Page 206 of Brooklyn Cupid

There’s a whimper behind the door that’s slightly ajar. Pushkin sticks his head in, panting, the tip of his tongue out like he’s teasing.

He’s jealous and feels neglected, but he can bug off tonight. He already gets the attention of the entire Dumbo neighborhood, plus the social media account Lu created just for him.

“That’s right, shithead, Lu is mine. Thanks,” I say and wink at him.

His pirate patch is off. The lamp light reflects in his good eye, and it looks like he winks back at me.

Just like then. The night I shot the girl of my dreams.

EPILOGUE

LU

Six months later…

Chok Dee Villa,

Ko Pagnan Island,

Thailand

I rereadthe last chapter ofSharkiand try to hold back tears.

Emily Aberdeen and John Temple fell madly in love with each other. She got to know his secrets and his connection to her past. He found out that nothing in the world, not even the job he was so dedicated to, was more important than her.

But in the end, when the undercover operation went down, Em thought he died in the warehouse explosion. She grieved for weeks, hoping to hear from him, waiting for him to come home.

On a dark lonely night when she couldn’t help her aching heart, she set up the painting of him in the center of her bedroom and poured her heart out. She thought it was a farewell and confessed her love to the dead man.

But John Temple survived. He was in hiding. And when the enemy was taken down, he finally made it home.

The night Em was standing in front of the painting, confessing her feelings, was the night he walked into their apartment and stood in the doorway to her room, his eyes closed, listening to the woman he fell in love with confess her feelings to his portrait.

The most emotional chapter in my book was the easiest to write. It was a dedication to my Jace.

Now that I stare at the proof paperback copy in my hands, the feelings come back. How I fell for Jace. The crazy things I did. The first kiss. His confession. What we went through.

Most importantly, every day, he makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

Even Mom is in love with him.

“Jace, baby, you tell me if Lu treats you wrong. I’ll handle her,” she told him when we were leaving for Thailand.

My heart swells at the vulnerable shift in his eyes when my dad calls him, “Son.”

“Lu?”

I turn around.

There he is, the man who makes my heart smile.

Jace leans on the doorframe of our bedroom. His smile is so big, always is, like he’s the happiest person on earth.

We rented a cute little villa in the jungles of Ko Pagnan in Thailand. Jace is taking a break from work. He found a plot of land so he can build his dream resort. I write random things and take a break from art and everything else, trying to spend as much time with him as I can. Roey is in and out, mostly working in Bangkok, relentlessly tracking some ghost man.

The only thing missing is our Pushkin. For now, he’s with Mom and Dad in Virginia.

“Is everything okay?” Jace asks, coming up to me.

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