Page 175 of Restitution

“What did you do?”

I shrug. “You shouldn’t be in here.”

“Neither sh-should you.” Her head drops again, and she grips at the fabric against my skin. “Tell me what you did.”

I can’t hug her because the cuffs are attached to the belt, so all I can do is cup the sides of her neck, stroking her pulse points with my thumbs. “I took a deal to get you, Base and Barry out.”

Her body trembles as she sobs into my chest. “What kind of deal?”

“They’ll try to reduce my sentence to ten years. I doubt they will since I’m facing sixteen life sentences, but my main reason for saying yes was to get you all out. None of you should be in here.”

She shakes her head. “No.”

“Yes.” I pull back. “We don’t have time to debate this. It’s done. You’re going to kiss me, then you’re going to go to your brother and go live your life. You’re going to dance. You’re going to fall asleep next to the dogs every night, and you’re going to be there for my sister and my niece or nephew. You’re going to live, Stacey. Fucking live for me.”

“I can’t live without you.”

“I love you. I’m so proud of you,” I say, my eyes burning as I hold her against me. “So, so fucking proud.”

“I love you too,” she croaks. “Please don’t make me do this without you. Please, Kade.”

“You need to. Don’t you dare waste the next ten years waiting for me. Like I said, it’s unlikely they’ll even reduce it.”

Her voice is so quiet, like a beautiful calm as she pulls her head back to look up at me. “But I’m yours.”

“And I’m yours.” I press my lips to hers then run my thumb across her chin. “Just… promise me you won’t pause your life for me?”

She smiles through her tears. “Kade Mitchell,” she says, reaching up on her tiptoes and kissing me again. “Don’t you get it? You are my life.”

My voice cracks. “You’re my life too.”

The door opens once again, and my heart sinks. She doesn’t fight as the officer pulls her away. “I’m going to wait for you,” she tells me. “I’d wait forever for you.”

I nod and let the first tear fall. “Forever, Freckles.”

EPILOGUE 1

STACEY - 5 years later

One of my pet peeves is waiting.

Waiting on Tobias calling me to tell me how he’s doing.

Waiting on Kyle proposing to his girlfriend after hyping him up for the past three years – he’s nervous, but considering she’s head over heels for him and already has their future planned out, she won’t say no.

Waiting on Tylar’s parents signing off on the sale of the studio and finalising the documents – it’s to become the Rhodes Dance Academy for kids and adults.

Waiting on Aria and Ewan telling me we can finally meet Jason Junior – Giana hasn’t let him have any involvementwith the family so far, given how crazy the media attention remains.

Waiting on Kade walking through that door for our last ever conjugal visitation – the clock says that he’s two minutes late, and he’s never late. It makes me nervous as I strum my fingers on the small table I’ve been bent over too many times to count.

I sit back on the chair and look around the room. It’s almost identical to the one Tobias used to have me visit him in. There’s a bed, a bookcase, a table and two chairs, and a box filled with board games.

We were offered a family room, but since we don’t have any children, we accepted this one – a special circumstance, like everything else when it comes to Mitchells and the authorities.

There’s a beep that draws my attention to the door, my frown turning to a full grin as it opens and Kade walks in. My boyfriend is as handsome as ever, his hair a black mop on his head, his eyes still the same beautiful shade of blue that drew me in all those years ago. Colour floods his cheeks when he sees me, and I take in the faded scar and the muscles he’s been working on every day.

I’m the luckiest girl in the world.