Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45194 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45194 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
This seems like a totally inappropriate time to get hard, but she chuckles softly when she feels it against her stomach, then holds me even tighter.
"Fuck, Honor." My harsh whisper gets a little whimper from her.
Lyle grins at me. "I'm guessing we're all in, then?"
"Looks like it," says Nate. He comes closer to put a hand at the small of Honor's back, before he lets it slide down to her ass.
Fuck, I don't know if this will work, but I'm going to try. Honor never gave up, even after I wronged her, and she deserves that. She deserves my best to make her happy. I hold her closer. This time I'm not going to let her go.
"What do we do about Dick-Ass?" asks Lyle. "We can't let him get away with this, can we?"
I shake my head. "Fuck no. He paid his way out of it then, but now he's not the only one who can afford flashy lawyers. I'm setting our whole team on him, and this time it's the real deal, not Barton, Rogers, and Hill." Nate laughs at our favorite fake lawyer firm. "If there's any hope that the statute of limitations isn’t up, I'm going to have that bastard behind bars. At worst, if we can't have him put away, we have enough on him now that we can make sure he never sets a fucking foot in this house again. It's time we set them on reclaiming our birthright."
Honor cranes her neck to look up at me. This time she lets the tears flow freely. "You can do that? Really?"
"I can and I fucking will. I couldn't always protect all of you, but this time I'll do it the right way. Dad's never going to hurt you again. And"—fuck, I can't believe I'm saying this—"if you're willing to move in, I want Montgomery House to be the place of light that it always deserved to be. That it was when times were good, when we played in the garden. When we watched the birds and wished we could fly like them. I don't think it ever will be without you here."
"Kylian," she whispers.
All three of us hug her between us, her small body is the tie that binds us together.
Will this work? I don't know, but we're sure as hell going to fucking try. Honor has lifted a burden from us that I thought we'd carry to our graves, without resolution.
"You know, you guys are really sexy when you get all tough and protective and stuff." There's a catch in Honor's voice, and the touch of her hand sliding down my chest. "And I haven't had a chance to see your bedrooms in years. Does Lyle still have Mr. Olliphant watching him from the bookshelves? Is there still Transformers wallpaper on Nate's walls?" She looks up and giggles. "Do you still sleep with Ed the Ted?"
Fuck, I can't hold the laugh back. "You might find that some things have changed, but why don't you let us show you? We'll start in my room, then work our way through all of them."
Her smile is the kind I'd like to see on her face every day, for the rest of my life.
"I'd like that. I'd like that a lot."
EPILOGUE
NATE
FOUR FOREVER
Six months later
“This is nice,” Lyle says with a sigh. I can see why he thinks so. Honor is sitting next to him on the bench, curled against his side. His arm is around her shoulders, and her feet are tucked to the side.
“I love it out here.” Honor sounds as content as a cat. “Who knew you could get a heated gazebo?” This is a slight exaggeration. Only the bench seats are heated, although there’s a large heat lamp in the center that does a pretty good job.
“We did,” I say. The gazebo was a surprise for Honor a few weeks ago over the holidays. Since winters in Chicago can get unpleasant, we made a few modifications.
“But I mean, I didn’t even know gazebos could be heated,” she says.
“Why should hot tubs get all the fun?” Ky’s voice drifts lazily through the night air. “But that’s an idea. We could put in a hot tub, too.”
“No,” Honor says after a moment of thought. “I love the garden the way it is.”
“That’s because you spent months making it perfect.” Lyle plants a kiss on her temple.
I laugh. “We give you carte blanche to redecorate the entire mansion, and you spend all your time digging around in the garden. Like mother, like daughter.”
Honor smiles at that. “This was always the place I was at my happiest when I lived here. Besides, I’ve been an apartment dweller for years. It’s about time I get to make things grow.”
“You’re good at it,” Ky says. A while back, Honor would probably have looked for an ulterior motive in his words, but not anymore. Neither do I.