41. Kate
Kate
Istood near the bar with Noah on my hip while Lucy bounced around in front of him making ridiculous faces. His tiny laugh filled the clubhouse.
Finn was home. Somehow, Reaper had handled it.
Now, Finn sat inside church with the brothers while the rest of us waited.
My eyes kept drifting towards the closed door. I hated that stupid room.
Lucy glanced at me knowingly. “Relax. Church won’t last forever.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
She grinned. “Actually, no, it’s not. Reaper once kept them in there six hours because Spider mouthed off.”
Noah squealed loudly as Lucy tickled his stomach, and I laughed, grateful for the distraction.
The church room door finally opened. My stomach flipped.
The brothers filed out and, after what felt like eternity, Finn stepped out beside Reaper, running a hand through his hair as he scanned the room. The second his eyes landed on me, his entire face softened, and all the tension inside me melted away.
God, I’d missed him.
He crossed the room without hesitation, stopping right in front of me before leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to my lips.
“Miss me?” he murmured.
“Maybe a little,” I teased, even though my cheeks were already burning.
“A little?” He looked offended. “That’s brutal, Kate.”
“What did Reaper want?” I asked.
“Club stuff,” he replied. “Nothing bad.”
I searched his face anyway, looking for tension, worry . . . anything. “You sure?”
His thumb brushed lightly against my side. “Yeah.”
Before I could reply, Reaper appeared beside us. “Rooms are booked,” he announced.
Finn frowned slightly. “Rooms?”
“The Pembroke,” Lucy explained with a grin. “Thought you two deserved some time away after all the stress.”
“And before either of you start panicking,” Reaper added dryly, “Maria and Riot are keeping Noah.”
Finn blinked once. “You’re leaving Riot unsupervised with a baby?”
“He likes Noah,” Lucy defended.
“That honestly concerns me more.”
Reaper smirked faintly. “Get your bags packed. You leave in twenty.”
Finn looked down at me, something warm settling in his expression.
“Guess we’re getting that time alone after all.”
My stomach fluttered hard enough that I had to look away before he noticed.
“Actually . . .” I started, twirling my hands together.
“We have two rooms booked at the Pembroke in the city for the night. Thought the four of us could get away and you two can spend some quality time together,” Lucy filled in.
“Sounds good.” He smiled, pulling me into his side.
Noah yelled and held his hands out to Finn. “He’s grown so much,” he said, gazing down at Noah whilst pulling silly faces at him.
“Babies grow quickly,” I replied, watching as Finn’s face fell.
“Hey, you okay?” I placed my hand on his arm and felt a familiar rush of warmth.
“Yeah, I . . . I’m just glad I haven’t missed all that time.”
“Listen, I’m sorry about the way things went, but you saved me and Noah. We never have to worry about them ever again, and for that, I will always be grateful.”
“I will never let anyone hurt either of you ever again. I’ll always be there to protect you both and never leave you alone again.”
My heart raced and my mind whirred with all he had said, but did he really mean what I thought he did, or was I just hoping too hard again?
“Can we talk somewhere quieter?” I asked him.
“Yeah,” he replied, leading me down the back corridor and into an empty bedroom.
“So, about what Reaper said before about being your old lady . . .”
“Yeah. I know I should’ve talked to you first, but everything was going so fast, and I thought I’d have time to talk before . . . well, before it was announced to the whole club.” Finn pulled the corner of his lip between his teeth and looked down.
“So, I’m your old lady? What does that mean exactly? I’m not old.”
Finn chuckled before lifting his hand and cupping my cheek.
“It means that you’re mine, Kate. Forever. And even if you don’t want me like that, which I totally understand after everything you saw, I will still always be there for you and Noah.” He reached his hand across to a sleeping Noah and stroked his head.
“I didn’t know if you meant it,” I said.
Finn’s brow furrowed.
“The old lady thing.” I glanced down at Noah before forcing myself to look back at him. “I didn’t know if it was because you wanted me or because of Noah. Because the club expected it. Because Caleb’s gone.”
Pain flickered across Finn’s face. “Kate?—”
“I know how this looks,” I rushed on, my throat tightening. “Single mum. Dead brother’s baby. Living in your house. I didn’t want you feeling trapped into taking care of us.”
Finn went completely still. Then he cupped my face harder, forcing me to hold his gaze.
“You think this is obligation?” he asked roughly. “Baby, I would’ve walked away if it was obligation. Sent prospects. Paid for security. Done the bare minimum the club expected.”
My breath caught.
“But I couldn’t stay away from you.” His voice dropped lower, rough with emotion. “Couldn’t leave you alone. Couldn’t stop thinking about you, about him.” His eyes flicked to Noah. “Somewhere along the way, you both started feeling like mine.”
Emotion clogged my throat.
“I didn’t claim you because I had to,” he continued. “I claimed you because the thought of losing you made me feel fucking sick.”
He pressed a soft kiss to my lips, pulling back slightly, his eyes searching mine.
“I love you. I love you both so much. I’d do anything for you.”
“I love you too. I have for a long time,” I replied, leaning forward and claiming a kiss of my own.
What started off as soft and sweet soon turned hot. His free hand slipped down and cupped my backside.
It felt so good to have his hands on me again that I almost forgot where we were. Almost. I pulled back, dizzy and breathless.
“We should get him to Maria,” I said, nodding at Noah.
“Yeah, then I get you all to myself, right?”
“Right.”
“Just one question,” he said.
I turned to look at him.
“Why are Reaper and Lucy coming with us? Not that I'm being ungrateful . . .” He trailed off.
“Actually, they had booked a romantic weekend, and Lucy mentioned that we could do with some time to ourselves after what happened and with you being away, so they paid for us to go too.”
“Sounds good.”
“Okay, let’s get it over with.”
Maria was waiting for us in the room that had been set up for Noah.
I passed him off to her and saw the longing in Finn's eyes matched mine as we left the room.
I fought the urge to run back and refuse to leave him.
The time that Finn had been away had started off rocky.
The bikers hadn’t wanted a screaming baby at the clubhouse, and I couldn’t blame them, but I didn’t want to be left alone at Finn’s house.
It wasn’t the same knowing he wasn’t coming home at night.
At the clubhouse, I’d tried to stay out of the way with Noah and stayed upstairs.
But during the times we were downstairs, the grumpy looks became less and less, and some of the brothers even came and interacted with us.
Even Keno, big and scary as he looked, held Noah, and once or twice, I’d caught him pulling silly faces at him and even smiling.
It was the only reason I was able to leave him. I knew he was in the safest place he could ever be. With so many family members who would protect him with their lives, and some who may even come to love him.
Finn sensed my unease as we sat in the back of the truck. “Hey, we don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I’m happy to be back with my girl and our son.” He squeezed my hand.
“Our son?” I questioned, my eyes wide.
“Shit, I didn’t mean it like that. I know Caleb will always be his father, and I never want to take his place. I only want to be there for you and Noah, and for you to know, I’m all in with both of you.”
“I won’t let him forget Caleb, but I love that you love Noah too. We want you in our lives too.”