Epilogue
B-ry
“It’s been three weeks,” I said as I walked into the shipping container. “You know what that means.”
It was the day I had been waiting for. I had spent every day drawing his pain out as much as possible. Making him suffer the entire time he was here.
And yeah, I fucking enjoyed every second of it.
But it was time.
I made a promise and I wasn’t one to break them.
He didn’t say anything, not that I expected him to.
After all, I had cut out his tongue two days ago.
He wasn’t going to give up who he was working with and I was running out of things I could do to him.
Taking three days to pull out his teeth was stretching it as it was.
He didn’t give up who the guy with the accent was.
Not when I had the guys hold him down while I smashed his kneecaps with a sledgehammer.
Or when I slashed up his chest with a red-hot blade.
Or when I cut off his balls with a dull razor blade.
I finally gave up on getting anything out of him when I scooped out his eyeball with a spoon and he still didn’t spill everything.
So yeah, we were still clueless on that part.
I was actually surprised he didn’t sing like a canary by the end. He didn’t take the things I did to him well, screaming and crying like a bitch the entire time.
The rest of it had been simply to make him pay for everything he’d done.
“You shouldn’t have fucked with us,” I said calmly as I pulled out my knife.
It was sad, just a little, that look in his eye. The one that said he had already resigned himself to his fate. That he had accepted it. I had a feeling this was going to bring me far less joy than I had hoped for. But what mattered was that it was about to be over. He was about to pay what he owed to us.
“Any last words?” I said, my ear tilted in his direction. “Didn’t think so.”
With a steady hand, the knife sliced slowly across his neck. Blood sprayed all over me and I was surprised he had that much left in him after everything. There was that gurgling sound as he tried to scream and breathe.
I watched until the life faded completely from his eye.
Laurel
“You’re late,” I said with a hint of irritation in my tone.
“Yeah, I know,” he said gruffly. “Fucking had shit to take care of.”
Oh, it was a fight kind of night. He was obviously grumpy before he even walked into the door.
“You could have called. I’ve been waiting four hours.”
“Laurel,” he said in a warning tone.
“Don’t you Laurel, me, biker boy.”
He stopped then and looked at me.
I couldn’t hold it in any longer and so I smiled at him.
Yes, I had been a little mad that he was late when he said he would be back in time to eat dinner with me. But the moment he walked in the door, I could tell that he must have had a bad day, so my anger went out the window.
There were days we agitated one another. We were both headstrong and the more I was around him, the less I felt like I had to back down. I still didn’t know much about the club business but that didn’t mean that I stopped asking. And I knew when I pushed too far, so I would let it go. I was sure there was an illegal side to it and I would have guessed they sold guns. That would have made their friendliness with the Russians make more sense. However, it was never said outright. I just couldn’t ignore it all the way Cami could. But I did try my best to understand that there were some things I would just never know about.
We fought hard, but we loved even harder.
And I knew at moments much like this I needed to be soft for him. When I needed to let the spoiled girl that had to get her way go and be the woman that made him forget.
That said, sometimes things were just better when there was tension in the air.
“Oh, princess, you are so going to get it now.”
“If you say so,” I said and rolled my eyes dramatically.
He moved like lightening. One minute I was standing there, the next I was being tossed onto the bed.
“You asked for it,” he said in a growl.
Then he kissed me like there was no tomorrow.
Like he was in a fight.
Like he wanted to win the war.
Laurel
“Come on,” I yelled across the open space with a smile across my face. “Don’t be such a little bitch, Blade. Give me one more.”
He cut his eyes over at me and the look there was pure hatred.
I had changed a lot in the last few months. Obviously. While I didn’t curse as bad as the guys, I let out a word here and there. This was clearly a situation that called for it. My intent was not to be mean and I was pretty sure that Blade knew it.
His physical therapist laughed.
Biscuit barked in my face.
“That’s right, baby girl. You get her for daddy,” Blade said not caring that people were around to hear.
“You’re so bad,” Abigail, Dade sister, whispered beside me as she giggled. “Just wait until he’s up and moving around with no problem. He’ll get you then.”
I laughed.
“No, Blade secretly loves it. Besides, he knows that if I don’t come then Biscuit doesn’t come. And I think he needs her here.”
“That man does love his dog.”
“How is Dade doing?” I asked shifting my focus to the other side of the room where he was up and trying to walk on the new prosthetic leg.
Both of them were alive and that was something to celebrate.
The swelling went down and there was no permanent damage to Blade’s spine. That said, his left side had been crushed and he was having to go through months of physical therapy to strengthen everything. He could stumble around but he was still having trouble walking. But the doctors assured us that if he didn’t slack off, he would be able to walk again with no trouble.
That was why I was here.
To cheer him on.
And push him.
It took Dade a month to wake from his coma. But at least he did. The blast took a part of his calf which ended up getting infected so they had to amputate just below the knee.
He also had some head trauma and three months later, still couldn’t remember what happened that day. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.
“He’s trying to stay positive. I can tell some days it is hard for him though,” she answered with a sad sigh. “He says I can go back home but I don’t want to leave him yet.”
“Well, he’s not giving up, so that’s good.”
“Let’s go, Cami’s sister,” Blade said as he hopped is way over on his crutches. His hand was still pretty messed up but he was able to use the crutches to get around a little. “I’m fucking hungry.”
He bent over and got kisses from Biscuit.
“You did good today,” I said beaming with pride. “I’m proud of you.”
I received a grunt in return, but deep down I knew my words made him smile.
Blade had an official patch now, he was a member.
The prospects were put to rest and their pictures hung on the wall in the clubhouse. There were days when I stood there for a long moment and whispered words of how sorry I was.
I had found my place within the club and with each new day, I felt more at home.
“Are you still mad at him?” Blade asked once we were settled in the car.
I huffed out an aggravated breath.
Bryan was still recovering from a fight he lost.
An underground fight that I knew was illegal and dangerous. Alright, so maybe I didn’t really have the right to point out the illegal part of it.
A fight that he didn’t really have a choice about, but still, I was upset that he didn’t tell me about it beforehand.
I only found out about the fight later, after they brought him home a puffy, bloody mess.
Sketch told me he went down like a champ though. So I guess there was that.
I knew Bryan, he went into it giving everything he had.
And when I asked why he did this, the only answer I received was that there was a favor owed. That was it. I tried to press but he shook his head letting me know he wouldn’t tell me anything more about it.
“No,” I said with a sigh. “I hate that he didn’t tell me but I’m sure he had his reasons.”
“Yep,” he said, his head leaning against the headrest and his eyes looking out the windshield. “Never doubt that he loves you.”
That right there told me that it had something to do with me. I had a feeling but I had never asked out loud.
Bryan did love me.
And I would never take that for granted.
B-ry
This house was perfect.
I knew it the moment we walked into the front door.
There was also that look of wonderment and excitement on Laurel’s face.
The walls were so bright, crisp white that they were blinding.
The kitchen had white and gray granite countertops. White cabinets lined the walls. White banister leading to the second floor.
As I looked around, I pictured nothing but white furniture all over the place because I knew my woman so well. I imagined hints of gray or silver here and there just to break it up. Maybe even rose pink.
That was Laurel and I should have hated it. But I didn’t.
No, I didn’t mind sleeping with a million white, fluffy pillows and a matching comforter that needed to be dry cleaned twice a month at least. I didn’t mind at all. Because I was here and those simple things made her happy.
“What do you think, princess?” I didn’t really need to ask, the answer was written all over her face.
“I love it,” she said as she turned to me with hopeful eyes.
“Then we’ll get it.”
“Are you sure? It’s kind of big. I mean, do we really need four bedrooms?”
“Fuck yeah,” I said wiggling my brows at her.
I had plans to fill those rooms with kids for damn sure.
“I mean really, Bryan. We’ve only been together eight months. This is… kind of a big step.”
She counted from the time of our first real date. I guess I couldn’t argue with her about that even though I knew her soul long before that.
“Not as big as this one,” I said bowing down to her and holding out the ring that had been burning a hole in my pocket for three months now. “A king is only his best with a strong queen at his side.”
“Bryan,” she gasped.
I went all out because it was kind of our thing. It wasn’t huge like the one that fuckface gave her. But it was unique and completely all her. I had it custom made and the guy that designed it couldn’t have done a better job.
There were many diamonds, none of them so big it would overpower the woman herself. They were set in rose gold and made into the shape of a crown.
“Please tell me this is real,” she whispered and I saw the tears in her eyes as I looked up.
“Only if you say yes.”
“Yes,” she said breathlessly. “Yes!”
There was some squealing as I stood and slid the ring on her finger. Then she launched herself into my arms and wrapped her legs around my waist. And of course, I kissed her like I’d never get to again because that was how much I loved her.
B-ry
“I’m going to need a bigger house,” I said as I watched Laurel laughing in the kitchen.
They were all in there working and having a good time getting Thanksgiving dinner ready for the club. And I mean all of them. Too many for me to even tell you about right now. The ones that made the men of this club strong. The ones that had seen us crumble behind closed doors and had been there to help us rise again. The ones that brought love and light to us all.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Mouse asked from beside me where he was doing the exact same thing I was. Well, he was watching his woman and not mine, I imagined.
“Laurel’s pregnant,” I said, a smile spreading across my face.
“No shit!” Lake said. “Congratulations.” He slapped me on the back and I shushed him.
“She hasn’t told me yet,” I said taking note of the confusion on his face and answering his unanswered question.
Mouse let out a short laugh beside me.
“Then how the hell do you know?” Lake asked.
I turned my head and looked at him pointedly.
“So, you hoping for a boy?” Mouse asked.
“No,” I answered shaking my head as I laughed. “Maybe I did with the third one. But I wouldn’t want to do that to the poor guy. Could you imagine having four older sisters?! Really?”
Ky joined in the laughter this time.
“Yeah, okay. Fingers crossed for another girl, then,” Mouse said with a shake of his head. He didn’t get it because he only had two—one boy and one girl.
“Damn. How many more do you plan on having?” Ky asked and I could hear the amusement in his tone.
“As many as she wants,” I replied feeling like the luckiest fool in the world.
I meant that too. I’d buy a damn mansion just so she could fill it with kids if that was what she wanted.
And, yeah, I felt outnumbered, but I didn’t mind it most days. I feared the day they started dating. Or wanted to date, I should say. Over my dead body will be the response to that. Seeing as our oldest had just hit ten, I hoped it was still a ways off.
Catherine, Elizabeth, Louisa, and Margret.
Those were my girls. My little princesses.
And I had a feeling the new one would be a princess as well.
Yeah, it sounded a little crazy. There was never a dull moment, that was for damn sure. But I woke up each day bursting with love and that was the best thing ever. That was really all a man could wish for in life.
Laurel turned, her eyes automatically going to mine. That smile that was only for me spread across her face before she mouthed I love you. I was pretty sure I had a smile that matched as I mouthed those same words back.
The End