to marry the other.
It was weird… wasn’t it?
But I didn’t care.
And neither did Hayes.
Hell, there were times that I didn’t even think they realized they were brothers—or step-brothers.
Ryan and Hayes hadn’t even said much to each other. It was like they were casual acquaintances instead of family.
But, as I noticed, there was an obvious divide. Hayes sat next to his dad, and Ryan next to his mom. Hayes’ grandmother hadn’t even acknowledged Ryan either.
It was a really weird thing that I realized only now meant that they weren’t close at all.
“So tell me everything that happened,” Ryan said. “I feel like I’m completely out of the loop.”
He was.
But Easton didn’t hesitate in telling Ryan about the serial killer and the man that they’d caught.
“He confessed to killing Abilene,” Easton finished explaining. “But though he’s hinting at the others, he hasn’t downright confessed. Even though we’ve found confirmation in a storage space he rented. He kept a little souvenir every time he killed one. It’ll only be a matter of time before we have him confirmed for every one of the murders.”
I blinked. “What kind of confirmation?”
Easton’s eyes turned to me.
“Every time he dumped a body, he stole the mile marker sign.” He murmured. “We found eleven mile markers, each coinciding with a girl’s murder.”
“What a fucking dumbass,” Ryan muttered.
I think that would be the first and last time that Ryan and I agreed on anything.
Hayes wrapped his arm around me and pressed his lips against my temple.
“We’re gonna live happily ever after.”
I blinked and turned, staring straight into Hayes’ gaze.
“I think that was the single most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me.”
He grinned. “What about when I say ‘I love you?’”
My heart nearly stopped. I knew he felt it. Just like I felt it.
But we hadn’t exactly exchanged the words.
And he wanted to do it now, in the middle of our family dinner, when we were talking about serial killers?
I grinned and said, “That’s pretty romantic, too. What has gotten into you?”
He didn’t hesitate to answer. “You.”
My face flushed.
“You forgot to reply.”
I grinned. “Why bother answering when you know my answer?”
He threw his head back and laughed, and while he was laughing, I whispered my words into his ear.
“I love you, too.”
Epilogue
So apparently I’m dramatic.
-Ares to Hayes
Ares
“Ohhh!” Maybell, our oldest, said. “Can we pleasssseeeee go to Target? I have report card money that I want to spend.”
I looked at my husband, who’d just spent the last six hours at three birthday parties, all with screaming little girls, and wondered if he could handle Target mid-day on a Saturday.
“Sure,” Hayes said, surprising me.
Instead of taking the road home that would’ve taken us out of the congested city of Longview, he turned right into Target and found a parking spot at the very back of the lot.
After adjusting his clothes so that it covered his concealed carry weapon—something he never went anywhere without after ‘the incident’ that we tried not to talk about because Daddy sometimes lost it—he reached into the back of the truck for our son, Mir.
Vladimir Hayes Romine was named after his late grandfather, and even resembled him, too.
Then again, according to Hayes’ grandmother, Maybell resembled her when she was a kid, as well.
Though, she had my red ringlet hair and attitude.
But Maybell definitely took after her crazy great-grandmother. She’d challenged the princess at the last party we went to to a push-up war. Winner gets the crown that the princess wore.
Needless to say, the princess didn’t find it nearly as cute when she had to give up her crown.
My Annabell, though? She was all Hayes. Down to the shiny, thick head of hair and the piercing beauty of her eyes.
“I can’t wait to find some heels.” Annabell clapped her hands.
I nearly groaned.
At eight months pregnant, the last thing I wanted to do was go into Target and walk through the toy aisle.
What I really wanted was to go to the Starbucks inside and get a hot chocolate and sip on it while reading a magazine.
Something which Hayes realized moments after I walked through the front doors.
I looked longingly at the Starbucks, and he chuckled. “Just go sit. I’ll try to get her done fast.”
I looked