Epilogue
ISABELLE
One year later
There is a town in Scotland, right by the English border, where Regency-era brides used to make a run for it from London, traveling north as fast as they could, to marry their chosen husbands before their parents might intervene.
It wasn’t why we were in the United Kingdom. The real reason was an exposé on an international smuggling ring that I’d spend the last six months researching.
But the smuggling ring had no bearing on why I was standing outside a blacksmith’s shop, early in the morning, while a fine rain drizzled on my updo.
Selena held an umbrella above my head, but was somehow making me wetter.
“Just leave it,” I told her, moving from foot to foot and trying to avoid puddles.
“It’s too windy for this damn thing,” she swore and looked over my shoulder. “Finally!”
I turned to see, holding my raincoat over my white dress as if my life depended on it.
A couple of motorcycles were moving along the single road that ran through the tiny village.
They pulled up just beside us.
Marcus pulled his helmet off and grinned at me. “Made it, just about.”
Arianna climbed off the back of the bike and hugged me. “I’m so excited we made it.”
“Yeah, last-minute invitations aren’t really a thing, you know, or they shouldn’t be. Me and Brody only made the cut because we were already in London,” Selena sighed, and then added, “Also because it was Brody’s idea.”
Brody was on another bike parked behind Marcus’.
“And it was a bloody brilliant idea at that. Getting married at Gretna Green is classic. I bet they still have the anvil in there, and everything.”
“The anvil?” I repeated, just as the door to the small blacksmith’s shop opened.
A man stood in the doorway.
“And you must be the bride,” he boomed in a Scottish accent.
I gave him a small smile. “Was it the white dress that gave me away?”
“No, the expression of dread. Very fitting,” he said, and then cracked a smile. “Come on in, your groom is getting impatient.”
I followed the man through the small winding corridors of the shop and into a larger room. Clearly the old traditions were being kept alive, given the anvil featured prominently in the center of the room, but everything else was a lot more modern.
“Here,” Selena said, grabbing my raincoat and shoving a small bouquet of wildflowers into my hand before stepping back.
Cole was there, looking more handsome than ever in a black button-down shirt and dark trousers.
“There you are, Goldilocks. I was getting worried you’d changed your mind,” he murmured, pulling me close as I shivered in the sudden warmth of the room.
I looked up at him. “About you?”
He nodded looking down into my eyes.
I smiled. “Never.”
By the time we emerged from the blacksmith’s, the rain had stopped and brilliant sunshine was making everything shiny and new. Arianna threw rose petals around us as Marcus took pictures to send to the rest of our friends, and the Hounds.
Cole had been traveling with me, chasing story after story, for the last six months.
With him by my side, I wasn’t afraid to go anywhere in the name of the truth.
It was the life of my dreams with the man of my dreams at my side.
He could leave the day-to-day running of The Clutch and the auto shop to Gage and Maddox, as well as the private security business that the MC was operating now.
We wouldn’t do it forever. There was comfort in that too. We would do it until going home to Hade Harbor and settling down felt right. Or until Maddox and Gage tried to kill each other or something.
Cole went over to his rented motorcycle, sitting by the side of the road.
The luggage had all of our stuff in it for the next few weeks.
We were going up to the highlands for our honeymoon.
We’d explore, sleep in whatever bed-and-breakfasts we found, be it small hotels or castles, swim in lochs, eat fresh seafood, and watch the stars at night.
I couldn’t wait… but then there was nothing in my life I didn’t look forward to now, with him by my side.
“You’ll call us and let us know when you get to Inverness later?” Arianna was asking, hugging me close.
I nodded. Selena was next.
“The girls are so jealous that they missed the ceremony. Send pictures in the group chat, ok? If you get bored seeing castles and sheep, come to London. Brody owns like half the city. We can go shopping, and go to the pub, and have fun.”
I nodded. It sounded nice, but nothing like being in the wilderness with my Hound.
“I’ll call you when I come back down there to finalize my story anyway. We’ll do all of that.”
Selena nodded and smiled at me. “Good. Now, have fun, use protection, or don’t… whatever you want to do, Mrs. Bailey.”
I pushed her away as she laughed and then went on to say goodbye to Brody and Marcus.
“Mrs. Bailey? I like the sound of that.” Cole was waiting for me at the bike. I rolled my white dress up, a last-second find in a second-hand store in Edinburgh, and zipped up my heavy leather riding jacket.
“Hmm, it has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Certainly better than 'old lady,” I said with a grin as I got on the back of the bike. Cole pulled my arms around his waist.
“Unfortunately, old lady isn’t a title you can escape. When you were just coming to the bar as a little sneak, and when you were my girlfriend, and then fiancée, and now, my wife, you were, and still are, and will always be, my old lady.”
“I was scared you were going to say that,” I sighed, holding onto him tightly. “Well, old man. Let’s get going. I want to ride with my husband.”
“Hold on, baby, it’s going to be a hell of a ride,” Cole said.
“I can’t wait.”
And I really couldn’t.
Thanks for reading Cole!