Page 14 of His Forever

“We’ll deal with Candace,” I said as I shifted the conversation back to safer ground. “Then life can go back to normal.”

Leo nodded, but I could see the questions in his eyes. The things he wanted to say but didn’t. We both knew there was more to figure out than just Candace, but for now that was enough. It had to be.

Chapter Seven

Leo

“What do you think the guys are going to do when they see me?” Brynn asked.

I shrugged, watching the familiar countryside roll past through the car window. “You should be more worried about how they’re going to react when you tell them who the hell you were married to.”

Brynn quirked her lips, a sly smile tugging at the corners. “Yeah, that might be the shocker.” She let out a soft laugh, but I could tell she was thinking about it.

I still couldn’t wrap my head around it. Brynn married to Guy Maranga? It was the kind of thing that would make anyone question reality. Hell, I was still trying to make sense of it.

We were on our way to Wyndemere from the airport and I was trying not to let the weight of the situation get to me. The moment our wheels hit the runway we were in a car heading straight to my home. Brynn didn’t have to lift a finger, but everything ran like clockwork. It was seamless—effortless even. That just showed how much power she had now. She might not have been barking orders, but I knew she had an entire team working tirelessly behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly.

Sig was driving, and as we turned into the long, tree-lined driveway, he pulled up to the gate and pressed the intercom.

“Can I help you?” came Apollo’s familiar voice through the speaker.

Relief washed over me. He’d made it back from South Carolina in one piece.

“We have a delivery from Guy Maranga,” Sig called out, deadpan.

“Jesus,” I muttered from the backseat, leaning forward between the front seats. “Are you trying to freak them the fuck out?”

Sig just smirked, but I called out myself, “It’s me, Apollo. Let us in.”

There was a long pause before Apollo’s incredulous voice crackled through. “Leo? What the fuck? You’re with Maranga?”

I glanced at Brynn, who sat there, calm as ever, a faint smile playing on her lips.

She shrugged, clearly enjoying the situation. “I mean, you are.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I’m with them. Open the damn gates,” I snapped.

A moment later, the heavy gates creaked open, and Sig rolled the car forward. The long, winding driveway to Wyndemere stretched out before us. My home. The place that had become my sanctuary after years of chaos. I kept an eye on Brynn, curious about her reaction. Wyndemere was a world apart from what she used to know with me. We had lived in Chicago and there wasn’t a peaceful minute.

“You thought my G280 was overkill, but I think your mega-mansion might be overkill, too,” she laughed, looking out at the sprawling estate.

I smirked. “As if Guy didn’t have estates spread all over the place.”

She glanced at me, a bit of nostalgia in her eyes. “He did, but I rarely ever went to them. I stayed at my apartment while he traveled. Kept my job at Wayne Plastics until he was diagnosed with cancer.” She paused, the memory flickering in her gaze. “I’m not saying it wasn’t nice to have Guy’s money at my disposal, but I still liked to keep things simple.”

“Like flying in a G280,” I teased, shaking my head.

Brynn blushed, a soft pink spreading across her cheeks. “Well, no one’s perfect,” she laughed. “I really do like that plane.”

Sig pulled up in front of the house, and there they were—Apollo, Princeton, Creed, and Murphy—standing at the top of the grand steps, all of them looking a little worse for wear but solid as ever. They weren’t just my men; they were my brothers. We’d been through hell together, and now they were about to be reunited with the woman who had somehow been part of my past and present, in ways none of them could have imagined.

“You get out first,” I said, a grin spreading across my face.

Brynn gave me a confused look. “What?”

“I want to see their jaws hit the ground when they lay eyes on you.”

She laughed, her eyes narrowing playfully. “You’re bad, Leo. You know they’re all going to freak out when they see me.”

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