Chapter Twenty-Nine
VICTORIA
The Next Day
The dust has finally settled, and I stand in Maria’s office, watching the news coverage on the screen mounted to her wall. Captain Victor Rourke, a criminal, walked in handcuffs, his face a mask of fury and disbelief as the headline scrolls across the bottom of the screen…
Massive Police Corruption Scandal Rocks LVPD—Captain Arrested in Connection with Criminal Enterprise.
Internal Affairs has descended on the department like a swarm of locusts, investigating everyone who ever shook Rourke’s hand. More corrupt officers are being identified and arrested daily. The Hidden Hand Alliance leadership is facing federal charges that will keep them locked up for decades.
And the Las Vegas Defiance MC?
Cleared of any wrongdoing.
Maria made damn sure of that.
“The Commissioner wants to see me,” Maria says, pulling my attention from the screen. She’s leaning against her desk, arms crossed, but there’s something different in her posture. Lighter. “Apparently, I’m being promoted to captain in Rourke’s place. Go figure!”
A grin splits my face. “That’s amazing, Maria.”
But Maria’s expression turns serious, and my smile fades like smoke. “Which means we need to talk about you.”
My stomach drops through the floor.
I knew this was coming.
I’ve known since the moment I chose to stand with Sin instead of against him.
“You’re a good cop, Victoria. You did incredible work on this case.
” Her eyes drift to my neck, where faint marks from Sin’s mouth and hands are still visible despite my attempts to cover them with makeup.
“But you can’t be in the force and be a biker’s old lady.
It’s a conflict of interest. The brass won’t allow it, no matter what I say. ”
I nod, my throat tight. “I understand.”
“You have a choice to make.” Maria’s voice is gentle but firm. “Your badge… or your heart.”
I look at my badge sitting against my hip. The metal gleams under the fluorescent lights, a symbol of everything I thought I wanted.
Justice for Marcus.
A career built on truth.
The ability to make a difference.
But then I think about Sin.
The way his mismatched eyes soften when he looks at me.
The club—my family now, in ways that go deeper than blood. The life I’ve built there, messy and complicated and more real than anything I’ve ever known.
I pick up my badge and gun, feeling their familiar weight one last time, then place them on Maria’s desk with a finality that settles into my bones. “I choose him.” My voice doesn’t waver. “I choose them, and I don’t regret it. Any of it.”
Maria’s smile is sad but understanding. “I know. And for what it’s worth, I think you’re making the right choice.
Aaand on a personal level, I think you’ll be good for him.
I don’t know this version of my son that well, but I do know you, Delaney.
And if anyone can keep him in line, it’s you.
But now the real question is… what the hell are you going to do with your life now you’re not a cop? ”
The tightness in my chest eases slightly. “What will I do?” I laugh, the sound a little brittle. “Funny thing… I actually really enjoyed being a fake journalist,” I pause, looking up to the ceiling and biting my lip. “I think I’ll go back to school. Do it for real this time.”
Maria’s eyebrows rise. “Write the truth about motorcycle clubs?”
“Among other things. Someone needs to tell the real stories.” I meet her gaze. “The ones that matter, anyway.”
Maria opens her drawer and pulls out a business card, sliding it across the desk. “When you’re ready, I have some stories you might want to investigate. The right way.”
I take the card, and then I move around the desk and pull her into a hug—two women who have walked through fire together and came out the other side understanding each other in ways most people never will.
When I leave her office, I don’t feel like I’m losing something.
I feel like I’m finally becoming who I was always meant to be.
SIN
Later that Night
The bike snarls through the desert like a living thing, the sound vibrating through my bones.
Victoria’s arms are tight around my waist, her cheek pressed to my back as the wind tears past. The Vegas skyline glows on the horizon, a scatter of diamonds on black velvet.
But out here it’s only us. The road. The stars.
The words she hasn’t said yet sit like a storm behind her eyes.
I pull up at the overlook, kill the engine, and the night swallows the noise whole. The city flickers far below. The sky is endless. And this spot, this patch of dirt and rock, is where it all started for us.
Victoria swings off the bike, boots crunching on grit, tugging my T-shirt down against the wind. Her hair whips across her face in dark, shining strands. She looks like a memory and a dare all rolled into one. I stay seated a moment, watching.
A lone coyote howls in the distance, making me smile as Victoria raises her brow. “Those fuckers better not interrupt us again.”
I tilt my head at her, anxiety racing through my chest at why we’re here. “You said you wanted to talk? Makes a guy kinda anxious, wildcat.”
She snickers, placing her hand on her hip. “You? Anxious? I thought you’d be all carefree, and I don’t give a shit—”
“I give a shit, Victoria,” I tell her, my eyes focused on her intently.
She gives me a small smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Okay, straight to it then. I, ahh… went to see Maria today.”
That makes me pause.
My mother.
Her boss.
This is where she tells me we’re done.
I knew this couldn’t last—a biker and a cop—we were never going to make it.
“Yeah?” I manage, trying to sound casual, but my pulse picks up.
Victoria nods, her eyes on the horizon. “She said she thought I would be good for you… that I would keep you in line.” She hesitates, then faces me fully. “She just wants you to keep out of trouble, I guess.”
I shove my hands into my pockets, grounding myself against the sudden weight in her words. “You didn’t go into the precinct today to discuss my behavioral habits, wildcat.”
“No,” she says, voice steady now. “I went in to hand her my badge.”
The words hit like a hammer to my chest, so hard I find it difficult to push my words out. “You… what?”
“I quit, Sin.” Her chin lifts a fraction, like she’s bracing for impact. “I walked into her office this morning, handed in my badge, my gun, and the paperwork. Effective immediately. She looked me in the eye and told me I’m doing the right thing.”
I stare at her. The wind pulls at my cut, rattles the loose chain on my bike. My poker chip bites into my palm because my fist tightens around it. “You left the force,” I say quietly. Not a question so much as a hope.
“I did.”
“For me?”
Her eyes flicker more softly. “For us.” She gestures between us, to the bike, to the city below. “For this.”
I swallow hard. I had a hundred things I planned to say if this moment ever came, but now my mind’s blank.
My chest feels too big, too full, like my ribs can’t contain it.
“You know what you’re getting into, wildcat?
” My voice is low and rough. “This life chews people up. It’ll test every inch of you. ”
She steps closer, her hand sliding over mine, stilling the restless spin of the poker chip. Her palm is warm. Steady. “I know exactly what I’m getting into,” she says, a warm fire in her voice. “And I want it. I want you!”
Something breaks loose inside me, the thing I’ve kept locked up since the day I met her. I reach into my other pocket and pull out the second chip. The one I had made weeks ago. The one I swore I’d never get to give her.
The engraved metal glints under the moonlight with the words…
Property of Sin
“In the MC world, this means you’re mine,” I say, rougher than I intend. “Officially. My Old Lady.”
She takes it between her fingers, turning it under the stars. The grin she gives me makes my heart slam against my ribs. “So, I’m property now?”
I step into her space, sliding my palm up her back until my fingers tangle in her hair. I pull her in until her mouth is a breath from mine. “You’re my queen, wildcat. My equal. My everything.”
She lets out a shaky laugh. “You always know how to make a girl feel dangerous.”
“I don’t make you dangerous,” I murmur, leaning in until our noses touch. “You already are.”
And then I press my lips to hers. It starts soft, like a question, but the second her lips part, it’s like we both stop pretending.
My hand fists in her hair, angling her head just right.
She gasps against my mouth and presses closer, her fingers curling into the leather of my cut.
The city blurs to nothing, the stars burn brighter overhead.
I taste her, salt, dust, promise, and I deepen it, slow at first, then hungrier, until the kiss is all heat, teeth, and surrender.
She moans into me, a low sound that hits me straight in the chest. Her body molds against mine, fitting perfectly, like we were built for this. For each other. For the chaos we’re about to step into.
When we finally break for air, our foreheads rest together under the desert sky, breath mingling.
“I love you, Elizabeth Victoria Hale Delaney, whatever the hell your name is,” I whisper, my voice shaking but sure.
Her eyes lock with mine, and with a steeliness I haven’t seen from her before, she nods against my forehead. “I’m Victoria Delaney… no more pretending.” Her smile curves against my lips. “And I love you, too, Diesel Moretti.”
She slips the chip into her pocket, the engraved metal catching one last flash of moonlight before it disappears. My thumb brushes her jaw, memorizing her face as a coyote howls in the distance.
Mine.
Finally. Completely. Permanently mine.
***