I pull the bag out of the car and toss it over my shoulder then wait for Layla to join me so I can take her hand.
As we walk to the porch, Layla comments, “It sounds like a warzone.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less with fifteen kids in the back yard.” When we reach Dad, I shake his hand.
“Hey, Dad,” Layla says as she hugs him.
“You are really brave or old age has finally set in,” I tease him, which earns me a glare from Layla.
“Old age, my foot,” Dad huffs. “What’s wrong with my giving Daniele a party for her eighteenth birthday?”
“Nothing. All jokes aside, it’s really nice of you to throw Danny a party.”
Layla pulls her hand free from mine and asks, “Where’s Mom?”
“Last time I checked, she was in the kitchen cutting up some watermelon for the little ones,” Dad answers.
My dad and Stephanie got married a year after Layla and me. We just celebrated our eight-year anniversary.
The thought brings a smile to my face. Layla’s added so much color to my life over the years that it’s hard to remember the time before she came into my life.
“Finally,” Mason snaps when he sees me. “Why are you always last to arrive?”
“Because I have two kids who can’t decide what they want to wear,” I answer.
Mason lets out a chuckle, and we give each other a brotherly hug before he says, “Luckily, I don’t have that problem.
“Where’s Lake?”
Mason jabs a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the backyard. “He’s in the pool with the kids.”
“I’m just going to greet Stephanie, then I’ll come out back,” I say. Popping into the kitchen, I smile widely when I see Stephanie pouring two glasses of wine. “Liquid courage.”
“If Layla didn’t stop me, I’d be drinking straight from the bottle right now,” Stephanie jokes.
I give her a kiss on the cheek and ask, “Is it that bad?”
She nods as she takes a sip of her wine, but then says, “You know I’m only joking, right? I love having everyone over.”
“I should head outside. The two of you better not finish that bottle off.”
“We can’t make any promises,” Layla teases as I walk out of the kitchen. When I step out into the backyard, it seriously looks like all hell broke loose.
“Hana, look who’s here,” Mrs. Cutler yells while she points at me. Lake and Lee’s little girl drops the doll she’s playing with, and her head whips in my direction.
“Uncle Falcon!” she shrieks. I crouch down as she runs to me and wrap her up in a tight embrace.
“Hey, munchkin.”
She worms herself out of my arms then looks over my shoulder toward the house. “Where’s Aunty Layla?”
“In the kitchen. Why don’t you run inside and go tell her to come out?”
Hana nods so hard it makes her dark brown curls bounce, and then she dashes off like a lightning bolt.
“Daddy!” I hear Forest yelling, and then I spot him where he’s sitting with Fallon. “Fallon won’t let me play with them.”
Fallon lives for her playdates with Jade, Mila, and Hana. Rhett, Logan, Lake, and I struck gold having daughters the same age. The four girls will be starting school together this year.
“Hi, Uncle Falcon,” Hunter suddenly says next to me.
“Hey.” I smile wide at Mason’s eldest as we fist bump.
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell Forest to swim with me, so he doesn’t bother the girls,” Hunter offers.
“I owe you one.” The kid is the spitting image of Mason, but he has Kingsley’s blue eyes. Hunter is also as broody as Mason.
I walk to where Carter is sitting between his boys, Christopher and Tristan, and sink down in the nearest open chair.
Glancing around the group of men, I ask, “How’s everyone?”
Rhett holds up a beer. “I’m good.”
“Yeah, I need one of those.” I’m just about to get up when Mason hands me one before he goes to sit with Rhett. They’ve become good friends over the years.
Actually, when we all started having kids, the two groups of friends naturally became one.
An arm falls around my shoulder and glancing up, I’m met with Jase’s lazy grin. My nephew is as laid back as they come.
“Hey, Uncle Falcon.”
I set down the beer and wrap an arm around Jase’s waist, and as I get up, I toss him over my shoulder. I dig my phone from my back pocket and hand it to Carter before I run to the pool with a laughing Jase who’s playing drums on my back.
“Falcon! No!” Layla yells, and it has me stopping dead in my tracks a second before I would’ve jumped in. “Don’t you dare jump in with your clothes on. At least go put on your swimsuit first.”
I turn around to face her and pretend to slip as I fall backward into the water. “Oops!”
Two years later.
Layla
“Forest, pick up your toys. I’m not asking again.” I watch as my youngest drags his feet, his shoulders hanging as if I just asked him to do the impossible. “Daddy will be home any second now, and then we’re going out.” Mentioning Falcon always gets the job done.
Forest picks up two cars, then looks at me, “Where are we going?”
“Daddy said it’s a surprise.”
I see the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, and it reminds me so much of Falcon’s grin.
“Layla?” I hear Falcon call from downstairs.
“Hurry, then come downstairs,” I say before I leave his room. Out in the hallway, I shout, “Fallon, Daddy’s home.”
Falcon smiles up at me as I take the stairs down to him. When I reach him, I wrap my arms around his neck and press a kiss to his lips. “Hey, handsome.”
His eyes linger on my face, and then he says, “Hey, my rainbow. Did you have a good day?”
I shake my head and pout.
Falcon wraps his arms around my waist. “Why not?”
“I missed you a lot.”
“Mmh… I missed you too.” The sexy grin I love so much tugs at his mouth.
I press another kiss to his lips just as Fallon and Forest come barreling down the stairs and move to the side so they can get to their dad.
Falcon nudges the kids toward the front door, saying, “Let’s get going. We can’t be late tonight.”
“Where are we going, Dad?” Forest asks as we step onto the front porch and wait for Falcon to lock the door.
“You’ll see.”
Falcon
Layla frowns when I drive through the gates of Trinity Academy, then she glances at me. “Why here?”
I grin at her as I park the car. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
When I have my family out of the car, I walk to The Hope Diamond. They keep shooting curious gazes at me as we take the elevator up. When we reach the suite I used to share with Mason and Lake, I open the door, and gesture for Layla to go in first.
“Are you going to tell…” Layla’s words die quickly when she sees Lake and Kingsley waiting in the living room. “Hey, guys.” She gives me a puzzled look. “What’s going on?”
“I get to be your fairy godmother again,” Lake answers.
I press a kiss to Layla’s temple. “I’ll see you in a little while.”
Taking Forest and Fallon’s hands in mine, we walk back to the elevator and go to meet with Lee in her old suite.
Our friends didn’t hesitate to help me recreate the evening as an anniversary surprise for Layla.
I leave the kids with Lee so they can change into their clothes for the evening, then go to put on my suit. Once I’m ready, I make my way to the hall and stop at every table to greet my family and friends.
I constantly check the entrance and see the moment Layla comes in and her lips part with surprise. I wait for her to say hello to everyone, and when she reaches me, she shakes her head at me with a loving smile gracing her lips.
She’s wearing the sa
me pink gown that she wore when I asked her to date me.
“You still take my breath away,” I say as I lean in to kiss her. “Happy tenth anniversary, my rainbow.”
The same piano piece starts to play, and taking her hand, I lead her to the dance floor.
“I still can’t dance,” she mutters under her breath, and it makes a wide smile spread across my face.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, I pull her against my chest, and I wait for her to lay her right hand in mine, and then I take a step forward. Layla’s breath catches, and her eyes dart up to mine. Keeping my gaze locked with hers, I whisper, “Thank you for every special moment you’ve given me and for letting me be apart of your world.”
Layla gives me a warm smile. “I promised you it would be one hell of a ride.”
“You did.” The song comes to an end, and we stop moving. “And you saved us, just like you said you would.”
Layla pushes up on her tiptoes and presses a kiss to my lips. “If you don’t stop now, I’m going to ugly cry in front of everyone.”
“One last thing.” I hope she can see how much I mean every word as I say, “I love you, my rainbow.”
Chapter 10
Falcon
Sitting on the beach, Mason, Lake, and I stare at the waves. We came early so we could spend some time together before our families and friends join us for a day in the sun.
Mason suddenly begins to chuckle, then says, “Remember that night Falcon made us hike through the damn woods in the middle of the night?”
Lake begins to laugh. “When you said midnight stroll my ass?” He pats Mason on the back. “You kept grumbling.”
“Yeah, that night,” Mason replies. The smile around his lips soften. “I was so scared our friendship wouldn’t make it back then.”
“We were all worried.” My eyes dance between Mason and Lake. “But look at us now.”
“Yeah.” Lake shakes his head and lets out a sigh. “I still see your asses every Saturday morning.” His shoulders hang, and he takes a deep breath. “And you still can’t surf for shit.”
Mason whacks him upside the head and growls, “Fucker. You live for our Saturday mornings together.”
Lake lets out a burst of laughter, and when Mason raises his hand to whack him again, Lake grabs hold of me as he jumps to my other side, using me as a barrier.
“You can be glad I’m tired from surfing, or I’d climb right over Falcon to beat your ass.”
My shoulders shake as I laugh at them. “Yeah, nothing has changed.”
Mason shakes his head. “Except, we all have kids now.”
“Yep,” I agree, and not being able to resist, I tease him. “Who would’ve thought you of all people would have more than one.”
Not missing a beat, Lake jumps in to have a go at Mason, “Aria is almost five, and I’m still in shock.”
Mason glares at the two of us. “Is today pick on Mason day?”
Grinning, I nod. “Y’all gave me hell last weekend when you spotted that gray hair, so it’s only fair that you get a turn as well.”
Lake looks at my temple, then he frowns. “Did you pull the hair out?”
Turning my gaze back to the ocean, I pretend to not know what he’s talking about. “What hair?”
Mason leans over Lake to get a closer look at my temple as well. “Nah, Lake, don’t worry. I see two more.”
My head snaps in their direction, and I scowl at them. “Stop talking shit. I don’t have any gray hair.”
Lake leans even closer and squints. “Yep, I see them.”
“The way you’re fucking squinting, I’m surprised you can see anything. Is your eyesight going with old age?”
“I still have twenty-twenty vision,” Lake brags.
We go back to staring out over the ocean, and a couple of minutes pass with the sound of the waves crashing to shore.
Lake looks at me, then at Mason. “It’s been nothing short of amazing having the two of you as my best friends.”
His words make us all a little emotional, then Mason grumbles, “I deserve a medal of honor for making it all these years.”
Lake punches him against the shoulder. “Medal of honor, my ass. You’d die without us.”
“Or land his ass in jail because we weren’t there to stop him,” I chuckle.
Lake lets out a bark of laughter, and adds, “Yeah, and Kingsley probably would’ve killed him by now.”
“Ha-ha-fucking-ha.” Mason tries to glare at us, but then a smile splits over his face. “Fuck, I can’t even argue with that ’cause it’s the truth.”
“Daddy!” I hear Fallon’s voice carry over the beach and glance to my left. I watch as my family walks toward me.
Slowly, our friends and family start to arrive, and as the kids begin to chase each other, their laughter fills the air.
“You think the next generation is going to do better than us?” I ask.
Lake nods. “Yeah, they have great parents.”
Aria trips over her feet, but Forest is quick to help her up, and the sight makes us all smile.
“They’ll be fine,” Mason murmurs. “They already have each other’s back.”
The End
Trinity Academy
FALCON
Novel #1
Falcon Reyes & Layla Shepard
MASON
Novel #2
Mason Chargill & Kingsley Hunt
LAKE
Novel #3
Lake Cutler & Lee-ann Park
JULIAN
Novel #4
A Stand Alone Novel
Julian Reyes (Falcon’s Brother)
&
Jamie Truman (Della’s Sister – Heartless, TETLS)
THE EPILOGUE
A Trinity Academy Novella
Enemies To Lovers
Heartless
Novel #1
Carter Hayes & Della Truman
Reckless
Novel #2
Logan West & Mia Daniels
Careless
Novel #3
Jaxson West & Leigh Baxter
Ruthless
Novel #4
Marcus Reed & Willow Brooks
Shameless
Novel #5
Rhett Daniels & Evie Cole
False Perceptions
Novel #6
A Stand Alone Novel
Hayden Cole (Evie’s Dad)
The Next Generation
COMING NEXT
Coldhearted Heir
Novel #1
Hunter Chargill (Mason and Kingsley’s son)
&
Jade Daniels (Rhett & Evie’s daughter)
Arrogant Heir
Novel #2
Jase Reyes – (Julian & Jamie’s son)
&
Mila West – (Logan & Mia’s Daughter)
Defiant Heir
Novel #3
Kao Reed (Marcus and Willow’s son)
&
Fallon Reyes (Falcon & Layla’s daughter)
Loyal Heir
Novel #4
Forest Reyes (Falcon & Layla’s son)
&
Aria Chargill (Mason & Kingsley’s daughter)
Callous Heir
Novel #5
Noah West (Jaxson & Leigh’s son)
&
Carla Reyes (Julian & Jamie’s daughter)
Sinful Heir
Novel #6
Tristan Hayes (Carter & Della’s son)
&
Hana Cutler (Lake & Lee’s daughter)
Tempted Heir
Novel #7
Christopher Hayes (Carter & Della’s son)
&
Dash West (Jaxson & Leigh’s daughter)
Forbidden Heir
Novel #8
Ryker West (Logan & Mia’s son)
&
Danny Hayes (Carter & Della’s daughter)
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About the author
Michelle Heard is a Bestselling Romance Author who loves creating stories her readers can get lost in. She loves an alpha hero who is not afraid to fight for his woman.
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Acknowledgments
Sheldon, you’re my everything.
To my beta readers, Sheena, Allyson. Kelly, Elaine, Sarah, and Leeann – Thank you for being the godparents of my paper-baby.
Sherrie – Thank you for listening to me ramble, for reading and rereading the Trinity Academy series with me.
Candi Kane PR - Girl, you are my rock star! Thank you for being patient with me and my bad habit of missing deadlines.
Sybil – Thank you for giving my paper-babies the perfect look.
To you, my reader, who has taken this journey with me – thank you from the bottom of my heart for loving these characters as much as I do.
A special thank you to every blogger and reader who took the time to take part in the cover reveal and release day.
Love ya all tons ;)
The Epilogue (Trinity Academy Book 5) Page 5
