Page 74 of New Orleans Collection

Her apologies become a prayer carried on the wind. It’s a beautiful sound that starts to get lost underneath the pounding of my heart and the roar of the blood in my veins.

I go harder and faster, pushing us forcefully to the place where our pleasure will explode. I grip the hair at the nape of her neck and force her to tilt her head enough to look at me. Our eyes lock before I slam my mouth down on hers.

“Come,” I command against her lips.

She screams and thunder comes from the depths of my soul as she milks my cock for my cum and I’m powerless against her need, her silent command. It feels like our orgasm goes on forever, tilting and twisting, growing and tumbling.

When I open my eyes, our mouths are barely touching, and Fleur’s eyes flutter closed just as her breathing evens out. I can’t help but smirk down at our woman as I pull out of her gently. When I roll onto my back, Leo is there with a cloth to clean her up before he slides into bed.

Fleur curls into his side and contentment washes over me.

All the threats to our families might not be handled, but Martinez won’t be able to hide from us forever. What matters right now is we have our woman, she’s safe, and she loves us.

The future is ahead of us, and we’ll make the most of it. And if we get to dress her up in pretty things from time to time, all the better.

She’s ours and we’re not letting her go.

EPILOGUE

ABOUT ELEVEN MONTHS LATER

FLEUR

As I look down at the sleeping little girl in my arms, I can’t help but smile and realize this is really my life. I’m holding my niece and when I look around the clubhouse, which is where we’re holding Viola’s birthday dinner this year, I’m surrounded by the people who matter most to me. It does feel unbelievable at times, but it’s real. The weight of Viola’s little girl, my niece, reminds me just how real it all is.

When I talked to Viola about having her dinner at the club and why, she was all for it. I was a little worried she would feel a certain way about me stealing a bit of her thunder, but I think she likes the tradition of having big announcements made on her birthday. I’m glad she didn’t think I was trying to take the spotlight off her.

I just know it’s not always easy to get everyone who matters in one room. We all have lives which entwine together but are also separate. We make time for each other, but it’s become more difficult lately. Understandably so, but I still wasn’t going to let the opportunity in front of me pass me by.

Viola is the only one who knows what I’m about to tell everyone and from the look on her face, she’s dying to spill the beans. She looks pained and when she meets my eyes, her smile is strained and she’s practically bouncing up and down in her seat. If I don’t get the show on the road soon then she’ll blurt out the news.

I stand up and let out a small noise of surprise when Massimo is there and takes his daughter from my arms. The way he looks down at her, with so much love in his eyes, has my insides turning to goo. He presents himself as a strong man without emotions, but it all melts away whenever he looks at Viola or their little girl.

I hope my men are the same way.

I look over to find my dad and brother talking to my men and breathe a sigh of relief. I’m not going to say everything went smoothly when we talked to my family about me being with the Guidice brothers, but it didn’t go as badly as it could have. Everyone walked away alive, which was a win as far as I’m concerned.

I would have been pissed if there was blood shed just because I found my happiness.

When I woke up the morning after sneaking out of the house, I found there was a huge diamond ring on my finger and my men were wearing matching smug expressions. I rolled my eyes, not at all surprised when my men didn’t ask me to marry them. The ache of the punishment I received the night before was still very much present and I realized I didn’t care that they didn’t ask me.

After kissing me until I was breathless and I was ready for the day, they herded me into the car without saying a word about where we were going. I started to panic a little when we pulled up at the DSMC clubhouse. The feeling didn’t go away when they led me down to my dad’s office where he was already waiting with my brother.

I saw recognition flash across my dad’s face as he took us in but was surprised to see resignation on my brother’s features. When no one broke the silence, I started to fidget. Rocco put his hand on my lower back, offering me his strength, but it didn’t help a whole lot.

“I heard about what happened at The Sanctuary last night,” Dad finally spoke, “but I see that’s not why you’re here.”

“We’ll fill you in on those details, but you’re right, we’re not here about that,” Leo’s voice was calm and strong. “We love your daughter. She’s ours.” He took my hand and held it out into the middle of the room and my knees threatened to buckle out from underneath me. “Soon she’s going to be our wife.”

Dad closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again to look at my men. It was clear he was taking the measure of each of them while my heart was pounding in my chest. When his eyes met mine, they softened, and it felt like I could breathe again.

“Are you happy?”

That’s all he asked me. Such a simple question, but I felt the weight of it against my chest.

“Blissful,” I whispered and watched as a smile chase its way across my dad’s face.

He stood and walked around his desk before pulling me against his chest. “I can’t say I understand why you’ve chosen these men.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he kept speaking before I could get a word out. “They are good men, and I won’t deny it. I’ve known them for basically their whole lives.” He looked down at me to study my face as I blinked back tears. “It might take me a little while to come to terms with the fact that you’re not my little girl anymore, but if you’re happy then I’m happy.”

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