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EPILOGUE

AIDEN

I ’m not going to make it to the wedding. I’m going to rip the dress off my wife before she gets to the altar.

Not my wife. My almost-wife. Whatever.

She keeps teasing me with selfies of her getting ready and I’ve had just about enough. I stride up the path to the house, Dusty bounding behind me. He knows something big is happening today and he’s been energized all morning.

I know how he feels. We said private vows last night in the garden, Emory’s were tender and heartfelt, with a hint of teasing.

Mine made her cry. Hell, they made me cry too, until both of were just staring at each other like fools, watery smiles on our faces.

When we kissed, it tasted like salt and joy.

I love that taste. Happiness so acute you’re jealous of yourself. Joy so sharp it cuts like a knife.

I slam the door open to the house. “Emory,” I shout. “I know you’re up there.”

“She’s not here.” Tristan looks up from the couch, where he’s thumbing through his phone. There’s a bowtie hanging around his neck and a bottle of champagne on the coffee table. “They went to Sienna’s. Emory said she knew you’d be sniffing around.”

“Damn.” I flop onto the couch. Tristan looks serious, which is rare. “What’s up with you?”

“We have a lead.”

Surprise pulls my spine straight. “On her?”

Tristan nods, before he drags a hand over his face. “It’s happening.”

“Well, damn.” I clap him on the shoulder. “That’s good, Tris. That’s really good.”

He nods slowly, and I’m not sure what he’s thinking, but he’s been looking for his fiancée for a long time. And now he might be able to find her.

“Things are changing for the Prince family,” he says softly, before he lifts his glass of champagne. “Cheers, big bro.” He claps me on the back. “To the future. Dad would be proud.”

“Yeah.” I smile at my brother, my heart full, and my future unfurling before me. It seems full of possibility, in a way it didn’t a year ago. She did that. She has no idea. I would kill for her. Emory, over everything. “I think he would be.”