Page 46 of Game of Revenge

When we separate, I drop back onto my knees and her green eyes widen.

“Francesca, you came into our lives when we needed you most. You took a broken man and held him as he pieced himself back together. I know this was a huge surprise to us all, but I can't picture life being any other way…”

Kiernan bends down and gives her a smile.

“Will you marry us,” he says with a laugh.

“God, yes, is this really happening? Yes! I will marry you.”

Falling onto her knees she kisses me until I can't breathe, then pulls away and hugs Kiernan tight.

We're all crying and I can't help but to think it's a cleansing of our emotions. We are letting go of the past and opening up for our future.

And I am so fucking excited to see what it holds.

Chapter 14

Kiernan

It’s been a whirlwind the past eight years. It’s hard to think about the year filled with pain where I almost lost everything, including my life, but therapy has helped me hold onto what’s important.

Frankie walks toward our daughter, Kate. She’s two today, and wouldn’t be here without this incredible woman. We worked hard to get to this point, and there’s no jealousy, simply love.

This is the way things always should have been, but Michael’s jealousy ruined everything in our relationship. The horrors of his actions opened up the door to allow us to make mistakes, try new things, and burn away the pain of the past.

“It’s almost time to cut the cake,” Tray murmurs, wrapping his strong arms around my waist. “How messy do you think Kate will get?”

“Is it too late to change her dress?” I tease. “The pink frosting is going to make for a really interesting diaper.”

Tray snorts as he kisses my cheek, rolling his eyes. Everyone knows that frosting and epic poops go hand and hand.

Carrie has a tradition of getting her kids cupcakes to cut down the mess when they’re younger, and we’re continuing it. Kate has a pretty pink unicorn cupcake ready to go, and there’s a cake for everyone else.

Kate toddles around having intense baby conversations with people, and they’re instantly charmed. They have no idea what a nightmare she is if she’s ignored, so I’m glad everyone here loves babies.

“Kate’s so pretty,” Carrie sighs, walking up to us. She's officially done having babies, and stopped at four. The guys pouted, but agreed that their kids are a handful.

“Mommy, cannon ball!” Margo screams, jumping into the pool with a giant splash.

“Relax, she can float,” Carrie murmurs, leaning forward to watch as Margo giggles once she comes up, flopping onto her back to wait to be rescued.

“The tiny terror is also a diva,” I mutter with a chuckle as I watch Bates curse and jump in to go get her. “Does she do this often?”

“Enough that my heart doesn’t jump out of my chest anymore,” she replies. “Now you have your own tiny terror, boys. Good luck.”

“Thanks so much,” I drawl. “We’ll be lucky if we get through this without a meltdown.”

“Pool!” Kate yells.

“Spoke too soon,” Tray grunts, turning and catching a running toddler. It’s like he has a sixth sense about where she is.

Fatherhood looks damn good on him.

“Getting in the pool means no cake,” I remind her, kissing her cheeks. “It also means the birthday girl will have to say goodbye to all her guests.”

“I really want cake,” Carrie says, pouting, effectively distracting Kate from a dripping Margo and Bates.

“Me too,” my daughter says decisively. “Now?”

---