Page 57 of Damon

I had yet to speak with my own mother or any of the girls. I knew they would be worried. I already missed them unbearably.

Several days later, we arrived in Thailand. I hated leaving Mexico behind. So beautiful and welcoming. Yet Thailand was a whole new world, and I was excited to check it out.

We started out in Bangkok, a city that was massive and intimidating. So much going on everywhere we turned. We busied ourselves with some light shopping, enjoying the food and the nightlife.

From there we went to an island with a luxury beach hotel. I worried about Damon spending so much money, but he assured me that he had more than enough. He’d been stockpiling for years. He may have been a criminal but he had pretty good money management skills.

After two weeks in Thailand, we moved on, finally making our way to China. This was where we planned to stay for a while. Despite the culture shock, I enjoyed every moment. Experiencing life so far from home made our troubles there feel far away. Almost nonexistent.

When we were finally able to get online safely, I was overjoyed to connect with my friends. They kept us updated on how things were going. The Kings had located a few gang members, working on finding their current leader. Noah was determined to make him talk. Doing all he could to make it happen. He wanted to bring Damon home.

The girls had been checking in on my mom, making sure she didn’t freak out and report me as a missing person. The police still didn’t know Damon had fled the country or that I was with him. We wanted to keep it that way. Right now they believed he was hiding out locally. Eventually, they would figure it out.

When we were curled up together in bed that night, I tentatively asked, “Damon? Do you really believe we’ll get to go home?”

Without missing a beat, he kissed my forehead and murmured, “With every piece of me, creampuff.”

EPILOGUE

DAMON

Finally, we arrived in Beijing. We took the time to act like tourists, checking out the sites, and learning some of the city’s history. We enjoyed some amazing food and even learned a little bit of the language. Although I really sucked at speaking it.

I knew that if things didn’t get cleaned up back home, we might be here a while. I’d already started doing my research, discovering what it would take to live and work here. Athena didn’t say much about it, but I knew she wanted to go home. It killed me that I couldn’t be more hands-on with that process. Right now I had to trust Noah and the Kings to get it done.

“Happy birthday to you.” Several voices streamed from the tablet propped on the hotel bed in front of us. Our friends back home were celebrating Stray’s birthday. They’d thoughtfully started a live stream so we could be part of it.

Even though it was ten in the morning in Beijing due to the time change, Athena and I still popped open a bottle of champagne. We sat cuddled together on the bed, watching our friends carry out a giant cake. They were all gathered at Stray and Codie’s house. Fuck, I actually found myself missing those people.

Athena raised her glass when everyone reached the end of the song and Stray blew out his candles. “Happy birthday, Stray. I hope you’ve had the best day ever.”

Stray pulled Codie into his arms, hugging her close. “I already have the best gift I could ever get.”

Once Codie had been released from his grasp, she leaned in close to the screen. “A party just isn’t the same without you, Athena. I really hope you can come home soon. We fucking miss you.”

“I know. I miss you guys too. But there are some perks to all this. I’m seeing parts of the world I never thought I would visit. It’s so amazing here.”

I patiently waited while she gushed to her friends about some of the things we’d seen and done. My gaze dropped down to her left hand, which she had been purposely keeping out of frame. A diamond ring sparkled on her finger.

When I got the opportunity, I leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Are you going to tell them?”

She glanced down at her finger and smiled. “Not yet. I’m not ready to share. I kind of want this to be just for us right now. I’ll tell them soon.”

Athena and I had gotten married before leaving Thailand. A process that was a bit of a pain in the ass but not impossible. Thanks to some of the best fake identities I’d ever used, we were able to pull it off without a hitch.

One night we had returned to our hotel after an evening out and I just knew I needed her to be mine forever. So much that I wanted to make it official. I pulled out the ring I’d purchased before we left home. I’d been carrying it around for so long and couldn’t contain myself anymore.

As soon as we arrived back at our hotel, I dropped down to one knee and pulled out the ring box. Athena had done a double and then triple take. I would never forget the shock on her face.

Now we were married. She was all mine, and I was never letting her go. Once we made it back home, we would make it official with our authentic legal names.

We drank our champagne, doing our best to celebrate with everyone on the other side of the screen. Athena was overjoyed to connect with them all. We’d been unable to make much contact until we’d arrived here and I knew we were safe.

When the rest of the girls began to tell Athena how much they missed her, especially Storm, Athena’s face began to crumble. She tried to blink back tears that fell down her cheeks anyway. Seeing her cry was like a punch in the gut. I never wanted anything to ever bring her pain.

I pulled her into my arms, kissing her temple. “I’m sorry, muffin. We’ll find a way to go home soon.”

Even though I selfishly wanted to keep her by my side always, part of me wondered if I should send her home without me. The police weren’t looking for her. She hadn’t even been involved. She could go back and live her life.