Page 41

EPILOGUE

HAWK

It took us three days to get back to Oakridge. Partly because my woman would not leave until she saw for herself that Nora was delivered safely to her grandparents and that Shea was doing well.

I took Sadie to the hospital to see Shea. Matteo was sitting beside her bed, looking disheveled. He’s been sleeping in the hospital room, serving as her personal bodyguard since they rescued her from the docks. He’s determined to keep her with him in his penthouse, with Emelia being her primary doctor. Since her life’s work has been helping women who have been in Shea’s situation heal from their trauma, and with a not-so-subtle nudge from Sadie, I gave my consent.

I wanted to bring her back to the clubhouse with us, where we could all keep an eye on her. However, after seeing her reaction when I entered her hospital room wearing my cut, her fear convinced me being around the club would be the exact opposite of what she needed. After all, it was a group of bikers who kidnapped and abused her. Though the Kings are nothing like the Devils, it’s going to take a while before Shea believes it.

By the time Pres and the guys arrived on the scene at the harbor, everyone who needed to be dead was. Parisi suffered the loss of a few men, but it was the Devils who lost in the end. There were no survivors.

Pres was pissed to have missed the action, but I think knowing it was Parisi’s men and his cousins who actually helped rescue Sadie and Shea, that is eating at him the most. He doesn’t want to be indebted to Vincenzo for any reason.

Now we’re headed into church to debrief and plan a way forward.

The sound of the gavel slamming down on the table calls the meeting to order.

“Hawk,” Gabe starts, scrubbing a hand down his face. His telltale sign he’s exhausted and fucking over everything. “What happened on the island and who were all those men Matteo was with at the docks?”

I run through the story, telling them everything from the moment I was shot at the party to the island blowing up in our wake. I leave nothing out. Recounting every detail I can remember, including the fact Sadie killed three people and how she’s still trying to make peace with the fact she feels no guilt or remorse.

“I get that Kayce and his men were on the island, and Parisi’s two cousins, but who were the men on the docks? Do you know?” It’s Mack asking.

I shrug. “Not really. Enzo said it was their friends. But I didn’t meet any of them. When we touched down, I got Sadie and Nora as far away from that shit as possible.” I look around the table and it’s then I realize the way everyone else is looking at each other. It’s like they have a secret they’re not telling me. So I ask, “What am I missing? What happened on the docks?”

“That’s just it,” Gabe says, shrugging. “We don’t know.”

“What?”

Ghost pipes up from his corner of the room. “Something weird happened at that warehouse down there, brother. We’re just trying to figure out what it was.”

“Weird, how?”

“All the dead bodies of the Devils …” Ghost starts, then looks at Mack to finish.

“There were very few gunshot wounds, and most of them weren’t deadly injuries. They were all dead, but …” Mack pauses. The way everyone keeps looking at each other makes the hair on my arms stand up.

“But what? Someone tell me what the fuck happened?” I shout, frustrated at all the uneasiness in the room.

“It’s like their souls left their body,” Caleb says. “Their eyes were black as coal. The entire eyeball. It was like some shit you’d see in a scary movie— only it was real ,” he explains. “Their bodies were there on the ground, but they didn’t bleed out, Hawk. It’s like they were just … empty .”

“What the fuck? And everyone saw the same thing?” I ask the room. All my brothers who were on scene nod. “What about Parisi’s men? Were they the same way?”

“That’s what was strange about it,” Ghost adds. “Parisi’s men that were hit, bled out, but their eyes and shit were normal. It’s the weirdest fucking thing, man. Gave me the creeps.”

There’s a knock on the door, which isn’t supposed to happen when we’re in church, so that can only mean one thing. Trevor opens the door and proves my theory right.

“I’m sorry, Pres, but Mr. Parisi insists on seeing you now. He’s out there with Sadie and the other women, getting them all riled up.”

“The fuck you mean getting them riled up ?” Ethan’s on his feet, ready to move. “He better not be messing with Skyler. Emily hasn’t been sleeping much, and Sky needs her rest. I only brought her with me today so the girls would take Emily for a little bit and let Sky rest while we’re in church.”

“I’m not upsetting your woman or your child, Mr. Anderson. Congratulations, she’s beautiful. I’m happy to see she looks like her mother,” Vincenzo drawls as he makes himself comfortable and sits down at the end of the table opposite Gabe. Smirking when Ethan groans at his obvious dig.

“Why are you here, Vincenzo?” Gabe asks, not trying to hide his irritation.

“I brought a gift, but I’m uncertain who to give it to.” Vincenzo waves his hand in the air. “Originally, I thought to give it to Sadie, but then thought perhaps Mr. Hawkins would prefer to take care of it for her.”

“What gift are you talking about?” I ask. Not wanting to be taken by surprise, I move to stand up and lean my back against the wall. I still don’t trust this fucker. He may have taken care of Sadie and be helping with Nora and Shea, but I have my reasons. Especially after he sent me into a room in a Kevlar suit, knowing his own fucking men would shoot me.

“Asha Volkrov.” He lights a cigarette, then leans back, taking a long drag before blowing the smoke out in front of himself.

“The trainer who drugged her,” I explain to Gabe. He looks between me and Vincenzo, then back to me.

“Your call,” Gabe says to me.

“I’d prefer you dispose of the problem yourself. After all, she was in your employ when she fucked over my woman. She’s your problem to fix.”

“Very well,” Parisis says, taking another pull from his cancer stick.

“I guess, since you’re here, I should go ahead and give you your gift ,” Gabe says, smiling as he leans back in his seat with his arms crossed over his chest.

“There’s no need to give me thank-you gifts, Gabriel. I would think you would know that our friendship extends beyond material things after all we’ve shared these last few months. No?” Vincenzo smirks. The sarcastic bastard.

“Hawk.” Gabe tips his chin, and I grab my phone. Opening the security cameras, I scroll through until I get to the one in the basement. I walk slowly over to Vincenzo’s seat, lean down and show him the video footage of the cell in the basement—and its current occupant .

Vincenzo takes the phone from my hand, studying the man in the cell. He doesn’t show any outward reaction except when he shouts, “Santiago!” The doors to church open and in walks Vincenzo’s second most trusted henchman.

Vincenzo shows the screen to Santiago, whose eyes snap to his boss. “Orders?”

“Collect the trash. We’ll take it home and dispose of it there,” Vincenzo orders. Santiago turns to Gabe, who calls out for Trevor.

“Pres.”

“Take Santiago downstairs to collect the trash and be discreet about it. Pull your SUV around back first,” Gabe orders. Santiago nods, then takes off out the door.

“I feel as though I owe you something in return, Gabriel,” Vincenzo says, though there’s a hint of humor in his tone. “Perhaps you will all see me out to my vehicle.”

The fuck?

Gabe looks leery, but we all stand when he does and follow Vincenzo out the back door, where we find Santiago backing into a parking spot. The backdoor to the SUV opens and out steps Kayce Eaton. We’re all lined up at the back of the building. Declan, Jake, and I lean our backs against the brick wall.

“What do you think Vincenzo is up to?” I ask Declan.

“No, clue.” He shrugs.

Kayce comes forward, stopping in front of Gabe, his arms crossed and looking cocky as ever.

“Gabe,” Kayce starts. Before another word crosses his lips, Gabe unloads three punches. One to the face and two to the body, forcing Kayce to stumble back. When he rights himself, he shakes his head, wiggling his jaw back and forth. “Guess I deserved that.”

“What you deserve is a bullet between your fucking eyes for the shit you’ve pulled!” Gabe argues. “I don’t give a fuck how close you were to Declan back in the day or that you helped find his woman and her son. You crossed a line when you snuck onto Kings’ property and not only helped a known traitor escape, not once but twice—then you framed our brother for four fucking murders and disappeared, leaving us to clean up your fucking mess!”

“We also helped rescue your niece and bring her home safely. Or doesn’t that count for anything?” Kayce taunts.

“Sadie would’ve found her way home; of that I have no doubt. That girl has outsmarted all of us, including Tate,” Gabe growls. “Let me be very clear. You are not to come anywhere near Kings property, and that includes our women. Violet and Carter are no longer your responsibility— they’re Kings now. You have no business here at all. If I so much as catch your scent on the wind, I’m going to unleash hell on every fucking one of you.” Gabe inches closer, getting right up in Kayce’s face. “If I were you, I’d take the warning for what it is and fuck off.”

Santiago comes out of the back door with a lifeless Cusenza draped over his shoulder, opens the trunk, and unceremoniously drops him in. “Ready when you are, boss.”

Kayce takes a step back and then gets back into the backseat of the SUV. When Gabe turns back to Vincenzo, the Italian bastard is smiling. He slaps his hand on Gabe’s shoulder and says, “This is why we are friends, Gabriel. You don’t mix words. You are a man of action and one of honor. Until next time.” Vincenzo drops his hand and goes to get into the SUV. We all stand watching as they leave the yard.

“The fuck does that mean?” Jake asks Pres.

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling it means whatever Vincenzo is up to, we’re going to get roped in.” Gabe shakes his head. “Come on. Let’s go see the girls. We can finish church this evening. I want to see my niece and could use a fucking drink.”

* * *

Sadie

Coming to the clubhouse felt bittersweet. Of course, everyone hugged me and told me how happy they were to have me back. The girls wanted to know if me and Hawk were official, to which he announced very loudly to the whole fucking world, “Yes, Sadie is my ol’ lady. Anyone who doesn’t like it can fuck off. This shit is permanent!” I watched as Candi rolled her eyes and stormed off in a huff.

Oh fucking well.

The guys went off to the sanctuary to have church while we all sat in the common room taking turns passing the baby around. Emily is beautiful. She looks so much like Skyler, and her little cheeks are a lot fuller than they were in the announcement photo Avery sent me.

I wasn’t expecting to see Linzie and her friend Andi here today, but they’ve come to discuss wedding plans with Avery.

“Okay. So, you’ve decided on crimson red and white for your colors and the guys will all be in black, I assume?” Andi asks. Avery agrees. “Then I think we should do a large white cake, maybe two tiers. How many people will be in attendance?”

“Well, both clubs, my Gramps, and a few friends from town. Maybe fifty people? We want to keep it small and simple,” Avery explains.

“All right. Then we could do three tiers. Or we can do two tiers and cupcakes on the side for the kids or just for the people who like finger foods.” Andi smiles. “We could actually make the entire meal finger foods, which would give the guests a lot of variety, but it’s not as formal as a sit-down dinner, so they don’t have to feel obligated to stay longer than anticipated.”

“You’re going to want everyone to leave as quickly as possible so you can get to your honeymoon,” Jayde states.

“Why would that matter? They can leave whenever they want. It’s not like they haven’t been fucking this whole time anyway,” Skyler says laughing. Avery’s face turns bright red.

I slap Skyler’s shoulder, shushing her.

“Ew! That’s my brother! Don’t put those images in my head. Gross ,” Jayde shouts. “They’re going on a cruise, stupid witch. It’s too cold at Christmas time to have a honeymoon anywhere around here. They’ll have one night in their hotel near the port, then they leave the next morning. I was thinking they’ll need to leave early for the drive. Fucking perv.”

We all fall into a fit of laughter. It’s so nice to be back home with everyone, making plans and feeling like I belong again. I don’t know how the guys feel or if they’re still mad at me for taking off on my own after the hand I had in Nate’s death, but this —being here with all my girls—feels right.

The back door to the clubhouse opens and Gabe and the guys come walking inside. Linzie gets up and immediately stops in front of Gabe, putting her hand on his chest. His eyes drop to her hand, then back up to meet hers. All the women go deafly quiet.

Nosy ass bitches! But I love them.

“I owe you an apology for the way I went off on you the last time I was here,” Linzie starts. “This is your club, your lifestyle , and I had no right to yell at you the way I did. I heard the rumors in town and had the Feds in my shop talking to customers about you all, and I was worried for my son.” She sighs. “That being said. I’m sorry for the way I acted, and I hope we can go back to the way things were.”

I chance a glance at Avery, who smiles and wiggles her eyebrows.

Well, well. Uncle Gabe has been keeping secrets of his own, it seems.

“Yeah. That’ll be great.”

That’s Gabe’s response? Linzie just apologized for disrespecting him in his own club, admitting she wants to continue seeing him, and that’s what he says?

“Oh shit.” Skyler mumbles beside me.

Oh shit indeed.

Linzie nods her head, clearly upset as she spins around, grabs her things, then kisses her son on her way out the door. The rest of us watch on in amazement.

“You really fucked that up, Pres.”

Leave it to my man to point out the obvious.

“She’ll be fine. It’s none of your business anyway, asshole. You have your own woman to reprimand,” Gabe says, looking pointedly at me. “Come here.” He crooks his finger and like the scorned child I am, I go, stopping a foot in front of him.

Gabe grabs me, pulling me into a tight hug. “If you ever try to leave this family again, I will hunt you down and blister your ass. I don’t give a shit how old you are. You are my niece . My blood . You got me? We don’t walk out on each other. We don’t try to solve our shit on our own. We’re not just a club, Baby Girl. We’re family first . Your parents may have fucked up by walking away from you, but I— we —will never abandon you. This is your home. Don’t you ever try to leave it behind again. Got me?”

“Yes, sir,” I say between sniffles.

When he finally pulls back to look me in the eye, he smiles wide and shouts to the room, “Someone play some music! We’ve got a union to celebrate! Sadie is officially Hawk’s ol’ lady!” He leans down close to my ear and whispers, “Is that officially a King enough for you?”

I laugh, nodding my head as I swipe away my tears.

The room fills with hoots and hollers, and just like that, my heart fills with pride and I know I’m home.