Page 50

EPILOGUE

One Year Later

“ O kay, guys.” Lifting her hands in our mostly empty gym, Izzy demands our attention. “One round. That’s all you get. No second chances, and no whining if you lose.”

Scoffing, I hug my beautiful wife against my chest. I won’t lose. He’s got nothing on me.

Turning in my arms, the fact Britt has to stand a full foot away has me grinning like a smug prick. It ain’t my fault my baby’s growing so big in her stunning belly.

Like I do every minute that she’s so near, I cup her hip and hold her close. “Hey, beautiful.”

Not charmed, she rolls her eyes. “Do you really have to do this?”

I kiss her cheek. “I have to, Bambie. My honor’s at stake.”

“Your honor, my ass,” she grumbles. Her sassy reply has me laughing; something I do all the time now. She makes me smile every single day; every single minute of every day. “This isn’t about honor! This is about two idiots with inflated egos and the inability to let shit go.”

“It is what it is. We can’t live like this. We need to know.”

She slaps my chest. “I won’t feel sorry for you if you bust your arm.”

“No worries.” Eavesdropping, Jimmy stops beside us and grins .

Our group’s been split in two for today. Jimmy, Smalls, Jon, and Tina are on my side. Aiden, Izzy, Tink, and Bean on his .

Kit stands in the middle and scowls.

“Left arms will be tied behind their backs,” Jim continues. “Bubs, you got that rope?”

“It’s alright.” With his big-badass-I’m-a-cop drawl, Alex swaggers past the band and pulls a pair of cuffs out of his gym bag. “I’ve got it under control.” He tosses the bag to the floor and steps toward me. “I’ve been waiting a long time to do this again. I deserve to get the honors.”

“X,” Britt chastises.

“Don’t take this from me, Brat. I get a sick thrill out of cuffing this asshole.” He turns back to me. “Get your shirt off, leave your jeans on.”

“Well, shucks, Alex. If I’d known you liked me like that–”

“Shut the hell up, Reilly.”

“I told you he liked dudes!” Jon calls out. “I knew it.”

Alex’s glaring eyes snap up. “I’ll arrest you too, Hart. Shut your trap.”

Jon turns with a giddy grin. “You need to get over that, Deputy Dawg. Scotch is over it.”

“Fuck I am!”

“Potty mouth!” Tink scolds. Storming forward, she slaps Scotch’s arm and sends him skittering away in fear.

“Stop hitting me!”

“Stop teaching our kids to swear!” She points at my beautiful bride. “There’s a new baby coming. That’s your blood. Reilly and Turner blood. You wanna teach it to swear?”

“You assume!”

We turn as one at Luca’s smug words. Lifting my brow, I glare at his goofy smile. “Come again, Nick Carter?”

He nods toward my wife. “You assume that’s a Reilly baby. Could be mine…” He runs his tongue along his teeth, but at my sudden movement, squeals like a bitch and sprints when I break away from Britt and chase him down.

I tackle him to the mats and smoosh his face into the forgiving rubber floor. Flipping him over and resting my elbow on his windpipe, I press tighter when he continues to laugh. “Whose baby is that, asshole?”

“I’m just saying,” he smarts off. “Britt and I are quite… friendly.”

“Last chance…” Fortunately for me, my arm isn’t cuffed behind my back, so I cock it high in warning and prepare to smash Luc’s jaw. “Whose baby is that? ”

He lets out a deep grunt as Britt kicks him in the ribs. Standing over us, she massages circles into her overinflated belly. “Definitely not Luc’s.”

He wheezes through laughter. “But, I mean, if we tried really hard, we probably have enough time to fix it.” He winks at her.

She kicks him remorselessly and has him coughing up a rib.

“Let’s go!” Izzy shouts. “I don’t have all day!”

“Well, yeah, Bubs. We actually do.”

“Shh.” She smacks her husband. “I just really wanna see this.”

“Alright.” Stepping forward with a wicked gleam in his eyes, Alex shakes the metal cuffs. “Hands behind your back, let’s get this done.”

I bring my fist down on Luc’s chin anyway, because he deserves it, then I press my weight into his chest and stand.

Stepping toward Alex, I look across the gym and spot him ; jeans low hung, the band of his underwear showing, his broad fighter body still as fit as the day I met him.

I might get my ass handed to me today.

I pull my shirt off and pass it to Bambie, then with a soft kiss on her plump lips, I turn back to her brother and bite off my complaints when he slaps the cuff down over my left wrist and secures the other end into the belt loop of my jeans.

“You got my baby sister pregnant,” he murmurs angrily in my ear. “You’re lucky I don’t kill you, motherfucker.”

“Mmhmm.” I look over my shoulder – knowing my dimple is popping. Knowing it taunts him. “I’m probably gonna try and make another with her tonight, just so you know. I want you to think about that while you watch 27 Dresses on TV.”

With a roar, he shoves me away. “You’re a fucking asshole! Shut the hell up.”

“Alright, Uncle Jack.” Smalls pushes me toward him . “It’s time to show them who’s the boss. I’m on your side. You’re gonna win.”

I turn back and lay a soft kiss on her curly hair. “Thanks, Bug. You’ve always got my back.”

“Always.”

“Alright, limp dick.” Bobby steps forward when Alex cuffs his left arm behind his back to match mine. “One continuous round. It doesn’t end till someone taps out or is knocked out. Winner takes respect, loser buys everyone dinner.”

“I’m honored to be your midlife crisis, B. Makes me feel all gooey inside.”

Sneering, he turns to his wife. “Call it, baby. ”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re both idiots, you know that?”

“The only losers here are us,” Tink adds. “You know that, right? We’re the ones who have to listen to your sissy asses whine tonight when you’re sore.”

Bobby ignores our tiny sister-in-law and turns back to Kit. “Baby, call it. It doesn’t end till it ends.” He looks at Alex. “You ain’t a cop right now. You’re a spectator, and we’re in my gym. This doesn’t end till it ends.”

Tina rolls her eyes. “Y’all are so damn dramatic.”

“Alright, you babies.” Kit grabs the remote and points it at the stereo. Fort Minor pumps through the speakers and lights an inferno of adrenaline in my blood. She turns back to us. “Tap gloves, idiots.”

Bobby and I step forward, and everyone else steps back.

Aiden grabs the smaller kids, and Jon grabs his wrestling twin boys. Tapping gloves, Bobby and I step back with an odd mixture of intensity firing between us. This isn’t a friendly fight.

This is a world title.

This is judgement day.

This is gonna be fuckin’ epic.

“Alright,” Izzy announces dramatically. “Two champions step into the ring. Only one will walk out again.” She points to Bobby. “Are you ready?”

He nods seriously.

She turns to me. “Are you ready?”

I nod and lift my right hand to cover my face.

“Let’s go to war!”

If you’re looking for more, download Because of You now and jump into the Survivor Series, where you get all of the Rollers, Jack becoming a dad, and so much more.

What happens when a vigilante killer and a homicide cop fall in love? Grab Sinful Justice and find out.

“When my cop brother asks, ‘ does that boy have a job ?’ am I allowed to answer that you’re a killer, or should I let you take the lead on that?”

When he’s a dangerous enforcer, and she’s town’s most protected little sister, sparks fly just as often as the bullets.

Get Pawns In The Bishop’s Game by Emilia Finn today!