Epilogue
ASHE
“Let the clutch out slowly!” I yelled through cupped hands, heart hammering in my chest as I watched Zarina bunny-hop her way down the empty street on my bike.
I told her that I didn’t care if she dropped it, and that was partially true, but I knew that the sight of it actually happening might break my heart a little bit.
What I was more worried about, though, was the way that Zarina seemed to forget to let out the throttle when she wanted to stop. But still, she was getting better.
The sound of a car approaching caught my attention, and I let out a whistle, motioning for Zarina to move off the road and into my driveway.
She managed to make it up the slight hill without dropping it, and I let out a sigh of relief once the kickstand was down.
The silver ute pulled up in front of my house, and I waved at Charmer who was hanging out the passenger window. Bull drove it forward, and then reversed, swinging tray-first onto the flat part of my driveway where unloading would be easier.
Zarina came down the path, grumbling to herself while she tried to remove the stubborn gloves from her hands.
“You don’t wear any fucking gear,” she whinged as she came to stand next to me. “Yet you’ve got me in two thousand layers of leather just to go up and down your street at a snail’s pace.”
“Yup,” was all I said, because I wasn’t changing my mind either.
I crossed my arms over myself, smiling up at the present on the back of Bull’s ute that Zarina hadn’t even noticed yet. Charmer hopped out of the passenger side and smacked the side of the tray.
“Whaddya think, Captain?” he smirked at Zarina.
“About what?” She grunted as she continued to tug at the tight glove.
“Jesus Christ—” I chuckled, turning to her and ripping it free from her hand, just as she finally looked up and noticed the new bike shining in the sunlight.
“Get fucked.” Her mouth fell open.
Bull barked a laugh as he undid one of the straps.
“Is it for me?” Zarina began bounding in place, excitement fucking pouring from her.
“Well it ain’t mine, that’s for sure,” Charmer hopped up onto the tray to get the ramp.
A high-pitched squeal escaped her, and she barrelled towards Bull, jumping and wrapping him into a crushing hug. He chuckled, all warm and smiley, and patted her on the back.
“You know I bought it for you, right?” I pouted, crossing my arms.
She waved me off, still latched to Bull.
I shook my head, but couldn’t help but smile, climbing up onto the tray with Charmer to help him unload it onto the street.
The way that Zarina loved my friends, my brothers, was something special. The same way that I knew they loved her. There was no way I could fault it or be mad at it. It gave me the warm and fuzzies something furious.
As soon as the bike was stationary and on flat ground, Zarina was straddling it with a blinding smile.
“I can touch the ground!” she clapped, doing a little happy dance on the seat.
We all stood back and watched her as she turned the key, pulling the throttle more than necessary just to make some noise. It was nowhere near as loud as any of my bikes, but she wiggled that little joyful wiggle anyway.
What I wasn’t expecting was for her to kick it into gear and do a quick pull down the sidewalk, letting out what I thought was a long “Wee!” as she went.
“Helmet!” Charmer, Bull, and I all called at the same time. But she was back a moment later, completely ignoring the scowls each of us were giving her.
It was only a little 300cc, but it fit her perfectly.
All the months she had been timidly practicing on my bike seemed to go out the window in an instant. This was a bike she could control, could balance without toppling over, and I watched her confidence go up almost immediately.
“It’s perfect!” she put the kickstand down, hopping off to jump into my arms and kiss me hard.
I chuckled against her lips, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her deeper. Her hands wrapped around my neck and I felt her melt against me.
The boys groaned their disgust, heading back to the ute to pack up the straps and ramp, pretty much anything to not have to watch our PDA.
If she was going to react this way every time, I would consider buying her a new bike every fucking week.
“Thank you,” she said against my mouth before wiggling out of my hold and dropping to the ground. The way she beamed up at me made my heart and cock swell, icy blue eyes glistening in the quickly disappearing sunlight.
“You’re welcome.” I tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “But unfortunately, you’ve gotta go park her up. It’s time for family dinner.”
“Fuck, I nearly forgot,” she nodded with a frown, hopping back onto the bike and roaring up my driveway to park next to my bike. I watched her with crossed arms and a smile, shaking my head a little at the sight of her.
She’d never even been on the back of a bike until last year. Now, she had caught the bug big time. Everywhere we went, she would insist we go on the bike. Whenever we had a free day to ourselves, she was the first one to suggest going for a ride.
And I had no fucking idea how I got so lucky.
“Can we take the bike?” she called from the top of the driveway as she gathered up her jacket and helmet that had been discarded on the ground.
I chuckled to myself.
“Yes, but you gotta put all your gear on.”
The half-hearted groan that followed made me smile, but she went inside to get the rest of her kit without argument anyway.
I said a quick thanks and bye to the guys, before fastening my helmet and kicking the bike to life, giving it a few revs to signal to Zarina that I was ready to go.
She came crashing out of the front door a few moments later, like she was summoned by the rumble of my bike, tugging on her jacket and tying her hair at the nape of her neck.
With a buzz of excitement that hadn’t seemed to fade yet, she bounced at the side of the bike while I fastened her helmet, watching her as she watched me. It had become part of the routine at this point, and one that I wasn’t sure I would ever want to let go of.
Doing her helmet up for her, tightening the straps while she beamed up at me always felt more intimate than it was. The simple gesture had become a warm little exchange between us, sometimes the favourite part of my ride.
She always looked up at me with that complete faith, a knowing look in her eyes that I was looking after her, keeping her safe.
And that look was everything to me.
So was the way that her arms snaked around my waist and her chin rested on my shoulder as we chased the sunset.
We weaved through the light Sunday afternoon traffic. Heads swivelled to shoot us concerned and suspicious glares as we entered the fancy-schmancy suburbs lined by mansion after mansion.
But when we pulled into Ren and Val’s driveway, we were greeted with nothing but waves and smiles.
The twins were hanging at the top of the steps, ready to come and climb all over the bike as soon as I turned it off.
Zarina’s smile widened even more, hopping off to grab one of the little monsters to put her on the seat in front of me for their joyride. The happy little squeals that came from the girls was infectious as I putted up and down the driveway.
“No more,” I tutted at Evie after probably the tenth lap. “It’s time for dinner.”
“One more!” she pouted, scrunching her little face up.
I rolled my eyes but relented.
“Fine,” I put on my best grumpy voice. “ One more.”
When the fuck did I become the bitch of twin hellions? But they were smiling, and admittedly so was I, during those next six laps.
“Is our local MC ready for food or what?” Ren, Zarina’s brother-in-law, called from the top of the stairs with an arched brow, motioning for his daughters to come inside.
“One more, Daddy!” It was Eliza’s turn to hold up a pudgy finger.
“You girls owe Ashe at least twenty bucks in fuel money already! Get your butts inside before I eat your dessert.”
The two year olds rolled their eyes in a way that reminded me of their aunt, but they let me plop them on the ground regardless.
They waddled up the steps and then tore into the house once they were on flat ground, heading straight for the little dinner table that was just for them in the corner of the dining room.
Everyone else was sitting at the table already, except for Zarina who was buzzing around and smiling from ear to ear as she piled the centre with trays of food.
Her brother Sam shadowed her with a mild look of grump on his face, probably from being scolded already for picking at the food while Zarina was still cooking it.
But finally, Zarina clapped her hands and sighed, looking happy with her work.
“Alright,” she smiled, taking the empty seat beside me. “Eat up, everyone.”
“You’re a weapon, Zar,” Toni mumbled, mouth already stuffed with food.
Sammy grunted his approval around his own mouthful.
I was busy watching Zarina.
She had her elbows propped on the table, a small smile on her lips while she took in the sight of her family all together. I knew more than anything that this was what made her happy.
These people, all in the same room.
And I was man enough to admit that being welcomed in by them felt special too.
I was worried at first.
How they would react to me and Zarina’s relationship. Even though the feud between the Santinos and the Redline Angels was long over, I still worried that I was nowhere near enough for their princessa .
“So, Ashe, you’ve been to a couple of these family dinners now,” Toni said after a little while. “What do you think?”
The table went quiet and all eyes were on me, and I tried not to shift in my seat. Zarina smiled at me from where she was sitting, curiosity in her eyes. Toni arched a brow at me, like he was expecting some horrible review, but I chuckled into the air.
“Honestly?” I sighed.
“Actually, no,” he shook his head and laughed. “No, I don’t wanna know.”
“It’s great, Toni. Never really had a proper family dinner before. So I think it’s great that you guys do this every week.”
And I meant it.
I had the club, but I had never been around a family quite like this. It was easy to imagine what it might’ve been like to grow up like this, surrounded by people who loved you, sitting down for meals together, sharing things about your life.
I mostly just sat back and watched the ordeal, trying to come to terms with the fact that families like the Santinos actually existed outside of sitcoms.
“Well,” Toni shook his head, “I guess we’ll be seeing you every week then, brother.”
I nodded once and he returned it, offering a warm smile to go with it.
The easy chatter amongst everyone continued, and I dropped my gaze down to the plate in front of me, shuffling food around.
When I looked over at Zarina, she was watching me with so much fucking warmth, so much love, so much care that I had to look away again. But her hand reached out, squeezing me on the thigh twice before letting it rest there.
After a while, she leaned over to whisper in my ear.
“I told you, baby.”
I cleared my throat. “I know.”
And she had told me. And I did know. But the confirmation still rattled me in a way I didn’t expect.
I wiped my mouth on a napkin, standing and giving Zarina’s shoulder a squeeze.
“I’ll be back.”
She nodded up at me once, watching me with those eyes that saw everything.
I shut myself away in the bathroom and washed my face over and over with cool water until the tightness in my throat eased at least a little.
But the door cracked open, and while I was half expecting Zarina to follow me, it was Evie who peaked her little head in.
I looked down at the toddler with an arched brow.
“What’s up, sister?” I whispered, because of the way she checked over her shoulder like she was on a secret mission.
She motioned for me to come closer with her hand. She’d obviously been told at some point that it was rude to follow people into the bathroom, and was working with the loophole that she was still, technically, outside the door.
I crouched down to her level on the other side of the door, tilting my head to the side. I’d all but forgotten about the emotion that burned at my throat, now distracted by whatever conspiracy the tiny devil was trying to involve me in.
“I bringed us cake,” she whispered, producing a bowl full of chocolate mudcake from behind her back and a child-sized spoon in her other hand.
“We shouldn’t eat cake in the bathroom,” I shook my head.
She rolled her eyes.
God, this one was Zarina all over.
“Eat sneaky on the steps , Uncle Ashe.”
That burning in my throat was back. I had to swallow it as best I could as Evie held out her little dimpled hand, dragging me from the bathroom and to the bottom of the stairs.
We sat on the bottom step together, taking turns having spoonfuls of cake. She hadn’t said anything else, but I’d occasionally catch her watching me with curious eyes.
“What is going on in here?” Zarina’s voice was a half-laugh, half-scold as she rounded the corner and caught Evie with the spoon half-way into her open mouth.
I snatched the bowl off of her lap and hid it behind my back, getting rid of the evidence. She noticed my movement and did the same with her spoon, hiding it behind her back (once she had eaten the cake off it, of course).
“You two are so naughty!” Zarina barked, marching over and leaning past us to snatch the bowl from the stair behind me.
“Am not!” Evie stomped.
“Yeah!” I agreed. “Am not!”
“I’m telling your mummy,” Zarina pointed a finger at Evie, who seemed completely unphased.
“Don’t care. Already eated it.”
“And you,” Zarina tried her best to keep her angry face composed as she turned her accusatory finger to me. “You’re going to get punished too.”
I tried my best to look worried.
“No!” Evie barked at her, standing to wrap her arms around my neck. “No, I love him!”
And there was that tickle in my throat again, along with a burning in my eyes as the little one held me in an affectionate chokehold.
I watched Zarina soften a little as well, only hardening when Evie turned back to look at her.
“I’m gonna count to three,” she held up three fingers and the toddler’s eyes widened in panic. Evie gasped then, abandoning the spoon on the floor and tearing past Zarina and sprinting back into the dining area.
Zarina shook her head, chuckling a little as she came to me and draped herself over my lap. I pulled her close, nuzzling against her cheek and taking in her warmth.
She was my own personal dose of sunshine.
“So,” she traced small circles on my bicep, looking a little shy for maybe the first time in her life. “You really think you’re gonna keep coming to these?”
I scoffed, shaking my head.
“Baby, I’m planning on following your ass around for the rest of my damn life.”
The End.
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Thanks for reading!
I hope you enjoyed Savage Grace.