CHAPTER 16
SCARLETT
I can tell my brothers are nervous as we walk over to the clubhouse. Ezekiel came to me this morning and asked what he should wear. The boy lives in athletic shorts and t-shirts and doesn’t usually if the colors match between them, but today he wanted to make a good impression.
It was kind of adorable.
I let him know that everyone we’re meeting today already loves him and is just excited to meet him. Which is why he’s wearing red shorts and an orange shirt. I guess it’s not the worst combination I’ve seen him put on in the last two weeks.
My brothers have adjusted to their new schools, even though they were both apprehensive at first. I could only tell them that no matter what happened, it would get better. Ezekiel has thrived and I’ve seen Malcolm start to come out of his shell. From what I’ve been told, since Dean has been doing pick up and drop off, Malcolm was talking with a group of kids this last week.
Be still my heart.
They haven’t pushed as many boundaries at home as I expected them to, but I think having Dean’s constant, strong presence has helped with that. They both know that they aren’t going to get one over on him and that he’s going to have my back first, no matter what. Still, the way they both look up to him, even copying his mannerisms at times, tells me they know he’ll have their back, if and when they need him, too.
“Today is just a family BBQ guys,” I remind them. “No other clubs or chapters are visiting. It’ll be chill and you can just get to know everyone.”
Malcolm gives me a little smile and I almost trip over my feet. He’s been closed off since coming to live with us, but there are moments when I get glimpses of the young man he really could be. Dean steadies me and I only bobble the box of macrons slightly.
I couldn’t have hired Amber at a better time because it’s given me the freedom to be home more for my brothers. There are times when I miss the bakery, but that’s when I go into the kitchen and start testing new recipes. Ezekiel has even started helping me and he’s really good at it.
At this point, I’d trust him to make three of my cookie recipes all by himself because he has them memorized. We’ve bonded while baking and it makes me feel closer to my mom in those moments since I did the same with her.
Malcolm won’t help me in the kitchen, but he’ll sit there and listen. I’m taking that as a win.
We’ve talked about what happens next and that I want to officially adopt them as soon as it’s a possibility. I’m pretty sure I surprised my brothers with that one, but I want them to know that no one can take them away from me and that I’m not going anywhere.
Angie let me know that it would be easier to be married to Dean when the time comes, but I’m not putting that on my man. It’ll all work out, however it’s supposed to, when the time is right.
As we approach the back of the clubhouse, I smile at the tables set up the smell of meat already cooking. What does surprise me is that no one is milling around. When I look at Dean questioningly, he grins at me and winks before taking the box out of my hands.
“How about we go in the front? Give the boys the full Devil’s Saints experience.”
I chuckle and nod, leading the boys around to the front as I tug on my property cut slightly. It’s not heavy, but the weight of it, the commitment that comes with it, is something I can’t ignore. Why would I want to? I welcome it.
“Go on,” Dean urges, “open the door, boys and walk inside to meet your family.”
With a glance at my man, my brothers each grab one side of the double doors where the DSMC emblem is front and center for anyone walking in to see. I could see how it would be intimidating to a lot of people, but not to me. I see the devil’s skull and am filled with warmth that means family.
The moment the doors are opened, and the boys walk in, my eyes fill with tears. The common room of the clubhouse is filled with the eager faces of everyone who makes this place what it is.
“Welcome home,” is shouted so loud that it rivals the roar of their motorcycle’s engines.
Ezekiel startles a little bit but then starts to laugh. He looks back at us with wide eyes and the biggest smile on his face that I’ve ever seen. Malcolm’s mouth drops open, his brooding stoicism dropping for a moment before he wrestles it back into place, but, even then, I can see the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Lucifer and Cherise are the first to step forward. “Sir,” Malcolm greets the club’s President before looking toward Cherise and adding, “ma’am.”
“Well,” she drawls and tugs him against her and wrapping him up in a hug, “Malcolm, it seems that everything my Old Man told me about you was true. You are going to make a fine Prospect in a few years, and I can’t wait to watch you,” she looks at Ezekiel and pulls him into the hug, “both thrive with our family.”
“Prospect?” Malcolm seems stunned and blinks a few times at Lucifer as Cherise lets him go. “You really said that, Prez?”
Lucifer’s laugh is a booming sound that seems to spur everyone to step closer and swarm our group. I watch the boys closely, hoping they aren’t overwhelmed.
Clearly, I underestimated my family. Or maybe I underestimated my brothers.
They aren’t scared. They aren’t even intimidated, which wouldn’t be a wild notion considering the size of some of the men in the room.
My brothers are fucking shining. It’s as if being under the attention of this family and being showered in their love has lit up my brothers from the inside out.
Dean turns me and cups my cheeks. He’s not holding the box filled with macrons anymore, but I don’t even care. He wipes the tears away that I didn’t even realize were falling.
“I don’t like it when you cry, Sugar,” he husks.
“They’re happy tears,” I assure him.
He smirks and then looks around before nodding at someone. A spark whistle cuts through the din of the room and everyone quiets. My eyes go round as I watch Dean drop down to one knee right in front of me and my mouth drops open.
I whisper, “Are you serious right now?”
“Oh,” there’s a wicked promise in his voice, “I’m very serious.” He takes a deep breath and pulls a ring out of his pocket. It’s a simple setting, which I’m grateful for; I’m not the kind to go for flashy. “Scarlett, the day I met you was the first best day of my life. I fell in love with you with the moment I saw you and I never looked back. Now, you’ve given me something even more special. You’ve given me a family that is just for me, for us. I know the boys are your brothers and the circumstances were less than ideal because of their experiences, but the last two weeks have been the best in my life. The day they came home to us was the second-best day of my life. I’d like to ask for my third now, but it’ll only happen when you say yes to becoming my wife.”
“Yes,” I breathe out, my voice barely above a whisper, but loud in the charged silence surrounding us.
The crowd goes fucking wild. Dean slips the ring on my finger and then I’m in his arms and bent back over his arm so he can kiss me until the room starts spinning and only joy can exist.
When he stands me up, an Ezekiel sized weight slams into me, but Dean is there to hold me steady. He’s always there to hold me steady. My little brother wraps his arms around me and hugs me something fierce. Malcolm is right there, seeming to wait in the wings, but I’m not having it and neither is Dean.
“Come here, Malcolm,” Dean insists and holds out his arm.
My older little brother closes the distance, and we’re wrapped up together. A little family. But being surrounded by the much larger family of the DSMC, having them watch on and blessing us, makes it that much better.
“One day,” Dean whispers in my ear, “we’ll grow our little family.”
I give my man a cheeky smile and kiss the underside of his jaw. I make a vow right there and then, to him and to myself, “One day.”
Ezekiel and Malcolm run off to meet more of the family and we’re surrounded with congratulations of our own. I don’t know if my heart has ever felt fuller.
Hammer slaps Frenzy on the back and winks at me. “How does it feel to go from single to in love to having an Old Lady and now a family which includes two young men? You sure you don’t need help running?”
I know he’s joking, but I can’t help the way my body stiffens. Dean’s face morphs and he becomes Frenzy right in front of me, filled with rage and barely contained. Hammer holds up his hands, a huge grin on his face and not even a hint of fear.
“I get it,” Dean spits, “you’re jealous. I’d be jealous of me too.”
Hammer throws back his head and laughs before giving Dean a back slapping bro hug and planting a kiss on my cheek which has my man growling in warning. I can only roll my eyes. Dean knows I’m his and only his, just like I know the same is true for him.
He’s mine and only mine.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
As the party starts to break up a little bit and people start to drift outside and into the kitchen to finish up the last of the preparation, I look around the room and a feeling of rightness settles over me. This is where I belong. I don’t know if I would have found it if the Old Ladies hadn’t found Crescent Sugar or if they hadn’t pushed me that day to share with them what was going on.
I guess it doesn’t matter now because it all happened the way it should have.
I’m in love and now engaged to be married. I’ve been connected with brothers I never knew I had, brothers who are now safe. The future won’t always be easy, but it’ll be filled with love and family.
“Sugar,” Dean leans down, his lips brushing against my earlobe and causing me to shiver, “the boys are occupied at the moment.”
I look up at him and arch an eyebrow. “Oh?”
He makes a humming sound before gripping my hand and pulling me along after him. If anyone notices him taking me to his room in the clubhouse, I don’t even care.
The moment we’re inside, he grips my thighs, picks me up and slams me back against the door. He growls against my lips, “This is going to be hard and fast, Sugar, but I can’t go another second not being buried inside of you now that you have my ring on your finger.”
He pulls my panties to the side, my dress rucking up around my hips, and slams into me. He captures the scream with his mouth, swallowing it down as he sets a punishing pace. All I can do is hold on to his shoulders and fall into the pleasure I always experience with this man.
It’s exactly what he said it was going to be—hard and fast. I wouldn’t have it any other way.