Page 131 of The Deals We Make

“When I was a kid, I couldn’t imagine anyone being so lucky to have a best friend like you. And now I’m a man, I still feel the exact same way. Only now, I love every single thing about who you are. I promise to always celebrate your huge brain, worship your body, and fuck you every time you wear these shoes.”

My brothers whoop and holler behind me.

Calista grins at that and I finger the tie at her ankle, knowing I’m gonna kneel in front of her later, put the sole of that shoe on my chest, and untie them slowly.

I open the ring box and offer it toward her, but she doesn’t even look down at it. Her eyes remain fixed on me.

“Now I have you, I can’t ever let you go. So, I’m on my knees, offering myself and the best fucking life the two of us can build. You reminded my heart how to fucking beat, Cal. Marry me. Please.”

“Oh, Ti,” she says, placing her hand on her chest. “Yes, of course. Yes.”

The next bit becomes a blur. Does she bend to me, do I stand? All I know is she ends up in my arms with my lips on hers while my friends cheer for the two of us.

I have friends.

I’ll soon have a wife because I’m not fucking around with a long engagement.

And to top it all?

I’m a motherfucking Outlaw.

EPILOGUE TWO

WRAITH

I’m a walking, talking, corpse of a man capable of only one thing.

Taking lives.

I do it remorselessly and relentlessly for my club, the Iron Outlaws Colorado chapter.

Because someone once took the lives of two I placed above all others. And once they were gone, there weren’t enough carcasses that needed killing to satisfy my quest for vengeance.

I pull my bike to a stop at the diner on the edge of town. Rain batters me, and the last hour of the ride has been nothing short of treacherous. I’m soaked through to the bone, but the cold can’t reach me.

Not since my girls, my sweet Hallie and little Lottie, were taken from me two years ago.

I push the door to the diner open, and the little bell rattles above me. Thoughts of the million and one times I’d hear that sound and then within seconds, Hallie would be in my arms flood me.

From the very first when I became a fool for her, to the last when I stopped by to say goodbye before I went off on a run. Now the fucking bell is a reminder of what we once were.

What I once had.

Wouldn’t even come here if my mother-in-law didn’t own the place.

She begged me, pleaded with me, on the day of the funeral. Said we were the only two on the planet who understood the loss and that I couldn’t just disappear from her life.

We had two coffins for the service. Hallie’s carried by my brothers in the Outlaws, while I took Lottie’s in my arms. Last time I ever held my baby girl.

Only one coffin was put in the ground. I lifted my baby girl out of the perfect white casket lined with ivory silk and put her in the stiff arms of her momma.

Kissed ‘em both one last time, closed the lid, and buried them with my heart.

I remove my helmet as I step inside, immediately ambushed by the smell of cooked mince, apple pie, and coffee. Condensation runs down the inside of the windows while rain beats on the exterior. Heat hits my cheeks in waves.

“Axel,” my mother-in-law says when she sees me. “Close the door and come in out the wet.”

The diner is cozy, but you can see the weariness in everything from the gently worn leather of the booths, to the stoic faces of the patrons.