Tainted King Bonus Epilogue

Quinn

“Did you steal my gherkin? Which also happened to be the last gherkin on the table?”

Popping the item in question into my mouth, I nodded at a red-faced Jude. “Sure did.” Grinning when he fixed me with a glare, I held up my hand. “Remember you have to be nice to me in my condition.”

Diverting his glare to my protruding stomach, he huffed but didn’t retaliate. “I can’t wait until your husband finally takes you back home. You’ve overstayed your welcome.”

He finished putting his burger together, frowning the whole time, no doubt still mourning his missing gherkin.

Taking a bite of my own burger, filled with not one but two gherkins, I smirked. “I thought you’d been getting lonely with everyone else gone. I’m doing my bit as your sister-in-law. We’re family, after all.”

“I’m not lonely,” he said between bites, giving me a view of his chewed food. “And visits will be fine. No need to stay here again.”

Raising a brow, I let out a laugh. We both knew I’d be staying here every time Liam went out of town. It didn’t happen often, but he refused to leave me alone in our house. Especially now.

“Your parents seem quite happy to have me.”

“That’s because they don’t know what a vicious monster you are. Who steals food off someone’s plate? A monster, that’s who.”

Decimating his burger, he reached for a second bun, carefully placing the cheese, lettuce, two patties, and a tomato on top of each other. He took infinite care that each item was placed precisely in the right spot.

“I need to keep my strength up. You should have offered to make my burger for me.”

“Never going to happen.”

We were the only two in the dining room, his parents having gone to a dinner that Jude somehow managed to get out of. I’d been pleading swollen ankles, and his mother had given me an understanding smile before leading me to the couch, making me put my feet up.

“And what about my swollen ankles? I thought you told Liam you’d take care of me.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t be happy if I laid so much as a finger on you.”

“You’d be correct,” Liam answered, striding into the room, dressed in a dark, fitted suit. He only needed to be in the same room these days for my skin to flush and my lips to part. But my husband in a suit was like catnip on steroids for me. Irresistible.

Jumping out of my chair, I threw my arms around him, grateful my belly was still small enough that I could get as much body contact as possible. He drew me to him, burying his face in my neck with a groan. “I’ve missed you.”

He kissed my jaw, then my lips, and I sighed in relief.

“For fuck’s sake, you were gone three nights, not three weeks,” Jude groused, then scraped his chair back. “I’m going out. Make sure to take all her shit with you when you leave. It’s fucking everywhere.”

I’d left a box of breast pads lying around yesterday, and Jude nearly had a conniption when he found them. Especially since he thought they were period pads. I wouldn’t need them for a while, but Althea had given me bags of supplies of everything I could possibly need once the baby was born.

Liam put his hand on my stomach in a light caress, ignoring his brother stomping out of the room. “How are my girls?”

Oh, and we were having a girl. I was only five months along, but we couldn’t wait to find out and did a test in the first trimester. Turned out I’d gotten pregnant pretty much the first time we’d slept together.

As soon as we found out, Liam took me to Vegas, and we’d gotten married. His mother still hadn’t forgiven him. Neither had mine. They were now planning a big reception.

“We’re good. Always hungry.” Laying my head on his chest, I sighed in relief. “How was your trip?”

“A mess. But nobody died, and we made a new alliance.” Putting his hand to my jaw, he tilted my head back so he could take my mouth with his. “No more trips. At least not until the baby is born.”

“You’re Gabriel’s second. You need to go with him. And I doubt he’d put off his trips so you can stay with your wife.” As much as I liked the idea, I didn’t think his brother would be that understanding.

Gabriel had taken to the role as head of family surprisingly well. Maybe a little too well, judging by the long hours he worked, which often required Liam to work the same amount.

But I’d kept myself busy, recently settling on a location for my new restaurant. Planning out the menu and timeline had been fun, and I was still helping with Grazioso and my parents’ restaurant as well.

Vlad had taken over Grazioso, and we’d never been busier. Not that I ever had any doubts. Liam and Vlad had an uneasy truce, but at least the threats had stopped whenever they were in the same room.

Liam nuzzled his face into my neck, making my legs turn to jelly. “You ready to go home?”

Home was now a disgustingly big villa three streets from his parents’ house. It wasn’t nearly as big as his family’s mansion but was still too big for the two of us. I couldn’t wait for our family to grow and fill the empty rooms.

We ended up buying an older house that needed some renovations. Liam had been excited to do a lot of it himself, but in the end, he hadn’t even painted the walls. But we did make it our own, moving walls and remodeling the kitchen and bathrooms.

Despite him not being in charge anymore, he worked more than ever. They’d been rolling back some of their less legitimate businesses and were working on expanding their shipping operations.

There was a lot of planning and supervision involved, both of which fell to Liam since Gabriel was busy keeping everyone in line and stopping them from killing each other.

Nodding, I grinned up at him.

“I hate to admit that Jude is right about anything, but I did leave a lot of things lying around.”

Dropping a kiss on my shoulder, he stepped back, leaving me aching for more.

“Let’s go collect them, and then I have a surprise waiting for you at home.”

“A surprise? Is it a trip? Or are you taking me to Adore?”

Laughing, he pulled me out of the dining room. “It’s not a trip. But I think you’ll like it almost as much. And I’ve taken you to Adore last week.”

Picking up the mess I’d made didn’t take long with Liam helping. He grabbed one of the bags I’d brought and threw everything inside, making the process much quicker. I didn’t complain, eager to get home and see my surprise.

He’d come to his parents’ place straight from the airport, his black Bugatti sitting in front of the doors. Falling into the low seat, I set my bag on the floor. “You know you’ll have to get a different car once the baby is born, right?”

Getting in on the other side, Liam took my hand and placed a soft kiss on my knuckles. “Already taken care of.”

He crept down the driveway, waiting for the front gate to open.

“I’m almost afraid to ask what you bought for yourself.”

“You mean what I bought for us.” Grinning at me, he pulled out of the driveway. “You’re getting a Range Rover Autobiography.”

I hadn’t driven since moving to Chicago, the traffic as intimidating as San Francisco. “But I don’t drive.”

“I’m sure you’d want to take the baby places. You’ll go crazy locked up in the house. And of course, you’ll have your own driver, so no need to start driving.”

Pulling into our driveway and through the security gate, I looked at our house with the same wonder I always did. It was perfect. Even though the Hamptons look, and long veranda were out of place in Chicago, it was exactly what I wanted. Large trees blocked out the neighbors, creating our own little oasis.

Liam helped me out of the car, putting his arm around me. “I’ll get the bags later.”

Leading me inside, he walked us straight upstairs and to one of the unused bedrooms. Curious as to what was going on, I followed him without a word.

When he pushed the door open and revealed a completely changed bedroom, tears sprang to my eyes. “It’s perfect.” I sniffled, taking in the light pink walls, crib, changing table, and bookshelf already filled with kids’ books.

A chair sat in the corner, fluffy blanket on top. I could already see myself nursing our daughter in it.

“We can change whatever you don’t like. But I thought us being out of the house for a few days was an opportunity to do this.”

Leaning into him and winding my arms around his body, I looked up, taking in his lopsided smile. “I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s perfect.”

“So you like your surprise?”

“Love it.”

He leaned down, bringing our faces closer together. “Three nights is too long to be away from you.”

Breaching the slight distance between us, I pressed my lips to his. “I agree.”

Lifting me and holding me to him bridal style, he carried me to our bedroom next door. We’d connected the baby’s room and our room with a door, making it easier for us at night.

Placing me on the bed, Liam stood back, his eyes traveling over my body like it was the first time he was looking at me. The wonder in them never got old. The way his breath sped up with every glance was something I’d treasure until my last breath.

“My gorgeous wife,” he rasped before unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it off, then doing the same to his pants.

It was my turn to gaze at him with wonder, his chiseled body a work of art that I’d never tire of looking at.

And the best part was I’d never have to stop looking at him. Because we were forever bound, our future bright before us.