Epilogue
Eden
Closing up the gallery at night wasn’t usually my job, except for a few times a month. Tonight was one of those nights. Khan had security stationed at the door nearly all the time, so I never really worried about intruders, or anyone making a problem for me, as I wandered around and switched off the lights. Tonight was my last night of work for a while, as tomorrow morning, we were going to Istanbul for a holiday. Khan’s parents were dying to celebrate with us, and we were both desperate to see them. Turns out, sometimes you don’t just get a husband, but a whole family. I loved them nearly as much as he did. My relationship with my own mother was one that was slowly healing, bit by bit. Khan was the major force behind that reconciliation. We’d get there, one step at a time.
Tomorrow and for the next month I planned to swim in the Aegean Sea, and eat baklava and as much rose and lemon Turkish delight as I wanted. We had a beautiful estate in Izmir, right on the most aquamarine sea I’d ever seen, and I couldn’t wait to get there. Not that I wouldn’t miss my little gallery, or the games we played there.
I switched out another light and felt eyes on me. Turning my head from the source of the eyes, I wandered further into the gallery, pulling my jacket on as I went. I stretched my neck and sighed tiredly. A scrapping sound pulled my attention.
“Is there anyone there?” I called into the darkness. No answer met my question. A thrill of anticipation filled me as I wandered toward my office. In the year we’d been married, Khan and I had only gotten better at playing together. My obsession with my husband was no less strong than it had been from the day we met, and lord knew, his had grown exponentially. I leaned over my desk, and when I straightened up, there he was, behind me, wrapping his arms around my middle and kissing my neck.
“Well, well, if it isn’t my secret stalker,” I teased him. Once I’d found out exactly how detailed the folder he’d had made on me was, I’d insisted that I commission one on him with exactly the same scrutiny. Thanks to that, I knew everything that made my husband tick, and every embarrassing secret about him, right down to the mullet he had in tenth grade. The feeling of righteous anger had quickly died, however, when I’d read his file, and only made my love for him grow. His childhood had been so unstable and chaotic, I understood his need for control and order. I got it, even if I’d never let him of the hook for his research and stalkerish tendencies, even before we’d kissed. He was still nuts about security. He still wanted to know where I was at pretty much all times, and weirdly, I didn’t care. I wanted to know where he was, too.
Yep, that’s right, our obsession was quid pro quo.
“Were you waiting for me, buttercup?” he murmured in my ear. Without fail, on the nights I worked late, my husband came to pick me up. I nodded and turned in his arms. His darkly handsome face never failed to thrill me. I nodded and pecked him on the lips before sighing and leaning into his chest.
“This whole pregnancy thing is so tiring,” I complained, and laughed as Khan, predictably, swept me off my feet and into his arms. He headed through the gallery.
“You should rest more,” he said. I smiled up at him until he narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you just angling to get carried everywhere?” he teased me. I lifted my foot, clad in pinching high heels.
“Yes. I made a poor shoe choice today, and we both know how much you hate that,” I said, making him laugh.
“You don’t need to do anything other than ask if you want to be carried around by me, buttercup. No matter where I am, or who I’m with, I’ll be here as soon as I can,” he promised. I sank into his chest and rested my head against his heart.
“Even when I’m nine-months gone with the twins?” I wondered.
“Always,” Khan answered, and I knew he meant it. Somehow, he’d find a way.
“I wish we could leave tonight. I can’t wait to tell your parents,” I sighed, as we got outside to the car.
“So, let’s leave tonight,” Khan said, lowering me into the passenger seat of his huge, bullet-proof SUV. The goof had gone and researched the safest car in history when we’d found out that we were expecting.
“Can we?”
“We’re flying private, Eden. We can leave whenever you want. It’s our world, remember?”
“Ok, let’s go,” I decided, happily. Khan grinned.
“As you wish.”