Page 63 of Tangled Hearts (Mended Hearts #4)

Epilogue

I take a deep breath, then knock on the door to Beck and Roman’s house. I’m a nervous fucking wreck. This past year has been amazing. Wonderful and fucking life-changing in ways I didn’t even know were possible. My heart is constantly full, a smile almost always playing on my lips.

I have my little doll, and my brother, and this huge fucking family. There’s just… one more tiny thing I want.

Beck opens the door. “Hey.” He raises an eyebrow. “Since when do you knock, Nicolas?”

Since I’m coming to ask you for permission to marry your son. My stomach does a violent roll. “Can I come in?”

Beck cocks his head, studying me.

“Good lord, let the man in,” Roman calls, thankfully saving me because Beck opens the door further and steps back. I follow him to the couch, sitting down on the end.

As soon as Beck sits down, Roman leans against him. Eli likes to pick on Holden for how much he likes physical affection, but Holden’s not the only one. “Where’s Lexi?” I ask, looking around for her .

Roman smiles. “She’s having a sleepover with Wren at Uncle Holden’s house.”

“I bet she’s having fun.” I blow out a breath. Okay, I need to do this. It’ll be easy. I already know they’re going to say yes. I just need to spit it out. I just need to ask.

“You okay, Nic?” Beck asks, and I dart my eyes to him. He’s smirking at me. He probably already knows why I’m here. God, nothing gets past these two. Well, nothing gets past Roman, and he usually clues Beck in pretty quickly.

“I—um…” I swallow the lump in my throat, shaking out my hands nervously in front of me. “I was hoping… well—” Jesus, this is harder than I thought it would be. I clear my throat. “I was hoping that I—I want to marry Eli,” I finally blurt out.

“Of course,” Roman says, eyes bright and a little happy gleam in them.

I relax, my entire body slumping.

“No,” Beck responds, and everything tenses up.

“What?” Roman and I ask at the same time. Roman sits up, staring at Beck with wide eyes. “Why are you saying no?”

My heart pounds furiously, threatening to split right in two. Good fucking question, actually. I don’t understand. They’ve… never given me any indication that they don’t like me.

“I want something from you first,” Beck says, shrugging.

“Literally anything,” I choke out around the emotion tightening my throat.

“I want you to call Holden CT at least once. Just one time. And then you can marry my son.”

I gape at him, then an incredulous laugh bubbles up from my chest. He just stares at me. “Oh my God, you’re serious.”

Beck grins. “You said literally anything. ”

Roman’s silent for a beat, and then he bursts out laughing. After a second, I join in. Oh my God, what did I sign up for? I guess it could be worse. I could be expected to join in the prank wars the two of them have. I wasn’t kidding when I told Beck I was on my brother’s side.

“Fine,” I mumble. “Just one time?”

Beck nods. “Yep. Just one time. But I have to be there.”

“I guess I didn’t expect anything less.” I chuckle. “If he disowns me, I’m making you take full responsibility.”

“Worth it.”

Oh God. “So…”

Roman pats my hand. “Yes, you can marry Eli. Of course you can.”

I swallow hard again. “I, um—I was also hoping you guys would be okay with me taking his last name. It’s just—you’re my family, you know? And that means something to me.”

Beck’s eyes go a little glassy. I’d be concerned if I didn’t know what a sap he is. “Of course,” he breathes. “I think that would be amazing. Nicolas and Eli Hart. Has a certain ring to it, huh?”

My breath hitches in my chest. It definitely does. Although… “You know my name isn’t actually Nicolas, right, Beckett?”

Beck’s jaw drops open in playful outrage, and Roman lets out a choked laugh.

Eli

It’s loud. It used to not be this loud. But it’s not a bad loud. It’s happy. My favorite type of all-consuming noise. Wren is chasing Warren and Lexi through the house, and Uncle Holden is fussing at them to quit running. Roman is laughing at something Julian is saying, and Beck is teasing Nic .

It’s perfect. All of it.

Nic catches my eye and smiles at me. It’s my favorite smile of his. Lopsided and boyish. The same smile that used to irritate me to no end, mostly because I fucking loved it so much.

I smile back as I finish setting the table for dinner. Honestly, I’m starting to think Holden was right, and we do need a bigger table. But for now, and for however long, we’ll all squeeze in, bumping elbows and listening to the kids argue about who’s in whose space.

When we all sit down for dinner—Uncle Holden’s favorite—I can’t wipe the smile off my face.

Nic grips my hand under the table all through dinner, not letting go of me even once.

Conversation flows, the kids giggle, and we all laugh.

It’s everything I ever wanted and everything I thought I’d never have.

God, if fourteen-year-old me could see us now.

How full our life is. How happy. How peaceful.

Nic gives my fingers a gentle squeeze, then lets go, standing up. “Can I say something really quickly?”

I glance up at him, my heart tripping over itself.

“Of course,” Holden answers.

Nic takes a deep breath, his hands shaking a little at his sides.

“The last year has been… honestly, one of the best of my life. And it’s because of you all.

I came here looking for Holden. For my brother.

For family. And I found that. With all of you.

” He looks from person to person, lingering on me the longest before he turns his gaze back to Uncle Hold.

“You, especially. You didn’t have to open your door and let me come in when I showed up and told you my name three times in less than two minutes.

You didn’t have to open your heart to me and invite me in, but you did. ”

Holden blinks a couple of times, his eyes welling up with tears .

“You guys changed my life,” Nic says softly. “You’re the best brother I could have ever hoped for, CT.”

Beck fucking loses it—laughing so hard, I’m not sure that he’s even breathing. My brain does a hard reset as I jerk my attention to Holden. He blinks twice, then his brows furrow. “What… did you just call me?”

Nic clears his throat. “Let’s not focus on that right now.”

“How am I supposed to focus on anything else? You just called me CT!”

Beck’s still cackling, and I can only figure it’s because he put Nic up to this. I swear they’ve labeled the wrong person the chaos in this family.

Nic turns, then drops to one knee in front of me, and my brain goes offline again. “Eli,” he whispers. “My doll, my everything.”

I inhale a shaky breath. What is he doing? Holy shit… is he… There’s no way he’s—

“I love you so much. More than anything. I want to spend forever with you. I want to spend forever with you so badly that I can’t even breathe sometimes.”

Yeah, well, I can’t breathe right now, so that’s something. My eyes get hot, tears filling them.

“I want all the sleepy mornings and busy afternoons working together. I want family dinners and late-night walks around lakes. I want all of that with you right by my side, Eli. Will you marry me?”

I nod because words are not an option. Like not at all, but he probably wants words. He always wants words. “Yes,” I choke out.

His shoulders slump in relief, like there was really a chance I was gonna say no. He pulls a ring from his pocket with a shaky hand, and before he even has to ask, I’m offering him my hand. He slides it on my ring finger to the sound of cheers .

My heart thumps. When I first joined this family, Uncle Julian proposed to Uncle Hold right here. At this very table. The number of people has grown, the love has grown, and now I’m sitting in the same place, crying over my own proposal. Holy shit.

I dive off my chair, almost knocking Nic to the ground to hug him the second the ring is on my finger. His arms come around me instantly, his chest heaving with his harsh breaths. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you too,” I choke out.

Nic stands, pulling me up with him, and when he sits down, he drags me into his lap, holding me close to him. “Sorry, Hold. I had to. Beck told me I couldn’t marry Eli unless I called you CT.”

Beck groans. “What the heck? You’re just gonna sell me out like that?”

Nic shrugs, rubbing his hand down my back. “I keep telling you, I’m on my brother’s side.”

Holden cackles. “I’ll forgive it just this once.”

I bury my face against his throat, breathing in his scent, soaking in the warmth of his body.

This is it. This is my forever. Nic is my forever. My home. My safe place.

My quiet.

The End