The Sinner's Club [18+] Complete

epilogue.

THE WEATHER GROWS warm.

Flowers bloom, grass greens, the sun blazes over blue skies.

Summer has never been so vibrant, so beautiful.

"Elodie!" I call out. "Please tell me you've packed your bag!"

"I'm doing it now!" comes her reply from upstairs.

Yesterday was her last day of school until after summer holidays, and she begged me to let her spend a good portion of the summer in Georgia at the farm. The prospect of being parted from her for so long still aches inside of me, but it isn't terrifying as it once was.

In fact, as I cast a look at Nate, who sits at our dining table typing away, I'm actually excited for it. He and I will have weeks together, alone.

I move in behind him, wrap my arms around his shoulders, and kiss his cheek.

"You better not get back on this laptop when we get home from the airport," I say against his skin.

"I'm going to light it on fire and strip naked for you," he mutters, eyes still locked to the screen. He's been insanely busy ever since he decided to open a third club, after the smashing success of Paradise Point.

"Ha-ha, very funny."

"Here, look." He picks up some brochures and holds them up to me.

My brows furrow as I take them. "What are these?"

"Options," he murmurs, still focused on his computer. "For Elodie."

I flick through the brochures. Pinecrest Academy. The Spencer School. St Margaret's. Private schools, the most expensive ones in the city.

"Private school? Really?"

Finally, he slams his laptop shut and stands, facing me and leaning back against the dining table. He slides his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "Yes, private school. They offer the best education in the city."

"Yeah, but...I mean, I went to a public school and I turned out fine."

"Did you?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Hey!" I slap him on the side of the arm with the brochures, and he smothers a small smile.

"I'm just saying...she deserves the best. All of these schools have excellent acceptance rates into Ivy-League colleges. I thought...that would be an opportunity you'd want for her."

I swallow thickly; he's right, of course. I want Elodie to have everything. I'd just never considered a private school before. "You mean, because I didn't get to go?"

He hums, reaching out and drawing me into his chest, his hands warm on my sides. "You could, you know," he whispers, breath feathering across my lips.

"What?" My brain has essentially stopped functioning, my eyes staring at his mouth, hoping he'll kiss me.

He puts a finger beneath my chin and tilts my head up so I meet his dark gaze. "Go to college, Wren. It's what you've always wanted."

Every part of me freezes. The fantasy in my mind for once isn't sexual. Instead, it's me studying. It's me attending lectures. It's me walking across a stage and receiving a degree.

"I–I can't."

He pulls a displeased face. "Why the fuck not?"

I shake my head and step back. "It's too late–"

"Too late?" He laughs like this is funny. "People get degrees at fifty. I didn't get my GED till I was twenty. You're barely twenty-three."

I chew on my bottom lip, indecision bubbling in my stomach.