Renewing Their Vows

“You did all of this to protect me and the baby. I should have known.” Shaken by this knowledge, I walk forward on my knees and climb onto his body, wrapping my legs around his waist and pressing my face to the curve of his neck. “This wasn’t about making money?” I ask. “To replace what I gave up?”

He hesitates, his heart rapping against mine. “I won’t pretend that giving you the world isn’t something I think about every second of the day. But this time, it was about keeping you alive. I couldn’t let him hurt you,” he says hoarsely, stroking a hand down the back of my hair. “Tennison wanted his influence back. He’s not going to get it. I went to the men who’ve been running Boston since he went away and explained what was happening. It was a risk, but it paid off. I told them to put all of their money on me knocking out Bradley in the third round, despite what Tennison advised them. In exchange for making them rich, I asked for protection for you. From Tennison.” I glance up to find his eyes golden flickering with caution. “You…know what that means, Grace? There’s only one way to make sure he never comes after you.”

They’re going to kill him.

I don’t say it out loud, but I nod.

There’s no guilt, no shock. Only relief. Maybe I’m a lot less altruistic than I thought. But knowing our child is safe? I can’t help but be grateful, no matter how North achieved it for us. Sometimes the necessary thing isn’t the easy thing. I learned that when I wore a wire to help the police arrest my father and Tennison for their crimes.

“I understand,” I whisper.

North breathes a sigh of relief, tracing his fingertips down my cheek. “You’re free now, baby. You’re safe. You’re free.”

Magnetized by this man, this selfless, incredible, protective warrior of mine, I lean in and meld our mouths together, kissing him once, slowly. “You freed me.” Leaning away momentarily, I peel off my dress and let it drop behind me, rendering me naked, save a low-cut pair of white panties. “You made me and the baby safe.”

“You were trying to do the same, Gracie,” he rasps, my nudity winding him, flushing his handsome face. He devours the jut of my nipples, my mound pressing down on his stirring shaft, lifting his hips up beneath me. Giving me one, long grinding ride. “Christ, I missed you. I don’t ever want to be apart from you again. Please.”

“Never again,” I whisper against his lips. “It’s all over now. We can go home.”

“Yeah. Real soon, but I need a hit of my wife first. So goddamn bad.” Laboring to breathe now, North climbs to his feet with me wrapped around his waist, taking two steps and sitting me on a counter. Our mouths collide as North shoves down his boxing shorts and yanks me to the very edge of the cool surface, tugging aside my panties and thrusting home with such power, I see stars. “Ahhh fuck. It’s so fucking perfect,” he growls, holding me in place with a rigid forearm curled around my bottom and taking me roughly, panting and grunting in my ear, his sweat smearing all over my naked body. “Love my wife. Worship my wife.”

I arch my back, moaning at the thick invasion of him, love blanketing me, securing me in the moment—and the rest of our lives. “I love my husband,” I gasp, the desperate bucks of his hips making my teeth chatter. “We love each other and we’ll never, ever stop.”

And we spend the next seventy-five years proving it.

Epilogue

North

Ten years later

God, I love putting diamonds on my Gracie.

No matter how many times she assures me she doesn’t need them, I can’t pass a jewelry shop without stopping inside and finding one to drape on her beloved skin. I’m standing in the doorway of our bedroom now, watching her slide one such diamond into her earlobe, securing it with the platinum backing. She’s in green silk tonight, her dark hair up in some complicated knot that I’m absolutely going to destroy with my hands later. Probably as soon as the awards ceremony is over and we’re back in the limousine.

She’s so beautiful that my brain function slows just looking at her.

One might think it’s the thousands of punches I’ve taken over the years causing my world to move in slow motion, but no. It’s my wife. She’s been the wrecker of my concentration since we were eighteen years old and she’ll occupy that role until we leave this earth.

I won’t take a single second of it for granted.

Grace doesn’t see me watching her yet, so I spend a moment observing her surroundings. I sweep the high ceilings of our master bedroom, complete with fireplace and balcony overlooking the backyard, satisfaction settling down on my shoulders. Pride. I know with all my heart that Grace would have lived happily with me in a two-bedroom in Southie forever. But I needed to give my beauty what she deserves. And really, there is no end to what she deserves, my angel sent from God, but I had to settle for giving her an eight-bedroom mansion with an infinity pool and a movie theater out in Weston.