Epilogue
Cara
SIX MONTHS LATER
Ace has a huge family, which I didn’t know until a couple of months ago when I met his brothers and their girlfriends. Maddie, Archer's girlfriend, passes me the potatoes, and I scoop some onto my plate. She gives me a smile that makes me feel so grateful to be surrounded by family. Especially after having no one for such a long time.
Across from me sits the twins and their girlfriend, Payton. At first, I wondered how a relationship like that could possibly work, especially with two alpha men, but somehow, that girl is the one and only thing that they’ll even remotely consider sharing.
Knox sits on the other side of the twins with his girlfriend, Aria. She’s quiet and shy but fits well with the brooding and intense Knox. Ace tells me he’s the most volatile of all his brothers but never explained how.
“The house looks beautiful, Cara,” Myles, Ace’s other brother, says as I reach for the plate of steaks. “I love that you changed out all the dark manly features for something a little different.”
Beside me, Ace rolls his eyes, and I let out a little laugh. Not long after Ace moved me in, I decided to do a little redecorating.
“Thank you. I didn’t want to change it too much but add a little dash that showed a woman lived here.”
Wrapping a protective arm around my shoulder, he pulled me closer to his side. “And you’ll always live here. What is mine is yours,” he whispers into the shell of my ear, sending shivers down my spine.
“Also, the food is like, fucking awesome!” Archer announces, grinning at me as he shovels a spoonful of my scalloped corn casserole into his mouth.
“Yeah, thank god we each have a woman of our own. Whenever we had dinner all together before, it was either frozen pizza or takeout. None of us can cook worth a shit.” Cash laughs, and everyone bursts out into laughter.
We all pile food onto our plates, and the men discuss work stuff and the dance studio, which they’re doing an expansion on.
My stomach does a little somersault once everyone is finished eating. That means it’s time to unveil our secret.
Ace scoots his chair back and moves to stand before his family, our family.
“We have a special announcement to make. While I know we’re expanding the dance studio, Cara and I decided we wanted to expand the Hale name as well.”
“Oh, my god!” Maddie squeals from across the table, her eyes lighting up with joy.
“Ah, shit!” Myles leans back in his chair.
Ace merely smiles. “Yes, it means what you think. We’re pregnant.”
“Well, holy shit. Congratulations, brother!” Kane smirks, and the room bubbles over with joy. I can feel it in my veins and against my skin. Their happiness is my happiness, and I’ve never experienced such a thing before.
“There’s something else as well…” Ace continues, and I turn in my chair, giving him a confused expression.
“It’s twins!?” Cash questions, and Ace’s smile widens.
“No, no, it’s not that,” he replies.
“What are you talking about?” I finally ask.
“I got you a job. You’re going to be working as a background dancer in a couple of music videos. I know that was always your dream, and I have the means to make it happen.”
I’m so shocked it takes me a moment to get out of my chair and wrap my head around what he just said. A job? Working as a background dancer for a music video.
Uncaring that his entire family is still in the room and watching us, I wrap my arms around him and press up onto my tiptoes to give him a kiss. His arms wrap around me, cradling me tightly to his chest.
“I… I can’t believe you did that for me.” I break the kiss a moment later, feeling a bit light-headed.
“I did it for you, but I’m telling you right now.” He stops, and his expression turns dark. It’s the kind of dark that both frightens and excites me. “You still have to dance for me in the bedroom, understand?”
A smile tugs at my lips, and I press my forehead against his.
“I’ll always be your little dancer, Ace, always,” I tell him.
* * *