Behaving Badly in Vegas (Vegas Love #3)

56. Epilogue

Epilogue

Hunter

I stood in Trent’s office, staring out the window that overlooked the casino. I used to be jealous of his view. I saw it as another thing Trent had that I didn’t. A symbol of our father’s love.

Now, I realized it was nothing but a piece of glass. It didn’t mean shit.

Since working together to get rid of Leonard, the two of us were on better terms. We realized we could accomplish so much more when we weren’t trying to rip each other’s throats out. We’d spoken to the prosecutors for Leonard’s embezzlement case. The evidence was solid, and it went deeper than Mystique. Seemed he and his son had been running this scam all over the country, never staying in one place more than a couple of years. Detectives were looking into their employment in Reno, Atlantic City, and New Orleans. Leonard and his piece-of-shit son were going to prison for a long time. I heard his wife filed for divorce. The guy lost everything because of greed, and he deserved whatever punishment was handed down .

Getting our money back was a different story. All of the Moroskis’ assets had been seized. It could take years for the funds to be returned to us. Every casino involved wanted their piece of the pie and we’d be lucky if we recovered half of what he stole.

Trent entered his office with a scowl, closing the door behind him. “I told you I’d bring it tonight.”

“Yeah, but I’m an impatient fuck. I couldn’t wait.”

He thrust the box into my hand. “Gia had it specially made. Don’t forget to thank her.”

“I won’t.” I opened the box and held up the piece of fabric. “It’s perfect.”

“You know Tom is going to have a fit about this,” Trent said, sitting on the edge of his desk.

“Meh. He’ll get over it. See you at six?”

He gave me a salute. “We’ll be there.”

I rushed home to Charli. She’d been back with me, where she belonged, for the last two months. I never knew true happiness before her.

It changed everything.

That wasn’t exactly right… she changed everything.

Today, we were celebrating Carina’s first birthday. Our apartment was decked out in balloons and streamers. Charli was in the kitchen, putting the last of the decorations on the cake.

I came up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. “Everything looks fantastic. You outdid yourself.”

She turned her head to kiss me. “It’s not every day that your princess turns one.”

“Our princess,” I corrected.

“It’s too bad Jennifer is missing it.”

“That was her choice, not ours.” It only took Jennifer eleven days to check herself out of rehab and disappear. We hadn’t heard from her since. I had no doubt that she would show up again one day. I wouldn’t keep my daughter from knowing her, but Jennifer would have to prove herself before I’d let her anywhere near Carina .

“I know. I may not have liked the woman, but it still makes me sad that Carina won’t have her mother here.”

“She has you. You’re the only mom she needs.”

“You’re too sweet.”

They were words I never thought I’d hear out of a woman’s mouth. I was a lot of things, but sweet wasn’t one of them, except when it came to Charli and my daughter. They brought out the best in me. “Where is my baby girl?”

“She tired herself out crawling all over the apartment. I put her down for a nap about an hour ago.”

“I’m going to wake her up.”

Charli groaned. “Don’t you know not to wake a sleeping baby?”

“It’s her special day. I don’t want her to miss it,” I said as I walked down the hallway to the nursery. Carina was wide awake, chewing on her toes. “Today’s the day, princess.” I rubbed her round belly and tickled her.

After getting Carina cleaned up, I put her in the special dress and bloomers Charli had laid out on the dresser. Then I combed her soft, blond hair and put a pink barrette in to hold it back. She had grown so much in the past six months, and I dreaded the day she wouldn’t need me anymore. But no matter how big she got, I’d always love and protect her. And although I was disappointed in Jennifer, I couldn’t hate her. She gave me the best gift I was ever given. “Are you ready for your party?”

Carina patted my cheeks with her chubby hands. “Da, da, da, da, da.”

At six o’clock on the dot, our guests began arriving: my dad and Rose, Trent and Gia, and Brett and Penny. We even invited Tom, who begrudgingly accepted the invitation. Although the guy was still skeptical of me, I was growing on him like a fungus. There was no way he was getting rid of me.

After cake and ice cream, where Carina smashed her fists into her own personal cake and shoved handfuls of the sticky goodness into her mouth, it was time for gifts. We all gathered around the living room as Charli and I sat on the floor with Carina, helping her pull the paper from the packages. She was more interested in the ribbons and boxes than the actual presents, but no one seemed to care. There were plenty of ooohs and aaahs , and Rose took about a bazillion pictures. I couldn’t have asked for a better grandma for my daughter.

There was no lack of love in the room for my princess. She’d won the hearts of her entire family and blood had nothing to do with it. There wasn’t one of them who wouldn’t do just about anything for Carina. She would grow up knowing she was loved and that was what I wanted most for her.

When the last gift had been opened, I reached behind the couch for one more. “What’s that?” Charli asked.

“Seems like we almost forgot one.” I put Carina on my lap and took the special gift Gia purchased for me out of the box. Pulling it over Carina’s head, I pulled the shirt down over her dress. “It’s perfect.”

“Let me see,” Charli insisted.

I set Carina on her feet and held her little hands as I helped her walk over to Charli, whose eyes began to mist. My daughter giggled the whole time and fell into Charli’s waiting arms. Tears ran down her cheeks as she hugged Carina.

The shirt said, Will you marry my daddy?

I got on my knee and pulled the emerald-cut diamond ring from my pocket. “Charlotte Bently, you are the love of my life. You’ve done the impossible and turned me into a man people can tolerate.” That earned a round of laughter from the room. “You’ve been the only mom Carina knows, and because of you, she’s thriving. You opened your heart to us and turned this place into a home. There’s only one thing missing, and that’s this ring on your finger. Will you do us the honor of marrying me?”

Charli was a sobbing mess. She nodded her head frantically.

“I need to hear the words, Charli. Will you marry me?”

“Yes! A thousand times, yes!”

I slipped the ring on her finger and wrapped both of them in my arms. “Thank you, dollface, for making me the happiest man in the world.”

Behind us, everyone clapped and hollered except for Tom. “Are you serious?” he groaned. “You’re going to be my brother-in-law?”

“Must be your lucky day,” I said with a smirk .

He frowned. “Don’t think this lets you off the hook. If you hurt my sister, I won’t hesitate to dox your ass and expose every questionable thing you’ve ever done in your life and that will only be the beginning of my retribution.”

“Understood.” I wasn’t worried. Although I had no doubt that Tom would follow through with his threats, I wouldn’t give him a reason. If Carina was my princess, then Charli was my queen. There wasn’t a single thing I wouldn’t do to make her happy.