The Final Hour (Dublin Nights Book 5)

by Brittney Sahin

  “Remember the man from the fight that night? The Irish guy?” I asked her, reaching forward to set a hand to her headstone. “I’m going to marry him someday. Have kids. Maybe even a big family. He has two brothers and a sister. That sounds like the perfect size for a family.”

  I looked down as a tear fell into my flute.

  “I bet I’ll be a hormonal grump while I’m pregnant,” I said around a half sob, half chuckle. “But, Chanel, he’s made me a better person. The kind of woman I know you’d respect.” I finished the champagne and refilled the glass. “The League offered to let me keep my role as leader now that The Alliance is dismantling all around the world.” I sniffled. “But I don’t want it. They can find someone else to rule Italy.” My chest constricted briefly, knowing I was closing another chapter of my life by stepping down as leader. “You know that cliché saying . . . home is where the heart is? Well, I finally realized it’s true. My place is in Ireland with Sean.”

  I let those words sink in for a minute. With me. With my sister. And as I sat in silence, I felt no protest inside me. No fears or objections over my words. It was truly what I wanted.

  “Maybe I’ll help out The League in Ireland since Sean and the others have agreed to stay on even though The Alliance has met its end.” A world without that evil group sounded sublime, but I also knew it was only a matter of time before a new criminal society rose from the ashes and took its place. And someone had to be there to stop them.

  I finished my drink, then polished off the one I poured for Chanel.

  “I wish I had known the truth while you were alive, but in my heart, I think we both always knew.” I recorked the bottle and placed it and the flutes back in my bag.

  I kissed my first two fingers, then set them to her name on the headstone.

  “Goodbye, sister. I know you’re watching out for me like you’ve been doing for years.”

  I slowly stood and folded up the blanket after a few more quiet minutes alone with her.

  “I bet it was you, right?” I tipped my chin to the clear blue sky and closed my eyes. “You brought Sean back into my life when I needed him, didn’t you?”

  A break in the clouds sent a bright ray of sunshine down on us, covering me with warmth, and I chose to believe it was Chanel answering me.

  I smiled and turned around to see my man waiting for me off in the distance, his back to the limo in his long, dark coat. Respecting my time.

  I picked up the bag and blanket and headed toward my future.

  “You okay?” He brought his gloved hands to my cheeks.

  “I had a lot of champagne in that short time,” I said around a hiccup, which had him smiling.

  “Mm. You and champagne . . .”

  I pressed up in my brown boots and set a gentle kiss to his lips, then whispered, “Take me home.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Sean

  Dublin, Ireland (Two Weeks Later)

  “How’s he holding up?” Emilia asked, lying naked beneath me in the bedroom of my flat. “Ethan, I mean.”

  “I’m still inside you, love. Maybe ask about my brother after I pull out,” I said with a laugh, then rolled off her. She shifted to her side and set the back of her hand to my cheek.

  I reached for her hardened nipple and smoothed it between my thumb and index finger before settling my hand on her hip, scooching her closer to me.

  “So?” Emilia arched a brow, waiting for an answer. “You dropped him off at the airport this morning. How was he?”

  Ethan would spend six more months wrapping up his work in New York before returning to Dublin for good. With The Alliance crumbling day by day, it’d finally be safe for him to come home where he belonged.

  Cole and Alessia had no intention of returning to New York, so we’d need to find a replacement for Ethan to help my uncle head up our offices in the U.S. before the summer.

  “He’ll have a lot of song material to work with after this trip, that’s for sure,” I joked, and she playfully whacked my chest.

  “Not funny.”

  “What?” I asked innocently. “If he ever wants to follow his dreams, he needs some good songs.”

  She was quiet for a moment. “You think he’s over Sara?”

  “I doubt he was ever really under Sara.” It was easier to tease than talk about my brother being miserable because his evil ex had aligned with the devil. Even if she’d been provoked and coerced, she should have known to go for help instead.

  “Sara’s stores closed down in all three locations.” She frowned. “Why does that make me feel bad when I can’t stand her?”

  I smirked. That was easy. “You’ve got a bigger heart than you let on, Emilia. And she was a female entrepreneur, so maybe you—”

  “I don’t sympathize with her just because she’s a woman. She used her sexuality to bait your brother into a trap that could have gotten a lot of us killed.” She blew a strand of hair from her face. “But she did have great pieces, perhaps that’s why,” she reasoned as if trying to convince herself she didn’t pity Sara. “Maybe I need to open a few boutiques. Get into the lingerie business,” she added in a provocative voice this time.

  “Only if you model everything for me, and only me.” I lifted my brows up and down, and then a thought struck me. “Maybe we need to make our own sex tape to erase the memory of—”

  “Not gonna happen.” She reached between us and fisted my cock, giving it a firm tug. “I can’t risk the footage getting leaked. I find myself curiously jealous when it comes to you,” she said in a sultry tone, and I felt myself growing hard again with her holding me. “The idea of another woman getting to see you naked makes me crazy.”

  I fecking loved hearing her say that.

  This confident, badass woman was protective of our love.

  “Have I ever told you how happy I am that you’re here with me?” We planned on building a house together not far from where Holly and Sebastian lived, and Adam and Anna, as well.

  Emilia gifted her mansion to her staff back in Sicily to let them sell or keep. She said they’d lived there all of their lives, that it was their home as much as hers. And that made me love her even more, which I didn’t think was possible.

  Her father’s associates still handled the day-to-day business for all her companies worldwide, but she was considering becoming more involved in the British, Irish, and Scottish locations.

  “I know you’re happy.” She released her hold of my cock and placed her hand lovingly on my chest, then said, “Because I’m happy.”

  She had a mother now. A brother. It was surreal.

  Of course, she’d had limited verbal contact with them since Monaco for their safety, but Emilia had said if she’d learned of her family before she fell in love with me, she most likely wouldn’t have given Penelope and Atlas a chance. I opened her up to all the possibilities life had to offer. To love. To be able to forgive, as well.

  “I’m looking forward to this weekend,” she said. “Since we never did get to have Women’s Christmas, I love that we girls are going away for a few days. It’ll be nice.”

  The idea of Emilia in a tiny string bikini, soaking in the rays on a beach in Bora Bora while men who weren’t me had a front-row seat to the view . . . well, let’s just say my jealousy was rearing its ugly head.

  But after everything we’d all been through, the women deserved a weekend off. Plus, I knew my sister hadn’t had a vacation since her daughter was born.

  They’d have guards whether they wanted them or not in case any remaining Alliance members attempted to put a hit out on them, but we had our ears to the ground, listening for any potential chatter. Roman and his men were doing the same. So far, nothing. They were all too busy trying to handle the collapse of their empires while wearing handcuffs.

  “So, I guess you need to buy a bikini since I didn’t see one in the bags you brought from your place in Italy.”

  She smiled. “Are there nude beaches in Bora Bora? I’ll have to check
.”

  “Hell no.” I pinned her beneath me in one quick movement and stared into her eyes. I was utterly mesmerized by this woman who made me crazy, in a good way, and my need for her was insatiable.

  “I’m still mad at you for putting your life in danger back in Monaco, by the way,” I said when the thought struck me. I could have lost her, and I never wanted to consider the idea it could happen again.

  I trapped her arms over her head with one hand, linking her wrists together, and she arched her back, offering me her tits like a temptress.

  “And I’m mad you told Atlas to keep me restrained.”

  I winked and lowered myself to kiss her before murmuring, “A guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do.”

  When I lifted my head, I discovered a cute scowl on my fierce woman, and I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

  “Are you looking to have some angry sex?” She hid a smile by tucking her lips inward. “I might have another idea, actually, but you might not want angry sex afterward.”

  “Oh? A different kind of sex, then?”

  She chuckled, then tipped her head, motioning for me to let her up.

  “Where are you going?” I called after her, watching her hips sway from side to side. My attention fixed next on that beautiful, bitable arse of hers as she walked toward the dresser we now shared.

  She shifted her long, dark hair over her shoulder and to her back, and I sat up to enjoy the view. I wanted to kiss the small dimples in her lower back above her arse, then work my way south and around to that delicious pussy.

  Lowering my hand to my lap, I reached for my cock and stroked myself.

  Emilia opened the top drawer, shuffled a few undergarments around, then turned toward me with a hand behind her back. And what was she up to now?

  I released my shaft and let go of a deep breath at the same time. Why the hell was I so nervous?

  Emilia’s dark eyes captivated me as she crossed the room to stand alongside the bed, and I dropped my feet to the floor in anticipation of whatever she planned on sharing with me.

  Different sex? Kink? Did she finally want to give me that arse of hers?

  And damn, was I painfully rock hard at the thought.

  Emilia’s lips twitched, and when I looked back to her eyes, I found them glossy.

  Okay, maybe not kinky sex.

  I stood, nerves getting the better of me and causing my dick to die a quick death.

  “What is it?” I reached for her arm and pulled her closer to me, but she kept her other hand locked behind her back.

  I tried to turn her to see what she was hiding, but she wouldn’t let me. “You bought two boxes. One for Christmas, one for later, right?” she asked in a soft voice. “Well, I found the other one.”

  Ohhhh.

  She found the ring?

  Was she not ready for that level of commitment even though we were meeting with an architect next week to discuss the plans for our house?

  I waited for the alarm, the fear in her eyes to show up. But it didn’t come, so I took a relaxed breath when she moved back to showcase the blue Tiffany’s box.

  “Give it to me now,” she urged, a single tear falling down her delicate cheek.

  I took the box from her, my heart thumping wildly. Was this happening? Was this woman about to make my Christmas wish come true? I’d left that part out when I’d shared my wish, not wanting to scare her, but . . .

  “I want my gift, Sean.” She caught her tear with her tongue when it reached the corner of her mouth. “Give it to me.”

  Without hesitation, I fell to one knee, still living in a world of total shock but so damn happy. “Emilia Tessa Calibrisi, will you marry me?” I opened the box to show a two-carat round diamond set in white gold with small diamonds wrapped around the band to represent infinity.

  She chewed on her lip as tears overwhelmed her eyes and ran down her cheeks. “Yes.” She lowered to her knees, placed her hands to my cheeks, and kissed me.

  I deepened our kiss, nearly dropping the ring box. Chills coasted over my naked body.

  A naked proposal. Of course.

  “Forever sex,” I whispered against her lips. “I want forever sex now.”

  Epilogue

  Sean

  Bora Bora (A Few Days Later)

  “You think they’ll kill us for crashing their trip?” Adam asked as we searched out the girls at the luxurious hotel, which was set not far from Mount Otemanu, the tallest remnant of the Bora Bora volcano that formed the island nation millions of years ago. The skies were as clear as the crystal blue water, aside from one lonely cloud looming over the peak of the volcano behind us.

  “Probably,” I said while nudging Adam in the side before pushing my hands into the pockets of my khaki linen trousers.

  We were walking along the sandy path that led to a network of docks extending out over the stunning lagoons where the bungalows sat atop thick, chunky stilts. Before the girls left, they told us they’d reserved two neighboring bungalows over the turquoise water. When we arrived, Sebastian had immediately snuck off to reserve a few more so each couple would have some privacy at night.

  Cole and Sebastian walked ahead of us as if on the lookout for imminent danger. The only danger I worried about was Emilia or Holly shoving me fully clothed into the ocean as punishment for showing up uninvited to their girls’ trip.

  Were we going to be on thin ice? Yes.

  Were we most likely certifiable for showing up? More than likely.

  But love made you do crazy things, so I’ve been told, and not to sound like lovestruck fools, but we missed them. You know, the whole twenty-six hours they’d been away.

  Plus, what about their safety? That should have been reason enough for us to fly there. We hadn’t caught wind of any potential threats, but we couldn’t be too careful.

  Sebastian decided it’d be better if we were their bodyguards in addition to the men we assigned to discreetly keep an eye out from afar, especially after he’d seen the first report, which included photos of the women we loved scantily clad in barely there bikinis. He got it in his head that the guards would be beating off to those images, and a couple of fingers of Proper Twelve later, we found ourselves packing our bags. Sebastian grumbled incessantly about the inconvenience of flying commercial but nevertheless booked our flights on one since the women had taken our private jet.

  We’d been forced to sit in economy since first-class and business were full, and no amount of wooing managed to get us out of the back row. The very back row. Our heads had nearly brushed the ceiling, and there hadn’t been enough fecking legroom. We kept elbowing each other to try and get more space, but there was none to be found. Emilia was going to get a laugh out of that for sure.

  “Up ahead,” Cole said as we passed an infinity-edged pool surrounded by gardens. The panoramic views of the crystal clear ocean and the lush greenery along the shores of Bora Bora would make for a great honeymoon, I noted.

  Honestly, if Ethan and the rest of my family were somehow magically down here, I’d ask Emilia to marry me on the beach this weekend. To not wait until the summer as we discussed after she’d surprised me by demanding I pop the big question.

  From the moment I dropped to one knee in front of Emilia, I’d been living in an unbreakable bubble of bliss. According to my colleagues, my head had been in the clouds all week at work. And I was still reeling with happiness. But when Emilia boarded the plane with Holly, Anna, and Alessia, that bubble damn near exploded.

  I needed her in my arms ASAP.

  Her body writhing beneath me.

  I needed to trail my lips up her smooth, golden skin before burying my face between her legs.

  “They’re not in here,” Sebastian announced, and I’d barely registered that we’d made our way to the door of the first bungalow.

  “Not here either,” Cole said, walking away from the bungalow next door.

  “They weren’t in the pool we passed by. Maybe scuba diving? Or at another pool?
Another part of the beach?” Adam proposed, stroking the scruff on his jaw.

  “You know how many things can go wrong scuba diving?” Sebastian removed his shades, his eyes thinning with worry.

  “What if they trusted some gobshite to take them sailing, and he tries to—”

  “Emilia and Alessia won’t let some arsehat hurt them,” Cole interrupted Adam’s comically terror-stricken voice.

  What is wrong with us? “What are we really doing here?” I asked with a laugh, suddenly feeling a bit stupid for how hastily we’d left Dublin as if the world was on fire, and we had to put out the flames.

  “Well, we’re here now,” Sebastian grumbled and put his glasses back on. “Maybe they’ll be happy to see us.”

  I followed my brother’s gaze toward a beach off in the distance to a group of people sunbathing. I didn’t see Emilia or the others, and there was no way I’d miss them.

  “Maybe we’re thinking about this the wrong way. How about we head to the rooms we reserved, wash up, then go down to the beachside bar, and we’ll just happen to run into them like it’s a coincidence.” Adam shrugged.

  “You’re hilarious,” Cole said. “What’d you drink on the plane? That cheap whiskey go to your head?”

  “It might work,” I said with a smile. “They’ll be drinking, maybe dancing, and then we’ll—”

  “Break the legs of any man that gets within breathing distance of them,” Sebastian suggested in a calm voice.

  “No.” I laughed. “Our presence will go over a lot better if they’re relaxed from a day doing whatever they did, and they’ve got a few drinks in them. Let them come to us like flies to honey. Then we’ll pull them in to dance.”

  “I’m telling Emilia you likened her to a fly,” my brother said, laughing at his own terrible joke. I gave Adam the finger, which only made him howl even louder.

  “What are you, some Casanova now?” Cole interrupted, pushing his sunglasses into his thick dark hair so I could see him rolling his eyes.