deliberate, gruff but genuine. A warrior’s approval.

And then there’s Xander.

He doesn’t cheer. Doesn’t move.

He just stands there, watching me with something deep and unspoken behind his eyes.

Not sadness exactly. Not pride either.

There’s a shift in his gaze, a new way of seeing me. Or maybe of seeing us. He’s not losing me. But he doesn’t have to hold me anymore.

Poppy hurls herself into me, arms wrapped around my waist. “Can I come with you to pick the dress?”

“You have to,” I whisper into her curls.

Daisy comes from out of nowhere and barrels into me. “Me, too!”

Gabriel leans in and wraps his hands around all of us, and the thought lands effortlessly. He’s always been my family.

A sudden honk, like a trumpet, fills the room.

Luis stuffs a tissue back in his pocket. “Who wants cake!”

Daisy and Poppy let go, running off to get a first piece, and my heart swells to proportions I never thought possible. They did this all for me.

He did this for me.