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“I’d love that,” he said, his voice warm and even lower than usual. “I’m a little surprised you let Richter and Thadeus off the hook so easily, though.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “I didn’t, really. Ren emptied their bank accounts. Natty got a few million, Tiffany got a few million, and the rest went to charities of Ren’s choosing. Probably animal charities, knowing him. All untraceable, of course.”
“Of course.”
She bit her lower lip. “I was thinking it might be time to make a new career move for myself, too.”
He eased back to look her in the eye and frowned. “You don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. I love you no matter what you do for a living.”
“I know,” she said, toying with a button on his shirt. “But getting kidnapped—for real this time—made me realize it’s too risky now. I’ve never had so much to lose before.”
Knox kissed her forehead so gently it nearly broke her heart. “Me, neither.”
“I thought I might try my hand at running a charity. For kids who grew up like me, you know?”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
“Maybe I’d sometimes con rich people out of money to keep it running,” she admitted.
He laughed. “I’d expect nothing less from the woman who kidnapped me and stole my heart.”
She grinned at him. “So, we’re in this together, then? Forever?”
“Baby, I’ve been yours from day one. Getting kidnapped was the best damn thing that ever happened to me.”
“Yet,” she corrected. “We can definitely do better.”
And she was right. It only got better from there.
EPILOGUE
Setting up a real charity was way harder than setting up a fake one. Ren knew that better than anyone.
Because after a full year of mission statements, helping Tenley hire lawyers and a board of directors, applying for a million little things with the state, county, and IRS, Tenley’s dream of helping young girls like her was a reality. And it was all on the up-and-up.
Except for the little matter of how she convinced shady million and billionaires to “donate,” that is.
Searching for corrupt assholes Tenley could blackmail or con out of huge donations was starting to be a full-time job. Thankfully, there was no shortage of such assholes in the world.
He could only hope Tenley and Knox didn’t plan to have kids. With Tenley’s ventures taking up so much of his time, he couldn’t afford to let his list grow.
Currently, the list of people he watched out for (or, stalked, as Knox worded it) sat at four, including Tenley and Knox. His fourth-grade teacher, the one who’d always let him into the school early to shower and eat breakfast when his foster family couldn’t be bothered to make sure they had running water, power, or food in the trailer (and made sure he had plenty of books to read) was low maintenance. He could keep her deadbeat son from getting his hands on her money in his sleep. He didn’t even require daily check-in calls from her. One call a month worked just fine.
Knox was pretty easy to watch out for, too. He refused daily check-in calls, but he hardly ever went anywhere without Tenley, and she was easily traceable.
Lark Shaw had given Tenley a run for her money in the hard to follow department for years. And as the only person on his list who know he or the list existed, keeping her safe was especially problematic. Getting close to her, of course, would be more problematic for many, many reasons.
But that was a story for another time .
With two clicks on his keyboard, Ren wiped out all records of Tenley and Knox’s fake marriage so they could quietly get married for real in a month. He’d let her know it was done when she checked in later that night. Or maybe he’d keep his mouth shut so he wouldn’t get roped into showing up to the ceremony and being a witness.
He shuddered at the thought of…people-ing.
Glancing at his bank of monitors, he caught a glimpse of Tenley and Knox. The security camera that faced their porch let him watch as Knox threw a tennis ball for Layla, then tugged a laughing Tenley into his arms. She grinned up at him, eyes sparkling with love and humor.
That look right there—that joy—was all the proof he needed that adding Knox to his list was a good call. Tenley deserved this. She now had an amazing, happy, normal life.
Ren would do anything to guard that life for her.
