Page 120 of Rise of the King (Checkmate 5)

Epilogue

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From: KingOnD8

Subject: Dear Sophia

Today’s the big day, huh?

I’m just writing to tell you that I love you, that I’m proud of you, that I enjoy when you let me touch your butthole, and that you still suck a D like a high-priced hooker.

Okay, not the last two things. They’re true, of course, but mostly I was writing to tell you I’m proud of you.

I’m in my seat in the front row, I have my flugelhorn ready, and I’m gonna holler and throw dollar bills till I can buy an hour of your time.

Also: can I have more money? I ran out.

Don’t break a leg. Don’t break anyone else’s either. We all know you can get a little feisty when you’re hungry. Eat up!

I love you. Probably gonna marry you soon.

See you when you come out in your tutu!

Don’t be leotardy!

Love you always and back again,

John D. Hamilton

Hitting send, I sit back beside my brother and shove my cell into my pocket. My girl will be front and center in a matter of minutes; she’llprobablybe wearing a tutu, and then I’m probably going to fuck her stage left, because I won’t be able to stop myself.

“She nervous?”

Kane sits to my left, and Jess sits beside him. Jess’ sister sits beside her, and the rebound bro who I’ve decided since that day in the Checkmate basement is kinda cool sits beside her. Eric is on my right, and Spence sits a little further along the row with a police-issue megaphone in his lap and a wicked grin on his face while he waits formygirl to show her ass.

I know he didn’t pay for that megaphone. And I know Alex Turner is missing a megaphone from his storage cabinet.

I’m just saying, it could be a coincidence…

“Jay?” Kane smacks my leg and brings my gaze back around. “She doing okay?”

“You feeling a little protective of my prima ballerina? You think you get to push me aside and keep all the pretty ladies?”

“No. Shut up.” He leans back and pulls Jess closer. “I just know she was kinda panicking about this. I don’t want her to panic.”

“She’s gonna be okay.” Lifting my ankle onto my knee and settling in for a couple hours of perfection, I smile when the lights begin to dim.

We sit in the auditorium of the newly outfitted and totally funded by Colum BishopEllie Solomon Dance Studio. Soph doesn’t want to go back to the city – any of them – and she doesn’t want to leave this new family we’ve created here, so settling in and funneling a little cash that doesn’t belong to her, she’s created a non-profit dance studio that has essentially become a safe haven for girls who feel like they might be in a dangerous situation.

All anyone has to do to become family is knock on the doors. Just knock, and you’ll be welcomed into a supportive family, given a meal, a bed, blankets, and a ride to the local police station if that’s what you need.

Ellie Solomon lives on through the studio dedicated to her, and now Sophia dances again, because she finally feels like she deserves it.

Things are settling in this little town now that clubs like Infernos and all the types of men associated are being eliminated. We’ve rid the world of monsters, but I don’t regret the blood on my hands. Dozens of them are gone, and thousands of girls won’t be torn from their families and brutalized at the hands of greed and power.

All because a seventeen-year-old girl was determined to avenge her sister’s death.

When the lights are dim and a spotlight shines on the stage, Dolly – Kane’s robust receptionist with big hair and a bigger ass – steps out in leopard print and a wolfish grin. “Good evening, folks, and welcome to the Ellie Solomon Dance Academy for the very best dancers in the whole wide world. Thank you for buying a ticket to tonight’s performance, because every dollar raised goes to help someone a little more in need than the rest of us.

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