Page 120 of Ruthless, But for Her

She and Ashton had already discussed their marriage, and Cassia understood that their union would not mean taking him away from the only family he had ever known.

The brothers were not something Ashton had before her.

They were part of him.

She didn't ask what he was thinking.

Cassia already knew.

The man who had taught Ashton—and Ryker and Sorren—to survive was gone. The man who had given them a home when they had none.

Ashton had spent most of his life believing he needed nothing.

Leif had proven him wrong.

Not with words, but with the only thing that mattered in the end.

He had given his life to save Ryker, and in doing so, he’d shown them all what they had always meant to him.

They were worth it.

Suddenly, Ashton stopped. He turned back toward the sea.

Cassia watched him, wondering what he was searching for. Perhaps he was thinking of Leif, wondering how to carry the loss of a man who had carried so much for them.

She did not ask.

Not now.

Instead, she squeezed his hand.

A small reminder.

I am here.

The answer was immediate. A soft smile, followed by a kiss pressed to the tip of her nose.

Then he turned back toward his brothers.

And Cassia followed.

By his side.

Epilogue

ASHTON

“What’s this one?”

Ashton pulled a book from the shelf he’d built himself, with help from Tam.

Cassia sat in the chair beside the hearth, one leg tucked beneath her, the afternoon light spilling through the small window overlooking the docks. Their home was a simple one near the water, close enough that he could reach The Einar in little time, but far enough from the noise of the harbor that Cassia could read without interruption.

Cassia looked up from the French tale of Arthur and his knights resting open in her lap.

“My father gave that to me after a visit to the sheriff at Cambridge Castle. He’d spied it in the sheriff’s solar and explained that his daughter enjoyed reading history.”

Ashton opened it, realized he couldn’t read it, and looked up.