Page 142 of The First Cut

“Wow, you’ve totally corrupted her.” Toot shakes his head and walks back to the rest of his brothers.

“He’s harmless, I swear. Mac, that’s his brother—” Nevaeh points at another guy who looks a little like Toot before continuing “—says he was dropped on his head a few times when he was a kid. We suspect brain damage.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“Hey!” Toot yells, making both clubs laugh.

“What’s everyone standing around for? It’s time to cut the cake.”

I close my eyes and sigh when I hear Ed’s voice yelling.

“Ooh, you got cake?” A stunning woman steps up beside Nevaeh, offering me a smile. “I mostly eat clean, but if I’m ever going to break, it’s because of cake. I’m Amity, by the way. G’s old lady.”

“The stuntwoman, right?”

“That’s me.”

“Oh my fucking God.”

I turn at the sound of Byte’s voice.

“What’s wrong?”

“Absolutely fucking nothing.”

“I feel like I should invest in a swear jar or something.” I sigh as Evan releases my nipple. I deftly tuck myself away and lift him over my shoulder, tapping his back.

“What’s going on with Byte?” I ask Hannibal but notice everyone moving to gather nearer the cake.

“Not sure.” Hannibal presses his hand to my lower back and ushers me toward the cake table Ed set up on the far side of the room.

I stop a few feet in front of it when I get a good look at it. Hannibal starts choking beside me just as Nevaeh, who had followed us over, starts giggling.

“Is that?

“Driller? Yeah.”

I couldn’t, in my wildest dreams, have foreseen Ed making a massive human-shaped cake. A human that looks uncannily like Driller. But just in case there was any confusion, he’s even wearing a cut with his name piped onto the chest.

“I have no words,” I admit as Havoc steps up next to me. I look up at him. He stares at me like he wants to say something but has no clue where to start. I smile. “Everything turned out the way it was supposed to in the end.”

He lifts his hand and trails his finger down Evan’s face. “I loved you. I don’t ever want you to think I didn’t. When I asked for forever, I meant it.”

“We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be, Havoc. I’ve made peace with that. It’s time that you do too.”

“How? How can you even look at me and not hate me?”

“I did hate you for a while. I hated you, Khan, Driller, this club. Hell, I hated myself the most. And you know what I realized? It was fucking exhausting. I had to let it go to move on.” I look to Hannibal, who’s standing with Millie, watching me, waiting for a sign that I need him to intervene.

“I’m happy. And knowing how it feels, I know that we were in trouble long before Driller stepped in and fucked with us both. We were drifting apart.”

His shoulders slump. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. Sorrier than you’ll ever know.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. It would be so easy to lash out at him. I’m past most of my anger, but that doesn’t mean I can just forget everything. I’m a work in progress. But that’s okay because I know I’ll get there eventually.

“You want to hold your nephew?”

His eyes jump to mine. “Really?”