Epilogue
Macy
Six Months Later
“Your lovesick fool, I mean Vandal, is here.” Raven leaned against the second, unnecessary desk inside my new office space with a smirk on her face.
I shot her a narrow-eyed glare, and she laughed so loud it bounced off the walls. “Not funny.”
“Me?” She put a hand to her chest. “I’m hilarious and we both know it.”
“You’re all right,” I conceded because she was hilarious and somehow over the past six months she’d become a friend. Probably my best friend aside from Drew. “I just need to save this past hour’s work.”
“You’re like a full-on businesswoman now, aren’t you?” Her words contained her usual dose of sarcasm, but I detected a hint of pride there too. “It’s pretty cool, what you’ve done here.”
Heat burned at her unintentional compliment.
“It’s just a small office space so I have a place to meet clients.
” I started a small bookkeeping business three months ago and now I have six clients, all owners of small businesses here in Steel City.
“Meeting at the clubhouse wasn’t an option, and when I met at their places of businesses, they were too busy to sit down and talk about the books. ”
Raven waved me off. “Learn to take a damn compliment, would ya?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, waving her off in response. “I’m working on it.” There were a lot of things I was working on, which made me feel like I was a permanent work in progress. But that also felt good because it meant I was alive and constantly changing for the better.
“It’s cool that you have your own thing. Too many chicks lose themselves in relationships.”
I nodded. “I’ve been that chick before.”
Raven’s gaze met mine before she turned to face the windows that showed all the pedestrian traffic.
“Everything okay?”
She stiffened for just a moment, but I saw it and I knew. Just as I knew she was about to lie to me. Her shoulders relaxed and she turned with a fake as fuck smile. “I’m good. Just dropped in to say hey before my appointment next door.”
My brows shot up. “You’re getting another tattoo?” She had at least eight that I could see.
“Yep. It’s great therapy.” She crossed her arms and a slow smile spread across her face.
“Today was the last day of my apprenticeship.” She saw my confused look and shrugged.
“All of my classes and paperwork are done and this morning I completed my apprenticeship so I can get a job as a tattoo artist.”
It took a second for her words to sink in but then it all made sense. Where she snuck off to for most of the day and the new energy about her. I stood slowly and rounded the desk. “All this time I thought you had a secret boyfriend.”
“Nope.” Her eyes widened and she tried to take a step back as I advanced on her, but she had no place to run from my impending hug. “I’m so happy for you, Raven. This is so fucking awesome.” I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed tight. “Congratulations.”
She grunted with her arms still at her sides for a second too long before she hugged me back. “Yeah, thanks.”
“So are you going to ask Dagger for a job at Steel City Ink?”
“I’m thinking about it, but I doubt he’ll agree to it. They all see me as nothing but Falcon’s kid sister.” She nibbled her bottom lip, the only sign of her insecurity.
“No.” The word came out more forceful than I meant it to. “Don’t go in there with that mindset. Go in like a professional artist, show off your work and let them see you as Raven, your own woman. You got this.”
She stood a little taller as my words sank in and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Mace.”
The front door opened and there he was, my best friend and the love of my life. He wore that gorgeous lopsided smile that was just for me. “Hey Raven.”
“Hey Vandal. I’m on my way out.”
His arm shot out across the door, stopping her progress. “You good? Need a ride back to the clubhouse?”
“Nope, I’m good. Thanks.” She turned back to me with a grin. “Thanks, Macy. See you later.”
“Good luck,” I called after her. And then it was just me and Drew. “Hey,” I said breathlessly. “How was your day?”
His face lit up as he crossed the room and gathered me in his arms before he kissed me long and slow and so deep my nipples hardened painfully in my bra. Eventually—too soon—he pulled back with a heavy sigh. “My day was too fucking long,” he muttered. “Yours?”
“Good,” I sighed, hugging him tight before I let go to grab my bag and client files. “Busy. I missed you.”
“Missed you too, babe.” He took my bag and guided me out of the office. “Let’s go home.”
Home. It felt so good to have a home to go to that felt like a home. Drew’s place was now our place for six months and I was still learning how to live with someone. It was crazy and wonderful, but each day I was becoming better at being a partner. Sharing my life with someone twenty-four-seven.
There were days I was sure I’d fuck it all up and end our friendship for good, but most days I was just grateful to be happy and loved. And most of all, I was happy I got to do it all with my best friend.
Drew’s hand landed on my back and when I looked up at him, he wore a frown. “You okay, babe? You seem out of it.”
I nodded too quickly, and his lips tightened. “I’m a little tired,” I explained.
“I grabbed dinner so how about you take a shower and we can eat together?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” There was too much on my mind but there was one thing weighing the heaviest on it that I needed to share with Drew.
I was a shit liar so he already knew something was wrong, and I could only imagine what he thought was going on.
That one thought intensified my guilt, and I rushed through the shower, determined that before we went to bed, I would tell him the truth.
After dressing, I came downstairs. He’d already gotten dinner ready and plated up. “Oh god, that looks incredible.”
There it was again, that lopsided smile that never failed to hit me right in the chest. “Lasagna, your favorite.”
My heart suddenly felt lighter. “As if I didn’t love you enough already.”
His gaze was intense as it met mine. “I’ll never get tired of hearing you say that.”
“Good.” I sat and we ate together in silence for a few minutes. “How is everything?” I asked hesitantly. I still wasn’t sure how to ask about his motorcycle club work without making it seem like I was prying.
“Good,” he answered around a big bite of food. “Things are mostly calm, but there have been rumblings about a new MC trying to pick up where the Ghost Riders left off.”
My eyes widened. “But there are other MCs, right? I mean, you can coexist with other clubs, can’t you?”
“Yeah. We’re good with more of them than we beef with, but the new ones always gotta try and prove some shit.” His nostrils flared and anger and worry radiated off his broad shoulders.
“I haven’t heard anything,” I said and took another bite of salad. “Oh, but I have seen a few guys on shiny new bikes. They look kind of like sports bikes, but I assumed they were rich college kids playing at being bikers.”
Drew said nothing, just nodded as if he was absorbing the information for later use. “Have you ever thought about getting married?”
I froze, fork halfway to my mouth.
He grinned again, this time it was that smug, slightly amused grin he used when he caught me off guard. “Well?”
I shook off my shock and nodded. “Well, yeah. I mean, of course, but not seriously because I never thought it was a real possibility.”
“But if it was?”
I couldn’t help but smile at his question. “Yeah, I always wanted a family of my own. Marriage and babies, the whole damn thing.”
“A baby with your violet eyes.” His tone was soft and sweet.
I smiled back. “And your red hair.” I swallowed hard, wondering if he already knew my secret. He knew my body better than I did most of the time, but he hadn’t said anything, which made me wonder. “Do you want kids?”
“Yeah,” he growled. “I mean I never gave it much thought beyond assuming I’d have kids someday. But I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about putting a baby in you.”
A shiver slid down my spine at the intensity of his words. “Okay.” The word came out barely above a whisper but before I could get any more words out, Drew stood abruptly and left the kitchen. “Drew?”
He returned a minute later but he didn’t sit, he paced the length of the kitchen, stopping every once in a while to look at me before he started up again. After a couple of minutes he stopped pacing and turned to face me. His expression so damn serious it made my heart hitch.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said. “I mean nothing is wrong. I love you, Macy.”
I grinned. “I love you.”
“You’re my best friend. These guys are my brothers, my family, but you?
You’re my whole fucking heart, Mace. I never thought I’d see you again.
Never thought I’d hug you or hear you laugh again.
And hell, I never let myself think about having you like this, in my bed and in my heart, but here you are. ”
My heart swelled twice its normal size. “Here I am.”
“And now that you’re here. Mine. I’m never letting you go.” He pulled out a deep purple velvet bag and dumped the contents in his palm. “Macy, will you marry me?”
I sucked in a sharp breath and covered my mouth in shock. He wanted to marry me. It shouldn’t have come as such a shock, but I was shocked. Really fucking shocked. “Drew,” I sighed over the sound of my racing heart. Did I want to marry him? “Of course I do.”
His shoulders relaxed a fraction. “So that’s a yes?”
I smiled, nodding eagerly. “It’s a hell, yes, but I need to tell you something first.”
He took my hand as if he needed the connection and I appreciated it because I definitely needed it right now. “You’re already married?”
“No,” I laughed and shook my head.
“Is there another cartel after you?”
I laughed again. “Nope. Do you want to guess again or should I just tell you?”
His eyes slid shut and he exhaled until his shoulders relaxed. “Okay, hit me with it.”
“I’m pregnant.” I held my breath and waited for his response, whatever it was.
He was stock still, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. Then his slack-jawed expression morphed into a smile. “We haven’t exactly been careful.”
“No,” I smiled. “We haven’t.”
“You’re having our baby.” His smile grew. “And we’re getting married.”
I nodded, tears welled up in my eyes as happiness threatened to overwhelm me. “We are.”
Drew picked me up and spun me around, laughing as he dotted my face with kisses. “Is this real, Mace? Are we really this fucking happy?”
I threw my head back and laughed. I knew exactly what he meant.
This kind of happiness felt surreal. It was unlike any other time in my life and each day I expected something bad to happen, to snatch this brief period of joy from me.
But six months later we were still here.
Still together. Still happy. “We are really this fucking happy, Drew.”
“Love you, babe.”
I felt those three words down to the depths of my soul. “Love you more,” I shot back, the way I always did.
“Im-fucking-possible, because I love you with every ounce of my being. With every damn thing I am.” He kissed me like I was his whole damn world.
My heart swelled again and for the first time in my life, I believed I was.
THE END