Page 91 of Sins and Secrets

Meet Katya the spy who fell in love with her asset: Dimitri.

He’s so freaking adorable, she never stood a chance.

Fate and Family Book 3 of the Four Families series is coming Spring 2025.

Epilogue

SIX MONTHS LATER

Waverly

.

The nightmare wakes me. It was one of those lingering ones where even when you’re conscious, it still infects your thoughts. Waking up to an empty bed didn’t help matters either. Lukas’s side of the bed is cold. He must have been moving around for a while.

When I finally leave the bed, I find him in the kitchen over the stove making eggs. His sweatpants hang dangerously low on his hips and he’s not wearing a shirt, his colorful back begging for some attention. I sneak behind him and cling around his waist, tracing one of his back tattoos with my tongue.

“Good morning, love.”

I squeeze him and stand on my tiptoes to rest my chin on his shoulder. “Morning.”

“Breakfast? I can pour you a cup of tea.”

“Uh-huh.” I keep clinging to his back while he drags me around our kitchen.

He stops and pulls me around to face him. “Are you feeling a little needy this morning?”

I flop my head on his chest and mumble, “Uh-huh.”

“Food or snuggles?”

“Snuggles.”

He turns the stove off and lifts me, and I wrap my legs around his waist as he returns me to the bedroom. Snuggles turn to kinky morning sex and back to snuggles. I feel better, less empty and lonely with him holding me under the blankets.

“What time do we have to get going?” he asks while staring at the ceiling.

“It starts at eleven, so I guess we should leave here at ten thirty.”

“I have a meeting at two, we can’t stay all day.”

“I know,” I say into his chest. He changed the time of the meeting, especially for that reason.

We get dressed in silence and load into the car. He drives while I check my email.

“Painters are doing the second floor, and the tennis court updates are happening tomorrow.”

“Everything is moving a lot smoother than you thought.”

“Don’t jinx it.”

“Sorry,” he says, laughing a little. I like that he’s laughing, even today.

We pull into a parking spot and I slip on my flats. Heels are never good in grass. There are fewer people here today than there were yesterday. I recognize most everyone.

Angie is dressed in black. She sees me but turns away. She’s sitting on the white plastic folding chairs, greeting people who come over to her. I know in my heart this is the last time I’ll see her.

“This wasn’t your fault.” Lukas kisses me on the cheek before heading to the hearse. There’s nobody in it, just rocks in a coffin. The body is still under investigation.

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