Authors: Jen Khan
Epilogue
It
is a mid-June afternoon and Braden and I have spent the whole morning in bed. Six months after Jose Delgado attacked me outside of the bar, life is back to normal.
I moved in with Braden not long after that night out back at Holt's. This was his way of keeping me safe. I was a little worried about being under the same roof day in and day out. I didn't want us to get on each other's nerves, but I had nothing to worry about. Our relationship continues to get stronger and stronger every day.
Delgado is sitting in jail, awaiting his trial while being denied bond. The D.A.’s office is confident in their case against him, and he is looking at several years in prison.
We haven’t seen or heard from my father since he left Braden’s apartment
the morning of his unannounced visit, and I can’t say that this is a surprise. I am almost certain he will never contact me again.
Holly and Tristan
are an on-again, off-again couple. Well, they haven't exactly put a name on it yet, but it's bound to happen eventually. They just have to get their shit sorted first.
Jake is occupying his time lately with looking after this Claire girl, who we have yet to meet. I scheduled an interview with her and was planning to offer her a job at the bar.
The problem is that she never showed.
Olivia started going to
cosmetology school. She still has shifts at the bar, but she's been on a, what she calls, "path to self-discovery, yo!" I volunteered to be her guinea pig a few times--until the time that I agreed to let her highlight my hair and, instead of red, she dyed my hair orange.
Braden has his arms wrapped around me and I have my head on his shoulder, a leg draped over his, and my fingers are tracing the tattoo over his heart.
I am never letting this go.
My beautiful, amazing man.
I close my eyes and sigh.
“What’s going through that mind of yours?” he asks softly.
“I’m pregnant,” I reply and his body goes to stone beneath me. His hands come to my shoulders, pushing me back slightly.
We
’ve discussed children many times, and we are both in agreement that we want at least two children—unless they both come out girls. We would have to try again for a boy. And we haven’t exactly been practicing safe sex since I moved in with him.
His eyes go wide as they study mine for what
must be minutes but is probably only seconds.
We hold each other’s gazes before he whispers, “Pregnant?”
“Yeah,” I reply on a whisper.
His mouth slams to mine for a hot, deep kiss. His tongue darts into my mouth as his arms slide up and down my sides and legs.
His fingers grip my hips, jerking me closer.
His hand trails up my side and he finds my breast. Breaking our kiss, he moves his tongue to my nipple and swirls around it before bringing it between his teeth with a light nip.
I gasp into his mouth and my hips jerk to meet his.
His hands go between my legs and my breath catches. “Yes,” I breathe.
Braden kisses me again and then he is sliding inside of me. My legs wrap around his hips, my arms and legs tightening around him. He leans in, my neck arching back, and he pounds deeper and harder.
“Honey,” I whisper.
He lifts one of my legs and hooks it over his shoulder so that he can pound in deeper. Then I am coming. He continues to drive farther into me.
He removes my leg from his shoulder and hooks it around his hips. His lips make it to my neck, his breathing gets heavier, and his moans get louder.
He buries himself in to the hilt, head tilted back, and he grunts.
I love to watch my man come. To know that I made him look that way.
His hands are sliding over my sides, my breasts, and when he rolls to his side, they move down to my belly.
“I’m going to be a father,” he breathes.
“Yeah, honey. You’re going to be a father.”
His eyes are watching his hand caressing my stomach, and I hold my breath.
“A piece of me is growing inside of you.”
My heart is racing and flipping and rolling around in my chest. “Yeah,” I whisper.
He brushes his lips against mine. “I love you, Em.”
“I love you too, Braden.”
We hold each other close.
His head drops and he kisses my neck. I close my eyes, and when I open them again, he has lifted his head and he’s watching me.
“There’s something I want to give you.”
“I think you’ve given me enough,” I grin, and he chuckles.
“I
can’t give you a new beginning, but I sure as hell can give you a happy ending.”
“You’ve already given me that,” I remind him.
“Baby, I have searched for love my whole life and never thought I was going to find it—until I met you. Then I lost you.”
My
lips part, and tears fill my eyes instantly. His arms tighten around me again.
“I lived without you for months. It felt like I was wasting away. I couldn’t move on.” He closes his eyes and shakes his head. He finishes. “I should’ve fought harder. Instead, I lived a life without you for far too long. Now that we’re here, together, I’m never going back to that hell, because, baby… That’s what my life without you is. It’s hell.”
I am speechless. I should say something, maybe apologize for being the cause of his heartache. I never wanted that for him, and now that we are back and better than we ever were, it deeply saddens me to think of all of the time we wasted not being together.
“I never had a real family. Until you gave me one. No one has ever cared enough to give me what you’ve given me.”
Braden gives me another squeeze.
“My life has been shit. Never have I experience such love and light in my life until you,” I tell him.
He lifts his head and kisses my lips, giving me another squeeze. One hand sifts into my hair and tugs lightly so that I am looking right into his beautiful eyes.
“I have something to give you,” he says gently.
His torso twists, opening the nightstand next to the bed. After reaching inside, he pulls something out and closes the drawer.
“Like I said before, I’ve searched for love all my life until you. It appears love found me.”
A single tear slides down my cheek. He lifts a hand and sweeps away the tear with his thumb.
“If it weren’t for you coming back into my life, I don’t know what would have become of
me. What I do know is that,—“He chokes. “I want you forever in my life. I want you to be my wife, have my babies, grow old with me, and let me love you every day for the rest of our lives.”
Shit.
I close my eyes, and on cue, more tears begin spilling out of my eyes.
“If you say yes, I promise you I will spend my entire life showing you how happy you make me. I promise to make you as happy as I am. I promise—“
“Yes,” I whisper.
“What?” Braden asks.
I clear my throat and repeat, “Yes.”
A broad smile draws across his face. He opens the small black velvet box, pulls the ring out, and positions it on my left ring finger.
It is the most gorgeous ring I have ever seen. It’s a one-and-a-half carat Tiffany princess diamond with a band of channel-set round diamonds, five on each side. It is exquisite yet not too over the top. Braden knows my style and knows that I like things simple, which includes everything from my clothes to my accessories.
The ring is perfect.
He lets my hand go and wraps both of his arms around me, lifting me half on top of him while I press my face into his neck and let the tears fall.
After a few moments of silence, I raise my hand and swipe at my face.
I settle my cheek to his shoulder.
“I love you, honey,” I whisper, looking at my new diamond.
“I fell in love with you after our first date,” I admit. “I fell even deeper when I saw you sitting in my hospital room sleeping in the chair. I fell even deeper when you cuddled with me on my bed after I saw my apartment. I fell even deeper after that, if you can believe it, when you showed up at the apartment a couple months later.
“Emma—“
“I fell even harder when you helped me reel it back in after losing it at Tristan’s gym that night we did our self-defense class.”
“Baby, shh—“
“And the night we went to Giovanni's for my Birthday dinner.”
He doesn’t respond this time. I guess he finally realizes he isn’t going to shut me up.
“And when you threw me a surprise party with all of our friends and your family. Braden, I think that’s when I knew that I wanted to marry you someday.”
He rolls on top of me. His hands and mouth are everywhere. Braden is finally s
uccessful in shutting me up.
Fall in love with Tristan Holt in the next book of the Sins of the Father series, Holly Madison
About the Author
Jen Khan is that very unassuming gal at first sight due to her quiet nature, but look out when she lets you into her world. Buckle up and get ready for an adventure. You will find her at a party, or just out and about with friends sitting in the corner taking a minute to assess her surroundings and the people in it before she dives in with her quick witt, charm and slinging her endless supply of sarcasm. She’s a mom, aunt, teacher, dancing puppet to little people, chauffer, walking ATM, and master of all things domestic. She loves her son, family, friends, wine, giggling, singing out of tune and dancing like a fool. She has a zest for life that rubs off on everyone in her presence.
Jen has always been an aspiring writer/author. She woke up one morning realizing that it was time to make it happen. She is a teacher by trade which allowed her to put her skills to use. You will find adventure, suspense and always romance in her books.
Jen lives in Northern Virginia with her son. When she needs a break from the daily chaos of her life, you can most likely find her going out for a run, on her treadmill or with her beloved Kindle in hand.