She nodded.
Green kissed her gently as he pulled the ring out of the box and slid it onto his finger, his gaze landing on hers.
“I will gladly be yours forever, Emily. This was the big surprise that Scarlett made me promise I wouldn’t spoil?”
Everyone around them was clapping wildly as she leaned in to kiss him directly on the mouth.
“That’s not the only surprise,” She said coyly.
Killian’s eyes narrowed in on her as he waited for the second half.
“Carter is here, and he brought me a key. To our own place. If you want to move in with me, that is.”
He leaned in to kiss her harder, dipping her over his knee as he laughed against her lips. The crowd was going crazy as their mouths connected, followed by more clapping.
Emily was so happy, so ecstatic that he’d said yes. After the argument they had earlier, she had no idea what was going to happen.
“You got me a ring and a house? What does that leave me with to spoil you?”
Emily cupped his cheeks and blinked away happy tears as their friends and family moved in closer to surround them.
“You can love me and the baby, unconditionally.”
Green dropped a hand to her belly, “I already do.”
Emily and Killian both looked up when the entire club surrounded them, including Laney, who was surprisingly happy.
“Rider would be so proud. He would want you happy,” Laney said softly.
Emily hugged her close, accepting the tears and the sadness and the joy Laney was having a hard time holding back.
She understood, they all did- Rider was sorely missed by every single one of them, but every painting she’d done that had him in it…well, it was a way for her to keep him around. People would know that he existed, and that he’d touched so many lives while he was alive.
“Thank you for coming, Laney. It means a lot to me that you came all this way for this.”
Laney looked around the room, her blue eyes stopping on each piece of art.
“I wanted to see if you could capture him, ya know? He was so special, and you got it. Every one of these has a special piece of him in it, even the ones you did with him and Green. I’d like to buy one, if you don’t mind.”
Emily squeezed Laney’s shoulders before she said, “Whichever one you want, it’s yours. I’ll ask Scarlett to mark it for you. No need to pay me, Laney. You’re family.”
Laney’s eyes filled with tears and she hugged Emily again, tight, before she let go and motioned towards the baby.
“I was thinking of moving closer, so I could be near you and the baby. Our parents haven’t want anything to do with us for years, and I don’t really have anyone now that Rider is gone.”
Emily gripper her hand.
“I would love that.”
Laney looked relieved that Emily didn’t mind, and she waved a hand towards a painting near the back of the gallery.
“The one I want is back there. I’ll ask Scarlett to mark it for me.”
Emily nodded and watched Laney go before she was bombarded by well wishes and whoops and hollers from Slayer, Torch, Ox, and her father.
“Who woulda thought our little ice queen could be so warm and inviting?,” Torch sassed.
Emily rolled her eyes and laughed as she looked up at Green, who was obviously on cloud nine.
“Don’t let her fool you. She gets warm and inviting every time my peener is near.”
Her father groaned at that and Emily had to laugh at the pained expression on his face.
“Still too much,” Bryan said.
Emily scoffed and patted his chest.
“You keep tellin’ yourself that.”
He winked at her and Emily took a moment to survey her surroundings.
Was she ready for marriage?
With Green, anything was possible, and she knew that. They’d already done the relationship thing before, so the second time around things fell into place quicker. Definitely not easier, but quicker just the same. She didn’t care if they ever actually got ‘married,’ but putting a ring on it made things seem more permanent.
It was a gesture for her to prove her commitment to him and their family unit. Scarlett came into the picture then and motioned for Emily to come to her.
“Em, you’ve sold every painting but two.”
Her mouth dropped open at that, because what? She’d only just started the show!
“You’re lying!”
Scarlett shook her head and laughed, her curls falling into her eyes.
“I’m not! Em, you did it! You really fucking did it! Everyone is talking about how unique your work is, on top of the show you just put on! I mean, I know it wasn’t a show but it was something personal that tied into the magic of all this art. You did it, Em. Rider would be so proud of you right now.”
That wasn’t the first time she’d heard that over the course of the evening, but it was the first time it really resonated with Emily.
He would be proud, wouldn’t he?
Emily turned to face the rest of the room, filled with people she loved and people she needed in her life. She hadn’t been lying when she said it was the hardest year of her life, but all that bad was overshadowed by a hell of a lot of good.
“Em, come on and take some pictures!”
As Slayer called her from across the room, Emily took a moment to send a prayer heavenwards to the man of the hour.
I wish you were here, Rider. I wish you could be here to celebrate and experience all of this magic, but I know that’s selfish of me. We all love you.
For a second the lights flickered in the room, all those twinkling lights hanging from the ceiling, and Emily smiled. It felt like Rider was there with her, if only for a moment.
“I miss you too, Rider.”
Epilogue
Two months later
“Green, if you don’t quit it, I’m gonna lose my mind.”
His laughter was the only sound Emily heard as she tried, unsuccessfully, to fix the blankets near her feet. She was propped up in bed with a baby book in her lap, perusing for names. Her and Green had many options to choose from for their baby boy, but they couldn’t decide on one name they both liked.
Green was currently tugging on the blankets to deter her attention, something she was determined not to let him do.
“Come on, we don’t have a lot of time left to choose! I want to have this figured out so Rayna and Esme can plan my baby shower.”
He rolled onto his side and pulled the book from her hands, tossing it onto the new nightstand on her side of the bed. Since they’d moved in together, Emily had gone into the nesting phase, and she’d had every room in the house professionally decorated.
“Baby, you’re putting too much thought into this. I say we name him Killian and be done with it.”
“Ha! I can only handle one of those, thank you.”
He tickled her sides gently as she settled against the pillows and closed her eyes, while he tuned the lights out.
“Did Laney have any suggestions when you guys went to lunch earlier?”
Emily shook her head.
“No, we were both busy trying to find her a job. We didn’t talk about names.”
He sighed and turned the volume on the TV down.
“We’ve gone over every name in the book, Em. None of them seem right.”
Emily rotated slightly so she could see into his face and shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
Green ran his hands through her hair and rubbed her back as she settled against him, her warm body going pliant in his arms. It was obvious he was thinking just as deeply as her, so when she spoke she was only partially surprised.
“We haven’t thought about the most obvious choice.”
“What would that be?”
Green kissed her lips gently as he smiled at her.
“Why don’t we name him Miles, Em?”
Her entire countenance changed as he said t
hat, and it just made sense. It fit. It worked. It was what she’d been looking for, even though it was right in front of her.
“It’s perfect. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it.”
“We’ve been busy,” He said.
Emily relaxed against him.
“Miles Emory Jackson. I’ll give him Rider’s last name.”
Green kissed her forehead and then cupped her belly.
“I love it. So would Rider. Now, can we please get naked? I’ve been waiting all day to touch your boobies, Em. They’re freakin’ huge, and you know how hard that gets me.”
Emily giggled, she couldn’t help it.
This is what love is.
The true kind, the lasting kind.
The kind you can only know if you’ve had your heart torn to shreds.
The End
Authors Note:
Thank you so much for purchasing my novel and supporting me. I hope you enjoyed the ride, and that you’ll be back to enjoy more of my beloved Seven Deadlies men!
Thank you, K. Ewald
Greed (Seven Deadlies MC Book 4) Page 18
