EPILOGUE
Reese - 6 days later
"Why are you so nervous?" Cy asked as we pulled up in front of my mother's townhouse.
"I'm not nervous!" Yeah, I totally said that way too quickly and in way too high a pitch.
Truth be told, I was absolutely nervous.
I had never brought a man to Sunday dinner before. Sure, I had dated a few who I probably should have introduced my family to, but I guess I always knew it was temporary and didn't want to have my family get their hopes up about me settling down.
Honestly, I had no plans on bringing Cyrus so soon either. Not because I didn't see us going somewhere because we totally were. I just wanted to be able to keep him to myself a while longer.
Also, you know, not be subject to the never-ending teasing I was going to get from all my female relatives. I could practically hear it already.
"You so are," he said, reaching for my hand, sliding his fingers between, then pulling upward so he could kiss the back of it. "But we have no choice. Gina needed me to bring the ice."
She totally didn't need him to bring the ice. Her freezer had an ice maker. She just wanted to be able to contact him directly. And she hadn't asked me for the number. My mother, though, had her ways. I imagined it involved stopping over at Cash's townhouse to bring him some kind of baked good to butter him up, then casually asking him for Cy's number for some reason that was absolutely not what it seemed. And because Cash loved my mom - and likely wanted to see how it played out - he had given it to her.
"Alright, well, let's bring it in before it melts," I declared, taking a deep breath as I reached for my door.
"Bunny rabbit, relax," he said, putting his free hand at my lower back as we made our way up the driveway. "They are going to love me. I mean, have you met me? I'm fucking lovable as hell."
He was that.
I felt it down to my toes, up to the tips of my hair.
Love.
I mean, of course, I hadn't told him that.
I wasn't that psycho.
I would tell him in a reasonable amount of time. Or, you know, after he said it first. Yeah, that seemed about right.
But regardless of when I would say it, I felt it. I felt it more deeply than I even knew I was capable of.
And it wasn't sappy. As I knew it wouldn't be. As I couldn't stand in those cheesy, over the top stories I was never able to finish.
I could live without him.
He could live without me.
But, good God, it was so much better not to.
"Uh oh," I laughed as Alex appeared out the front door, looking annoyed. "What happened now?"
"I have a new skill," she declared, throwing out an arm. "I now also make it so that bread doesn't rise. Oh, yeah. I was just told that."
"As if your ability to make lettuce wilt wasn't enough!" I teased.
"The guys are out back," she told Cy. "But the women want to get their claws into you first. So gird your loins and get ready to lay that charm on as thick as we all know you are capable."
She reached to take the ice from him, and he rubbed his hands together like he was gearing up.
"Alright, show me to the women!"
Cyrus -
"So," Kenzi said, coming up beside me where I was leaning against the wall, watching Reese throw her head back and laugh at something Breaker and Alex were bantering about.
I liked seeing her like this.
I liked it more than I ever could have anticipated.
Because Reese wasn't often this laid-back, this un-self-conscious, this quick with a witty comeback.
Sure, she was that way with me a lot as she got more comfortable with our relationship, but outside of the times when we were alone, there were always shields, always a wall of uncertainty about her that made her come across as standoffish or shy.
She wasn't like that around these people, this ragtag group of various criminals and ex-criminals that made up her extended family.
I had never heard her laugh as much as she did in just the couple hours that we were in her mother's house. Hell, she even laughed at the none-too-subtle ribbing her mother was giving her about bringing a boy over.
"So?" I asked when she didn't go on, just kept watching me watch her baby sister.
"I've had longer to come to grips with this little plot twist," she went on. "But I think I was probably even more skeptical about it than Paine and Enzo. All those years they were off living their little criminal lives, I was right there with her. I watched her go through all her shitty relationships. I watched unworthy guys steal her time. I watched her settle and never truly be happy with anyone. Which was why she was so deeply buried in those books of hers."
My gaze moved away from Reese, an act that actually took effort. My eyes just always seemed to drift in her direction no matter what we were doing or where we were.
"So when I heard she was going out with a Henchmen, well, you can imagine what I thought."
"That we are a family-friendly, mismatched group of immensely good men?" I suggested.
"That every last one of you has a reputation of being a slut."
"Kenz..."
"Until you find your girl," she cut me off. "I mean, Reign adores Summer. Wolf and Janie are relationship goals for anyone. Then there's Cash and Lo, Repo and Maze... the list goes on and on. The problem was, I didn't know what Ree was to you. If maybe she was just one of those stepping stone girls until you found your diamond, or if she was it for you. I can see now that she's it. Every woman should be so lucky to be looked at like you're looking at my sister."
"You mean how Tig is looking at you now?" I asked, nodding my chin to the huge, hulking man who was in a conversation with Amelia, Shooter, and Paine, but whose gaze kept slipping over toward Kenzi.
"Oh, please. That's his 'don't say it, Kenz' look," she said with a smirk. "He didn't want me coming over here and threatening you or something."
"Are you? Threatening me?"
"Oh, babe, if you so much as make one goddamn tear slip out of her eye, your balls will be bronzed and sitting in my store. But, I don't think I even needed to tell you that. Any man who will take her to Bookjam must be in love with her. I once brought her to Books-a-million because she had never been there before when we were in PA. Cy, we were there for five and a half hours. She's my sister. I think she's the greatest thing since sliced bread. But that was a true testament to my love for her. So you willingly signing up for that? Psh."
"I like that you are protective enough of her to possibly bronze my balls some day, Kenz. That's the kind of sister she deserves."
It was that exact moment, when Kenzi shot me a smile and bumped her shoulder with mine, that Reese looked over.
She'd never admit it to me, but having her family approve of me meant the world to her. So looking over and seeing her sister giving me that smile and some casual contact, it was what she needed to know it was going to work out in the long run.
Cyrus - 2 weeks
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Duke exploded at the news, the words bursting from him before Reign even fully finished saying them.
And, well, we all had to kind of agree.
Even those of us who weren't around for the worst of it like Reign, Cash, Wolf, Repo, Duke, and Renny.
To them, the name meant more than a crazy story that happened before their time. To them, it was a name that was attached to the worst event in Reign's entire spell as president of The Henchmen MC.
Abruzzo.
They were supposed to be an extinct species.
Reign had taken a crew and wiped them out after they killed the majority of his men.
"Take a breath," Reign demanded quietly, holding up a hand at Duke who was about to launch into some tirade about it not being a situation to calm down over. "Let me talk," he added. "The Abruzzos didn't just pop up out of nowhere when they started picking off our men. The Abruzzos had had one of their men go through the police academy to get a job on the NBPD. That Abruzzo was relatively harmless except for getting Wolf locked up for a crime he actually did commit," Reign said, smirking a little. "The thing was, back then, we sicced the Grassi family on them, them not wanting more Italians trying to step in where they have had a foothold for generations. They had taken care of it. I visited with them to confirm. Unfortunately, apparently, Marco Abruzzo is a hard man to kill."
"And now he's back, running the cocaine trade," Repo concluded.
Reign nodded. Apparently, Roan had made the man several days before, a fact that was kept from the rest of us. Had I maybe been around as much as I should have, I likely would have found it weird that one day, Reign, Cash, and Wolf had all come to the clubhouse early, gotten in a SUV, and headed out.
Reign, unbeknownst to us, had had a meeting with the man.
"That about covers it," Reign agreed.
"I get that it's not my place to question you," Sugar said, making it clear he was about to. "But how the fuck could you go off to a meeting like that without backup?" There was a shared look between the prez and the vice, making us all realize he had had backup. "Roan on that too?" Sugar asked, looking over at the man.
"Contracted out," Reign admitted, pulling back his shoulders, readying himself for the objections he knew were coming at that.
And come they did.
"Alright, shut the fuck up for a minute," Reign interjected a moment later, cutting through the arguments of the men. "I have two men in my club capable of what I needed that morning - a long-range sniper - and I wasn't taking Repo since, if shit went down, I needed him to step up in my place if me, Cash, and Wolf got taken out. And Virgin, well, I don't know you well enough to put the lives of all three of us on the line. So I contacted Shooter, paid his metric fuckton fee, and had him keep an eye while I had a talk with Marco. Marco, the part you all should be fucking focusing on right now, not how I chose to protect my fucking self."
"How'd it go?" Renny asked, calm, reasonable, head cocked to the side as he leaned back in his chair.
"He just wants the cocaine trade. For now," Reign added, giving us a look. We all knew how power went. You got some, you wanted more. That was how it almost always goes.
"Then why the drive-bys?" Laz asked.
"First, to take out Lyon, obviously. Second, to flex. He wanted everyone to know there was a new game in town, and to fuck off and let him do his thing."
"Which is what you are going to do," Duke concluded, tense.
"Listen, if I had more men, I'd put a show of power right back on, but I don't have that fucking luxury. Like it or not - and I don't fucking like it - we can't be the power we once were in this town until our ranks are rebuilt."
"Been in a few MCs in my day," Sugar commented. "Never seen a prez as picky as you are with your men."
"When I was eight years old," Reign started, surprising me enough to sit up straight to listen. We didn't often hear about shit that involved his fucking childhood. "I watched a man beat one of the clubwhores nearly to death when my pops was out of town. That being said, were he there, I don't figure he'd have stepped in to stop it either. I won't be having that kind of shit in my club. So if that makes me fucking 'picky,' so be it."
Given that we all had respect for women, that story made more than a few of us shift uncomfortably in our seats. To be fair, most MCs were like that - violent toward the women. But I had always been thankful that Reign's club wasn't that way.
"And what about V?" Repo asked into the silence following Reign's words.
"Didn't want to bring attention to the fact that that is an issue for us," Reign said carefully. "That being said, it's a major fucking issue for us. So until we know she's dead, Roan and whomever else he can train to be able to do the job, will be keeping tabs on that situation."
"So that's it?" Duke asked, obviously feeling the issue was far from over.
Reign waved his hands out, obviously feeling useless on the matter as well. "That's all we can do right now. You fuckheads want to go out and start finding me some new goddamn probies, feel fucking free. Until then, this is how it has to be."
And so it was.
Reese - 2.5 weeks
It was only the second time I had been to the compound. And, well, my face was actually heating as I climbed out of my car and made my way up the path. Would they all still remember how I had, ah, been less than discreet with Cyrus the last time I had been there? The morning after, I had dealt with the girls club, then been in a rush on my way to work, so I hadn't needed to face any of them. We hadn't been back since, choosing to spend nights at my place.
But Cy and I were going out to dinner with Cash and Lo, and we were all meeting at the compound.
So I just had to take deep breaths, and hope they all had a little bit of tact about the whole situation.
I mean, they were bikers, so those chances were rather low.
But one could hope, right?
All the worry, though, disappeared the moment I walked through the doors, and found not bikers - aside from Cy and Cash - but a bunch of the girls club, and about half a dozen of the kids.
Most of the kids were still foreign to me, though I knew names and reputations - especially in Ferryn's case. But there were two little girls that I was very familiar with.
And those two little girls didn't belong to Henchmen.
They belonged to Shooter and Amelia.
Bri and Alexis were standing in front of Cy who was kneeling on the floor, a crown of pink, purple, and yellow flowers on his head, and various other ones just shoved into his beard, pressing fairy wands onto his shoulders to, it seemed, knight him.
Hearing the door slam, the girls looked up, seeing me, and breaking out into almost identical grins. "Aunt Ree!" Bree greeted me with a wave that made her whole body sway.
"Hey guys. What are you doing here?"
"Shoot is out of town. Amelia had a group," Maze supplied. "They are the closest to Seth's age," she said, gesturing toward her son. "Even if he always has to play princess games."
He sure did, too.
He had a flower crown on his head, and was apparently in charge of watching the royal babies.
I looked back to find Cy watching me with dancing eyes. "Don't be jealous that I'm so beautiful," he said, shrugging. "I'm Sir Cyrus of Henchmenland, lowly maidservant to Queen Bri and Queen Alexis."
"Wait," I said, shaking my head. "You're a knight... and a maidservant?"
Cy's lips twitched up at that. "What can I say? Apparently, Henchmenland is a very thriving matriarchy where only women get to be in power and all the boys have to do their bidding. Or so I am told, right Queen Bri?"
"Girls can be in charge!" Bri asserted with a firm nod.
"Darn right they can," Maze agreed. "Who wants a juice pouch?" she asked, getting all of their attention.
Cy stood up, moving over to me, not bothering to reach up to remove his crown, perfectly comfortable putting his masculinity aside for the enjoyment of the kids, a fact that I could never have known I would find as sexy as I did right then.
I reached up, pulling a flower out of his beard.
"You like kids, huh?"
His head ducked to the side, small smile on his lips. "You gonna give me some?"
Oh, I so, so was.
"Some day," I agreed.
"Well," he said, moving a little closer. "After dinner, maybe you and me, we should, y'know, practice making them. Just to be sure we get it right when the time comes."
I pressed in a little closer, my own smile wicked.
"I think that might be a very prudent idea."
Reese - 3 months
"Ree, stop," Cy said, grabbing my hands to hold them still as I frantically tried to clean up the apartment.
Yes, the instead of my. While Cy still stayed at the compound once in a while, he had pretty much moved everything of importance into my apartment. I had cleared off a few shelves in the living room for his CDs, vinyl, and an 8-in-1 record player. I was even starting to get more into music than I ever had been before. When he was around, something was always on, and he was always humming, singing, or even strumming along. I began to look forward to it. Even if my attention was on a book, I liked having it as background noise.
And, well, it was possibly the most soothing sound in the world for him to sit up in bed with me curled at his side, singing something slow and soft at night.
I finally understood the fascination with men and guitars.
I had had him playing in my bed for three months, and every single time he finished, I needed to jump him.
"There is junk everywhere!" I insisted, trying to pull my hands away.
"She won't care."
"You don't know that! What if she sees some smutty book laying around? What if..."
"Ree, she isn't like that," Cy insisted, giving my hands a squeeze as he pulled them to rest on his chest. "If you saw her RV, you would know that she is a knick-knack kinda person. She won't care about all the books. And don't worry, I already got your clothes off the floor in the living room where we left them last night."
See, Wasp was coming to visit.
The original plan to meet her went out the window months back when she had just up and left town without a word.
But she was back.
And, apparently, Wasp wasn't exactly one for advanced notice. She just breezed into town on a whim. In fact, Cy told me that her ten-minute warning was actually generous, that she usually just stopped in unannounced.
I could do a lot of cleaning in ten minutes if he would just let me go.
I mean, the house wasn't dirty or anything. I was just known for leaving sweaters all around because I was always cold. And my Harry Potter slippers were in front of my papasan chair. And about two dozen books were lying across various surfaces in the main area of the house.
It just needed a straightening up.
Like you would normally do when having someone over for the first time. After the first time, well, all bets were off. But I wanted to make a good first impression.
Wasp had been something like a legend in my mind since Cy first started telling me about her and her work and her quick wit and adventures.
I just wanted her to like me.
Just like I wanted Reeve to like me.
I had met him on five separate occasions, and I still wasn't sure that he truly did. But, as Cyrus explained, that was just how Reeve was. And when I finally heard why, I stopped waiting for him to give me a smile that reached his eyes, sure that those didn't exist for him anymore. That thought always made my heart hurt when it crossed my mind.
Poor Reeve.
Someday, I wanted to see him even just a little bit happy.
I was sure it would be a sight to see.
But before I could let thoughts of Reeve really settle in again - something that put me in a bit of a funk for the rest of the day when it happened - there was a banging on my door.
"She's early."
"She likes to keep people on their toes," Cy said with a shrug as he pulled me to the door.
"You're the one I need to go to to get this signed, right?"
Those were Wasp's first words out of her mouth as the door opened. She was holding out a copy of Drunk Dial, Daya's first novel which she had published indie seven weeks before, completely flooring her when it actually broke the top 100 on Amazon after I created quite the buzz for it in my groups and all over my book-related social media pages. Heck, when she dedicated the darn thing to me, it was certainly the least I could do.
"You didn't tell me she likes books," I accused, giving Cy small-eyes.
"See, I told you you two would get along just fine."
And we did.
Cyrus - 1.5 years
"She's gonna be pissed that you gutted a book," Reeve warned as I pulled it out of the bag on the coffee table in the compound.
"It's so I can put a ring in it," I objected, shaking my head as my hand reached for the smooth handle of my pocketknife.
It was the book too. That notorious one I read aloud to her in the library that night, Denver, because, really, it had to be that one. Sure, I could have picked her favorite romance, or her favorite Austen or Bronte or any other number of books that would have been heavier on the sentimental note. And, you know, nowhere near as raunchy. But this one had meaning for us, and I was pretty sure that was what mattered most.
"It's still a book. I once caught her petting the cover of a book, Cy," he told me with a small smile. Reeve had a soft spot for Reese. I knew she spent a long time worrying that he didn't like her, and it took many long months of trying to convince her that was just how he was for her to stop being so shy around him. He had already cared about her, but once she let him in a little, he was fucking charmed as shit by her.
Hell, he had been the one to drop down next to me on the couch a week before and declared it was time for a fucking ring.
I had already bought a ring. In fact, I had had the damn thing sitting in my drawer for almost eight months, but I couldn't figure out when the time was right.
Reeve's declaration was the little push I needed.
Hence the book.
"She can still pet it," I said with a shrug as I started digging. "But she'll be doing it with my ring on the finger of that hand."
Reese - 2 years
"It's perfect," Kenz said, head tipped to the side as she looked me over in the hotel room suite. "I mean, of course it is. I made it. But it looks absolutely beautiful on you," she added, running her hands over the simple wedding dress she had designed for me.
Yes.
Wedding dress.
As in, it was my wedding day.
To Cyrus.
It was a thought that needed repeating, had needed repeating every single day - sometimes multiple times a day - for the past five months.
I was going to marry Cyrus.
I was getting my very own happily ever after.
Originally, I had set the date for just five months after the engagement because my plan was to keep it small, so there was no need for more time since there wouldn't be any crazy planning going on.
That was the plan. Until, you know, the girls club and my female relatives got wind of things.
Suddenly, they were renting out a giant ballroom and decking it out. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't even involved in the planning. The idea of things like choosing linens and a menu was keeping me up and giving me hives, so I had sort of sent out a massive text to every single woman I knew who would be involved, and told them to just handle it for me.
It was a weird move, I know. But, for me, the chairs and the altar and the music... none of it mattered. The only thing that mattered at all was Cyrus. He was going to be there. The rest was window dressing - pretty, but completely inconsequential.
So, aside from knowing what my dress, and this suite looked like in the hotel, I was completely in the dark.
A surprise wedding, if you will.
It was actually rather exciting.
It was helping to ease the nerves I had about walking down the aisle while a ton of people stared at me.
"Oh, honey," my mother said as she came in, her fingers steepled in front of her mouth, her eyes starting to water.
"Don't do that!" Kenzi scolded, big-eyeing our mom. "You know that if you cry, she cries. And I just finished her makeup."
My mom shook her head, blinking fast. "Right. Okay. Can't have that. They're ready for you, honey. Cy looks pretty damn good up there, I won't lie. Your brothers are waiting for you."
I took a deep breath, and followed my mother and sister out of the room where Paine and Enzo were flanking the door, looking very comfortable in their suits.
"You look beautiful, Ree," Paine declared, giving me a warm smile.
"And this is for you," Enzo said, pressing a bouquet into my hands.
But they weren't just any flowers.
Oh no.
It was a bouquet of faux white flowers with delicate script writing on the petals.
I smiled down at it before smiling up at him, charmed by the idea.
"Ready to go get married?" he asked.
I so, so was.
They each took one of my arms as my mother rushed off, and Kenzi moved down the hall to take Reeve's arm. It was the only concession I had made. I didn't want a huge bridal party. I had my sister; Cy had his brother. It worked out perfectly.
"See you up there," Kenz said as the music started, and Reeve led her down the aisle.
Then my brothers led me into the doorway.
I saw Cyrus first, of course, looking even better-looking than he usually did - which was truly saying something - in his dark gray suit and - wait - a beige tie printed with words.
At that realization, thinking of my bouquet, and how this couldn't possibly be a coincidence, my eyes finally started drifting.
And it hit me.
The girls club, the amazing, weird, quirky, wonderful group of women that they were, hadn't just planned me a wedding.
Oh, no.
They planned me a book-themed wedding.
The arbor Cyrus and the Justice of the Peace were standing under was made entirely of paperback books with various shades of cream covers.
The material covering the seats where everyone was sitting had the same pattern as Cy's tie.
I could only imagine what the reception room looked like.
But I couldn't think on that too much as Paine and Enzo started walking me down to Cyrus who was watching me with those seaglass eyes I had come to love so much.
"Threat still stands," Enzo said as he shook Cy's hand, then kissed my cheek before going to find his seat next to Espen.
"Think you accomplished your goal," Paine told him before doing the same.
"What goal?" I asked as everyone moved to sit, as he took my hands.
"To deserve you," Cyrus declared, giving my hands a squeeze.
It wasn't until the rings came out that I realized Cy had totally been in on the book-themed plans as well.
Because the inside of my ring was inscribed with a Bronte quote.
Reader, I married him.
And, I did.
Cyrus - 12 years
"Stop hovering," I said, snagging her hand, and pulling her down on my lap.
"I just wanted to get a picture," she insisted. "I never thought this day would come, and look at him!"
We had been blessed with two children.
Luna had come first, a little mini version of her mother. Looks wise, with slightly tanner skin than mine, darker hair, and eyes that were green, without a hint of blue. But it was her personality where it showed the most. She was shy, sweet, warm, and perfectly content with her own company for hours on end
After Luna, we had had Bennet.
Now, Bennet was all me. He was tall, thin, with lighter skin and lighter hair, and eyes that had a little bit of blue to them. The same went for his personality too. Even at ten, he was charming, confident, laid-back, and already half as good at the guitar as I was.
Now, Reese practically raised the two of them in the library. I didn't have to ask where she was if she went out with them, they were always there. Luna devoured stories much the way Reese did, even before she could read herself, she was always begging for "just one more" bedtime story. And Reese, well, she was not going to deny her. So, often, it was eight more bedtime stories before she finally put her foot down and made her go to sleep.
Bennet, well, he didn't like books.
When they all went to the library, he was usually in the craft room, doing puzzles, or on the computers playing games.
Never, ever looking for books to check out.
Reese tried, bless her bookish heart, to find that one, that perfect book that might turn him into a lover of fiction.
But she never could.
What kid doesn't like Harry Potter?! She had once asked, throwing her hands up as she dropped down in the bed beside me.
So, to say it was a huge fucking deal that Bennet was across the room with his Uncle Reeve reading a book, well, it wasn't an exaggeration at all.
The other kids were all out back, kicking balls, climbing trees, rough-housing. It was the shit that had always been up his alley. Normally, that was where he would be.
But there he was, reading.
"What book is that?" she asked, shaking her head, looking over at me.
I didn't have to look to know.
It was the same book it would always be.
The same book that would somehow haunt him forever.
"'Hatchet,'" I supplied, giving her a squeeze.
"Of course it is," she said, rolling her eyes at herself. "Why didn't I think of that? I was going for all the sci-fi and fantasy adventure stuff. Of course a boy his age would be into the surviving on your own in a dangerous wilderness thing."
"Mom," Luna's soft, sing-song voice called, making us both turn to see her walking in from outside, a book tucked under her arm. She was wearing one of Reese's sweaters, light blue, and almost dragging on the ground.
"Yeah, honey?" Reese asked, not moving out of my arms.
"She's too stupid to live!"
"Hey," I went to scold, never having let the kids use that particular word, as my own mother had never let us at their ages either.
"The heroine in the book," Reese informed me, shaking her head. "The heroine is 'too stupid to live.' It's a book term."
"And every time they back her into a corner, suddenly she has some new magical power that gets her out? What kind of character development is that?" she asked mostly herself as she rolled her eyes and moved off into the kitchen.
When Reese turned back to me, her smile was one of pure joy.
"What?"
"I have two readers!" she declared.
"Yeah, about that..." I started.
"About what?" she asked, head ducked to the side.
See, I had been fucking good. Over a goddamn decade I had kept the secret, wanting to tell her the truth on our tenth wedding anniversary.
But this moment was too good.
It was time that she knew that every single book she ever mentioned I would like reading - over one-hundred and ten over the past twelve years - I had bought. And read. And enjoyed. In secret.
"You actually have three readers..."
XX