She opens the box with a flourish. Nestled inside is my mother's sapphire and diamond tiara, the one Hadria first took as collateral from my parents so long ago—and the one that Nero then took from my father to pay for his gambling debts.
"I thought you might like to wear it at our wedding," Hadria says. "And then we can return it to Sylvia, since it belongs to her."
I throw myself into her arms again, overjoyed. As we hold each other close, Hadria whispers in my ear, "I love you, Aurora. Forever."
"I love you too," I whisper back. "Always."
At long last, I'm exactly where I belong.
Epilogue
HADRIA
I'm startled awake by the buzzing of my phone on the nightstand. I glance over and see Aurora sleeping soundly beside me, her hair splayed across the pillow, hand curled next to her relaxed face…and my ring on her finger.
I smile, the memory of my proposal still filling me with joy, so that even Lyssa's text to meet her outside, right damn now, can't dampen my mood.
Lyssa needs to learn to relax. Switch off.
But I suppose duty calls.
Careful not to disturb Aurora, I slip out from under the sheets and grab my robe from the chair, the carpet soft under my bare feet as I pad out of the bedroom, through the living area, and into the hallway outside.
Lyssa is waiting for me out there, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. "This better be important, Wolf," I say, stifling a yawn.
"Oh, I'd say it is, Hades. Yuri is dead."
I stare at her. "Yuri?" Yuri is one of Aurora's cohorts, a trainee who shows great promise. Well. Not anymore, I suppose. "He's dead," I repeat unnecessarily. Lyssa just nods.
Aurora is going to be very upset by this. I am, too, in my own way. Yuri was a good man.
"How did it happen?" I ask.
"Well, that's the thing, Boss. Someone slipped a stiletto between his ribs and pierced his heart."
The haze of sleep vanishes. Lyssa watches me take it in. "I see," I say at last. "Then it seems we still have a problem."
"Yeah," she replies grimly. "Seems we do."