Page 279 of Quinlan

“Before Rome loses it.” Damien’s amused tone doesn’t ruin their moment.

They both smile when they break apart. Quinlan’s still crying when my best friends twist her to me.

“Your eyes in the morning,” I start once Liam passes me my ring. I have Quinlan’s palm in mine, her full attention on me. My goddamn heart is in my throat. “That first second after a long night. Having you awake, back with us from your dreams. Nothing beats it. Nothing is better than that, Quinlan.”

Whether she wakes up with one of or more of us inside any of her holes. With our tongues on her pussy and breasts and neck. When she’s cuddled between us on a lazy Sunday.

Whenever she opens her eyes, she takes my breath away.

The gleam in her eyes and her reassuring nod tell me she remembers every single time she woke up with us.

“I will never take a single day, a single split-fucking-second with you, for granted. To have you in our lives—as ourwife—is the greatest gift you could’ve ever given any of us.” I’m trying hard not to be too rough on her hand, not to hold so tight. I don’t know that it’s working. I don’t know anything other than how I’m hers and she is mine. “None of us could ever live without you. None of us would survive. And I’m sorry. For all the years we couldn’t come get you. For all the time we were forced to spend apart. Those years are over. You belong to us. I—Christ…”

Being this sentimental is a punch to the gut. The pain hits differently than anything else. This love. These words. They crack my ribs open and it hurts to get through with it.

I have to get through with it.

“I’m marrying you because you’re the light at the end of the tunnel. You helped me slay my dragons. You love my sister and, God, I love you even more for it. I had no idea I could, but Ido.” This part worried me the most. How they’d get along. Fate, as cruel as it’d been, came through for us. All the pieces have ended up falling into place. “You’re beautiful, inside out. Every part of you is wild and wonderful and perfect. All the money in the world couldn’t buy a single day with you. No words could describe what a blessing it is to be near you. I love you. With all my heart. With every fiber of my being. I love you.”

Her tears continue to roll down her cheeks as I grip her chin. Tug her to me for a kiss that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. “This is it, sweetheart. The final destination. End of the road. I’ll die with your name on my lips, only to come back for you in the afterlife. We’ll always come back for you.”

The third thin band—my wedding ring—completes the stack on Quinlan’s ring finger. I press my lips to her knuckles. The inside of her palm. Her wrist. My hand goes to her swollen stomach, where Liam’s and Damien’s hands already are. Where our children grow inside of her.

“I’ll never leave.” One ragged breath, and she continues, “Just like you never scared me, Rome Langford. You’re a storm of a man, a hurricane personified. But you never scared me. Your physical strength is my comfort. You have the power over my heart and my soul, and that doesn’t scare me either. I’ll always put my life in your hands, blindly. I’m safe with you. I’m a part of you. You own me so thoroughly and I love the idea of belonging to you. You love fiercely, and I love you even more. You’re my everything. My home. My life. My husband.”

“My wife.”

I can’t wait to kiss her. Except I have to wait. For her ring to slide down my finger. For the moment she makes me hers.

And yeah, the ring is nice. It’s a symbol.

It isn’tthis. This woman with her arms around my neck and her lips on mine. The knowledge that my best friends and sister are safe and with me for life.

Those are the things that have made Quinlan mine a long time ago. Ours.

Our family. Our connection.

This twisted fate. This warped gift from the universe.

All of this.

She’s always been ours. We’ve always been hers.

And that’s how it’ll be until the end of time.

Just.

The three.

Of us.

The end.

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