Epilogue
CASSANDRA
How had I lived my life without Chris Claiborne, a.k.a Slay, for fifteen years?
Fifteen years.
After being with my high school sweetheart again, like a couple, it felt like very little time had passed.
Yet we were in our thirties.
I supposed it was because I saw him around town every week over the years, catching glimpses of him passing by my café.
During our pillow talk time after some incredible sex, Chris had confessed he was always checking up on me. Even when we weren’t together, he was protective of me.
Oh, how my heart ached for the years we’d lost.
We had a lot of catching up to do. Naturally, we’d changed, but there were things about us that hadn’t changed.
Like I still loved to read daily, and he never missed a day on his motorcycle.
I turned the page of a post-apocalyptic book I was reading and had been recently donated to my café. I deemed the fallout and crazy, violent characters in the story far were worse than anything I had imagined the MC to be like.
But I didn’t really know much about club life. What did Chris and the others do to earn money? Had he killed anyone before? What was the purpose of “the club girls,” like Booty Shorts Suzy? And did Chris like her?
There was the almost kidnapping of me. Apparently, Alek had a mail order bride business, which was frightening.
So, there was some crazy shit going on in my small town and I wondered how much had been oblivious to.
I scanned the page I was on for the third time, anxious for Chris to return to his bedroom with a burrito from Tequila’s restaurant.
I was starving. Having a lot of sex burned a lot of calories. The sex was off the charts amazing.
How had I had the strength to resist him for fifteen freaking years?
For one, I had been living with a mountain of grief and regret. Two, I couldn’t forgive myself or Chris.
But after we’d talked about my ectopic pregnancy and my brother, we forgave each other.
Forgiveness was the best remedy.
Chris freed me from the self-inflicted shackles I’d placed on myself. God, I wished we’d gotten here sooner. Especially, after we’d spent the past few days in his bedroom, reacquainting ourselves.
I was utterly baffled by how stubborn I had been.
All these years, I could have been having the best sex of my life with the man who owned my heart.
A very attentive man, I might add, who took very good care of my emotional and sexual needs.
We weren’t suddenly madly in love like when we were teenagers. That would not be realistic. But I believed we could get there.
My biggest worry was Chris being in the motorcycle club, and I didn’t know how to deal with it.
But Silvia was a very sheltered woman and lived with nuns before she married El Jefe. If she could find a way to fit in, I could try to understand what the club meant to Chris. If I wanted to be with him, and I did, then I needed to try to understand.
The door opened and Chris entered with a tray of food that smelled delicious.
“Yay!” I tossed my book aside and clapped excitedly.
He kicked the door closed, and I noticed his serious expression.
“Is everything okay?”
“No.” He set the tray on the bed and came over to me. “I need to tell you something, and I hope you don’t freak out too much.”
“Too much? You’re scaring me. Has something happened?” Of course something had happened. My heart raced as he held my hand.
“Just know we’re doing everything we can and please. Please don’t cut me out of your life again.”
“Jesus, Chris. Is it that bad?”
“Yes.”
I teared up thinking the worst. “Is Steve dead?”
“No, baby. He’s alive and in the building. He got here a little while ago.”
“Okay.” I exhaled a deep breath. “Then what is it?”
“Lucy didn’t show up for work.”
I stared at him, not following him. “She’s probably sick. I’ll call her.” I reached for my phone. Lucy had been covering my shifts and Steve was helping too.
Chris wouldn’t let me leave the clubhouse, fearing Alek would try to take me again, because he hadn’t been captured.
“She won’t answer,” Chris said, gently taking the phone.
“Of course she will.” I laughed.
“She’s missing, sweetheart.” I pulled me into his arms. “I’m so sorry. We are doing everything to find her.”
“Alek?” My heart jumped into my throat as I thought of sweet Lucy being sold as a mail order bride.
“We believe so. The club is going on lock down. With your permission, I’m going to bring in Makayla, so she’ll be safe. We’re keeping all the women we know at the club house.”
“Oh my God, Chris.” I burst into tears. “Yes, bring my sister here and please, pleases, please find Lucy!”