Page 140 of Romancing His Heart
With my body still sore, I watch from the sidelines. Happy and relieved to be part of the chaos again.
Epilogue
Three months later
“Are you surethisis how you want to propose?” Dex asks for the third time in ten minutes.
“Trust me, she’ll appreciate it.”
“I don’t know, Loki. There’s nothing romantic about this. It just seems kind of … I don’t know, icky?” Trevor groans.
“Listen, I didn’t even ask you guys to be here. You’re the ones insisting on being a part of it.”
“Had I known you were coming up with your own plan, I may have given it a second thought,” Seth mumbles. “Seriously, this is what you want your family and friends to see?”
“Sloane is going to love it.”
“You guys are so messed up. I don’t even want to know about the kink kit,” Halton Westbrook grumbles, stomping down the path in his sweatpants.
“You don’t know what you’re missing, dude,” I reply with a wink. “Okay, everyone, line up. Let’s make sure your letters are all in line.”
“Jesus Christ,” Easton grumbles. “I can’t believe Mom made me come home for this.”
Staring at all my brothers lined up, I’m hit with immense sadness. Dexter, Trevor, Preston, Seth, Easton, Colton, Halton, and Luca all stand on the beach in matching gray sweatpants, but there’s a gaping hole in my lineup. Ashton continues to shut us out. He lives in the darkness now, and I’m struggling to keep him close.
“He should have been here today, Loki. I’m sorry,” Preston’s voice pulls me from my thoughts.
“I think we’ve lost him,” I admit. “I don’t know what will bring him back.”
“We will. We’ll show up every day and open his blinds. When he retreats, we’ll track him down. When he fights, we’ll hand him the gloves. I think he has to go through stages before we get him back. We just have to be there for all of them.”
“I’m scared for him, Pres. He’s had my back since we were teenagers, and it’s killing me that the Ashton I knew might be gone.”
Preston elbows me. When I look up, he nods to my left.
Standing at the edge of the beach, leaning on a tree, is Ash.
“He’s still in there, Loki. He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t. We just have to be patient while he sorts through his shit.”
“I’m going to go talk to him.”
“Good luck. He may be here for you, but he still isn’t talking much,” Preston warns.
Making my way through the sand, an unease that has never existed between us before hangs heavy.
“I didn’t think you’d come.”
“I’m fucked up, Loki. We both know that. But you are and always have been my brother. I just can’t stand up there in front of everyone. I’m sorry.” His voice is hoarse and barely more than a whisper.
“I know. I’m glad you’re here though.”
Staring at the ground, he says the last thing I was expecting. “Jackson has been taken care of.”
It’s like the wind has been knocked out of my lungs.
“What?”
“Ryan took care of him. Called it his last act as the owner of EnVision.” Ash swallows hard. He is still having so much trouble speaking. “He’ll never hurt Sloane or anyone else again.”
