Epilogue
Em’s eyes hadn’t yet drifted open, but she rubbed her thumb along the ring finger of her left hand. Feeling her wedding band, she knew she was safe.
Even so, all of it came back to her in a rush, her wedding day, being kidnapped then rescued. After that, her memory got hazy, probably because by that point the shock had gotten to her. She remembered Bryce taking her into the back of a box truck and falling asleep against his chest with his arms tight around her. She remembered him waking her when they got home. She remembered him helping her shower, placing her wedding band on her finger, and taking her to bed. He laid with her. The minute her head hit the pillow, she passed out. She didn’t remember anything after that.
Now, she’d woken. It was dark out. She must’ve slept all afternoon and evening. Yet, Bryce wasn’t in bed. The mattress beside her was cold like he’d left a while ago or never went to sleep. She was still tired, exhausted even, but she didn’t want to be in bed without him, didn’t want to be without him period maybe because for hours she thought she’d never see him again. Not quite true. The truth—she never wanted to be without him, not for a single day since she realized she loved him years ago.
She stood on her surprisingly steady feet and headed out of their bedroom, down the hallway, and into the living room. He stood by one of the bay windows she loved. Hands on his hips, body strung tight.
“Bryce?” She closed the distance between them.
He turned, and his gaze instantly captured hers. “Why’re you outta bed, babe?
She smiled. “Because you are.”
She knew that look on his face, the forced smile. When the club had been involved in dirty dealings, he gave her that look and that same forced smile time and time again, so she knew his thoughts weighed him.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, slanting her head to hold his eyes. “Bree?”
“Staying with Trig and Allie again tonight.”
Disappointing, she wanted to see her daughter. “I missed her.”
He cupped her cheek then swept his hand back threading his fingers through her hair until he grasped the back of her neck. “She missed you, too. Allie brought her around earlier. She went into our room to see you.”
“You should’ve woken me.”
“You needed to rest. It’s too late to go now.”
She quirked a brow. “And you?”
His gaze on her lips, he asked, “What about?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t play dumb.”
He heaved a sigh as he circled his arm around her back. “Gonna ask you something, and you gotta tell me the truth. It won’t change how I feel about you, but I gotta know, so I know how to help you. Yeah?”
She nodded. Even knowing what he’d ask, she waited for him to.
“Did they…” His fingers at her neck spasmed. “Did they…touch you?”
“One of them touched me.”
His jaw clenched, body locked, and those beautiful eyes that extraordinary, blue-green color went dead.
“Not the way you’re thinking.” Her stare fell from his. “He wanted to…you know, but this other guy, the one in the room with me stopped him. They were ordered not to touch me.”
Just before he hauled her against him, his eyes changed—the dead leaving, gratitude shining through. He rested his chin on the top of her head and whispered, “Can’t tell you how glad I am, Em.”
Pressing his lips against her forehead, his hands went to each side of her neck. Then he tilted her head to meet his face. “I gotta say it again. I’d still love you. I’d still want you. I’d want you any way I could have you. I just don’t want that for you ’cause I never want you to suffer like that.”
At that moment, it didn’t matter that she’d been kidnapped, that she could’ve been raped or killed. All that mattered—knowing he meant what he said.
She smiled. “I’d want you any way I could have you too.”
“They wanted to trade you for Chip.”
She closed her eyes tightly, swallowed then parted them.
“He was gonna do it too. I told him he wasn’t. We argued about it. Then we did it my way. I’ll clarify, we didn’t have the address from Trig’s PI, I would’ve traded you for Chip in a heartbeat.”
“They would’ve killed him.”
Eyes widening, he scanned her face. “They would’ve killed you.”
“They may have killed me either way.”
He clenched his jaw then leaned into her. “I would’ve tried anything and everything to get you back.”
She tightened her arms around his waist.
“After the drive-by, the brothers hired Trig’s PI to get dirt on the Falcons. That’s how we found you. The PI gave us an address. We’re getting ready to go in, and I hear a shot…” He swallowed thickly. “I thought we fucked up, and they spotted us. And I knew if you were there, they were gonna kill you. That first shot was one of their guys, messing with his gun. He accidentally fired it. We didn’t know that, so after hearing it, we went in, guns blazing.”
He quirked a brow. “More than fifty of us against the ten of them? No contest. But when I went into that room and saw you…” His eyes watered. Voice choked and ragged, when he said, “Lying so still, all that blood… I thought you were dead. Thought I’d fuckin’ lost you.” He laughed then, but it was forced and sad. “Then you moved… Best scare I ever had.”
She hadn’t thought of that, of how it must’ve looked. She heard shots including one close behind her and the commotion and decided to play dead. When someone touched her, she moved on instinct and begged for her life instead. She couldn’t imagine what it must’ve felt like to have been in his shoes.
“That guy in the room with you killed himself. There was a camera outside the door. He saw us coming. He could’ve killed you but killed himself instead.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why. Don’t care. I’m just glad it was him instead of you.”
She knew why or had an idea anyway. He hadn’t been given the order, so he hadn’t killed her, but he knew he’d been caught, so he killed himself instead of risk the wrath of bikers.
He pressed a kiss to her lips then pulled away. “I’ll always come for you, even if after I find you, I gotta spank you.” A smile, a real one, spread across his mouth. “Love you, Em. Always will.”
“I love you, too, Bryce.”
****
Two days later
The Tuesday after the Saturday she’d been taken, Em was back at work. Bryce told her to take the week off. She took Monday off. She knew Bryce wouldn’t be happy when he found out, which would happen in a half hour when he got back from taking Bree to school and saw her in the office, but she couldn’t care less. No way she wanted to sit around for a whole week doing nothing but waiting for Bree to get out of school and Bryce out of work.
She grabbed the mess of sandwich wrappers and potato chip bags several of the brothers left on the counter and desk and stilled when she heard his voice.
“Hey.”
She lifted her head. Bud stood at the door leading into the garage’s office.
Most of the brothers and all of the old ladies had gone up to her at one point or another over the course of the past two days to congratulate her for getting married and to say they were glad she was okay. She expected that from the old ladies and Strike, not from the rest of the brothers. Not that she didn’t think they were glad she was alive—for Bryce and Bree’s sake at least—but she didn’t think they’d make it known to her. She understood by doing that, they were welcoming her back into the fold, expressing in words and actions that the past was just that, and they were moving forward with a clean slate. It was comforting, relieving, and felt damned good.
But Bud hadn’t been one of the brothers who went out of his way to talk to her. She hadn’t expected him to either. She also highly doubted he was there for that.
“Hi.”
“I got something to say. You busy?”
She was, but he’d say what he came to say, and she figured it was better for both of them if they got it over with. The faster, the better.
“No.”
He took a step inside, shut the door, and faced her. “I know you think I hate you. I did, and I got my reasons, but I don’t anymore.”
She didn’t know exactly what to say to that, so she said nothing.
“You gotta understand, you left, and he was…” He shook his head. “I got my reasons to hate you, to continue to hate you, but I’m not gonna ’cause I’m not gonna give you another excuse to ride outta here on a whim and take Bree with you.”
“I wouldn’t. I thought—”
His face hardened. “It doesn’t make a difference ’cause it doesn’t change what happened after you left.”
Right. Well, she knew this. He blamed her even though he wasn’t close to Bryce anymore. She guessed he blamed her for whatever happened between him and Bryce, too. Bud wasn’t the type of man who wasted time on trivialities. With knowing this, she figured somehow, she was the reason Bud and Bryce were no longer friends.
Her stomach turned. She’d not only made herself, Bryce, and Bree suffer, she’d come between two friends. It meant when Bryce needed a friend the most, he hadn’t had one.
“I’m sorry.”
Bud’s eyes widened then narrowed.
“I am sorry,” she repeated.
He stared at her for several moments before he said, “Thought it wasn’t your fault ’cause you thought—”
“I thought what I thought, and it turns out, I was wrong. Even thinking what I did, when I saw Bryce with Bree, I knew I’d made a huge mistake. So even if I had been right, which I wasn’t, I shouldn’t have left because I hurt people. One of those people is you, so I’m sorry.”
Gaze hardening, he shook his head. “It doesn’t change anything, but appreciate it the same.” He turned and opened the door. Before he stepped out, he said over his shoulder, “Glad you didn’t get killed and… Congrats.”
She smiled. “Thanks.”
****
Later that night
Coming hard and fast, just before she did, he stopped. His tongue tormenting her, gone, fingers at her core, gone.
“Bryce! No! Don’t stop! Please…” He had to keep going. She needed him to.
His body covered her a moment later, kissing her in a way that made her melt. She rubbed against the length of him trying to get herself there.
His hands went to her waist, pulling her away. He then sat up. Kneeling between her legs, his fingers tightened around her hips. He lifted her bottom half off the bed and slammed into her. He did it so hard, her overly sensitive clit buzzed. She spasmed, and the most powerful, mind-blowing orgasm of her life hit her, leaving her breathless.
Aftershocks hummed, she watched him pound into her, face a mask of desire, abs tightening with each thrust, chest covered in a wet sheen of perspiration. Beautiful, so stunning, she wanted him closer.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and met his thrusts, adding to the pleasure.
“That’s right, Em. Just like that, babe.”
Before she knew it, she was breathing in that funny way she did right before she climaxed. Building and building… It hit, so powerful, so much more than the first. She shuddered.
He came a millisecond later. “Fuck,” he groaned and collapsed on top of her.
She hooked her arms around his neck immediately, keeping him close.
He trailed his hand up her side and whispered, “I love you, Em.”
Chills skidded over her body making her shiver.
“Tell me.” He moved, shifting to her side, lying on his. Then he circled his arm around her shoulders and turned her so she faced him.
“What?”
“Haven’t heard you say it today.”
She smiled. “I love you, Bryce.”
****
“What happened between you and Bud?”
The wrong time to ask, probably, but honestly, there wasn’t a good time to ask, and there was no better time than right after she’d gone down on him.
He cupped her face and pulled her away from his chest. Sprawled on top of him, she went willingly. Lifting herself onto her hands, she met his eyes.
“You trying to ruin the best blowjob I ever got, babe?”
She smirked. “No.”
He released her cheeks. Not losing sight of his stare, she rested her chin on his chest, her hands went around the back of his shoulders.
“It’s complicated.”
“Is it?”
He cupped her cheek then slid his hand until he rested it on the back of her neck. “When you left…”
She lifted a brow. “Go on.”
“You left, and I…changed… Like night and day. He didn’t get it. He still doesn’t.”
“I’m sorry.”
As he squeezed her neck, his brows drew together. “We’ve been through this. It isn’t your fault.”
She nodded. “Yeah, we have, and you said it isn’t anyone’s fault but Lilliam’s. We’ve moved on, haven’t we?”
He grinned. “Fuck, yeah.”
“Both of you should too.”
He shook his head. “He doesn’t get me.”
She glided one hand around his shoulder to his chest then his chin. There, she trailed her fingers along his stubble. “No, Bryce. He gets you. He just doesn’t get me.”
“Same thing—”
“No, it isn’t. And it’s okay.”
His gaze flew behind her, seeming to mull over what she said. She shifted to his side and fell asleep. She woke the same way she had for the past several days: facing him, her arm around his waist, her face planted against his chest, his arms wrapped around her.
****
Two weeks, and four days later
“Surprise!”
Em jumped and gasped loudly. Automatically, she turned to peer at Bryce. Standing behind her, he looked down at her, a wide grin on his face. Her gaze slid from him to Bree at her left. One look and she knew her baby girl had been in on the surprise.
The surprise, the club—all the brothers, old ladies, and kids—at their home, the home they planned to move into that day. Even Tiff, at thirty-six weeks pregnant, showed with her old man, Cuss. It was humbling and overwhelming at the same time.
“I… Wow. I…don’t know.”
Bryce came to stand beside her, slung his arm around her shoulders, and squeezed. He brought her close, moving her until her chest pressed to his. Then he leaned down. His mouth above her ear, he whispered, “Late wedding bash, babe.”
Again, wow.
He drew away. “Everyone chipped in, bought us some patio furniture and a barbeque. We’re gonna grill up some steaks. Ladies brought sides. Gonna be a fun day.”
“Thank you…”
Over the past two weeks, Bryce had installed a surveillance system. They’d painted, bought furniture for Bree’s room, and decorated it. They’d also purchased a large sectional for the den and four stools for the kitchen counter. It’d take some time to fill out their home since it was spacious. She had some money saved from before and from working at the garage but couldn’t spend all of it. She needed to start looking into buying a car. Last week, she snuck out during lunch with Mia and bought Bryce a seventy-two-inch flat screen television, which she surprised him with last night.
“Before we start, I got something for my girls.”
Bree grinned.
Bud stepped forward and handed Bryce two bags.
“Thanks for picking it up, bro.”
That, alone, would’ve made Em’s day. Bryce and Bud had been friendly as of late. The fact Bryce asked Bud for a favor was another move in the right direction. She hoped in time they’d be like before.
Bryce handed one bag to Bree and another to her. She looked to Bree and waited for Bree to open hers first. Bree excitedly pulled out a leather cut. On the back, the club’s insignia, and it read, “Daughter of Ripper, Hell Ryders MC.”
Bree smiled at her father and wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you, Daddy.”
Bryce rested his arms around Bree and grinned down at her. “Love you, baby.”
“Love you more,” Bree said after drawing away.
He turned to Em. “Your turn.”
She smiled, dug her hand into the bag, and grabbed a jewelry box. Inside was a necklace, a simple white gold chain with a pendant of his name written in cursive. She grinned, looked up at him, and whispered, “Always loved you. Always will.”
Then he kissed her.
She barely heard the hollering and hooting.
She did hear him whisper, “Love you, babe.”