“Definitely,” Nate agreed, chuckling a little because Daniel had just stuck his finger inside a cherry tomato and was showing everybody as he squealed and kicked at the tray on his highchair. He thought he was hilarious, and I had to admit he kind of was. In the months since I’d arrived in Torquay, the little rascal had grown on me. As much as I thought I’d struggle to even like Toby’s family, I found myself coming to care for them all greatly and see them as mine. Things had changed a lot in the year Toby had spent away, and even he was feeling more content around them.
Ronnie told me once that they were an odd assortment of life’s misfits who somehow fit together despite their irregular shapes. I had to agree. The Cartwright family was chaos in the best way.
“Looks like you ended up getting everything you ever wanted, Jazz,” Abbot said, taking a swig out of his bottle of beer while his eyes focused on his mother.
Jasmine shrugged. “I don’t know about everything. There’ve been a bunch of jobs that have passed us by of late. We’re going to lose our clout if we keep letting it all go.”
“Maybe letting it all go is a good thing,” Sloane said, her eyes large and serious. “We have so much now. Don’t you think it’s time to step back from all that risky business and enjoy life?” There had been a lot of talk about what direction to take the family business in of late. Criminal activity was out of the question because of police heat, and on top of that, the entire Cartwright clan seemed ready for an extended sabbatical. Except Jasmine.
“Of course I want to retire,” she said. “But I can’t do that until you’re all running things on your own.”
“I think we’re doing just fine,” Toby said, using a napkin to wipe his mouth as he sat back and slid an arm around the back of my chair.
“Really? Because from where I’m sitting, everything I built, everything I worked hard for is slipping right through our fingers.”
“You know,” I started, holding my finger in front of my mouth as I finished chewing. “I’ve heard both sides of this. But if you change your thinking a little, Jasmine, you could alter your disappointment into pride.” Her brow lifted and Breaker looked down to hide his smile. I’d grown to like him too during all of this. Turned out I didn’t hate bikers as much as I thought I did. I simply hated evil motherfuckers.
“Pride?”
“Of course,” I said. “Look at all this. Look at everyone sitting here. From what I’ve been told, you masterminded the lot of this. You fought your way from nothing to practically owning this entire town. You taught your sons to be good men in a cruel world, and you found them equally wonderful women who have given them love and children.”
“Mostly,” she said, tipping her head to the side a little. “I didn’t choose Holland or you, but the rest is true.”
I grinned. She was so stubborn and couldn’t see her own accomplishments. “Point is, your sons are healthy and happy. Your empire is vast and profitable, and your real estate holdings are growing. By the time we finish laundering the cash you’ve all collected, you could actually run all of this completely legit. No risk. No worry. There are plenty of big corporations and wealthy people out there who started off as criminals then straightened out with success. That’s the ultimate goal here, right? Enough wealth that you can sit back and watch future generations flourish?”
“I suppose.” She shrugged.
“So instead of thinking exiting the game is a failing, pat yourself on the back and be proud that in a single generation you built this family up enough that they could go straight. That’s an amazing gift, Jasmine.”
“Here, here!” Abbot yelled, clapping his hands together and starting a Mexican wave of cheers and applause around the table. By the time it finished, the babies were all awake but Jasmine was smiling. There might have even been a tear or two in her eyes.
“OK,” she said, nodding slightly as she touched a finger to the corners of her eyes. “I hear you. You want to stop.”
Toby reached across the table and took her hand. “We really do, mum,” he said, voice soft, eyes genuine. “We want to live.”
Real tears spilled from Jasmine’s eyes as she pressed her lips together. “God, what are you doing to me? You haven’t called me mum since you were a boy. And now I’m crying. Lord.” She wiped away her tears, accepting the napkin Breaker handed to her before he kissed the side of her head. “Well, I suppose if that’s what you all want…” She looked around the table to find everyone nodding and Holland saying, “Oh lord, yes, please.”
“OK. Then I officially hand Cartwright Enterprises over to you all for safe keeping and ethical growing. You’re right. At the end of the day, I have all of my sons safe and happy and I have a whole bunch of grand babies—one grown up I will never forgive you for hiding by the way”—she directed that at Toby who just shrugged because he had no regrets over hiding Lucy—“and I suppose that’s all that really matters. Right?” She looked to Breaker who gave her the nod.
“You are a queen,” he told her, giving her a look filled with nothing but love.
“OK.” She kept saying that. “Well, I suppose we should break out the champagne. Turn this into a celebration. My retirement party.”
Nate and Sam obliged her request, pouring a glass for everyone—sparkling apple juice for me and the same for Holland, who’d tried to keep the different drink discreet since Nate poured it for her without a word. But we all noticed, causing her to go a little red in the cheeks and shrug. “Seems pregnancy is contagious. So watch out, guys,” she said, pointing at the other women at the table.
We all congratulated her whole-heartedly before turning our attention to Jasmine who stood from her seat with a raised glass. “I want to thank you all,” she started, her voice sounding a little strained with emotion. “Blair is right. Building an empire strong enough to sustain future generations was always my goal. As you know, I come from very humble beginnings: absent parents and drug addiction just a couple of the challenges I faced from a young age, challenges many of my beautiful daughter-in-laws also faced, in a life where we were all brought up as much as we were thrown up.” A light chuckle rippled around the table. “It took a lot of fight, and a lot of guts to get to where we are today. Not just from me, but from every single one of you here. My fight became your fight, and you took it all on board and conducted yourselves beautifully. I couldn’t be prouder of the people you all are and the strength you share as a unit.” Her eyes landed on me. “Something we all saw firsthand when we pulled together to make sure Blair wasn’t lost to us and to our Toby.” With a short pause, she looked around the table, meeting each and every person’s eyes. “Family above everything else. Forever and always. That is our creed. It’s our strength, our power. I know that over the years, I’ve come across as ruthless and unwavering, but it was something I had to become to ensure our survival, to keep you all safe. And now…” She reached out with her free hand and entwined her fingers with Breaker’s. “I think I’m done. It’s time for me to step back and enjoy all of this love we have. That’s our real power, don’t you think? Love.”
I nodded as I wiped at my eyes, now leaking a little. I wasn’t the only one, Ronnie and Holland had a few tears running too. Toby ran his fingers up and down my arm as he pulled me a little closer.
“I love you,” he whispered, brushing his lips along the shell of my ear.
“I love you too,” I said back, kissing him quickly while I’m guessing everyone watched, or perhaps engaged in their own loving moment. I didn’t really know anything except the fact that the table was silent in that moment, and when I looked back up, Jasmine was grinning and openly crying happy tears, her glass held high.
“To family, love and strength,” she said. “May it be ours for generations to come.”
“To family, love and strength,” we chorused, lifting our glasses before taking a sip. It was a fitting toast to the future of this family. Finally free of the criminal life that had challenged, built, and plagued them for much of t
heir lives. Now they were at a point where they could all breathe easy and watch their children grow up in a world that wasn’t dripping in secrets and danger. Everything they’d ever longed for growing up could be provided for the next generation—freedom and safety. It was the most important goal of each and every brother. Whether they’d agreed with the thieving life they’d always led, or rallied against it, each of them wanted something different for their offspring. It was why they’d been so understanding when they discovered Toby had hidden Lucy from them. It stung, but they got it, a couple even admitted they’d probably have done the same.
But now, it was over. We were free, and from the smiles and laughter about the table, we were all happy. In the months after the Adelaide job, and even the years that had followed, I’d stopped placing value on myself and in my life. I’d thought happiness was something that would never happen for me. Then a chance job, a manipulation from my biological father, connected me to the man I considered my soulmate, and my life changed. Suddenly I had a future, something to look forward to each day when I woke up, a reason to live. While I had been the one to save Toby from that explosion on his boat, he’d been the one to save me from myself.
He’d once said I needed to love myself before I could truly love him. And while I fell madly in love with him first, I was definitely learning to love myself. Therapy and a more positive outlook was helping me with that and putting my nightmares to rest. Not that I didn’t have them, but they were certainly few and far between, and even when they happened, I had the arms of the man I loved to curl into to help them fade away.
Toby was the best man I’d ever met and the only man I’d ever loved. In four weeks, I would be his wife, and I already knew that day would go down as one of the happiest days of my life. I had to say ‘one’, because the real happiest day was the day I met him. Nothing could top the moment we locked eyes standing on that pier, it was the moment everything changed for me. The day I found my paradise.
Epilogue
TOBY
five years later…
* * *
“Daddy!”
“Granpop!”
Three heads with shiny dark hair, blue eyes and button noses came running at me, the expectation that I catch them clear on their faces.
Not one to disappoint, I kneeled down and opened my arms, gathering them all up and lifting them into a spin while they giggled and squealed.
This was what life was all about, what I’d always wanted. Marriage, children, happiness. I had it all, and this time, I didn’t have to run away, and I didn’t have to hide it.
“When are the fireworks, daddy?” Amy asked, her big eyes and heavy lashes blinking up at me as I set them all back on their feet. She was four now and already acted like she ruled the roost with a stubborn streak like her mum and a big heart too. She loved to sing and dance and she brought out the best in us.
“Yah,” Clara, my one and only granddaughter said as she swiped at her nose. “When are da firewerps?” Clara was three and was almost like a sister to Amy and my two-and-a-half-year-old son, Asher. They spent most days together now that Lucy and her husband had moved to Torquay with the rest of us. It had taken a while to get used to our relationship and it’s new dynamic. I’d never planned to tell her about my real life, but I was glad it had all come out in the open. Fighting Grey was a horrific time in all of our lives, but it was something that brought us closer together and cemented our decision to go straight as a family unit. A decision I will never regret for a moment.
“The kids fireworks are happening at nine. You still have two whole hours.”
“Two ows!” Asher slapped his face dramatically, even though he had zero concept of time.
“I’ll play with them, uncle Toby,” Daniel said, a little out of breath from running over here. He was six now and a little bookworm like both of his parents. He was sweet and gentle, and every time I looked at him, I was so glad we didn’t have to harden that soft heart of his with violence and crime. The future felt brighter for the Cartwrights with every passing day.
“Planning on making any New Year’s resolutions?” my beautiful wife asked, settling in beside me and sliding her arms around my waist as we watched the kids run towards the jumping castle my mother had hired for the evening. Jasmine was so much more fun now that she was focused on being ‘grandma’ and not constantly searching for a new score. Retirement suited her.
“What could I possibly improve on?” I asked, looking into her bright green eyes. They were what drew me to her in the first place. Most guys would have gone for her tits or her arse because her curves were as perfect as curves could get. But I was all about the eyes. I loved their colour, I loved their depth of emotion, and I loved that I could know exactly what she was thinking with one look. It had been like that from the beginning and hadn’t changed over the years we’d been together. We’d always had that simpatico with each other. It was how I knew she was the one. It was also why I thought my mother had been up to her old tricks by sending her to find me. Although, I’m glad I was wrong on that. It made what Blair and I had even more special.
Many would call Jasmine Cartwright controlling and manipulative over the way she ensured most of her sons found a wife. But in her own way, it was the ultimate act of love. Sure, she wanted grandchildren to carry on the name and business. But if that was all she wanted, she could have chosen any random girl off the street. Instead, she found women compatible with the man as well as our lifestyle.
The first attempt at partnering her sons had been quite random. Holland was never supposed to be a part of it, but Alesha had caught her interest. She’d mused aloud during our private meetings that she thought she was the kind of girl Sam would like. At first it had been dismissed as nothing more than an offhanded thought, but when Alesha and Holland had shown up at our home, the opportunity presented itself and the first match up was born. As was the idea to instigate a match for all of her sons.
It was no accident that Alesha and Sam’s wedding reception was at the function centre Ronnie worked at. Just like it wasn’t random that Jasmine took Abbot out to Rochester to hire Sloane to open that safe. Each meeting was researched and planned, with myself being the willing accomplice who manufactured circumstances and guided them along their joined paths.
Why did I help her get my brothers to the altar?
Because I had a goal too. And the realisation of that goal—a happy family with no criminal ties—was all around me as children played and my brothers held their wives, laughing and smiling as we gathered to ring in yet another new year, another successful year, another year of freedom.
Everything we went through. Every roadblock we encountered. Every painful moment we endured, led us here. I for one was the happiest man alive. And I was pretty sure my brothers would all tell you the same thing.
“Get over here, you two,” Nate called out, beckoning us to where the rest of my brothers had gathered around my mother. “Breaker has something he wants us to see.”
I nodded in acknowledgment. As the oldest of five boys, I’d always had to fill the role of ‘man of the house’, looking out for them and being the person Jasmine leaned on when she needed support. At the time it had come fairly naturally as it was just something I had to do, but once Breaker entered the picture and she began to lean on him, I realised what a burden it had been. I had always wanted to break away from the family business, but being so intrinsically tied to it had kept my feet firmly in camp Cartwright. Having another ‘man of the house’ around gave me enough of a pause that I felt the ties that bound me loosen and slip free. I realised how messed up my relationships with my brothers had become. The animosity and resentment I’d developed towards them because, while they were all out partying and living their lives, I was at home planning for the next job. There were times when I hated them for that. My year away had given me the time to let go of that anger and find my centre, the man I could be without a mountain of responsibility. Since I’d returned, our busin
ess focus had changed. We divided roles between brothers and wives, taking each of our strengths into consideration. Now, instead of having one person responsible for overseeing it all, we congregated around a circular table and shared the burden. Our relationships were much better for it. I was friends with my brothers now, something I didn’t think I’d get to be.
“Something he wants us to see?” Blair raised her eyebrows. “I wonder what that could be.”
“A new tattoo?”
“A cake?”
With a shrug, I took her hand and together we joined the others, standing in a semicircle while the children all played off to the side. Ten in total: two belonging to Blair and me, one to Lucy, two to Holland and Nate, three kids to Kris and Ronnie, with Sam and Leesh keeping it at one, along with Abbot and Sloane. We were growing our own football team.
“As youse all know,” Breaker started, standing next to Jasmine with his hands on his hips. “Jasmine has been my lady since that first day I walked into her office.”
Abbot visibly shuddered. “I’m still scarred over that. Don’t remind me.”
Ronnie laughed and Kristian punched him playfully in the bicep.
“You’re going in the deep-end over that,” Abbot warned, flashing his twin a warning glare while Kris flipped him the bird behind his hand so the kids couldn’t see. I didn’t think those two would ever fully grow up. But they were good value, and they kept things fun.
“Enough,” Jasmine said, laughing at her man-child sons. “Breaker is speaking.”
Thanking her, Breaker cleared his throat. “Anyways, my point is, I want to make an honest woman out of her. Officialise it all and shit, you know?” He narrowed one of his eyes like we should all know exactly what he was talking about. I thought I knew where he was going, but I couldn’t be sure since I didn’t really speak biker. I’d always thought the fact he called her his ‘ole lady’ and she wore a cut that said as much was the official part of their union. Obviously I was wrong, because when Breaker slipped his fingers into his pocket and pulled out a diamond ring, my mother just about fainted.
Fool’s Paradise: Cartwright Brothers, Book 5 Page 24