Chapter Nineteen #3
He releases my hands, but I can’t look away from his face.
I must be dreaming.
This has to be some wonderful dream where everything finally went right.
Any second now, I’m going to wake up in my house… back in the days when Tank avoided me like I was some kind of emotional landmine.
“Dream?” I ask.
“Yes,” he says easily. “Maybe not the kind of dream you’re talking about, but a dream nonetheless.”
I tilt my head, and he smiles.
“Everything is perfect,” he says quietly. “I finally have the woman I’ve loved for so long, and she agreed to be my wife. A dream I’ve had for years… finally here.”
“I don’t want to wake up,” I whisper.
“Then don’t,” he murmurs. “Let’s just live our dream life together.”
Someone pinch me.
“Do you like your ring, Abigail?”
“My what?” I ask, still completely lost in the warmth of his eyes.
Chuckling, he lifts my left hand in front of my face.
And that’s when I finally see it.
The most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.
At the center sits a soft violet gemstone, catching the firelight and glowing like a tiny piece of twilight resting on my finger. It isn’t huge or flashy…just a perfectly cut oval stone, deep purple with hints of lavender when it moves through the light.
Amethyst. Just like our door.
My favorite color.
It’s elegant, graceful, and strong without needing to be loud.
Just like the man who gave it to me.
My fingers tremble as I stare at it.
“You chose my favorite color,” I whisper.
Tank shrugs one shoulder, suddenly looking a little nervous.
“Purple,” he says. “Always purple. Your door. Your clothes. The ribbons you tie around packages at your shop. Figured your ring should match the woman wearing it.”
My throat tightens.
“It’s perfect,” I breathe.
Then I look up at him again, my heart so full it almost hurts.
“It’s exactly me.”
He grins.
“Good,” he says softly. “I have one more surprise.”
“I don’t think I can handle another one,” I admit, trying to hide how ridiculously excited I am.
Riley runs over and hands Tank a purple gift bag.
“Thanks, Riles,” he says before turning back to me. “Okay, Abigail… I was trying to find a way to prove to you that I’ve loved you even when I was too afraid to admit it.”
“You have nothing more to prove, Tank,” I interrupt.
“Oh, baby,” he says, not caring that the entire compound is listening. “That’s where you’re wrong. I have a lot to prove. But I can start with something strong.”
He hands me the bag.
Suddenly, I’m afraid to open it.
“I never planned to admit my feelings for you,” he says quietly. “I planned to spend the rest of my life loving you in secret.”
“Wasn’t much of a secret,” Skip mutters loudly.
“But I dreamed, baby,” Tank continues, ignoring him. “I dreamed so hard it drove me crazy. That ring you’re wearing? I bought it three years ago.”
My head snaps up.
What?
“It’s been sitting in my safe tormenting me with the dream I thought I’d never get to have,” he says.
Then he nods toward the bag.
“I bought that at the same time.”
Right.
The purple gift bag.
Tank gently takes it from my frozen hands and opens it himself, since apparently my brain has completely shut down.
He reaches inside and pulls something out.
Soft leather unfolds in his hands.
Lavender.
A lavender leather cut.
I can’t breathe.
The front is gorgeous…soft purple leather with delicate jewel work stitched into the design. The name Abby is embroidered across the left side.
Most cuts have patches.
This one is stitched.
I know that because I made it.
When I make cuts for biker babes, I personally stitch their names, giving it a more feminine look unless they ask me not to.
“I was so jealous of this cut,” I admit through my tears. “It was my favorite one I’ve ever done. I always wondered why I never saw anyone wearing it.”
When that order came through, I remember being shocked.
After I posted Sunny’s colorful cuts online, I started getting requests for custom ones every week. Most from Shadow members, but not all of them.
Then someone ordered a purple leather bedazzled cut with the name Abby.
What a coincidence.
I was miserable the entire time making it.
Because I wanted it.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I was making my own. There are hundreds of members in the Iron Shadows, so I didn’t question why I never saw it.
“Riley helped me with the sizes and design ideas,” Tank says. “Then I had another brother place the order for me. It’s been hanging in my closet ever since.”
His voice softens.
“I’ve always wanted you to be mine, Abigail.”
He slowly turns the cut around.
“Because I’ve always been yours.”
My breath catches.
In the center is the club’s logo.
I ironed that patch on myself.
But the patches above and below it…
I didn’t do those.
PROPERTY
OF TANK
My heart nearly explodes.
Every time I leave the compound, my brother complains that I don’t wear my Property of Iron Shadows cut…the plain black one hanging in my closet.
But I hated wearing it.
Because all the other property cuts have love stitched into them.
I know.
I made them for the men who loved them enough to patch them.
Mine always felt empty.
Tank opens the cut, and I spin around immediately so I can slide my arms inside.
“I didn’t add that property patch,” I say when I turn back around.
The heat in his eyes makes my stomach flip.
I turn around again so he can see the back.
So he can see exactly who I belong to.
“Riley did that for me,” he admits. “I bought the patches somewhere else… sorry, baby. I just couldn’t risk you finding out. Then I asked Riley to figure out how to attach them.”
“Wasn’t that hard,” Riley says proudly.
It isn’t.
These patches just need to be ironed on.
I’ll probably stitch around them later for durability like I do with all my cuts.
But right now?
It’s perfect.
Turning back around, I throw myself into Tank’s arms.
“I love it,” I whisper. “Also… you’re sneaky.”
Chuckling, he kisses the top of my head.
“I can’t wait to marry you,” I admit softly as the rest of the compound buzzes around us.
“Soon, baby,” he says. “We’re not waiting months, right?”
“One month,” I say confidently. “I already have our wedding planned.”
That makes Tank and Spike laugh.
Must be an inside joke.
“One month,” Tank agrees. “Now kiss me… and get back to making my s’more.”
Oh, that little…
Instead of kissing him, I grab the fallen marshmallow from earlier and throw it at his head.
He catches it…and eats it.
“I hope those two puppies peed exactly where that landed,” I say sweetly.
Tank grimaces.
Which makes me laugh.
“Hey, Abby,” Patch says suddenly. “Do you like to read?”
Tank’s eyes widen while Skip bursts into laughter.
I already know where this is going.
“Don’t even think about it, you fucker,” Tank says.
“I do like to read,” I answer innocently. “Why? Got a suggestion?”
“Wedding in a month, huh?” Patch smirks. “I’ll have something ready for you.”
“Spike,” Tank groans, “there has to be a rule where we can vote him out of the club.”
“Unfortunately not,” Spike says. “I already checked.”
“So did I,” Bones adds.
“Yeah, me too,” Max sighs.
“I think you’re a fucking genius, Patchy,” Skip says. “I love Eli’s book.”
“And we all love ours,” Sunny smiles.
I laugh.
Inside the clubhouse, there’s a shelf with copies of all the books Patch secretly writes for people.
He never admits it’s him.
The books don’t have an author’s name.
And I can’t find them anywhere online.
But they are all way too personalized not to be written specifically for them.
Sneaky biker.
The men burned all the books on the shelf one day, and it made Sunny cry hysterically because they destroyed a gift given to her by her friend. Since then, Bones has threatened bodily harm to anyone who so much as glares at that shelf…where replacement books were placed only days later.
Soon, I’m pulled all over the place as everyone hugs me.
Spike is the last one.
“Happy for you, baby sister,” he says.
“Thank you, Bubby,” I whisper, trying not to cry.
This man practically raised me.
He’s the father I never really had.
My protector.
“He’ll treat you right,” Spike says against the top of my head. “He’ll love you fiercely.”
“He already does,” I whisper.
“I’m going to fucking lose it walking you down the aisle,” he admits quietly.
“Don’t worry,” I say. “I won’t tell anyone if you cry.”
He laughs and gives me one last squeeze before letting me go.
“If you hold it just like this and slice at a twenty-three degree angle, the flesh will peel right off.”
“Wow!”
“Bones, what the fuck are you teaching my son?” Spike yells as he rushes toward Asher.
I’m both horrified and impressed.
“Hey, baby,” Tank says a moment later. “Why are you over here when the s’mores are by the fire?”
“Make your own s’more,” I laugh. “I’m watching Bones teach Asher how to skin someone.”
“I would say I’m surprised,” Tank chuckles. “But I’m not. I’m more surprised he waited this long.”
“Insane,” I sigh. “All of you.”
“Bitch, I'd better be a bridesmaid.”
Laughing, I turn to Cody.
“Of course you are. You, Lila, Riley, Sunny, and Eli.”
“I am not wearing a dress,” Eli says, horrified. “I may be gay… but I’m still very much a man.”
“He sure the fuck is,” Skip says, staring at him like he’s dessert.
“Well, ladies,” Cody says cheerfully. “And manly-man Eli… we have a wedding to plan.”
And that’s how the evening ends.
Me surrounded by my closest friends, planning the happiest day of my life.
And yes…I eventually made Tank his s’more.
Several of them.