Page 91 of The Duke’s Rejected Mate

She beams as she shuffles back and forth, soothing Thomas. “I did. And I did it on purpose.”

“Normally, I’d shake my head and decry the influence these women have on you, but that’s my good girl,” he murmurs. “Such a good, good girl.”

The others giggle for a moment but soon turn sober.

“What will happen to us? Teresa asks as she takes Thomas into her arms to hold him tightly to her chest.

With a sigh, Lewis wipes his forehead. “Since no one here saw anything, no one can answer to anything. We will simply say it was one of us. We saw Cynthia in trouble and intervened.”

“And all will be well?” Her voice trembles a bit as she holds her son.

“All will be well. Besides, it helps to have a prince as your friend. It will all be smoothed over.” Servants linger at the perimeter, their eyes wide as they see the fallen maid. “Go to Bow Street and fetch the magistrate,” he calls to them. “Anne, stay here with the others. I will go directly to the prince.”

“In the meantime,” Charles says. “I say we take the ladies inside. No need for them to be amongst this carnage.”

My husband holds me in a tight embrace as we go back into the town house. The women mutter around me, their conversations quite grim indeed. Yet, somehow, they are all able to find humor in the situation.

As we sit there and talk, I look around the room, my heart squeezing tight with every beat. Charles is there, in me, soothing me. I lean into it, soaking it up.

You’re safe now, he whispers into my mind. No one will ever hurt you again.

His strength infuses me, allowing me to smile once more at some ribald joke Augusta says. Each woman sits around me, their hair different, their eyes different, their tastes completely different. Yet, in each of them, I found something I never thought I’d ever have.

Each one is a sister to me. They’re my dearest friends. My closest allies. To my husband’s detriment, my partners in crime.

So many tears have led to this moment. So much heartache between us. Charles looks at me from across the room, where he and his friends plan out what they’re going to say to the magistrate. He gives me a soft smile as the bond hums with our love.

It’s a love that was hard won, spanning far longer a time than I’d like. But to be in his arms, to have him as mine, to wear his bond mark on my shoulder, I’d endure it all a million times over.

Epilogue

Oh my goodness, yall. I’m doing this as an epilogue so you see it and share in the incredible journey this has been. Even as I write this, my heart is so full. These characters have lived in me, breathed with me, celebrated with me, and mourned with me. So much of me are in these characters, and they certainly haven’t left my heart untouched. This will not be the last you see of them. I can promise you that!

If you enjoyed this story but hated that a good man like Henhaven did not get an HEA, fear not. His is coming. I have an entire spin-off planned where he, and many others, including the triplets, get the HEAs next season. I cannot wait!! If you want to get the party started, the series is currently up for preorder on my website, with platform wide preorders going up as soon as I figure out my schedule.

As an added bonus, keep stalking my newsletters. I’ve left a few threads open that need to get resolved, namely the sheer fabric that will set the men aflame! Once that book is in the works, I will let you know, and we can all visit these characters again together.

Thank you all so so much for making this series what is. Thank you for allowing me to give them the stories they deserved. And just… thank you. It’s be a wild ride.