Page 218 of Keeping Kasey
“Watch how you speak to my fiancée, Moreno. This hospital bed won’t stop me from kicking your ass,” I tell him with an easy smile.
The change in the room’s atmosphere is instant as concern morphs into surprise.
“Excuse me,” Elise says, peering over Kasey’s shoulder. “I could’ve sworn you just referred to Kasey as yourfiancée.”
Kasey and I share a smile, ignoring the charged looks from my family.
“Kasey, did you agree to marry this asshole?” Damon asks.
“About forty-five seconds ago, yeah,” she confirms.
“Congratulations!” Elise shouts.
“What about the Romano girl?” Moreno asks, and when Elise smacks his arm, he only lifts his hands with a raised brow. “It’s a legitimate question.”
“And one that’s already been answered,” James says.
We look to James, all of us silently asking the same question.
He only shrugs. “I’ll be marrying her.”
“What?” I ask at the exact same time as Elise and Damon.
James doesn’t look overly eager to explain, which is fine because Kasey doesn’t give him a chance.
“Can we focus onthisengagement first?”
The next ten minutes are some of the best of my life.
I still haven’t been seen by a doctor to assess the damage, and I haven’t been briefed about what I missed while I was unconscious. I assume Diaz took the traitors, and the impact of that change is going to have catastrophic effects on my family and Moreno’s—effects that could change every aspect of our operations.
But for the next ten minutes, I let myself be a man engaged to the woman of his dreams. I let myself soak in the reality of being her forever. I let myself revel in the joy of what we have survived and what we have to look forward to.
I don’t worry about the rest because I can handle anything that comes our way as long as she is by my side.
EPILOGUE 1
Kasey
Six months later
I tie my hair up in a ponytail in an attempt to minimize the sweat dripping down my back. I’ve been sitting on the wooden bench for well over an hour, with a particularly relentless August sun beating down on me and no clouds in the sky to offer reprieve.
But I’m not ready to go inside.
I lean back, drawing my legs up and wrapping my arms around them as I rest my chin on my knees. It’s not the most comfortable seat, but there are few places that bring me more peace than here, so it’s worth it.
“I thought I’d find you out here,” comes the voice of my soon-to-be husband.
Looking over my shoulder, I’m unsurprised to see he’s wearing a full suit even in this heat.
“How are you not melting?”
“I am,” he assures me with an unbothered smile.
“Feel free to lose a few layers.”
“When we’re done out here, you can strip me of all the layers you want,” he says with a wink.
