Page 45 of The Hitman
I follow suit, cutting a thin line through my palm, then clasp his hand tightly. “With witnesses.”
I nod toward the body cam strapped to my chest, and his answering grin is tight, measured. I spared no expense in covering my ass, and now he knows it.
“May we never meet again.”
“The fucking dream,” I retort.
He waits for me to release the files, and with my end of the bargain fulfilled, he tips his head before he and his men turn to leave. No fanfare, no more words left to exchange. He simply exits the station as a man who’s been outplayed.
I wait until they drive off before letting myself breathe fully. With two minutes to spare, I call Callie and raise the phone to my ear.
“Jax?”
My knees nearly buckle at the sound of her sweet, trembling voice.
“It’s done,” I say.
“Oh my god,” she breathes. The strangled sob that hitches her throat cracks my chest wide open. “Please come home.”
Home.
I close my eyes, inhaling through the tremor that rocks me.
The Reaper never dreamed of having a home, of having a beautiful, loving woman warming his bed, or of starting a family like the one we’ve become with Leo.
But as I walk out of the train station and back to the people I love, I’ve never been more determined to make those dreams my reality.
Epilogue
Six months later
Callie
It’s almost Christmas,” Jaxon murmurs against my bare shoulder. His scent is endearingly domestic—sunscreen and aftershave instead of gun metal and blood. “You missing the snow?”
I rest my head against his chest and my arms on top of his, which are wrapped around my waist. “Honestly? Not one bit.”
We watch Leo chase his grandfather around the beach, laughing at his squeals of delight when Jaxon’s dad hefts him over his shoulder. His mother isn’t far behind as they trek their way up the path leading to our beachfront island home.
It’s just Jaxon’s family and me now, tucked away in the Caribbean with miles of safety between us and the quickly dissolving Syndicate.
Our plan to let the rebellion take Carmine and his operation down had worked. Now we’re free and living the life we worked so hard to protect.
“Dinner’s almost ready,” I call down to his parents and Leo.
“Be right up!” his dad hollers back, wobbling up the winding steps with a giggling Leo on his back.
I’m grateful that Jaxon’s parents agreed to leave the US with us after learning about his job as an ex-hitman. It was a difficult choice, uprooting their lives—including Isa’s and Leo’s—but it simply wasn’t worth the risk for any of them to stay.
“You two make me sick, you know that?”
We turn to find Isa making her way down the staircase behind us, wearing a crooked grin. Jaxon moves through the living room to meet her halfway, attempting to assist her the rest of the way down.
“Where’s your walker?” he demands. “You sure you’re okay to—annndyou’re doing it anyway, cool.”
I chuckle at the stern glares they give each other.
“I haven’t used my walker in over a week,” she protests.
