"If this is hell, then sign me up," I replied with a groan. I didn't feel right. My lips were dry. My body was sluggish. I couldn't quite focus on the room, either. There was a delay between my head and my motor functions. I turned my attention to a figure standing in the corner and immediately flinched. It was the hooded figure. The Ringleader assassin.
"Sunshine, run," I yelled while trying to sit up.
"It's cute that you think you could escape me. But no worries, I'm not here to kill you. Or Sunshine. I just had to make it look like I did."
"W-what?" I asked.
"See you later, Sunshine," Hunter said with a wink before disappearing out of the room.
"You're not dead, though I have half a mind to kill you after the stunt you pulled," Sunshine said before handing me a bottle of water. I unscrewed the cap and downed it all in a few gulps. The drink felt good on my dry throat.
"And what stunt was that?" I asked.
Sunshine crawled into the bed and settled under the sheet beside me. She was real. This was real. She snuggled into my side, and I let out a sigh of content. I'd wanted this for five years. My best friend. My soulmate. Where the fuck were we? How did she get me?
"You tried sacrificing yourself for Grace and Alessandro. You stayed away for five years to keep me safe. If it wasn't so damn honorable, I would have left you in Hunter's trunk for a few days."
She threaded her fingers through mine and squeezed. I lay there in disbelief. Certainly, this was all an elaborate dream. Or some afterlife the neurons in my brain were creating during the last few minutes of life. I didn't deserve this moment with Sunshine. "I thought you were dead," I rasped. Outside, the waves crashed. I could hear voices joking.
"You had to be convinced. Hunter works for Gavriel. He's an assassin that sometimes takes contract work. When he saw the hit on the dark web, he took the job and filmed it. When you turned yourself in, it just solidified our entire plan. I hate that you did that, but it actually helped make it all that much more believable. Although your boyfriend and girlfriend are not happy with you right now. I would not want to deal with that."
I grimaced. "That's saying something, considering you're married to the devil."
"Better the devil you know..."
I stroked Sunshine’s hair as tears began to fall down my cheeks. I turned to look at her in disbelief. "You're really here?"
"I'm really here," she whispered, her own eyes swimming with relief. "I'm here to stay. We all are."
"And where exactly is here?" I asked.
"One of Gavriel's safe houses."
"I'm really glad you married a billionaire," I teased. This entire conversation felt normal but also forced. I didn't know what to say. I knew I had hurt her, but how did we just pick back up? Was this too good to be true? "So what now?"
"Now, we live our lives."
"It doesn't feel real. None of this feels real."
She snuggled me and breathed me in. I was sure I smelled like ass, but I didn't care. I was just thankful to have her near. "Callum once told me that happily ever after doesn't exist. Happy is an everyday battle."
"So now we fight for our happiness?" I asked.
"We fight together. Don't ever leave me again, Nix. We're fucking family, okay?"
I let out a sigh. I never wanted to hurt her. "I promise."
"Can we take a nap? I'm so fucking tired. Remember our old apartment in Baltimore? We'd get brunch on Sunday and take afternoon naps. I know your little harem wants to see you, but I'm feeling selfish. They've had the last week to hoard you, and now it's my turn."
I laughed. "You're one to talk about harems."
"I'm happy for you, you know? I'm happy they tracked you down. Life wasn't the same without you, Nix. It was like half my heart was off on the other side of the world." I rubbed small circles on her back and stared at the ceiling in disbelief. This was real. This was us.
"I don't think they will want me after what I did. Love feels like this ongoing apology with them," I admitted.
Sunshine yawned. "Grace is upset. Alessandro wants to kick your ass. Love isn't an apology, Nix. It's just something you do. Maybe you should stop running away from it all."
"You know I didn't run. I had no choice."
"There is always a choice." Sunshine sat up and stared at me. "You chose to protect us, which was fine for a while. I forgive you for leaving like you did. There is literally nothing you could do that is unforgivable. Our friendship is limitless. And I know for a fact that those two feel the same way. With some hot sex sprinkled in."
I gave her a small smile before she continued. "People do stupid things when they're afraid to lose the ones they love. I, better than anyone, understand that. I don't fault you for leaving. I don't fault you for mindlessly trying to sacrifice yourself for them either—though you are fucking lucky that we already had Hunter en route to save your ass from that stupid plan. But this is a lesson you're going to have to learn, just like I did."
"And what lesson is that?" I asked.
"You're worthy of love, Nix," she whispered. I wasn't expecting her to say that. "You aren't defined by your mistakes. You aren't chained to decisions you've made. I've had a lot of time to think about you over the years. I used to think you never settled down because it just wasn't who you were. But I realized that it had nothing to do with wanting to explore your options, and everything to do with you not feeling like you deserved to be happy. I don't know why I was
