Page 22 of Live Love Steal (Destroyers MC: Skilletsville PA #2)

Black box - Sketch

T wo years later.

The rooftop deck looked good. I’d spent the entire afternoon climbing on the ladder and adding another layer of string lights.

Jackson’s wife claimed it would be romantic.

Sprout’s wife picked out the flower arrangements and the ginormous vases they sat in.

Smoke’s wife suggested the food and helped with little arrangements of fruit and candles for the table.

Noah made the paintings that I framed and mounted around the garden. Most of the city was shut out by the hanging plants or the slatted walls, but the night sky above glowed slightly orange from the street lights. No stars tonight.

My phone rang.

Thinking it was Izzy , letting me know she was on her way, I answered.

“ Hey , baby.”

“ Wow . You haven’t called me that in years.”

Sharon’s voice hadn’t changed much. Neither did the gut reaction to hit something when I heard it. “ What’s going on?”

“ Who did you think was calling?”

“ Izzy .” Our relationship wasn’t a secret to Sharon .

She made a noise, but wisely didn’t complain. I’d hang up if she did.

“ I wanted to tell you that I’m moving back.”

My heart thudded into my throat and got stuck there. Not tonight. “ When ?”

“ Tomorrow .”

What ? I shook my head because, holy shit, what fucked up timing. “ That’s a little sudden?”

“ I caught Jimmy in bed with another woman.”

The urge to laugh was right there. I wanted to blurt out, “ How does it feel to be on the other end of that shit?” But somehow managed to be an adult about things. “ Do you have a place to stay?”

“ I’m going to stay with my friend, Tiffany , you remember her, right?”

I did. She was a piece of work. “ Yeah , I do.”

“ I want to see Noah .”

See . Not have? I needed to talk to my lawyer— ASAP . And tonight would be a shitty night for that discussion. “ When do you think you’ll be settled here?” My breathing was just a little too shallow.

“ It won’t be for a week or two, at least. I have to figure out what I’m going to do for a job, and find a place of my own because living with Tiffany is going to get old really fast.”

None of that said she was taking Noah away from me. Yet .

My silence must have made her nervous. “ I know it’s sudden. I just wanted you to know, so you could talk to Noah . I haven’t been the best mom. He might not want to see me.”

“ I’ll talk to him.” What was I going to say?

We’d made plans.

Her little sob sounded real. A part of me, a stupid piece, still felt a little… protective when I heard that sound. “ Are you going to be okay in the meantime?”

“ It’s just… hard. I tried. And he cheated on me.”

Did she remember who she was talking to?

“ You don’t want to hear any of that, do you?”

Nope . “ Listen , I got this thing…” I was almost going to lie to her, but couldn’t.

“ I need to process this, okay?” It was going to be a huge change.

Right as my life was finally going right.

I had a beautiful home, my kid was doing well in school, and we’d finally figured out what was going on with his health, and Isobel …

she was my life, my light, my partner in crime…

I loved her. And tonight, I’d planned something special to show her how much I needed her in my life.

“ I was seeing a therapist.”

“ Sharon , just… stop, okay?”

“ I was going to say to you that I realize we’re done.

I hurt you. I’m sorry, and I know that I should have been better.

But I wasn’t that person, and we, well… we will never be that couple.

Okay ? I get it, you need to work through a lot of anger toward me, not only because of our past history, but because of how much my selfishness hurt Noah and reminded you of how your mom abandoned you.

That was awful of me. I am trying to do better.

And this? Well , it set me back, too. I don’t know what I was thinking, calling you. I’m sorry.”

I sat on the cushioned sofa near the outdoor fireplace. “ I need to talk to the lawyer about visitation. The courts are going to have a say in it, too.”

“ I know. I’m not asking for custody.”

Thank God .

“ This might set Noah back.”

“ If it does, I’ll stay away.”

She was saying all the right things. Years too late.

“ I gotta go.” I pushed the button to end the call and tried really hard to figure out what butterfly flap tilted my whole world again.

I was still sitting there when Izzy walked out onto the deck. I heard the slider open and close before I turned to see her.

She was so beautiful. Every day she got prettier to me. “ Hey .” My voice was hoarse.

“ What’s wrong?” She ignored all the fancy lights, the lit candles, and the food covered in plastic to sit down and wrap around me.

“ Sharon called.”

“ Is everything okay?”

No . “ She caught Jimmy in bed with someone else.”

A snort.

That was my Izzy . I pulled her in close and leaned back with her snuggled against me. “ What do you think?” I stared up at the lights.

“ I love it. Who helped?”

“ All the wives. Sprout and Smoke carried those damn things up the staircase.”

Isobel studied the planters I’d indicated. “ Those were Danielle’s contribution, weren’t they?”

I nodded.

“ Noah ?” she asked.

“ At your mom’s.”

“ For the night?”

That was the plan. “ Yeah .”

She leaned forward and turned to study me. “ Is Sharon moving back here?”

My sigh answered for me.

“ She’s not getting custody.”

Damn , that was fierce. “ She’s not. It’s probably going to change our plans, though.”

We’d talked, Izzy , Noah , and I had. About making this family thing legit. On paper, a wedding, adoption papers, the whole nine yards. But nothing was set in stone yet.

Speaking of… I reached into my pocket and pulled out the tiny black box. I set it on the edge of the fireplace. The gas flames silhouetted its dark velvet shape.

This was not going like I planned. I’d wanted music, food, kisses, then slip to one knee, tell Izzy how much I loved her, then surprise her with the ring.

Izzy stared at the ring box, then at me. “ Bad day, huh?”

“ I’m worried about how Noah will react.”

She glanced at the framed paintings. “ He’ll be fine. He’s a lot stronger now.”

Did she mean that? Was it true? What if? I took a long breath through my nose and exhaled through my mouth.

“ Are you going to be okay?”

Her soft question was classic Izzy . Always worried about me or Noah . “ Why are you with me?”

“ Easy , you’re the hood rat who happens to be just like my dad.” She grinned as she tossed Audrey’s description of me at me. “ Mom said Drey’s dating a musician now.” There was an incoherent sound of disgust between thoughts. “ I wish she’d grow up.”

I let her stew in peace for a moment before asking again. “ Seriously , why? I need to hear it tonight.”

Isobel locked her eyes with mine to show she was sincere.

“ You are kind. You go the extra yard. You string up probably miles of fairy lights to make our patio look like heaven. You are talented, sensitive, loyal…” Her fingers threaded through my hair.

“ And I love you. I couldn’t love anyone else more, except maybe Noah .

But that’s okay because you two are a package deal. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

I leaned on her. As I did, I pulled the ring box off its perch.

“ You are the most beautiful, stubborn, iron-willed, generous, loyal, loving woman I’ve ever met.

I didn’t know love before you, except maybe for my son.

But you… you’re everything to me. I want—” Here’s where I should open that box and show her the ring, but I hesitated, trying to get a clearer picture of our future in my head.

“ I wanted this night to be perfect. But somehow, I think we both needed a reminder of how strong we are together. When I’m weak, you’re my rock. ” My voice failed.

“ And when I’m weak, you’re mine.” She covered my hand with hers and leaned on me.

We stayed like that until I worked up the courage to crack open the box and hold the ring I’d picked out for her under her nose. “ What do you say, we make this official?”

She laughed. There were tears in her eyes. “ I say it’s about time.”

Isobel held out her hand, and I slipped the band over her finger. It wasn’t nearly as beautiful as she was. “ I love you.”

“ I love you, too.”

She paused.

“ We should call Mom and tell Noah , shouldn’t we?”

I thought about that for a minute. “ We have the entire night. And an empty house.”

Izzy looked around. “ I locked the door. Did you take Bear’s key from him?”

I had, but knowing that bastard, he’d made a duplicate. “ I’ll set the alarm. We’ll have three minutes before he finds us.”

“ Deal .” Izzy stood up and stripped out of her shirt.

I raced to the family room at the top of the stairs and triggered the exterior alarm system.

Then stripped to my boxers. Izzy pounced on me near the door, tugging my boxers down and kissing me.

We made it as far as the hallway before I lifted her up against the wall and slid my cock against her pussy.

She groaned and grabbed my hair just hard enough to sting.

I slid inside and we both paused, listening.

“ Nothing .” No biker brothers, no Noah , nobody calling me, no work-related email dings.

“ It’s too good to be true. Fuck me, please?”

Hell yeah. I rocked into Isobel with a steady rhythm as she encouraged me to go faster, harder.

My phone dinged.

“ Ignore that.”

I did.

Hers dinged.

She shook her head. “ Those aren’t real. Look at me.”

I did. I saw my dream woman. But this wasn’t enough.

I carried her into our bedroom, one with a door that locked, and shut the world out as she clung to me.

Once I got her on the bed, it was my turn to cling as I pumped into her, drowning out all the outside trouble and relishing in her and only her.

“ I love you, Isobel .”

“ I love you, David .”

There it was, the connection where everything was right with the world. It wasn’t tilted at all, not with her.

She cried out as I found the right spot to make her scream and twitch around my cock. The sound of it was music, and I was the composer, lost in the wonder of… her.

Long after the frenzy faded and we lingered in that cocoon of togetherness, I traced her curves and that perfect smooth dip that led from ass to breast. “ I want to paint this.”

She smiled. “ You have. Several times.”

I had. But I had plans for another mural. The wall of our bedroom was just a little too blank. I studied it.

“ You’re going to paint me on that wall, aren’t you?”

I got up and traced a curved line with my thumb.

It stretched from the wall all the way to the other end.

As I walked back along the line, marking the groove deeper, I explained what I saw in my mind’s eyes.

“ This is your hair. It drops down and intersects with your shoulder, here. Then , your arm, covering one breast?—”

“ Only one?”

I shrugged. “ And the curve where your ribs give way to your stomach, and then your hip.” I traced the arch.

“ My hips aren’t that big.”

I double-checked the scale between the markings on the wall to the shape of her naked body on the bed. “ Yes , they are.”

“ You !”

She was teasing me. “ When you’re on your side like that, the curve dips and rises just like that.”

Isobel shifted to see what I was talking about. But she had the angle all wrong.

I scratched along the slope of her thigh down to where the knees would overlap and checked back in with Izzy . “ Turn your leg so your toes are flat against the mattress. I wanna see your calf muscle.”

“ How is that sexy?”

“ Trust me, it’s sexy as fuck.” I took a step back and scanned the wall. It would take months. But it would be worth it.

She crept up behind me and wrapped around me. “ I love you.”

I held her hand in place and stared at the potential in the nearly blank wall. “ I love you, too.”

We’d figure this out. Even if the vision changed a little. “ I’ve waited for you for years. Now ? I can’t remember why it hurt so bad.”

Isobel stepped in front of me. “ Because we weren’t together yet.”

That was it. I was incomplete. Missing a huge piece of some part of my soul, I knew it was empty, but couldn’t quite envision it. The closest I came was a crazy mural I’d scratched out in desperation. She’d kept me sane while I waited for Isobel to cross my path in one crazy day.

One , single, crazy day.

Then my life began.