Chapter Thirty-One

Cat stood with Blood at the grave of his mother. They’d had to go to the cemetery’s office and ask where her plot was. The stone was plain—her name, date of birth and death, and a two-word inscription. Loving Mother.

Cat’s eyes moved to Blood. He seemed stoic; the only giveaway that the emotions coursing through him ran deep was the tick in his jaw. He stepped forward, pulled something from his pocket, and set it on top of the stone.

It was the tiny statue of the Virgin Mary—the one he’d taken from the dash of her car. He laid his hand on the granite and bowed his head in silent prayer.

Cat watched, her heart breaking for him and for that little boy who lost his mother so long ago.

After a few minutes, he turned and they both headed back to his bike.

“I’ll take you home when you’re ready,” Blood said as they walked.

She stopped and turned to him. “What if that’s not what I want?”

“I’m not having this conversation. You don’t want this life. This was nice while it lasted, but it’s over now. You’re going home, back to your life.” He started walking away from her.

“You think you get to call the shots? You decide when we’re over? You decide how I feel? You decide what we talk about, when we talk about it?” Her words stopped him, and he turned back to her.

“You know my life. I’ve laid it all out for you. Never lied about what I am. I’m a biker, Cat. So where does that leave us?”

“I know what you are, Blood. You’re a good man.”

“No, I’m not.”

She walked toward him until she was standing in front of him. “You kept your promise to me. You kept your word. I have no regrets. No regrets for anything.”

Blood looked off at the horizon.

“Look at me.” She put her hand on his sleeve, and he brought his gaze back to her. “Do you want me to leave? Is that what you want?”

He searched her eyes. “I’ve got shit to offer you.”

She smiled. “I’ve got a good job, Blood. I don’t need a man to support me.”

***

Blood stared down at her and thought about Undertaker’s words, and Ghost’s, and Skylar’s. He’d gotten his revenge. But if he let Cat walk away, what did it matter? What did any of it matter? So he took a chance, and he asked, “How about one to warm your bed. You need one of those?”

She gave him a cocky smile. “Maybe. You applying for the job, handsome?”

“Maybe.” He pulled her flush against his body and stared deep into her eyes. “You take me on, you take the club on. You ready for that, Little Miss I Hate Bikers?”

She cocked a brow. “I don’t know. Am I ready for that?”

“The club might not know how strong you are, but I do.”

“You do?”

He nodded. “You’ll be fine. You’ve already won over Sandman, Undertaker, Skylar, Ghost, Mama Ray…”

“And Tante Marie. Don’t forget about her.”

“Never. Do you know what she told me?”

“What?”

“She told me she prayed to St. Jude and you showed up. A gift from God.”

“Oh, did she? Well, she told me you weren’t the wrong man, you were the right man, and I just needed to figure that out.”

His face turned serious. “And did you figure it out? Am I the right man?”

She pulled his face down to hers and kissed him long and deep. When she pulled back, she asked, “What do you think?”

He grinned. “I think that’s a big yes.”

“Do you want me, Blood?”

“Babe, I look in your eyes… and the decision is very clear. Yes, I want you. Always.”

“Then why did you try to run me off?”

“I was offering you the chance to go home. If that’s where you feel you belong.”

“I belong here. I belong with you.”

“I’ve never had a woman in my life I could trust. But I want that, Cat, I do. And I believe I can have it with you.”

“Since I proved myself loyal to the club, you mean?” she teased.

“I’m not gonna deny that what you did the other day, taking the fall like you did, it helped gain my trust. But even before that I knew… I knew how lucky I was to find someone so beautiful, so kind, so loyal, strong, and independent.”

“Maybe too independent?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Cat.”

She smiled at him.

“You’re the only thing good and clean and right that I’ve ever had in my life. That I’ve ever been able to call mine, all mine—that I’ve ever wanted to call mine. You bring out the good in me.”

She studied his eyes. “I’ll always worry about you.”

He took her face in his hands and tilted her head up, his mouth hovering an inch above hers. “I will always be okay. And I will always come back to you. Baby, you’ve got to know that by now. Right?”

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “I should know that by now, shouldn’t I?”

He hefted her up in his arms, grinning as he smacked her ass. “Yeah, babe, you should.” He kissed her, then pulled back to ask, “Who’s your man?”

She grinned down at him, her arms wrapped around his neck. “You are.”

“I’m gonna remind you of that every day until you know it, until you feel it in your bones.”

She cocked her head at him and pretended to consider it. “I could get used to that, I suppose.”

He chuckled. “Smartass. Let’s go home.”

She nodded. “Home. And where’s that?”

“Anywhere you are, babe. Anywhere you are.”