The thought brings to mind the perfect gift for Seven. The one thing she’s always wanted. Her sister.

I walk around the counter and hug her from behind.

“You know, I didn’t give the FBI everything.”

She tenses against me. “Luke—”

“No, just hear me out. Now that Max is gone, I’m not worried about holding anything back. If we bargain right, we could probably get custody of your sister. Dealing with Agent Walker will be a pain but we can do it. I know how much that means to you. I want you to have everything you need to be happy.”

She turns in my arms and kisses me gently. “I do have everything I need. Right here.”

“But what about Grace?”

“She told me she’s happy where she is. And I’m finally happy, too.”

Even though she seems sincere, I worry that she’s brushing aside things that matter to her to be with me.

“You don’t have to pretend that you’re not disappointed. I know how much the custody petition meant to you. Maybe if we get married it’ll give your petition more weight. I’m a billionaire and money speaks. We don’t have to just let this go.”

She covers my mouth with her hand. “Don’t call the cavalry yet. Grace is fine. She told me she’s happy where she is. The family she’s fostering with wants to adopt her and I think it’s for the best.”

Slightly mollified, I nip at the back of her hand. “If you’re sure. Well, maybe I’ll buy a helicopter so you can visit her whenever you want. I’m a billionaire after all.”

She laughs. “You’re a billionaire, huh? I didn’t catch that.”

We laugh together, mocking the media firestorm that has turned our lives upside down. My father’s dramatic death in police custody brought an insane amount of attention to our family. Social media in particular went crazy with the discovery of five young billionaires. Gabe has become especially popular. There’s a Twitter account devoted just to his hair.

I’ve started texting the memes to him every day just because it annoys him so much.

“Sev?”

“Hmm?”

“I wanted to say thank you. For loving me. Sticking with me this past month and giving me the space I needed to work things out in my own head. I know that couldn’t have been easy but you were always there when I needed you.”

“And I always will be.”

“I’m so glad I didn’t listen to my mom when I was a kid.”

“What do you mean?” She crinkles her nose at the seemingly sudden change of topic.

“She always told me not to talk to strangers online.”

I kiss her until she throws her arms around my neck and we’re both gasping for breath. When she finally opens her eyes, her expression is dreamy. I hope to keep that look on her face for the rest of her life.

chapter sixteen

†

SEVEN

One year later …

I pick up a piece of bubble wrap and carefully pack it around a coffee mug. We’re going to be moving into our new house this weekend.

I look around the apartment which is in varying stages of being dismantled. There are white squares on the wall where Luke took down pictures and the living room floor is covered in boxes and that fluffy white packing material that looks like popcorn.

It’s going to be so weird not to wake up here anymore. This apartment has been the place our love has grown. Where I finally stopped worrying this won’t work out or that Luke will get bored and find someone better.

It’s home in a way nowhere else has ever been.

 Even though there are packing materials all over the place, we’ve both been so busy that we haven’t put much inside the boxes yet. Luke wanted to hire movers to handle it all but I told him it wasn’t necessary. Now that I’m with one of the country’s most eligible young bachelors, I’m more aware of the difference in our financial status than ever. Luke knows I don’t care about the size of his bank account but I don’t want to be seen as that girl.

Luckily I have a whole new group of “sisters” to help me navigate this strange new world. Emma warned me that dealing with the other side of wealth is an inevitability so at least I was prepared before the first unflattering tabloid article came out.

I spent an evening sloppy drunk on Emma’s couch while Sasha spoon-fed us both ice cream after I saw it but now all that crap rolls right off my back. There will always be people making assumptions about our relationship or musing about why he’s with a skinny, scarred girl but I refuse to let that stuff bother me. Luke loves me and thinks I’m perfect exactly as I am. His opinion is the only one I care to listen to anyway.

Luke emerges from the bedroom and stops when he sees me packing. “Baby, why didn’t you call me to help? I don’t want you doing all this alone.”

He kneels next to me and grabs the duct tape. I hold the sides of the box together while he seals it.

“Did I tell you that another school signed up for the program?” He does a little victory dance. He’s so goofy sometimes and I love it. After seeing him so despondent, it’s been a joy to watch him return to his usual playful, happy disposition. My Luke is back.

“That’s awesome. You’ve got almost the entire state covered.”

“Yeah. Your plan to use existing schools was brilliant.”

For months, we were spinning our wheels about how to get things off the ground. Luke’s original proposal called for funding the construction of our own buildings. Then I got the idea to approach school systems about either integrating our classes into their existing curriculum or offering them as an extracurricular activity. I figured a few would go for the idea but the response was overwhelming. So many schools signed up that Luke had to hire a program director just to handle all the paperwork.

Using existing infrastructure has not only saved money but solved the transportation issue. Most of the school systems already have busing in place for kids involved in after-school activities. And holding the coding classes on school grounds has ensured that they remain a safe space for children to learn.

That’s going down as one of my best ideas yet.

“I am pretty brilliant, aren’t I?” Brushing dust off my jeans, I sit on the couch and rest my head against the cushions.

“I’m smart enough to know a trick question when I hear one,” he responds absently, absorbed by whatever he’s looking at on his phone.

Suddenly, he breaks out into a huge grin and then vaults over the arm of the couch onto the cushion next to me. “Hey, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

He holds out his phone. “That your newest game is doing so well.”

“What? Let me see.” I grab the phone from his hand and then squeal at the top of my lungs. “My game is number one. I’m number one!”

He laughs and pulls me into a kiss. “Pig Punt in Paradise is number one. That’s something to tell our kids someday.”

Even in the middle of my excitement, his words give me pause. He’s been doing that more and more lately. Making references to the future that include things we haven’t really talked about yet like kids and mortgages and family vacations. I figure he’s just trying the ideas on for size, seeing how they fit. But every time he mentions something like that a warm feeling of contentment settles around me.

“Are you going to call your sister? Or do you want to wait and tell her in person?”