“Holy shit,” I mutter, staring at someone I thought I’d never see again. “What the fuck?”

“So, you remember Colton?” Adam beams from across the table.

Colton Crawford: the most ruthless man, aside from Adam, that I’ve ever met. I went to college with him. He tried taking Carly away from me at one point… tried breaking us up. I haven’t liked him since. What the fuck is he doing here?

“Yeah,” I say, dumbfounded.

“Nice to see you, Benton,” he says, smiling. “I wish it were under different circumstances.” He chuckles, and I notice Adam shake his head.

“We’ve got a meeting, Colton… Can we get on with this?” Adam clears his throat and adjusts his suit, sitting up a little straighter and glaring at Colton.

What the fuck is going on!?

“Right… so Benton,” he starts. “You beat up Mrs. Rosdale in defense of your fiancé… Is this correct?” He pins me with his glare and I feel my palms getting sweaty.

“Yes,” I say.

“And you were defending her why?” He readies his pen, and watches me as I narrow my eyes at him.

“She had a gun in my home. She had already shot my fiancé once and was ready to shoot again. My child was in the room and, at the time, I wasn’t aware who had been shot… I was defending the people I love from a crazy-“

“That’s good. Adam, we have all we need. Benton,” he says, standing. “Your defense of Gabby and Hannah is all I needed to hear. Homicide in defense of someone in the state of Illinois is termed ‘justifiable homicide’ and is not illegal. You did what you had to do to save lives. I truly believe you didn’t beat her with the thought of killing her.” He pauses and narrows his eyes at me. “So, for those reasons, we’re clearing your papers and you’re good to go to work. Oh… and I really am sorry about everything it seems you’ve been through lately, Benton.” He smiles and holds his hand out to shake mine as I fumble with words to respond. Instead of speaking, I shake his hand and thank him, watching in confusion as he walks out of the room.

“Damn,” Adam chuckles after Colton leaves the room. “He said you weren’t going to like him, but that was just cold, dude. You just literally got away with murder,” he says, laughing.

“It was self-defense,” I growl. “Why the hell… how the hell… what the fuck just happened? Why was I brought in like a criminal just to be set free?”

“Oh, that? He thought it’d be funny,” he says, chuckling. “Don’t worry, dude. Gabby called… she knows it’s all good and they are fine. They’ll be waiting for you at home tonight.”

“Fuck,” I say, shaking my head. “So, that’s it?”

“That’s the perks of being bro’s with the most powerful man in Chicago.” He chuckles. “That, and the fact that you didn’t do anything illegal, man.”

“Yeah,” I mutter as we walk out to the car. “Doesn’t feel right still, though.”

“Yeah… we all have things like that. Things that’ll eat at us if we let it. Just don’t let it. Come on… we have money to give people.” He slaps me on the back as I get in the passenger seat of his car.

That’s the damn truth.

The trick is… just don’t let it eat at us…

Epilogue

Happily Ever After Does Happen

“Shh!” I hear Annaliese say from the other side of the door.

It’s wedding day, and, after only six months of planning, we’ve finally made it here. The day we become ‘us’. A family. One entity.

These last few months have been touch and go with panic attacks, flash backs, and physical therapy. Benton’s been seeing Dr. T more… I think he’s having a hard time accepting the fact that he got off scot free for killing someone, but she was going to kill me if he didn’t step in. She had a fully loaded gun! I’m happy he’s free, and can finally start moving forward with his life. I have Adam to thank for that because, without him, we wouldn’t have gotten such a fantastic attorney. It’s been amazing being able to live without the fear of her finding me… and without the fear that Benton is going to get taken away from me.

He did nothing but protect me. That’s how I see it.

I’ve been in physical therapy a few days a week for the past few months. It’s been rough going, but I’m starting to regain a good amount of movement in my arm. The other wounds from that night are all healed, but I’ll forever have the scars to remind me how much evil there is in this world.

Benton knows I’m not good with crowds so we planned a courthouse marriage with a small get together afterwards at our new place just outside of Chicago. We moved last month after searching for what seemed like forever to start over together. We both had a hard time living in his apartment after what happened there. He’s been the best groom a girl could ask for, really. Especially when you take into account my situation.

“It’s go time,” I hear Ann’s voice from the door. Smiling, I walk out into the small foyer of the old courthouse and smile at my groom. We went with grey suits and crisp white shirts, which couldn’t look any better on a man than it does on my Benton. The black and white chucks finish the outfit out perfectly. Neither of us wanted a stuffy wedding. We didn’t want to feel uncomfortable all day and we definitely didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg for a day that only lasts 24 hours.

“You look beautiful,” he whispers in my ear once I make it to him.

I’m wearing an off white lace dress that falls right at my knees with cap sleeves that I paired with turquoise pumps. Annaliese helped me find a matching outfit for Hannah so the two of us can match today.

“Mama!” Hannah exclaims from Adam’s arms, and my heart warms as I see the love on Benton’s face from her words. Love towards his little girl and me. Benton asked me last week if I’d like to adopt Hannah as my own, and I still get choked up thinking about it. He was so sweet, the way he asked. Just thinking about it puts tears in my eyes. I love them so much.

A daughter. I’m going to have a daughter after today.

I take her from Adam and set her on her feet, letting her walk into the room with us where we will officially be man and wife. It’s so surreal, and though most girls don’t envision this as the perfect wedding, I couldn’t be happier.

“You ready for this?” he asks as our names are called.

“Crazy ready,” I say, grinning.

He chuckles and holds my hand in his as we walk up to start the rest of our lives.

Together.

Sometimes life can be crazy, but when you find that one person that makes you better, the crazy doesn’t seem so bad. Benton is my one. My one that makes everything okay. My one that makes my world spin. Neither of us are perfect, but together we can conquer anything.

I may be a little crazy, but aren’t we all?

 

 

THE END

Other works by M. Dauphin

Just Go (Adam and Annaliese’s Story): http://amzn.to/1PxQUXD

 

Devastatingly Beautiful Series: http://amzn.to/1DvxfCc

Fight Series

Fight 1: http://amzn.to/1Gf0zIi

Fight 2: http://amzn.to/1DY1cYc

Fight 3: http://amzn.to/1FjYIFV

Co-Authored with H.Q. Frost

For3ver- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TC1JYA0

BANG: http://goo.gl/8LOsFG

 

 

Also in:

Once: A Collection of Sinfully Sexy and Twisted Tales (Anthology):  http://amzn.to/1SD57Bz

Suits and Shades Anthology: http://amzn.to/1MAwD26

 

About M. Dauphin