my _ father leaves Leo’s office with his head held high despite his monumental loss. My brothers frown at him until he exits the elevator and disappears through the emergency stairs exit, the slam of the door echoing in the waiting room. ‌

I’ll get in touch with the house paperwork. Leo pats me on the shoulder before closing the door behind me.

My brothers turn to me.

Rowan’s eyes light up despite the flat line of his lips. “We were thinking about going to dinner if you’re down.”

“Of course. I’m hungry.” I take a step towards the elevator, only to stop before Declan staring at the door my father came out of. “It’s really over,” he murmurs under his breath.

Rowan pats him on the shoulder. “Don’t tell me you’re sad.” “I’m just…” Her lips press together.

“Disappointed?” I offer.

My two brothers turn to look at me.

“Exactly.” Declan looks away. “He feels stupid after we got everything we wanted…”

“I feel the same way, especially after he told me that Grandpa gave him the choice to make peace with us and he still chose himself.” “Not surprised.” Rowan’s lips curl.

Declan’s shoulders tense. “Even after all this time and everything we’ve been through, it’s hard to accept that your father is a selfish piece of shit.”

“Tell me about it. I’m the one who spent half my life in therapy trying to do it.” My smile doesn’t reach my eyes.

Rowan laughs. “At least one of us got help for our parenting issues.”

“Consider those two.” Declan shakes Rowan’s hand off his shoulder and heads towards the elevator.

Rowan’s mouth drops open. ” Are you going to therapy?”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t considered it.” Declan shoots him a look. Rowan shakes his head. “I’ll just live vicariously through you.”

“Coward.”

Declan shares all the baby facts he’s learned over the past few weeks while traveling to an Italian place he loves. Never in my life did I think I would hear my brother gush about having a child, but I am happy for him and Iris. After all the shit Declan has been through, he deserves the chance to be the kind of father we wanted.

You too.

The reminder makes me call Lana from the bathroom to say goodnight to her and Cami.

Once our waitress drops off our waters and takes our orders, Rowan starts talking about the upcoming renovation of Dreamland and the land he and Zahra worked on alongside the team of creators.

I ask Rowan more questions than usual, earning a bright smile from him.

Declan turns to me. “I’m proud of you.” “From me? For what?”

His brown eyes light up. “For so many different things, but above all for how far you have come in such a short time. It makes me happy to see you happy and… free.

My throat tightens. “Who knew you were so stupid?”

“What can I say? Iris’s pregnancy hormones must be rubbing off on me.”

Rowan snorts. “I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“Fuck you. That’s exactly why I never say anything nice.” Declan throws his balled-up paper straw wrapper into Rowan’s face.

“Okay. My turn.” Rowan lifts his water into the air. “I would like to raise a toast to finally achieving our dreams.”

I tap my glass against his. “And the women who helped us along the way.”

After dinner with my brothers, I don’t stop driving until I arrive at the lake house at midnight. I’m careful not to make too much noise as I turn off the alarm and head upstairs. Lana and I claim the newly configured master bedroom as our bedroom, which happens to be on the opposite side of the second floor, away from Cami’s room.

Lana lies in the middle of the bed, curled up with a pillow in her arms. Moonlight filters through the curtain she left open, illuminating the curves of her face. I lean down to kiss the top of her head. She doesn’t move, so I take the opportunity to shower before getting into bed.

The mattress sinks under my weight as I crawl under the covers.

“Hey,” he rasps as he turns to look at me. “What time is it?”

I wrap my arms around her and snuggle her against me. “Late.” “I thought you were going to stay in Chicago.” She snuggles into my chest.

“I didn’t want to wait.” I spent a good portion of my life away from Lana, so the last thing I want to do is waste any more time.

Plus, I promised Cami chocolate chip pancakes in the morning, and I really don’t want to disappoint her.

“Did everything go well with the lawyer?” She blinks at me, clearing the sleep from her eyes.

“It was interesting”.

She frowns. “What happened?”

“Turns out Grandpa had one last plot twist.” Her eyes open. “What do you mean?”

“Grandpa gave us the option to vote on whether our father should receive his shares or not.”

“Oh Lord.” Her mouth remains open. “I know. He surprised us to say the least.” “Is that all?” Are you free of it?

I nod. “Declan just held his first board meeting today.”

“That is incredible.” She smiles at me. “And how was the conversation with Arnold?”

“He wants me to meet with him and the team next week to go over some ideas I have.”

His smile widens. “I am so proud of you.” I look away. “I haven’t even done much yet.”

“What do you mean? You’re the reason Kane Company has one app instead of four now. I’m pretty sure you’re half of America’s hero right now.”

Heat floods my cheeks. “Just because you helped.”

She cups my cheek. “I barely did anything. You are the one who has spent weeks reviewing data and meeting with teams to review acquiring more content.”

“It’s a work in progress.”

“Kind of like us.” She smiles.

I can’t resist kissing her at that moment. Lana melts into me, deepening her kiss until we’re both tearing at our clothes breathless. I tease her, and she does the same thing back, driving me crazy with the desire to fuck her.

she licks I bite she stinks I bite. She teases me with her tongue. She fucked her pussy with mine.

It doesn’t take me long to find myself between her legs. She guides my cock toward her center and we both moan as I sink inside her. With how tightly she grips my butt, I wonder if she will leave permanent marks on my skin similar to the ones she left on my heart.

Every time we have sex, it always feels desperate. As if we were both trying to make up for lost time. Like I wanted to bury myself inside her and never leave.

I torture her for what seems like an hour, bringing her to the brink of an orgasm before pulling back.

In a moment, she flips us over and takes control, spinning until her butt and curved back are all I see as she bounces up and down my cock. The position feels like heaven, and Lana seems to agree based on the moans coming from her.

With a few flicks and pinches of her clit at my command, she cums, bringing me over the edge with her. I don’t stop driving her up and down my cock until my body is no longer shaking from cumming hard enough to see the stars.

Lana slides out of me, making us both gooey from our release. Her nose wrinkles at the mess.

“Shower or towel?”

She yawns. “Towel. I’m too tired to do anything else.” Wait. “She returns with a wet towel to clean us both up as best she can before collapsing into bed.

Lana snuggles into me and tucks her head into the crook of my neck. “I love you.”

My chest tightens. It took me a while to feel worthy of those words from her, but I’m slowly getting used to them.

“I love you too.” My lips brush the top of her head. There is nothing I won’t do to ensure that Lana spends the rest of her life being appreciated as the gift that she is to her.

She changed my life and showed me that loving myself is as important as loving others. Because in order to show myself to everyone else, I first need to show myself.

The future will not be easy. I’m not foolish enough to think that I won’t be tested and tempted to fall back into harmful patterns. But with Lana, Cami and our family by my side, anything seems possible. Even the failures.

And I think that’s what my grandfather was trying to teach me all along.