I ran into his waiting arms.
“That’s it. You’re hired,” he said into my hair as he kissed me.
Chapter 15
Trudy
The events leading up to this moment, would never have led me to believe that by 7PM of the evening on the same day I first killed a man, that I’d be sitting at a center round table in the grand dining room of a fancy mountain resort with the Connor brothers, their respective ladies, and a bottle of port.
“Guess you used up your nine lives, brother,” Maverick said to Malik as he offered him a toast.
“Exactly, it’s perfect timing too because my new hire is deadly, and pretty unassuming if you ask me,” he said before kissing me on the nose.
Maverick’s beautiful wife leaned into him and smiled at everything he said. She greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and a warm hug, and even though she never looked me in the eye, I felt like she saw me.
Malik was relaxed, as if the events had been nothing more than an average day’s work. And I guess to him, that’s what it was. But he did take time to make sure that I was okay and not reeling with remorse or guilt for taking out a Gabrielli man. We ate heavily and drank a lot while the brothers riffed and teased one another to no end. Yet throughout all of their fun and games, Malik kept a hand firmly planted on my thigh and checked in with me more than the waiter checked our wine glass throughout the night.
The brothers had hired a professional cleaning crew to clean the house after the Feds left and Maverick checked us all into a fancy resort. So now it felt like we were on a vacation getaway instead of fleeing a crime scene.
Adjacent to the dining hall was a ballroom that opened up to a balcony and a view of the night sky. A jazz quartet was playing softly and a few couples were dancing, swaying romantically to the beautiful music.
After we’d kissed and hugged the others goodnight, Malik took my hand and let me out to the view of the mountains and stars.
“Do you want to dance,” he asked me. Malik grabbed my waist and took my hand in his.
I was almost speechless in surprise. I loved dancing, and never in a million years would I have pegged this handsome hitman for a Fred Astaire.
“You can dance?” I asked him, unable to withhold my awe.
“Might be easier for you to ask me what I can’t do,” he said, cocking one brow.
“What can’t you do, Mr. Connor?” I asked him.
“Leave you alone ever again,” he said. Malik twirled me on the dance floor and led me expertly in a waltz to the soft jazz.
“Let you out of my sight.” He kissed my neck as he pulled me in.
He spun me out again and my dress twirled, then reeled me in until I was flush with his strong chest, my forearms caged in front of me.
“Let another moment of this life go by without asking you to be my wife.”
I stopped dancing and stared up into his eyes to see if he was being playful, and what I saw was a look of certainty and nobility I’d never seen in him before.
“My whole life has been a series of losses, things being taken from me. I’ve wasted enough time already. I know what I want Trudy, and it’s a future with you in it.”
A few tears of joy slipped from my eyes and fell down my cheeks.
I grabbed his head and pulled him to me, kissing him full on the mouth.
“Yes, Malik. I want to be in your future.” I told him.
“Welcome to the fucked-up side Trudy. We have fun here sometimes,” Malik told me while a look of happy deviance danced in his eyes.
Epilogue
Ten Years Later
Malik
Maybe, after all, I needed some therapy for all that I’d been through, considering it took a licensed social worker to save me from myself. I married Trudy Fredricks and she became a Connor on Christmas Eve of that same year. My brothers stood up for me and Tatum and Sophie, and Trudy’s friend Skylar were her bridesmaids.
I quit my job and moved to Valor to be with my wife and start a family, started a faction of the shelter that ran workshops all over the fifty states teaching self-defense and self-worth to high-risk kids. I lectured at universities on the circuit with Trudy. She told her story while I taught budding therapists and social workers how to recognize the signs and intervene early. Trudy manages my company and pretty much runs the whole shelter. Valor still runs security for the place and our relationship with the club is longstanding and still great. And every once in a blue moon, I come out of retirement, but only for a big case. If my man Rough or my brother Patriot need me for a hit, I’ll make an exception and make a fleeting appearance on the scene. Trudy didn’t like it, but it was always worth the incredible makeup sex, and an old dog struggles to change his ways.