Page 137 of His Wild Seduction

It was always good to follow your instincts, wasn’t it?

EPILOGUE FOUR

MEREDITH

The cool fall breeze lifted the fallen leaves and sent them swirling around my legs as I walked across the backyard of the home we recently remodeled in Long Island, closer to Des and Sof, and therefore, closer to Marat and Adrik.

They were Josef’s chosen family, and they were mine now, too.

I smiled as I placed my hand on my still soft abdomen. We’d been trying for months, and finally, I had some good news to share with my handsome husband.

I’d wanted to cook something for him. But since the only thing I was getting any better at was sourdough bread, I’d ordered some Szechuan delivery.

It was too early for cravings, but I never met a fried noodle or rice dish I didn’t like. Biting my lip, I tried to imagine what he would say when I told him.

Having a child was such an enormous responsibility, the weight of it came crashing down on me.

I stilled, leaning against the stone fence that surrounded our yard and sucked in a breath.

Panicky moments were normal.

At least, I thought they were.

I mean, I’d never been pregnant before, so how could I really know?

After all the pain and the mistakes of our turbulent past, I was so ready to move on to the next stage of our lives together.

These past few months with Josef were better than I could have ever hoped. He gave me more than I’d dreamed.

He called me his color, his Little Red. He said I brought the sun back into his life. But what he didn’t know was he did the same thing for me.

“Hey, didn’t you hear me calling your name?” Josef asked gently and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

He pulled my back flush against his chest. I jumped at first, exhaling when I recognized him.

Then I slumped back, allowing him to bear my weight, but careful of the new ink he was sporting on his chest.

My sexy as fuck husband had tattooed an anatomically correct heart wrapped in pink ribbon right above where his real one beat solidly beneath his breastbone.

God, I loved him.

“Sorry, I was daydreaming,” I replied, turning my head for a kiss.

“The food you ordered arrived at the same time I did. Mario brought it inside for us. Come on,” he said and took my hand in his much larger one.

I knew he was still pissed at my bodyguard, but I told Josef it wasn’t his fault, and he relented, allowing the man to stay.

Although, I admit he looked like he’d had some sort of accident right after the whole incident with Franklin—the man I no longer called my stepfather.

It was time we put all the ghosts of our past to rest. Time we looked towards the future.

We walked in silent comfort across the backyard, and I smiled at the red, yellow, and orange splashes of color the leaves made dancing across the dry grass.

“You always remind me of the fall,” Josef murmured.

“Do I?”

“It’s your gorgeous hair. Those eyes, That smile. My color,” he said, kissing my hand.

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