“He says he’s the best at what he does.”
“I amthe bestat what I do,” the man himself says, stepping around Mount. “Sorry for intruding, but it was worth it.”
Mount looks at him, his eyes darkening with unpleasant surprise. “You shouldn’t have been able to get back in.”
Rhodes smirks. “And you’ve got security issues that need handling if you want this place impenetrable. Don’t worry. I’ll get you sorted out. No one will be breaching this place when I’m done. Call it a favor. You can owe me one.”
Moses and I lock eyes, and I can see he’s just as shocked as I am that Rhodes doesn’t bow down to the king.
He steps around a stunned, but surprisingly amused Mount, and comes toward me. Before he reaches the bed, he glances at Moses.
“You mind, brother? Promise I think of her like a sister.”
Moses just grins. “You’ve got balls of steel, man. Say what you want to say. You don’t need my permission. Magnolia’s her own woman.”
He’s definitely getting a blow job for that comment—when I’m feeling better.
Rhodes closes the distance between us and drops down on one knee. “Glad you’re okay, Mags. The world would’ve been a hell of a lot less bright without you in it.”
“Thank you.”
He presses a kiss to my hands and squeezes them before turning back to Moses. “She’s all yours, man. Just let me borrow her for a chess game every now and then. She’sthatgood.”
Moses’s lips curve up in a smile. “If you can find us, you can play her anytime you want.”
“Challenge accepted,” Rhodes says with a wink at me. Then he turns back to Mount. “Now I’ll show myself out—and send you a detailed list of all the shit I’d change for your security. You need my help implementing, you let me know.”
And with that, he’s gone, and I’m left shaking my head.
Mount stares after him. “He’s going to be trouble.”
I can’t help but giggle. “Yeah, he is. But he’s good trouble.”
Moses shoots me a look.
“What? You know I only want you and that Moby Dick of yours.”
“And I think it’s time for me to excuse myself,” Mount says, and Moses’s laughter and mine chases him out of the room.
Epilogue
Magnolia
One year later
“Shhh ... If you keep crying like that, you’re gonna wake Mama, big man. And you know she was already up twice with you last night.”
The sound of Moses’s voice comes through the baby monitor on our dresser.
A warm, humid breeze blows through the wall of open sliding glass doors and the sheer white mosquito netting hanging around our bed, carrying the salty tang of the ocean with it.
I stretch and roll out of bed, reaching for the red silk robe I tossed over the bench at the foot last night.
I pad silently into the nursery next door to see my entire world bathed in the light of the brilliant orange sunrise turning the morning into a work of art.
Moses coos to our son as he walks him around the room, cradling him in his arms.
It’s the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.