Page 31

Brittany

W hen I wake up, I’m surrounded by family. Not only are Tusk and his boys there, but he has our daughter on his shoulder, fast asleep. Clara and Tex are holding their twins. My grandmother is there with her husband and sons. I sit up and begin finger-combing my hair because I must look like a mess.

Tusk grins at me. “You’re still beautiful, even with bedhead.”

I hold out my arms for my baby, and Tusk quickly brings her to me. Then he holds a drink with a straw in front of me so I can drink.

“Thanks, Tusk. My throat was really dry.”

He chuckles. “You’re a very talkative woman. When you didn’t speak, I thought thirst might be the culprit.”

I swat him playfully on the arm and say, “Mind your manners. We’ve got company.”

He gets a brush and begins brushing my hair because he knows I’m embarrassed by bad hair.

I turn to the woman who looks like a much older version of me and tell her, “Maybe we can pretend like we’re meeting for the first time and do it right this time.”

She’s all smiles as she gets up and comes to sit by me. “You already know that my name is Victoria, and I left the church too. What you might not know is that I found Rock, and we started our own MC. I was technically head girl, but it was always just me and Rock together and our boys. I was pretty messed up from everything my first husband put me through when I first left the church. Things I dare not mention in front of children, but the Sons of Rage saved me.”

I reach out and take hold of her hand and tell her, “I’m really sorry you had to go through all that with your first husband.”

She sighs, her voice turning serious. “I’m not sorry. Not even a little bit. If it hadn’t been for that asshole, I never would have had your mother, and she never would have had you. The world is a better place for having you in it.”

Suddenly, my voice is serious too. “Do you ever regret running?”

“No. I was young when I had your mother, and my own parents wouldn’t let me take her when I left. I don’t regret leaving, but the biggest regret of my life was never getting the opportunity to get to know your mother or meet you.” Then she switches it up on me. “How about you? Do you regret leaving the church?”

“Hell no. If I hadn’t left the church, I never would have met Tusk or his boys. And I wouldn’t have a wonderful little daughter to name after the grandmother I never thought I’d meet.”

“She’s precious, all right. No one calls me Victoria, at least not often.”

Her old man moves over to stand beside her. “We all call her Queenie because she’s my queen.”

My grandmother tugs him down, and he squats beside my bed. “This is my husband, Rock.”

He reaches out to shake my hand. “It’s real nice to meet you. I want you to know that although you are Tusk’s old lady and under the protection of the Savage Legion, you’ll always be our granddaughter. As such, our club will be your second home if you want it.”

I pat him on the shoulder. “Oh, look how formal you are. That’s a really nice offer, and I gratefully accept. With any luck, we’ll spend lots of time visiting back and forth.”

The older man’s stoic face lights up. “I just knew you were gonna be down-to-earth like my Queenie. Now, if you need anything at all, you just tell me, and I’ll make my boys run right out and get it for you.”

Jasper speaks up, his voice somehow indignant and amused at the same time. “Hey pops, Slate and I aren’t prospects. Our fetching and carrying days are long over.”

Rock’s head whips around, and suddenly the one with a patch that says Slate is standing beside Jasper. “What my brother means to say is that we’d be happy to do whatever needs doing in the service of our niece, right, Jasp?”

He grumbles his agreement, not looking all that put out by his father’s expectations. I’m starting to think he just likes to argue with his old man.

I tell him, “I’ve already met Jasper, but it’s real nice to meet you as well, Slate.”

Slate is worlds more polite than his brother. He dips his head and tells me, “It’s good to meet you too.”

I smile because here I was thinking I was all on my own and my family is turning out to be larger than I ever thought.

Queenie takes Victoria from me because Tusk’s boys are crowding the bed. I motion for them all to come closer, and they swarm me. I can see that they’re all worried about me because they’re patting my hair and arms and asking if I’m okay.

I do my best to reassure them, but after an hour or so, Tusk shoos them all out. I give all the boys a hug and my baby a kiss before they leave. I notice that Queenie is talkative with the boys, but she’s not letting go of her namesake for love or money. She’s a proud grandma.

Tex and Clara come up and give me a quick hug as well. Clara whispers, “Your family has been great. I just thought you might want to know since this is a new situation.”

“Thanks for hanging in there with the boys. I think Queenie is okay with the kids.”

Tusk adds, “Evan and Levi are gonna let my boys bunk out on their floor tonight. Rigs has already made arrangements for it to happen. So, the two of you can go home and get some much-deserved rest.”

“Thank fuck,” Tex says. “I love your boys, and they’ve been on their best behavior, but I’m dying for a good night’s sleep.”

Tusk slaps him on the shoulder. “You deserve it. Thanks for being a righteous brother during these dark times for my family.”

Tex flashes him a quick grin. “Anytime, brother. Anytime.”

***

When the room empties out, Tusk wraps me up protectively in his arms. “It’s been rough the last few days. Tell me the truth. How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

“To be honest, I was terrified when we were in the mall parking lot. For a minute, I thought Harper was going to make off with me again. I’m glad you didn’t let them bring my daughter as bait.”

“There was no fucking chance of that happening. It wasn’t part of the discussion at any point.”

“I’m still confused about what he wanted with me. I had a childhood friend in the church tell me that she never saw him with a woman, never heard him talk about women, or even give sermons on women. It’s like we didn’t exist in his mind. There was just this Eve thing that didn’t seem to make any more sense to her than it did to me.”

Tusk frowns. “It was something Queenie did. Remember how she talked about being really messed up for a long time after leaving the church?”

“Yeah, I remember her saying that’s why she gave her boys strong names hoping it would be some kind of protection. I hope she ended up getting herself some help.”

He tells me, “I don’t think she did because she was obsessed with something happening to you, so she wrote a will gifting you a map to a religious artifact when you turned thirty. She thought they’d take care of you if you were destined to lead them to something religiously important.”

After thinking it over for a minute, I say, “She wasn’t wrong about that. My parents were strict, but I was treated way better than my friends. It almost felt like I could do no wrong or like I was living a charmed life growing up. That’s why I took it so hard when they insisted that I marry Silas Harper.” After thinking it over, I ask, “Won’t that just make him all the more determined to get me back?”

“Nah, there’s no treasure, but we brainstormed a couple of things that should change his mind about wanting you. We left behind a bike with an envelope in the storage compartment. It’s a copy of Queenie’s will and a key to the safety deposit box with a fake map. She said her religious sect is always tracking some religious artifact or another. They mostly end up disappointed. Levi had the outstanding idea to make him think you inherited a congenital disease. Dr. Patch faked up a really nasty one and put it on his office letterhead. It looked really official.”

I look up at him, awestruck. “Since he’s got a way to obtain the map and would be embarrassed if our kids ended up with obvious abnormalities, that means he’s got no reason to circle back around to me, right?”

“That was the plan. Siege texted me earlier that Harper is on his way to the bank even as we speak. I’ve already decided that if that ignorant fucker shows back up, I’m giving him a dirt nap.”

“That was really clever, all the way around. From Queenie making sure they saw value in keeping me safe, to tricking Silas Harper into losing interest in marrying me.”

“He’s probably gay,” Tusk grumbles. “Any man with eyes would want you.”

“My friend said he never pays any attention to men either. I think he’s asexual or something along those lines.”

Tusk snorts a laugh. “Don’t insult asexual people by comparing them to him.”

Like always, he’s not wrong about that.

“So, where does all that leave us?” I ask him. “Because to my mind, it sounds an awful lot like this whole debacle has been successfully concluded, without anyone dying.”

Tusk frowns. “Harper’s followers took some hits. Don’t know how many died, but several were down when we rode out of there.”

“Oh, I don’t know how I feel about that.”

“Harper is also gonna have his hands full for the foreseeable future, ‘cause those three teens went to the police to report how he had them locked up in his basement. Zen found security footage of him refusing to feed them because they were gay.”

“Serves him right,” I say. “What about us? Where do we stand?”

“Together,” he responds firmly. “Always together.” Leaning down, he presses his forehead to mine. “I want us to get hitched. I bought the ring ages ago. I just need to make popping the question special, something you’ll always remember.”

Always the impulsive one, I say, “Do it now. I don’t need you to make an event out of asking me to marry you. Being asked by you is special enough all on its own.”

His hand goes to the inside of his vest pocket so fast, I get bumped a bit. He pulls out a small velvet ring box, and excitement doubles, then triples in my chest as he opens it. The ring is absolutely gorgeous. It’s not flashy, just a neat white gold band with a diamond. “Brittany, you’ve been my girl since the first time I laid eyes on you. What I want to know is if you’ll also be my wife, you know, to have and to hold until death do us part and all that?”

I hold up my hand, thrilled that he actually listens to me and gives me exactly what I want, instead of what he thinks I need. I love that about him. “I’d love to be your wife, and I plan to do a lot of having and holding.”

He slips the ring on my finger and asks, “Sex or sleep. Which is it gonna be tonight, sweetness?”

“You know the answer to that, babe. Silas and his followers are not strong enough or clever enough to traumatize me. Making love to the man I love is the best way to put all their nonsense behind me.”

“You sure about this? We can stop at any point if you’re not feeling it.”

“Shut up and take off your clothes, babe,” I tell him teasingly.

“Yes, ma’am. This is living proof that you and I are always gonna find a way to keep the love and intimacy going strong in our lives.”

“You got that right, mister. Nothing can keep me from wanting my hot, tatted-up biker,” I tell him. “Not pregnancies, babies, four rambunctious boys, a crazy cult, or even long-lost relatives.”

When Tusk takes me into his arms, I feel like everything has suddenly righted itself in my world. Why worry about the past when my happily ever after is staring me right in the face? Tusk is all I’m ever going to need for the rest of my life. He’s not only my salvation, he’s my chance at something better—at love, family, and a future I can’t wait to experience at his side.