CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Epilogue Tony

 

Three months later

 

The building seemed different now that Cane had taken it over. He had completely cleaned house, getting rid of everyone who hadn’t been arrested, claiming he didn’t trust anyone who’d worked for his cousin. The penthouse had been remodeled into executive offices. I had one next to Cane’s, which I’d objected to, saying I didn’t have a right, but Cane had quickly squashed that. I took care of the technical side of his business—which was B-Natural and its chain of stores, After Hours having been completely dismantled. I continued freelancing on the side and painting in my spare time.

I was so proud of Cane. He’d taken to the business like a duck to water, probably having absorbed a lot of it while he’d been there. He’d been floored that, in the event of Karl’s death, his uncle had left it all to him, and even more shocked when he’d read the letter telling Cane that if he were to take control, his uncle knew he’d make the business legit and that that might be for the best.

“You ready for lunch?” Nick asked me. He’d recently taken the job as Cane’s assistant slash secretary and did it very well. Julianne had been sorry to see Nick go, but I got the feeling Nick had been glad to get away from Hung.

“Yep.” I closed my laptop. “Where do you want to eat?”

“There’s a new Japanese place uptown.”

“Japanese sounds good,” I said.

We took the private elevator downstairs and walked across the lobby. Jay, the receptionist in the front, waved to us on our way out. A member of the Rogues, Jay had interviewed for the job, and Cane had hired him immediately. We owed so much to that club for helping us out that night. Jay was good at his job, but I think Cane would have hired him even if he fucking sucked at it.

“We’re going for Japanese. Want us to bring you back something?” I asked him.

“Naw, my girl’s coming by and we’re going to eat together. Thanks anyway.” Jay waved them off.

“He is so cute,” Nick said when we got outside. “Figures he’s straight.”

I laughed, and Nick gave me a sour look. “Yeah, you don’t care. Why should you when you have Cane Winters in your bed?”

Cane and I still lived at the clubhouse. We’d bought a big bed for Cane’s room, and Adam had moved in with Hung. Not yet ready to get our own place, we endured the paper thin walls. Most of us had invested in earplugs.

Nick and I walked in companionable silence, enjoying the balmy May afternoon. Nick’s phone rang and when he checked it, I saw the initials JM flash on the screen. He didn’t answer it.

“JM?” I asked. “New guy?”

When Nick didn’t answer right away, my brain suddenly made the connection.

“Jeovanni Mendoza? What the fuck, Nick? Spill. Now!”

Nick glanced at me. “There’s nothing to spill. He’s been calling me, that’s all. I never answer.”

“Why not?”

Nick looked at me like I’d grown horns. “What do you mean, why not? We’re like ice and fire, for one. For another, he’s been to bed with half of New York City, and he thinks he’s God’s gift to men, women, and everyone in between. I don’t need that in my life.”

“He’s not that bad,” I said. “Jeo’s my friend, and I love him.”

Nick glanced at me. “I know, and I’m sure he’s a great friend. I just don’t think he’d make a good boyfriend.”

I nudged him with my elbow. “You’ll never know until you try.”

“I need a Daddy,” Nick said stubbornly. He and Royce had parted ways. I still didn’t know why, and Nick seemed not to want to talk about it. “A good one. I’ve already decided to go to one of those events upstairs at Lux. It’s like a Daddy/boy thing. I might meet someone there.”

“Sounds…interesting? Okay, who am I kidding, it sounds fucking kinky. You’re not going alone, are you?”

Nick glanced at me. “Why, you wanna come with?”

I made a choking noise. “Uh, you know I don’t.”

Nick laughed. “Don’t worry about me.”

We reached the restaurant. After being out in the bright sunlight, walking into its dim interior was like walking into a cave. The hostess seated us, and when we’d looked over the menu and ordered, I said to Nick, “I wonder why Jeo’s calling you though.”

“He feels guilty about suggesting Royce pretend to be a client to Bruder because Royce wound up getting hurt.”

“And so did you,” I reminded him.

Nick had later told me how Bruder had locked him in a closet to keep him out of the way at the convention center, and Nick had pounded on the door and shouted until he was hoarse, but it had taken a long time for a janitor to hear him and let him out. He’d confided the experience had left him with claustrophobia, something he’d never had before the incident.

“It all turned out well in the end,” he said blithely, looking over the menu. He wore a blue silk suit buttoned without a shirt underneath. I swore he could pull off any look.

“How’s your new place?” I asked.

After his lease had expired at his old apartment, Nick had rented a suite on the eighth floor of Winter Corporation, which is what Cane had renamed the building, getting rid of the name Bruder.

“I love it. Christ, the view! It’s great.”

“I’m glad. You don’t hate living where you work?”

“You know I love my job. Besides, there’s security. In my old place, I had to have five locks on the door just to feel okay closing my eyes at night.”

We finished eating and walked back to work. My mind wandered to the gift Cane had given me a week ago for my twenty-seventh birthday. He’d made a huge production of making sure all the club members were there and decorating the outside of the garage with colorful streamers and balloons. Then he’d opened it, and sitting in the middle of the freshly cleaned floor was an FXR4 limited edition Harley Davidson, exactly like the one my father had given me and I’d had to sell in order to make it on my own.

I’d cried like a baby, with all my friends slapping my back and hugging me and Nick throwing glitter at me. It was the best gift I’d ever gotten.

My mother hadn’t contacted me since I’d sent her the letter. I knew she received it because she cashed the check. Occasionally, I still felt guilty about cutting her off like I had, but each time Cane assured me I shouldn’t, I became a little more sure of myself. It helped that I’d contacted her neighbor and heard my mother was seeing someone.

Back on the top floor, Nick went to his desk. Cane had returned from his meeting with the board members, and I slipped into his office and shut the door while he finished up a telephone call. Standing behind him, I massaged his shoulders and kissed the top of his head until he disconnected.

“You’re distracting me,” he said, swiveling in his chair and pulling me onto his lap.

I laughed and wrapped my arms around him, kissing him thoroughly.

“I missed you. Nick and I went and had Japanese for lunch.”

Cane buried his face in my neck. “Mm. That’s why you smell so good.”

“I brought you some Shabu-shabu,” I said, picking up the bag I’d set on the floor.

Cane’s face lit up. “You’re the best.”

I climbed off his lap and took the meal out for him so he could eat at his desk, then I sat across from him. We chatted and just enjoyed looking at and being with each other. When I thought about months ago, when I’d been driving my motorcycle across country thinking I’d have to get over Cane Winters or never be myself again, I couldn’t have imagined I’d be where I was today. God, I was just so over-the-moon happy. Cane was all I’d ever wanted. He was everything I’d thought he was underneath the facade he’d kept up in an attempt to keep people away, and I counted my blessings every single night as I lay in bed with him, making love to his gorgeous body.

After years of unhappiness, being rejected by my mother and feeling guilty over my father’s death, I had achieved my heart’s desire. And I was never letting him go. People like Karl Bruder thought they owned the world. But their black hearts were incapable of feeling the best life had to offer. I was glad Bruder had fallen. I had Cane, and that’s all I really cared about. For me, he’s all there was.

 

THE END.