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I breathed in deep, and our lips met in a slow kiss. I melted into him. We were already something different. Something whole.
Epilogue
Ursin Miller
Six months after my accident, we caught the cowards who attempted to murder me. They were the last members of Gomez Montelongo’s cartel. They said it was an order from the man himself. Straight from prison.
I’d been the target before, as I’ve put away lots of criminals, but they were nearly successful. I stepped away to take an extended leave. It was Anya’s request. And to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I would go back to being DA. It wasn’t my passion anymore.
She was. Anya. As was the baby growing inside her.
“I wish I could have a margarita.” Anya stared on at my large cocktail as we each lounged on a chaise on the private black sand beach of Punalu’u in Hawaii County. It was my motherland. I wanted Anya to see my Hawaiian roots.
“You’ll have one once you pop out our kid.” I still couldn’t believe I said the words. I was going to be a father. Never did I think that would be a reality.
“Yeah.” She stared on into the aqua-blue water of my ancestors. Sighing, she slid on her sunglasses once again. “I wish I knew where Mom was. I wish I knew why she went away.”
Anya’s mother had disappeared. We’d driven out to her cabin to find it empty. Not a trace of her. I suspected I knew why she left, but I would never say it to Anya.
“You know what you can do?” I sat up and set my feet on the dark, hot sand.
“What?” She took her sunglasses off again and faced me.
I touched her arm, pulling her until she was sitting on my lap, her head resting in the crook of my neck. “Don’t repeat the mistakes our parents made.”
“Never,” she said, her voice choked with tears. “I will never leave our family. Only death could separate us.”
“Only death,” I affirmed and held her as tight as I could.
Our family cycles were broken now. The slate was clean to be happy, really happy. And it felt better than I ever could have imagined.
The End
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Sam Crescent and Stacey Espino
Copyright © 2024
Chapter One
Emily Sutton smiled at the small mixed-breed dog in the cage, hoping to offer him some hope. Bernie had been in the animal shelter where she worked for nearly four months. He was a gorgeous dog, but he’d only known a life of pain and abuse. That was why, even though it broke her heart daily, she continued to work at the animal shelter. She had seen awful cases of neglect and abuse, but she’d also seen hope.
People could be awful, but there were some that made the world a much better place.
“It’s okay. You’re going to find your forever home soon.”
She lived in a small apartment that didn’t allow animals, otherwise she’d have taken every one of them.
All her life, she’d loved animals: cats, rabbits, dogs, even farm animals. It had driven her mother up the wall every time she’d come back to the trailer with a new animal. Most of them were injured and she’d nurse them back to health. Sometimes the original owner would come and collect, thanking her for taking care of their pet.
She’d been a good friend to the animal shelter for some time, so when she became old enough, it only seemed right to join the team. The pay wasn’t great, but it was enough to get her out of her mother’s trailer and into a small place of her own.
Emily lived with the dream that if she was frugal enough, she’d be able to save up enough money to afford a nice house with some land. It was a pipe dream, she knew.
“Have you heard the news?” Casey, one of the regular volunteers, asked.
