Page 87 of Hard to Break

Tears prick the corners of my eyes. “Even when I'm being stubborn and independent?”

He chuckles. “Especially then. Your strength is one of the things I love most about you. I don't want to change you. I just want to be the person you can lean on when you need to.”

I lean in, resting my forehead against his. “I love you, Miles Garrett.”

“I love you too, Brooke Ellis,” he murmurs. “Now, what would you say to a hot air balloon ride?”

I spin around, searching the horizon. “You didn’t.”

“I know how you love adventure. And looking down at all the little people,” he teases, reminding me of the sorority retreat.

I slap his arm lightly and he pulls me against him into a hard kiss.

Yes. This is everything I want.

The jokes and the earnestness. The heat and the sweetness. The dreams and the reality.

Waffles is exhausted from his day of mischief making, so we leave him snoozing with my brother and make our way hand in hand to the setup for the hot air balloons.

“Ready for this, Princess?” Miles asks, eyes sparkling with excitement.

I grin. “Never.”

I lean against Miles, content in a way I never thought possible.

“So,” he says, his voice soft, “think we make a good team?”

I smile, thinking of all we've been through, all we've overcome. “The best.”

EPILOGUE

FOUR MONTHS LATER

Kevin sits in the cold, sterile lecture hall, his stomach churning with a mixture of anger and humiliation. The faces looking back at him are young, eager, and untainted by the harsh realities of the legal world.

How he envies their naïveté.

"Welcome to Legal Ethics 101," he says, his voice flat and lifeless. "I'm here to tell you a cautionary tale. A story of ambition, corruption, and the steep price of losing one's way."

As he launches into his court-mandated lecture, Kevin can't help but marvel at the cruel twist of fate. Instead of serving time behind bars, he was sentenced to relive his misdeeds, to expose his shame to the bright-eyed idealists who represent everything he once was.

Each word tastes like ash in his mouth, but he forces himself to continue. He speaks of the allure of power, the seductive whisper of greed. He recounts the moment he crossed the line, the first compromise that set him on a path of no return.

"It starts small," he warns, his voice taking on a haunted edge. "A little white lie here, a bent rule there. But before youknow it, you're so far gone that you can't even recognize yourself in the mirror."

The students listen, some with rapt attention, others with a mix of pity and revulsion. Kevin sees the wheels turning in their heads, each one convinced they could never fall prey to the same temptations.

If only they knew.

As the lecture draws to a close, Kevin feels a wave of exhaustion wash over him. This is his penance, his cross to bear, and he will carry it for as long as the court deems necessary, a living testament to the dangers of unchecked ambition.

BROOKE

“We’re out of beer,”Damon hollers.

My brother’s house erupts in a chorus of dismayed protest.

“Outside,” Sierra corrects, shooting him a look. “You’re out of beeroutside.” She gestures to the neat stack of cases in the corner.

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