Page 40 of Reckless

Andi slipped her hand into mine and rested her head on my shoulder. I squeezed her and put my head on top of hers.

We were going home. Together.

EPILOGUE

CALLAHAN

THREE MONTHS LATER…

Sal’s

“So, this couple comes in. I swear, I’ve seen them here before. And they’re screaming at each other. The guy found another man’s socks in the laundry. She swears she’s been faithful. Then whose socks are these he asks. And I swear on my mother’s grave, he pulls out two socks from his back pocket and waves them in the air!” Sal said.

“No!” Andi exclaimed, leaning forward as he continued.

“So, I says, hey man, you gotta go. You can’t be waving around dirty socks in my establishment.”

“Fair point,” I chimed in.

“You’ve got that right. So, he says, who are you? And I tell him I own this place and if he won’t stop, I’m going to throw him out.”

“What did you do?” Stella asked, hands placed firmly under her chin.

“I grabbed the guy by the back of his shirt and threw him out. His little girlfriend went running after him promising to never be back. Good riddance, I say. Now here’s your eggs.”

Sal plopped a matching plate of scrambled eggs, hash browns, and bacon in front of Andi and Stella.

“Thank you, Sal,” they said in unison.

Since being back in Starfell, both Andi and Stella had quit their jobs at the club and started working with me at a shelter for domestic violence survivors. It was early stages yet, but it was really coming together. We’d transformed the apartment complex the Underwoods owned into housing for those in need of shelter. I was able to buy it up no problem once the government seized all their property.

The FBI raid at the compound had been their ultimate downfall, all because that little flash drive Stella stole had more than enough evidence to put them and their associates away for life. Thankfully, Marco had scrubbed my name from appearing in those files. I owed him big time, but he insisted that he did it for Stella. And he warned me if I ever hurt her again, he’d put that information right back out there and see my ass locked up with the rest of the scum. I admired him for that.

“Pancakes for you.” Sal said, setting down my plate in front of me.

“Thank you,” I replied, cutting into my food.

Since the Underwoods were no longer in charge, the local community had flourished. No one stalked around with fear anymore. The streets were bustling, and the business owners were able to afford their bills again. Sal even revamped the menu to accommodate his new budget, which meant bigger portions and better quality.

It was truly a sight to see. The crime family had been so saturated in every part of our everyday life that their absence was a relief. And while they didn’t catch every single person affiliated with them, they’d rounded up enough to make a significant difference.

“We’ve got a new family coming in tonight. I have to get their rooms ready. They’re coming with two little girls, and their pet dog,” Stella said, talking in between bites.

“You want some help with that?” I asked.

She lifted her lashes to look at me with a sly smile. “Why do you think I’m mentioning it?”

I chuckled.

“You two are disgustingly adorable,” Andi chimed in, glancing from me to her sister.

Since being back, she’d put on more weight and gotten her coloring back in her face. And while sometimes she still had that haunted look in her eyes, it had dulled some. She hadn’t disclosed all that she’d endured at the compound, she’d started seeing a therapist. Which, I’d considered seeing as well since I was processing losing Simon and shifting gears in my profession. She spent a lot of time with Stella and her aunt, acclimating to normal life again. It was especially tenuous that first week back and it required a lot of doctors’ visits. We found out they’d performed an abortion on her while in the compound, without anesthesia. That fact alone painted a perfect picture on just how brutally they treated the people there. Andi said one time that she’d felt more like a possession than a person and was glad that her ex-boyfriend that brought her there had been killed in the shoot-out. I still couldn’t believe it was Simon that kidnapped her. He might have saved us by choosing to kill Carmine, but the fact that he’d participated in causing so much harm to those women, made it easier for me to mourn the man I thought he was, versus the man he really was.

As far as Stella and I went, she was slowly letting me back in. Us working together had helped build that bridge I’d burned back. But I knew she needed time. Time to heal, and time with her sister. And I was more than willing to wait for as long as she needed.

STELLA

I was finally feeling like I could breathe again. My sister was home safe, and that fucking Underwood family was getting exactly what they’d deserved. I’d even quit my job, which was huge. I’d only worked there because that’s what I’d grown up knowing. It helped that I was good at it, but it wasn’t something I pictured doing with my life. Which is why when Callahan pitched going into business together to open a domestic violence shelter, I jumped. And Andi came too. A lot of our first survivors came from the same compound she’d been in. They were all helping each other find their way out from the trauma.