by Coralee June
I peered around my best friend's bulky body, and what I saw made me gasp.
"Gavriel?" I asked.
My brother stood proudly at the threshold. One hand calmly in his pocket, another resting on the doorframe. My feet moved before my mind could comprehend what was happening. I shoved Alessandro out of the way and tackled Gavriel in a bear hug. Relief, warmth, and shock overwhelmed my system as I sobbed hard and loud. "You're alive," I yelled in disbelief. "You're fucking alive."
Gavriel awkwardly patted my back as I held him. I refused to let go. He was the only family I had. He was my hero. "I wasn't expecting this," he growled in a low voice. I squeezed him tighter as I soaked his suit jacket with my tears.
"You're alive," I cried out in disbelief. "You're really alive."
"I died, too, you know," a soft voice said. I opened my eyes and pulled away from Gavriel to look at Sunshine. She wore a timid smile, and her black hair was tied up in a high ponytail. She looked exhausted and slightly pale, but she was here.
I pushed my brother aside and wrapped her up in a hug. "Are you okay?" I asked while petting her. It was like I couldn't believe she was really here. If it was possible to die from relief, then I'd be cold and stiff on the floor. Sunshine was here. She was okay.
"I'm fine. I'm puking every hour of the day, and I just want to sleep until the first trimester is done, but I'm fine."
It was such a normal thing to say. What about the plane crash? What the fuck had happened?
I pulled away and eyed her stomach, expecting to see a small bump. Naturally, there wasn't anything there. It was still too early. "Baby Moretti, I am so thankful that you're okay," I said in a high-pitched voice. "Auntie Grace has a lifetime of spoiling you to look forward to. We're going to start doing family dinners more regularly."
"I can't even think about food right now," Sunshine said before pressing her fingers to her lips. "But okay." Her voice was muffled.
I spun around to look at my brother again. "Is everyone else alright?"
"They're in the car. We need to leave soon," he answered in a monotone voice. I still couldn't believe how calm he was about all of this. Maybe that's just who he was. Maybe his care and compassion was more like a whisper.
I gulped in air. Oh shit. They were alive. "You're alive," I whispered in disbelief.
"I think we established this," my brother replied dryly.
"You asshole!" I yelled before slapping his arm. He cocked one eyebrow at me. "You made me think you were dead!"
"That was kind of the point," he replied before looking around. "Look, I don’t want to show our faces anywhere until we can get to the safe house. I’m not comfortable with my wife and child being out in the open like this. Get your reunions fucking over with so we can take this conversation to a more secure location? And make it quick, we need to go get Nix."
I turned around and saw that Alessandro was already throwing what little we had into a paper sack. Gavriel and Sunshine followed us inside the motel room. "Why? How?" I sputtered. "Nix? He left this morning; how do you know where he is?"
“The dumbass tried turning himself in. He was trying to trade your safety for his life. Stupid idiot almost ruined everything. He was lucky I have an assassin that does contract work.”
I gasped. Nix tried turning himself in? Why on earth would he do that? I clutched my chest. My heart was pounding hard at this revelation. “So he’s not dead?” I asked.
“Not yet, at least,” Sunshine answered.
“Holy shit,” I murmured.
Sunshine smiled before leaning against the wall. "The Ringleaders are very powerful."
"Not as powerful as me," Gavriel growled.
Sunshine gave him a tight smile before nodding. "You're still the best crime boss, Sir," she placated him. Of course my brother would be on an ego trip about this. "But we have more to lose, now," she whispered before patting her stomach affectionately.
"Baby Moretti," I cooed.
"Baby Moretti," she echoed. "It isn't just the Ringleaders. It's everyone that the Bullets have ever pissed off. We realized that we were bringing this baby into a world where it has hundreds of powerful enemies. We figured the only way out is...death… I don’t want this baby to be scared. I want to be a good mom. I want to protect him or her from the world. We can’t do that while running the Bullet empire. It was a hard but necessary choice. The Ringleaders just pushed up the timeline a bit."
"You faked your death?" I asked incredulously. "You purposely crashed a plane that everyone thought you were on?"
"It was a borrowed plane. I found a Ringleader that charters his private fleet. An eye for an eye. Or a private jet for a private jet, in this case. I also might have found some rapists and murderers to put on the plane for more evidence. The bodies were incinerated, so they were impossible to identify, but the flight log helped our case. I have a man on the inside. The Ringleaders are convinced. We are done."
"Diabolical," I replied in awe.
"Yep. And since it was a Ringleader who owned the plane, they're even more convinced that we are dead," Sunshine added.
"We had to make it look very real," Gavriel replied. "I'm sorry we...worried you."
I scoffed. "I've been crying my eyes out all day. Ugly crying. Nix is...oh shit. Nix left. He's gone, we have to..."
"We know where Nix is. We have it covered," Sunshine replied. There was a bite in her tone I didn't understand. "Self-sacrificing asshole. I hope Hunter made him suffer."
A knock on the door stopped me from asking about a bazillion questions. "Baby, are we ready to go? Also, have you taken your prenatal today?" Callum Mercer stood at the door with his blond hair slicked back and a hand on his hip.
"Yes. I already took it. We're almost ready."
"I gotta piss," another voice, Blaise, said. He walked through the door with his cocky swagger and gave me a small wave. "Hey, Grace. Glad you're alive and shit." He walked through the room to the bathroom and shut the door. Well, hello to you too.
A horn honked. Ryker. "Let's go! Hunter said he would meet us in an hour. I don't want to be late," he shouted. “And Sunshine needs to rest! Are you hungry?”
“I’m fine!” Sunshine called back with a small smile.
The whole gang was here. Who the fuck was Hunter?
"This is insane," I whispered.
"We have a safe house to get to," Gavriel gritted while dragging a finger across the dusty nightstand. "The world thinks we're dead. I have cash stockpiled in offshore accounts. It took a few days to coordinate everything, but now we are free to live our lives. Maybe in a decade or so, we can go back to New York—once everyone has forgotten the Moretti reign. I want my child to experience the city."
"No one could possibly forget you, Sir," Sunshine said, affection warming her tone as she smiled at him. The toilet flushed in the bathroom.
"We'll raise our baby in peace. Keep to small towns until everything blows over. At least until the baby is ten or so. I have quite a few properties scattered across the globe in my new identity’s name. The Ringleaders won't be an issue anymore. Especially since they lost their best hacker. Not to mention, I now have a few people on the inside. Sometimes the best way to win a fight is to not fight at all. We're walking away."
To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Gavriel Moretti had turned his back on his empire. Everything he’d ever worked for. Babies really did change everything.
Blaise emerged from the bathroom and stalked over to Sunshine. "I love old motel rooms," he said in a low voice. "Reminds me of the first time we had sex. Remember that, Sunshine?"
Sunshine blushed. "How could I forget?" she asked. "Let's go meet Hunter. I need to kill my best friend."
Gavriel smiled. "That's my girl."
Chapter Twenty-One
Nix
"You dumbass," Sunshine said.
I woke up cotton-mouthed and hollow, the light of day stabbing my eyes with its promise of tomorrow and hope. Was this what dying felt like? I fe
lt a palm against my cheek. "Sunshine?" I croaked. It felt wrong to want to see her, like I didn't deserve an afterlife where my best friend existed.
Had I really lost myself in this madness?
"Open your eyes and stop being a pussy. It was just a little tranquilizer. Nothing crazy."
Just a little tranquilizer? What the fuck?
My eyes felt heavy, like someone was sitting on the lids and keeping them closed. My body was exhausted and slow-moving. "Where am I?"
"Hell," a gruff voice teased as I blinked. Sunshine handed me a pair of glasses, and the moment they were on, the room came into focus. How she managed to find me a pair was a mystery. We were in a brightly lit hotel room with tall windows overlooking the ocean. White curtains were blowing in the breeze, and my best friend looked like an angel sitting there in a white dress with her hair in waves.
"If this is hell, then sign me up," I replied with a groan. I didn't feel right. My lips were dry. My body was sluggish. I couldn't quite focus on the room, either. There was a delay between my head and my motor functions. I turned my attention to a figure standing in the corner and immediately flinched. It was the hooded figure. The Ringleader assassin.
"Sunshine, run," I yelled while trying to sit up.
"It's cute that you think you could escape me. But no worries, I'm not here to kill you. Or Sunshine. I just had to make it look like I did."
"W-what?" I asked.
"See you later, Sunshine," Hunter said with a wink before disappearing out of the room.
"You're not dead, though I have half a mind to kill you after the stunt you pulled," Sunshine said before handing me a bottle of water. I unscrewed the cap and downed it all in a few gulps. The drink felt good on my dry throat.
"And what stunt was that?" I asked.
Sunshine crawled into the bed and settled under the sheet beside me. She was real. This was real. She snuggled into my side, and I let out a sigh of content. I'd wanted this for five years. My best friend. My soulmate. Where the fuck were we? How did she get me?
"You tried sacrificing yourself for Grace and Alessandro. You stayed away for five years to keep me safe. If it wasn't so damn honorable, I would have left you in Hunter's trunk for a few days."
She threaded her fingers through mine and squeezed. I lay there in disbelief. Certainly, this was all an elaborate dream. Or some afterlife the neurons in my brain were creating during the last few minutes of life. I didn't deserve this moment with Sunshine. "I thought you were dead," I rasped. Outside, the waves crashed. I could hear voices joking.
"You had to be convinced. Hunter works for Gavriel. He's an assassin that sometimes takes contract work. When he saw the hit on the dark web, he took the job and filmed it. When you turned yourself in, it just solidified our entire plan. I hate that you did that, but it actually helped make it all that much more believable. Although your boyfriend and girlfriend are not happy with you right now. I would not want to deal with that."
I grimaced. "That's saying something, considering you're married to the devil."
"Better the devil you know..."
I stroked Sunshine’s hair as tears began to fall down my cheeks. I turned to look at her in disbelief. "You're really here?"
"I'm really here," she whispered, her own eyes swimming with relief. "I'm here to stay. We all are."
"And where exactly is here?" I asked.
"One of Gavriel's safe houses."
"I'm really glad you married a billionaire," I teased. This entire conversation felt normal but also forced. I didn't know what to say. I knew I had hurt her, but how did we just pick back up? Was this too good to be true? "So what now?"
"Now, we live our lives."
"It doesn't feel real. None of this feels real."
She snuggled me and breathed me in. I was sure I smelled like ass, but I didn't care. I was just thankful to have her near. "Callum once told me that happily ever after doesn't exist. Happy is an everyday battle."
"So now we fight for our happiness?" I asked.
"We fight together. Don't ever leave me again, Nix. We're fucking family, okay?"
I let out a sigh. I never wanted to hurt her. "I promise."
"Can we take a nap? I'm so fucking tired. Remember our old apartment in Baltimore? We'd get brunch on Sunday and take afternoon naps. I know your little harem wants to see you, but I'm feeling selfish. They've had the last week to hoard you, and now it's my turn."
I laughed. "You're one to talk about harems."
"I'm happy for you, you know? I'm happy they tracked you down. Life wasn't the same without you, Nix. It was like half my heart was off on the other side of the world." I rubbed small circles on her back and stared at the ceiling in disbelief. This was real. This was us.
"I don't think they will want me after what I did. Love feels like this ongoing apology with them," I admitted.
Sunshine yawned. "Grace is upset. Alessandro wants to kick your ass. Love isn't an apology, Nix. It's just something you do. Maybe you should stop running away from it all."
"You know I didn't run. I had no choice."
"There is always a choice." Sunshine sat up and stared at me. "You chose to protect us, which was fine for a while. I forgive you for leaving like you did. There is literally nothing you could do that is unforgivable. Our friendship is limitless. And I know for a fact that those two feel the same way. With some hot sex sprinkled in."
I gave her a small smile before she continued. "People do stupid things when they're afraid to lose the ones they love. I, better than anyone, understand that. I don't fault you for leaving. I don't fault you for mindlessly trying to sacrifice yourself for them either—though you are fucking lucky that we already had Hunter en route to save your ass from that stupid plan. But this is a lesson you're going to have to learn, just like I did."
"And what lesson is that?" I asked.
"You're worthy of love, Nix," she whispered. I wasn't expecting her to say that. "You aren't defined by your mistakes. You aren't chained to decisions you've made. I've had a lot of time to think about you over the years. I used to think you never settled down because it just wasn't who you were. But I realized that it had nothing to do with wanting to explore your options, and everything to do with you not feeling like you deserved to be happy. I don't know why I was lucky enough to break past that wall with you, but I think you need to give Grace and Alessandro an honest try. I think you need to let go of your hero complex. Your insecurities. You don't have to worry about the Ringleaders ever again. So moving forward, the only thing holding you back, is you."
She was right. I knew she was right. "I want to be the old me again."
"The old you wasn't any happier than the person I'm looking at right now," Sunshine whispered before leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on my jaw. I closed my eyes and savored her tenderness. Sunshine had one of those open hearts that invited you in. People didn't understand her. They saw a broken woman. A weak woman. I saw someone that overcame.
"I was happy with you," I promised.
"Can't put your happiness all on one person. They're bound to disappoint you, Nix. I'm just glad Alessandro and Grace started finding happiness in each other. It means you have more of a chance at making this throuple work."
I laughed. "A throuple?"
"It's a legitimate term. I'm pretty sure there are even Facebook support groups for it."
"Is it normal to feel like no time has passed?" I asked.
"Absolutely."
"I'm scared this isn't real. I'm scared everything is going to crash around us. The Ringleaders—"
"Are a distant memory. I promise," she whispered.
I let out a shaky breath. Okay. I had my Sunshine back.
Now, I just had to get Alessandro and Grace.
Chapter Twenty- Two
Alessandro
Grace was lounging by the pool, looking the most like herself since we left for this little adventure. She wore a sleek, white one-piece bathing suit that clung to her fre
ckled skin. She'd spent all morning scrubbing the temporary dye out of her hair and trimmed her bangs to give her a more chic appearance. The Bullets were swimming and fussing over what theme they wanted for the baby room.
I had just sent an encrypted message to John and Kaydence letting them know where we were. They sent me back a photo of them riding a boat and smiling. I was thankful this endeavor didn't ruin their life.
Two days had passed since that time at the motel. We traveled to the safe house. We got Nix. We waited for him to wake up.
I felt at peace.
But also not at peace.
Nix and Sunshine had been sitting in his room for a while now. I knew they needed time to reconnect. This journey started with their friendship, and it needed to end with it, too. Now that I had Grace, I understood their bond. It was precious. It was sacred. It needed just as much time, care, and devotion as any romantic interest or entanglement. "You're turning pink," I said to Grace while handing her some sunblock.
"Can you rub it in?"
The Bullets splashed one another in the pool and laughed loudly, completely at ease, but I tuned them out while squirting sunblock into my palm. I got off my lounge chair to rub it into her soft skin. Grace was rolled over on her stomach and humming to herself. "Are you nervous?" I asked before massaging her shoulders.
"He left," was all she said in response.
Left, indeed. Doubt and insecurities were a fickle thing.
"I'm quite angry with him," I whispered before running my hands over her thighs. She was warm and tense. I pressed on her sore muscles as I worked the sunblock in. "If I wasn't certain that Sunshine was ripping him a new one right now, I would absolutely spank his ass."
"Can you do that anyway? I'd pay good money to see Nix get his ass spanked. Bend him over your knee and everything," Grace replied with a low laugh.
"I wouldn't be against that," Nix's voice said.
The splashing stopped in the pool. Grace went completely still. I wasn't even sure she was breathing. I looked up and smiled at the beautiful man standing over us. The sunlight cast a halo around his head. He wore board shorts, and his toned abs were on full display.