Page 57

The clubhouse still buzzes like a kicked hornet’s nest. Legend’s back, and the look in his eyes says don’t test me. He’s a man built for war, but he doesn’t even glance at the brothers gathering around, doesn’t bark orders or light a smoke like usual.

He comes straight to me.

Royal’s got Becki by the elbow, leading her down the hall toward the holding cell with all the excitement of a man taking out the trash.

“She’s still here?” I ask, trying to keep my voice level as Lottie dabs antiseptic on my shoulder.

Legend shrugs out of his cut and tosses it across the back of the couch. “Can’t prove she’s lying. Yet.”

“She’s a liar.”

“I know.”

“She said she had your baby, remember?” I mutter.

“I know what she said, darlin’. I also know I just kept half the town dying by agreeing not to send her back to a prison.”

“And you’re putting her in the holding cell?”

“That’s enough about Becki. How is she?”

Lottie makes a sympathetic noise and smears more ointment on a scrape I didn’t even realize I had. “Girl needs a spa day and about three gallons of bourbon.”

Legend growls. “She needs rest. And to be home.”

It hits me then. He means my home. Paradise Falls.

“Come on,” he says, reaching out a hand that swallows mine whole. “Let’s get you to your daddy.”

We don’t take a truck. We don’t take one of the beat-up loaner bikes still running. We take Ribbons .

The goddamn Derby winner he rode in on to rescue me.

Legend leads him to me like her like she’s royalty. She is. The horse stamps once, recognizing me, and I swear I tear up like a sap.

Legend makes lifting me onto the horse effortless. His hands linger on my waist. Then he swings up behind me, and just like that, it’s years ago and we’re kids again, sneaking off from school to race bareback in the fields.

The ride to Paradise Falls is short, but every hoofbeat is thick with memory.

We pull up to the main house, and my dad’s sitting in a rocker on the front porch. Bikers are cleaning up the aftermath of the fight. A new nurse, Emma is standing behind him, young, serious, clipboard in hand. But he waves her off when he sees me.

I slide off the saddle, boots hitting the porch with a thud, and wrap my arms around him before I can stop myself.

“You’re okay,” I whisper, tears soaking his shirt. “You’re really okay.”

He squeezes me back. “Thanks to this one. And you’re okay, too.”

He nods at Legend, who dismounts and tips his chin like a man who just did what needed doing, not one who saved the damn day.

“Thank you, son,” Dad says.

James steps out behind him, hands in his pockets, looking sheepish. “Yeah. Thanks.”

I blink. “James?”

He shrugs. “Takes a real asshole to admit when he’s wrong, right?”

Legend just smirks and wraps an arm around my shoulders. “Come on. You need to get checked out, darlin’. Your ribs look like they lost a bar fight.”

“I’ve had worse,” I lie, but I follow him inside anyway.

While I’m getting looked over by the nurse, I see Dad and Legend step into his office. The door clicks shut behind them. I wonder, but I try not to eavesdrop and focus on Emma’s instructions.

When Legend returns, something's shifted in his eyes. Not soft. Not angry.

Just steady.

And then, he drops to one knee.

Right there in the living room.

“What are you doing?” I gasp, my heart slamming against my ribs.

He holds up a small velvet box and inside is a diamond set in antique gold. My mother’s ring.

“Your dad gave me his blessing. Said she’d want you to have this. So, I’m askin’.” He licks his lips. “No. I’m beggin’. Marry me, Sophie Montgomery. Be my ol’ lady. My wife. My Horse Princess.”

Shaking my head, I blink back tears. “Isn’t it too soon?”

“I ain’t waitin’ around for some other bastard to steal you or another war to blow up around us. You’re mine. Always were.”

“How’s this gonna work?” I wonder aloud, more than anything.

Legend grins, lopsided and wild. “I ain’t got a fuckin’ clue. But we’ll figure it out. Now, you ready to go to Hell with me?”

My throat’s tight. My heart’s gone full stampede. But I nod.

“Yes,” I whisper.

He slips the ring onto my finger. It’s a perfect fit.

“See?” he says, pulling me to my feet and into his arms. “Meant to be.”

We kiss, slow and deep, the kind that promises forever with just a taste. And when we break apart, I laugh through the tears.

“I’m marrying an outlaw.”

“Correction,” he growls, eyes burning. “Horse Princess, you’re marrying this outlaw, a fuckin’ King and the goddamn president.”

“So, that sort of makes me the First Ol’ Lady”

“And my Queen.”

“Get it right. Your Horse Queen. Not too bad, Stable Boy,” I say laughing.

“But officially, Property of Legend.”

“Does this mean I get a vest and have to get a tattoo?” I had a million questions, but Legend shut me up with a kiss to rival any love story we watched as kids.

The End for Now