EPILOGUE
SIX MONTHS LATER
QUINCY
My hand brushes over the leather of the property cut I’m wearing and I can’t help but marvel at what my life looks like right now. It’s everything I never knew I could have, which is kind of strange considering the life I used to live.
Even though I’m in Las Vegas full time, my life feels simpler here. I haven’t gone on an audition in months, and I haven’t heard from my agent in over two weeks. I don’t miss a damn thing about the life I used to feel trapped in.
Not when I’ve found a family. Even though I wouldn’t have imagined it would include leather clad bikers and the women they’ve fallen for. But here I am.
Claimed as an Old Lady.
I’ve never been happier.
Margot was shocked when I called her and told her I was moving to Las Vegas. She sputtered. She tried to ask questions. Then she simply sat quietly before demanding, “Explain.”
So, I did.
When I got to the end, to how we bet it all on one poker hand, she let out a little sigh like it was the most romantic thing she’d ever heard while I giggled.
And then she congratulated me and said we’d have to plan a time for her to visit, along with Blake, I’m sure, to make sure everything is on the up and up.
I’m not entirely sure what Blake would find if he dug into the club, but I don’t really care.
Hawkins will never allow anything bad to touch me. I know it down to my very soul.
Speaking of my biker, he’s eyeing me like he’s up to something and I can’t help but wonder what it is.
Even though we’ve found a place together, away from Elysium, we spend a lot of time here.
It’s nice being surrounded by people who care.
At least for a little while in the beginning, I was starving for that kind of connection.
“How about a hand?” Hawkins asks while pulling a deck of cards out of his cut pocket. Even though Cowboy and Stone are sitting at the table with us, my man only has eyes for me.
I arch an eyebrow and sass him, “Are we playing for real or are you going to try to make another unhinged bet?”
He winks at me and smirks. “Worked, didn’t it?”
I can’t help but grin. It did work. Kind of.
“Fine,” I wave a hand toward the cards in his hands, “I’m in.”
The game starts out normal enough and the conversation flows around the table. Brielle and Rian come up and watch the action, and I can’t help but grin at the girl who treats me like I’m the coolest aunt she’s ever met.
I’m not thrilled with my hole cards, but Cowboy and Stone fold almost immediately and it gives me pause. When I meet Hawkins’ blue eyes, I can see the challenge there and I’m unable to resist.
We both see the turn and the glint in my biker’s eyes is still there. I can’t find it in me to back down now.
I expect him to call, but he doesn’t.
No, that would be too simple for a man like Hawkins.
Instead of putting chips in the pot, he places a black velvet box on top of the pile.
My eyes snap up to his and I let out a gasp while Rian squeals. Brielle grabs her daughter and covers her mouth gently while her eyes dart between Hawkins and me.
“Hollywood,” his voice is husky and thick with all the emotions I see dancing in his eyes, “I have a bet for you.”
“I’m listening,” I can’t help but tease him even though I’m on the verge of freaking out in the best of ways.
I don’t know what the ring looks like, but I don’t care.
Everything in me is screaming to tell him yes. But he hasn’t asked yet. Though, he’s not really the kind of man to ask.
“No matter who wins this hand, how about you let me slip my ring on your finger and you become my wife,” he says it like a suggestion, but I know it’s not.
It’s inevitable.
Just like us.
Somehow, the truth of it rushes through me.
My eyes fill with tears and I’m nodding before my voice catches up. “Yes, I’ll be your wife,” I whisper the words, but he hears me.
Hawkins is up, grabbing the box, and striding around the table before I can take a breath.
Brielle lets go of Rian who lets out a whoop which has me laughing as tears start to slide down my cheeks.
He drops to his knees in front of me as he rips open the box, grabs the ring, and slides it into place.
When I look down, the tears come faster. Because the only way he could have slipped my grandmother’s ring on my finger, which is exactly what he just did, was if he talked to my parents about his proposal.
They weren’t sure about my biker at first, for all the reasons I was afraid of, but he won them over. He wasn’t going to accept anything less.
As I cradle my man’s face in my hands, my gaze bouncing back and forth between his blue eyes. “I love you,” I breathe out, “husband.”
His eyes darken before he kisses me until I’m clinging to him and feeling utterly boneless. “Next, I’ll be putting a baby in your belly,” he promises, his words whispering over my lips like a vow.
“We’ll see where the cards fall,” I tease him, but from the glint in his eyes, he’s already making plans.
I can’t wait to see what happens next.