Chapter 29
Gabriella
Before
I was drunk, but I was also so unbelievably happy.
The noise from downstairs filtered into the bedroom, making me sigh with nothing but contentment
Tonight was Luke’s twenty-first, and we had both celebrated with his entire club. It was chaotic, it was sometimes frightening, but it had been real. I had been welcomed.
Natalie had convinced my dad that we needed a girly night, and she was covering for me, giving me an excuse to spend the entire night here, with the man I loved.
And now, here we were, away from the noise and his boisterous brothers. We were simply… existing. Like a normal couple.
Luke gathered me into his arms, resting his chin on top of my head, my own head cradled against his chest, and we swayed to the music.
There was no rhythm to our steps, no pattern in mind. We just held each other as song after song played for us.
One of his hands was against the small of my back, keeping me pressed against him, and my fingers traced the small dog wearing a crown tattoo on his chest—the princess and the stray.
“I love you,” he whispered against my hair, his words slurring slightly.
“I love you, too,” I replied, closing my eyes and breathing in the unique scent of this man—my man.
For the first time, this felt truly real. His club were welcoming, we were alone together… we had defeated the odds, and somehow made this work. We were going to be okay.
A small buzzing sound against my ear interrupted my thought process, and I pulled back slightly to look up at Luke.
“Are you humming?” I asked with a small laugh of disbelief.
Vienna by Billy Joel was playing on the radio, and Luke was actually humming, or softly singing the words. I couldn’t make out which one.
“Shut up and dance,” he muttered at me with a small smile.
I did as I was told, nestling back into his chest and grinning. “You realise this is the least biker song there is?”
“Listen to the words, Gabby. This song is the most us song there is. If you really listen.”
Slow down, you're doing fine
You can't be everything you wanna be before your time
Although it's so romantic, on the borderline
Tonight, tonight
The lyrics washed over me, and he was right—I could understand him. We weren’t everything we wanted to be. I wanted to be his old lady. I wanted my club to be welcoming. But it wasn’t our time. Not yet. But we were getting there.
You got your passion, you got your pride
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true, ooh
When will you realise Vienna waits for you?
“Do you hear it?” he whispered, kissing the top of my head. I just nodded back.
It wasn’t the most conventional song for a couple. But in this moment, where it was just the two of us, and Luke was softly singing for me… It felt… right.
Luke’s arms tightened around me slightly, like he was holding on to the moment.
Life truly couldn’t get better.
Luke
I looked at Gabriella sleeping in my bed and felt one more piece of my life slot perfectly into place.
I knew she still worried about her family and how they would react when they found out about us, but I no longer cared. My club had accepted her. She was welcomed here. She would be safe here. Life would have been difficult if we had two gangs to run and hide from, but that was no longer a concern.
I was a Devil, through and through. And she was my old lady—or as good as. Which meant she fell under the protection of the club as much as any other old lady.
Content that things were finally working in our favour, I pushed out of bed and out of the door, heading to one of the bathrooms in the clubhouse.
I forgot that you’re never truly alone in this place.
As I was showering, softly humming a tune under my breath, I first heard them.
“Is that…” Dante whispered.
“It’s fucking Billy Joel!” Macbeth chuckled back.
“Ahh, he’s going to fucking regret this!” I heard Trent hiss, followed by his heavy footsteps.
I internally groaned and glanced around, knowing there was nowhere for me to hide in here but looking anyway.
“Vienna of all the fucking songs!”
“You leave him alone, Mac, the man is expressing himself!”
I rolled my eyes at Dante’s response. Expressing himself, my ass!
Not a second later, I heard them both burst out in a terrible rendition of the song—mine and Gabriella’s song—followed by hysterical laughter and bangs against the door.
“Come on out, lover boy!” Macbeth called.
“Don’t keep us waiting. Not when Vienna waits for you!” Dante cheerfully piled on, earning himself a cough filled cackle from his brother.
“Did someone say Vienna?” Crash called from down the hallway. Great. Just fucking fantastic. This was all I needed.
“No one said anything about Vienna!” I yelled back, shutting off the shower completely and stepping out, wrapping a towel around my hips as I did so.
“Oh, but he did. You should have heard him, Crash. Belting it out he was,” Macbeth said, and when I heard scuffling, I ripped the door open, only to find Trent and Chris slow dancing and screeching the song.
“I hate all of you,” I muttered, all the familiar faces of the club piled in the hallway to mock me.
“Whoa, whoa, slow down you crazy child,” Dante said, holding his hands up as though to ward me away.
“Fuck off,” I grinned.
“Tell me, Luke, if you’re so smart, why are you still so afraid?”
That was it then, every single one of them grabbed a partner and began singing at the top of their lungs, swinging each other about in some ridiculous, fucked up version of ballroom dancing.
If you can’t beat them…
Whipping my towel off, draping it over my head like long hair, I jumped on Macbeth’s back and belted out the next lyrics. “But you know that when the truth is told, that you can get what you want, or you can just get old…”
“Get your fucking dick off my back mother fucker!” Macbeth screamed, bucking like a bronco.
I clung to his hair, refusing to be bucked off, clinging on for dear life as I sang the next line, screaming over his head. “You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through, ooh when will you realise Vienna waits for you?”
Macbeth lurched backwards, knocking us both into the wall and the air straight out of my lungs. I fell to the floor in a messy, naked heap, glancing up at the rest of my club members.
“Well, brothers,” Dante said, pushing to the front. “Looks like Luke is dead. All hail… Vienna.”