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I was on the fence about the club. I didn’t like that they had the final say over our relationship and how much time we were able to spend together.

However, ultimately, I did want Dante. It pained me to admit it, because the last thing I wanted to do was fall for this brute.

Yet I had, and there was no point in hiding that anymore.

“Yes,” I said quietly.

“What was that, love? You’ve got a bit of a crowd here, so if you could speak up, that would be grand.”

“Vienna,” I snapped back. “This is meant to be a lovely moment between me and Dante. Could you shut the fuck up?”

He grinned widely at me. “You heard it here first, folks,” he said, spinning around to face the crowd with his arms outstretched. “She said ‘lovely moment’. We all heard it. That means yes. She said yes!”

The crowd erupted as Dante came rushing forward to scoop me into his arms and hauled me against his body. His lips found mine at the same time as his hands swept under my ass and along the back of my thighs, encouraging me to wrap my legs around his waist.

“You won’t regret this,” he whispered against my mouth, before taking my lower lip between his teeth. My hands linked behind his head, holding him close to me as his tongue replaced his teeth, stroking along my own, deepening the kiss.

“Break it up, lovebirds,” Crash said, coming towards us with a bag in his hands.

Dante lowered me to the floor and took the bag from his dad with a murmured thanks.

“Congratulations, son,” he said, slapping Dante on the shoulders. “You too, beautiful,” he said to me, leaning forward to kiss my cheek.

I heard a small growl come from Dante and bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from smiling.

“Congratulations,” Kitty said, a small smile on her lips.

Fucking blow me down. She knows how to smile.

“Thank you,” I replied cooly.

“What’s with the formality?” Vienna demanded, pulling me into his arms for a hug. “Shut the fuck up, Dante,” he murmured into my hair without pulling away. “I’m entitled to one hug before you get all possessive.”

“Thank you,” I said quietly. “And soon, I’ll be hugging you when Gabriella is returned to you. ”

“She’s not lost, Rachel. You can’t return her. Besides, what are you going to do, kidnap her?”

“It worked for your friend here,” I said, pulling back just as Dante reached his limit.

“Right,” he said, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from Vienna. “That wasn’t a hug. That was a fucking embrace, and I don’t like seeing it.”

“Good luck.” Vienna winked at me with a small smirk. A smirk that he quickly turned into a frown as he walked away.

Dante simply shook his head as he reached inside the bag Crash brought him and pulled out a helmet, handing it to me. I let out a bark of laughter when I saw he had it personalised with “Stabby Rachel” written on it.

“You said your mother always used to say, ‘don’t be selfish, Rachel,’ and that you were sick of being ‘selfish Rachel’…” his words trailed off with an awkward silence.

“I get it, Dante, and I love it. Really, I do,” I said, blinking back the ridiculous tears that came to my eyes.

“And after the events of today, I think it’s even more fitting,” Vienna shouted over. Every pair of eyes in attendance turned to throw an angry glare at him. “What?” he asked innocently, his own eyes growing wide. “Too soon?”

Kitty lost it at that point and stormed away.

Oh no, please don’t go. Kitty, stay…

Damn, she didn’t hear me. Oh well. No fucking loss there. Crash chased after her, throwing an apologetic look towards us.

“And here,” Dante said, bringing my attention back to him.

He pulled out the most amazing leather jacket.

It wasn’t a club jacket – women weren’t allowed to have those.

But it was a sign of membership all the same.

It had my name on the back, and on the front was my own little patch that said “old lady” as my title.

He held it out for me, and I quickly accepted the invitation to put it on, feeling strangely warmed by the cool leather.

“Thank you,” I said, pulling my hair out of the jacket and flicking it over my shoulders.

“Come on,” he grinned, grabbing my hand and dragging me over to his motorbike.

Every person we passed shouted out their congratulations, all of them grinning excitedly .

“Where are we going?” I asked as I pulled the helmet over my head.

“I’m taking you on your first drive as my official old lady,” he said, stepping one leg over the bike.

I hopped on behind him and scooted close, wrapping my arms around his body as best I could. He was so fucking large, my arms didn’t meet in the middle, so once again I was clutching at his sides.

He kicked off with a roar, followed by horns blazing behind us, as well as whoops, whistles, and claps.

I closed my eyes and leaned my body against Dante’s back, my cheek resting between his shoulder blades. He reached up to give my hand a quick squeeze before he held the motorbike again and drove faster.

We flew past The Greasy Spoon, and I had a small chuckle to myself as I thought back to how far we had come since then.

It seemed like no time at all had passed, and yet it had also felt like a lifetime. So much had happened in such a short space of time, it was almost impossible to remember what my life had been like before I entered that small café, and everything had changed forever.

And then, like a roaring stampede, I heard the noise from behind us.

The blazing horns, the whistling, the roar of the engines. I pulled back from Dante slightly and twisted my head to look behind me.

Holy fucking shit.

Every member of the Devil’s Disciples Leeds charter was following behind us. Crash in front, with Kitty on his back. Lord knew what he had said to cheer her up, but no one else would have been riding on the back of his bike.

Zach, Hacksaw, Shark, and Vienna were behind them, with Jenna on Shark’s bike, and every other member of the club falling into formation behind them.

They followed us onto the motorway, all of them still roaring their approval in whatever way they could, officially welcoming me to the club in their own way.

I saw Vienna pull away from the crowd, roaring his engine as he pushed to catch up with us.

He pulled alongside Dante’s motorbike, pushed up the visor of his helmet, and grinned at me.

He pointed to Dante, brought his middle finger and index finger to his lips in a V shape, flicked his tongue between them, and then pointed at me, before giving us both a thumbs up.

I laughed, shaking my head at him as he pulled back, joining the others as they turned off the motorway to head back home. I squeezed Dante even tighter, my heart feeling fuller than I could ever remember.

I truly did feel as though I had been accepted here. These people did not care about my past, what I had done, or who I had harmed. I was welcome here, and I had never really felt as though I was welcome anywhere.

Dante kept going until we reached an exit, turning off to take us onto the country roads. He came to a stop under a tree and turned the engine off.

“What are we doing?” I asked, pulling the helmet off.

“We,” he said, grinning wickedly. “Are about to consummate your old lady status before you change your mind.”