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CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

months later

It’s dark and I’m worried.

No one should be out here, but what if Adal or Nico decided they weren’t done with Ryan? What if…

Ugh, I just need to get there.

Hurriedly, I shut off my Harley and hustle down the darkened trail toward the rioting rapids.

All I know is I got a text from Aiden, saying that I needed to find Ryan at the top of the waterfall. That he has to tell me something, and it didn’t look good. I asked why he didn’t go, but Aiden said Ryan was specifically requesting me.

Everything has been going well. Even the hockey season has turned out brilliantly with the Nighthawks going to finals.

Despite him driving me insane at times and his wanton need to fuck me wherever we are, we haven’t really argued much. I thought things were peaceful.

But as I round the corner toward the same spot where I met him, my heart flips. What if I’ve been lying to myself?

My steps slow. Yellow candles dance in the breeze, illuminating the way toward a tall figure all aglow in the moonlight. He’s dressed in a black suit and beckoning me with two fingers.

I gasp. It’s the perfect moment in our perfect place.

Immediately, tears spring to my eyes, but I manage to make it to him.

Instead of being on a low rock beneath him, he lifts me until we’re face to face and slips an arm around my waist. My body responds before my mind can catch up—heartbeat skittering, breath shallow, something warm and dizzying unfurling beneath my ribs.

He looks at me like I’m the only thing he’s ever prayed for.

“There’s no one I’d rather be bound to than you.

Pen, you saved my life. I didn’t even want to exist until you came along.

” He pauses long enough to smile and brush a drop from my cheek.

“I will always protect you. More importantly, I want you to be free with me. You once said that wherever I go, you’ll go.

But really, I’ll follow you . Wherever you want to go in life, I’ll take you there.

I’ll hold your hand and show you the way.

If you marry me, Pen, I’ll take care of us. ”

He backs up to take one knee and pulls a ring box from his pocket. It’s not his mother’s ring, the one I thought. It looks intricate and unique. The stone is amethyst and sparkles in the moonlight.

“Will you marry me and become not just my appointed, but my partner-in-crime and my wife, Penelope Lynn Cardell?”

My hand hits my chest as the wind is knocked from my lungs. “Your tattoo…”

His hands shake as he holds up the box for me, waiting. “Yeah.”

“It doesn’t say P.I.C. It is P.L.C., isn’t it?”

“Yes, my love.”

Sobs wrack through my body as I nod and sniffle.

“Is that a yes?” His expression appears hopeful as I attempt to contain my outburst.

“Yes!”

He slides the ring over my finger, and I giggle at how beautiful it is. When he jumps up, he pulls me into his arms.

“It’s purple!” I say, making him chuckle.

“And black.”

“But there’s also purple.”

With a line of glistening emotion rimming his eyes, he smiles. “I love you.”

“And I love you.”