Page 114 of Cruel Vows

He loves fiercely, and I know that he’s the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.

Sean squeezes my hand a little tighter. “We’re going to be just fine. You know that, right?”

“I know. I just keep worrying about what happens when Noah comes after us again. I hate this damn war, and it seems like nothing is ever going to change. I should have killed him when I had the chance, and then we would be done with all this shit.”

“We’re hunting him.” Sean gets up and squeezes into the lounger beside me, his muscled frame taking up most of the space as he pulls me closer.

“We’re hunting him.”

“And what if it isn’t enough? He’s going to lie low, and one of these days he’s going to come back. What if we have children by then and he targets them?”

Sean pulls me into a tight hug, his chin resting on the top of my head. “I’ll kill him before he ever gets close enough to put a hand on our kids.”

I nod, listening to the beat of his heart and trying to calm down. “I don’t want to keep talking about the future right now. I just want to enjoy tonight and the fact that we’re both still alive.”

He presses his lips to my temple. “Enjoying right now sounds perfect to me. We’ll have decades to talk about the future.”

EPILOGUE

ELLIE

FOUR MONTHS LATER

“Slow down!”

Aiden laughs as he loops his arm through mine, pulling me to a stop before I can burst through the wrought iron doors in front of us. “Slow down.”

“I don’t want to.” I shift my weight from one side to the other, the white satin heels already making my feet ache. “We’ve been planning this since I got out of the hospital, and now that it’s here, I just want to go celebrate.”

“Sean isn’t going anywhere.” Aiden smooths his hand down his tie, making sure it’s still tucked into his suit jacket.

“He could. You never know. He didn’t get a chance to run away the first time. He might decide that now is the perfect time to take off.”

I bump my hip into Aiden’s, grinning as the music starts to play and the doors to the vineyard open.

Colorful leaves decorate the trees spanning the edges of the vineyard. The air smells like the beginning of autumn, fresh from the rain with the warmth of apples and cinnamon lingering on the breeze.

Aiden rolls his eyes and walks toward the door with me. “We both know that if you didn’t scare him off after you got married the first time, he’s certainly not going anywhere now.”

My smile spreads as we step onto the path lined with pale-pink rose petals that runs down the middle of the seating area and to the altar where Sean is waiting for me.

His entire face lights up when his gaze locks with mine as I walk down the aisle on my brother’s arm.

This wedding is everything I’ve dreamed of and more. I get to marry the man I love with our family and friends surrounding us. It’s nothing like the first wedding where we got married to appease our families.

This wedding is for us.

As I get to the altar and Sean takes my hands, the officiant begins his speech. I barely hear him above the thrum of my racing heart.

“Sean and Ellie are now going to recite the vows they’ve prepared for each other.”

The officiant takes a step back, closing the black leather book in his hand and nodding to Sean.

With a smile, Sean takes a step closer to me. “El, I’ve spent a lifetime waiting for you, even if I didn’t know that’s what I was doing at the time. Which isn’t surprising, since we know I can be a little dense at times, especially where you are concerned.”

The crowd chuckles, and my siblings exchange looks. Royce rolls his eyes from the front row of seats before giving me an encouraging smile.

Sean holds my hands a little tighter, thumbs running over my knuckles. “You came into my life, and everything changed for the better, even if we had to fight through hell and back to get there. I love you, and I’m going to spend every day for the rest of our lives loving you.”

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