fell. He didn't want anyone to have you if he couldn't," he explains tiredly, rubbing his eyes with his fingers.
"Is he...?" I begin, my voice breaking in the middle of the question. I must know, and I am so fucking frightened of the answer. I don’t want to hear Parker is gone because that would mean I'm all Kade has left. But I don't want to know that he's okay, either. Because I know I'll keep living my life in fear, which is not living at all. He implores me with his gaze, searching for answers even though I'm the one who asked the question. Finally, when I'm starting to think he won't tell me, he responds.
"We couldn't find his body. It's lost to the ocean now." His voice is thick with pain and sorrow even after everything that Parker did to us. After every terrible fight, those sleepless nights when I woke up screaming, thinking he had come for me. The days of torture, the mental exhaustion. The loss of my person, my best friend, my stepbrother. I know we will both mourn him.
Parker was my best friend, my confidant, and my light. Until the light went off in his soul and he let the darkness take him. I wish I could tell him the darkness came for me, too. It tried claiming me several times, but I resisted it. I was stronger than Parker could ever be.
"Marissa’s body was found buried on the island," he explains softly, and I cuddle into his arms. "They're sending it back to her father. He's the gallery owner Parker worked for."
I hope Marissa finally finds peace.
"Kade..." I mutter, my eyes finding his. "Do you remember what you told me right before Parker fell?"
"Of course," he mutters against my hair. "I told you I loved you..."
"And do you?" I'm desperate for his answer, and he smiles, pushing the hair off my face.
"What do you think, Junebug?" he asks. "Of course I love you... It's always been you and always will be you. I’ve loved you from the day I met you. And I was never, ever going to let Parker have you."
Gratefully, I lean into his arms and whisper that I love him too.
The island has changed me forever. It's the home of my nightmares, the place where they all came true, but also the place where they all ended for good.
And right there, in the hospital room, I feel the darkness retreat.
It snarls and writhes as it leaks away, and the sun shines into the room with full force until not even a single shadow is left. And I know the darkness may have claimed Parker… But Kade and I escaped it.
39
Kade
3 months later
The night is dark and ominous. My wife sleeps peacefully in our bed, not anticipating what I'm about to do to her. With Theo safe with our nanny Dierdre, I have all night to do whatever the fuck I want to June.
A sinister smile pulls at the corners of my lips. I've been waiting to do this for so long. June begged and begged me for it, but I kept telling her no, thinking she wasn't ready. But it's been three months since everything went down in Hawaii. I think she's ready. I know I am.
I leave our bed at two a.m., and June doesn't stir. Once I come back half an hour later, I quietly lock the door behind me, making sure we won't be disturbed. I let my bag down on the floor and approach my wife, still sleeping soundly.
The moonlight is streaming through the windows, illuminating her pale body and making my mouth water. I want her more than ever tonight... The night all her nightmares come true.
Before I can change my mind, I clamp my hand over her mouth. Her eyes fly open, filling with instant terror when she sees the black mask on my face. She fights, but I restrain her. Understanding flashes in her eyes, and she stays still for a second. I press my free hand to her chest, feeling the rapid beat of her heart. She's so beautiful when she's this scared. It makes my cock rock hard to see her like this.
"Are you ready, Junebug?" I ask her, and she can only nod around the hand I've still got over her mouth. "Then get the fuck up."
I pull my hand back and watch her pick herself up from the bed. She's wearing nothing but a pink silk camisole, the fabric