Two months later

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of family and friends to celebrate the joining of this man and this woman in holy matrimony. There is no vow more solemn than what these two are about to make. There is no institution more sacred than the one you are about to form."

"Will you take this woman, whose hands you hold, choosing her alone, to be your wedded wife? Will you love her, comfort her, through good times and bad, through sickness and health?" The priest continued.

"I do," Mr. Greggs replied softly, his black tux finally fitting him well, his pants perfectly hemmed, his shirt perfectly tucked. He looked immaculate.

"And will you take this man, whose hands you hold, choosing him alone, to be your wedded husband? Will you love him, comfort him, through good times and bad, through sickness and health?" The priest questioned.

"I do," Ms. Smith responded. Her flowing A-line, white dress that she had dragged me to store after store to help her choose looked beyond flattering on her. Her hair was splayed across her shoulders and down her back, a change from the high bun I was accustomed to.

"Then, with the power vested in-"

"-I have to pee!" Daniel exclaimed loudly from the front row.

I nudged his side, "Daniel," I hissed, "kind of in the middle of something," I chuckled nervously as I surveyed the room full of people now staring at us.

"No, I have to pee," Daniel insisted, just as loudly.

"You have to pee," Lucas stated in monotone, leaning forward to look at his brother from next to me, his eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"I have to pee!" Daniel replied gleefully.

"You have to pee!" I shouted, standing up and jumping up and down on one leg, my crutches scraping across the floor indelicately

"He has to pee!" Lucas shouted excitedly, standing up as well.

There the three of us stood, looking ridiculously giddy in the middle of a church, interrupting a wedding procession.

"Er, this is great," Mr. Greggs spoke loudly, "There's a restroom in the back. Go nuts. Can we continue?"

"Yes, sorry, Mr. Greggs," I replied quietly inching back down in my seat, my cheeks ablaze.

For someone who needed a catheter used because there was no feeling from the waist down, this was a monumental moment.

This meant that Daniel was getting feeling back into his legs. This meant that he was perhaps recovering enough to walk one day.

Lucas and I turned to look at each other, our grins so wide I thought our cheeks would split.

"No, seriously, I need to go to the back, guys." Daniel whispered urgently.

"Oh! Sorry," I responded as the three of us tried to quietly manoeuvre our way into the back of the church. With one wheelchair and one person in crutches, this was not the easiest task.

"Sorry!" I whispered to the couple now watching us, "Please, continue!"

Lucas helped Daniel into the men's washroom before walking back out and waiting with me in the hallway, a smile plastered across his face.

"I'm starting to think you're always right," Lucas laughed as he reached for my arms and tugged me into his embrace. He removed my crutch, leaning it against the wall and held my weight in his strong arms. It was one of the perks of having an ex MMA fighter as a boyfriend.

"Only with the things that matter," I teased as I tilted my head upwards and waited for him. He leaned down and pressed his lips sensually to mine, fisting one hand into my hair while supporting my body with the other.

"I love you more than you know," he whispered in between kisses.

"I love you more than you think," I responded, smiling into his peppered kisses.

"Then we're at an impasse," he replied, teasingly kissing the tip of my nose.

My phone rang and I pulled it out to see it was my dad. He had called the judge that had offered him islands and yachts as gifts for saving his son, all of which my dad declined. What he did take him up on was a request for a fair trial with an impartial judge to make sure Silva stayed behind bars this time.

"Hey dad," I answered wrapping one arm around Lucas's neck while holding the phone in the other.

"Hi sweetie, how are you?" I could hear the concern through the phone. After he had found out what had happened with Silva, he had a long talk with Lucas. He was grateful that Lucas had risked his life to save me, but was glad that Lucas had put fighting behind him for the time being. Lucas had accomplished everything he had wanted to.

"I'm good, dad, for the thousandth time."

"You can never make me less worried about you. Moving forward, I expect a daily call or text to prove your safety. We should come up with a code word," He mused, the detective in him coming out for a moment.

"Of course," I laughed. "What did Judge Stevens say?"

"He's taking the case seriously. He can't personally oversee it, obviously, but has given me the thumbs up for the judge currently handling it. Kaz has testified against Silva and that's done wonders to make sure he'll stay behind bars. There's something else, too," My dad trailed.

I stood a little straighter and Lucas looked at me curiously, "What is it?"

"Silva is paralyzed. The takedown Lucas did managed to severely injure his spinal cord. He's been rendered motionless."

My mouth sat, gaping wide open. Karma really was a bitch.

"Anyway, I'll keep you updated on the final results. I doubt Kaz will get much time. He refused to crash into your car and helped you if not minimally on the inside. Silva's probably looking at a life sentence here," My dad explained.

"Thanks dad," I murmured. "Love you."

"Love you too, kiddo." He hung up the phone and I stared at Lucas.

"Silva is paralyzed," I stated in monotone.

The shock in his eyes was evident. None of us were expecting this.

"Silva is paralyzed?!" Daniel exclaimed wheeling himself out of the bathroom. "Well, that's fitting. Come on, I'm hungry."

"I'm not sure we'll be allowed food after we interrupted the ceremony," I laughed as Lucas handed me my crutches back and we reentered the hall.

Everyone was trickling out slowly to make their way to the reception hall and so we followed the crowd to Lucas's Audi.

"Do you have any talent in managing a business, Em?" Daniel asked, his usually smiling face set into a frown.

I laughed, "None whatsoever."

"Building or carpentry?"

"Nope."

"Plumbing or electrical?"

"My talents are basically just under the scope of nursing, Daniel," I replied in confusion.

"What's up, Danny?" Lucas asked as he held onto my hand, one hand draped across the wheel.

"Well, if my legs are starting to work, we need to find something to keep Emily around," Daniel replied, worry thick in his tone.

"You haven't managed to get rid of me yet, Daniel. Even when you tried to pawn me off as a Jehovah's Witness," I chuckled.

He started to blush, "Er, right. Sorry about that."

I brushed him off, "It turned out well enough. I'll figure it out. All that matters to me is that you're healing."

Lucas's hand tightened against my own. He had his usual stoic expression, but I could tell he was concerned by the stiffness in his eyebrows.

By the time we parked, Miguel, Kyle, and Ashley were waiting around in the parking lot.

"Well, someone took their sweet time," Kyle complained as we walked towards them. Following the incident, Kyle decided that he hated working as an accountant for the big street firms and decided to work for local, small businesses like the gym and others around it. He cut his premium and learned that partying really wasn't all it was hyped up to be. He's dating a dental hygienist.

"Someone wasn't invited to the ceremony," Lucas laughed.

"Technically you were only invited because of

Emily," Miguel rolled his eyes. Miguel had taken to training MMA fighters at the gym since Lucas had taken a step back. Lucas had been focused solely on the restaurant so Miguel had taken over a lot of the day to day issues that the gym had to offer. He looked forward to running it with son, Mateo when he was older.

"Hey!" Ashley reached forward to hug me. Following her report on Silva, Ashley's career skyrocketed. She was offered jobs by huge news stations. Everyone wanted the girl who schemed to solve a kidnapping and intended murder through mere reporting skills. She found the silver lining and chose a job with normal hours so she could attend Jim's yoga classes every morning rather than once a week.

"If we're late to the reception, Ms. Smith actually will kill me," I announced as we slowly made our entrance.

Mr. Greggs and Ms. Smith were slowly working on healing that had taken them twenty five years to come to terms with. That healing bonded them and they found that they only wanted to move through life together. Mr. Greggs still maintains that Ms. Smith is a nosy, overly chatty, too blunt of a woman, but he's learned to appreciate that about her.

As we entered the reception hall, we picked up our cards and made our way to the table, but Lucas tugged my arm gently and motioned to an empty hall nearby.

I hobbled my way slowly, leaving our group of friends before Lucas clutched my crutches and swiftly placed them against the wall before leaning down and carrying me, one hand underneath my legs and the other behind my back.

He walked until he was satisfied with the dimly lit, quiet hall he had found before placing me down but carrying most of my weight between his arms.

His gaze was locked on me in a way that showed me he had something serious he wanted to discuss. "Come run the restaurant with me."

"What?" I asked in surprise.

"You're there half the time with Daniel anyway. I'd love to do it with you. You've made everything better for me, so really it's a solid plan," he reasoned.

"I'll think about it," I laughed. I'd never thought of doing anything other than nursing, but the idea of creating something special with Lucas was tempting.

Lucas reached into his back pocket, "While you think about it, I wanted to give you this. No pressure either way, I just wanted you to have half of this with me." He pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket and unfolded it before handing it over to me.

It was the deed to half of his restaurant, given in my name. I stared at this paper of half a business that he had just handed over to me and wondered how I could have ended up with such an amazing man. I shook my head, "Lucas... I don't deserve you."

"You deserve the world."

"I can't accept this," I replied.

"You don't have to. It won't change either way. I want you to know that what I have now is because of you. I would have been in prison or dead. I would have had a broken relationship with my brother. I would have been missing half of me."

He bent down and kissed me so fervently that he elicited sounds that he knew only he could conjure. His tongue plundered, his fingers travelled, his lips explored.

"I can't wait until this day is our day," Lucas murmured as he moved his lips against mine.

I pulled back and stared into his steady gaze, his blue eyes more so than ever, "Are you serious?"

He grinned at me, "Of course. You're it for me, Emily. I thought permanently naming the restaurant 'Emily's Kitchen' was enough of a sign that I want you around forever. You're my family." He gripped my hips, his fingers moving in slow, calming circles, "Unless you're having doubts?"

I laughed, "No, there's no way I could. You're it for me. I love you more than I thought was possible." I tightened my hold around his neck and played with the short hair at the nape of his neck.

He leaned down and kissed me with so much passion, I felt woozy and lightheaded and filled with butterflies all at once, "Some day soon, then?"

I nodded, "On a beach."

"In New Zealand."

~~~~

This feels bittersweet.

I started this book because of an idea that would not leave my head and wrote every single chapter one handed, on my cracked beyond repair phone while I was putting my newborn to sleep.

Jeez if I thought anyone was going to read this, I'd have pulled out a laptop or something.

I can't begin to explain how many times I thought, "What the hell are you thinking? This is complete shit and you need to delete it," but I'm glad I didn't!

Maybe at some point I'll revisit this and add in extra chapters (I'm dying to write about Lucas finding out that Emily saw Silva and Kaz in the first chapter) or edit (it desperately needs it), but for now I'm going to put a pause on it and move onto two other books I want to focus on.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for those that took time out to comment and for messaging such positive and kind words, they honestly made my days better and added a little skip to my step.

Thank you to those that read from the beginning and those that joined along, whether silent or chatty, sometimes you need a little of both.

Thank you for spending your time reading this little fictional world.