About more than I could ever say.
The future’s an unknown variable, and I’ve now got stake in how it turns out. I’m not just some roughhouser in charge of the button and bonemen anymore. I’m the man the clan will now look to for answers.
The man with a wife by his side who he’ll have to protect even as hellfire rains down on us.
Lochlan’s gone and so is Eddie, the heir to the heir. Dad’s bowed out, old and gray and finally no longer able to be the patriarch he once was.
It’s all on me.
The crown wasn’t originally mine to wear. But I’m ready to bear the weight of it.
I’m ready to deal with whatever enemies are still out there, biding their time and waiting for their moment to strike.
“The future,” I answer Simone seconds later. I squeeze her hand and let it rest in my lap. “This is only the beginning for us. For the Callahan Clan. We’re about to head into the unknown.”
“We’ll be fine,” she says soothingly, smiling a little. “We’ve survived as enemies. We damn sure can survive as lovers. We can survive anything.”
I press another kiss to her hair. “You know what, princess? Those are the truest words you’ve ever spoken.”
THIRTY
Simone
Sean letsout a low whistle as I approach the towncar, shopping bags dangling from both arms.
“Damn, Mrs. Callahan,” he says, holding the door open with a grin. “You treat shopping like an Olympic sport.”
“What can I say? If it was one, I’d be a gold medalist.” I hand off the bags and slide into the backseat while he loads them into the trunk.
A moment later, we’re pulling away from the curb and merging into the familiar chaotic Manhattan traffic.
I settle back against the leather seat and gaze out the window, watching the storefronts and pedestrians and yellow cabs roll past.
It’s strange how different everything feels now compared to three months ago. Back then, I was a prisoner in my own life, forced into an arranged marriage I never asked for, shackled to a man I was convinced I’d hate forever.
Now I can’t imagine my life without him.
I can’t imagine returning to my life before I married into the Callahan family.
The realization still catches me off guard sometimes, sneaking up on me in quiet moments like this one.
I’m genuinely content in a way I didn’t think was possible when Dad first dropped the bombshell about the arrangement. It still feels like yesterday that I was called into his study, Duchess curled at his feet, and he delivered the devastating news that my future had been bartered away like a shipment of weapons.
I was angry. I was bitter and resentful. Suddenly my life didn’t feel like my own.
But after the past few months, in some strange and twisted way, I’mgrateful.
In hindsight, I’m not sure I would’ve wanted that other existence for the rest of my life. The one where I was just the sheltered Langston princess, floating through galas and board meetings and press junkets, only pretending to understand the dangerous world my family’s company operates in.
Sure, I knew Langston Defense Solutions dealt in the black market and that the circles my father moved in weren’t exactly legal.
But I’d always been kept at arm’s length from the worst of it. Protected from the true reality and bloodshed of the underworld.
As Ronan’s wife, I’ve seen behind the curtain. I’ve witnessed the brutality of the underworld up close and experienced what it’s like to be in the thick of it. Instead of breaking me, it’s made me stronger. More resilient than the pampered princess I used to be.
…it also doesn’t hurt that I’ve fallen completely in love with my husband.
My phone buzzes in my lap and I glance down to see his name on the screen.