Chapter Eighteen
Three Months Later
Grace looked up with a smile as Phoebe entered the coffee shop. The news was playing, and once again, reports of Franklin Cartright and all his dirty deeds had been aired out to display.
When Cartright thought he’d destroyed the only copy of the flash drive, it had already been copied and later uploaded onto the Internet to every major news station.
Everyone saw the dirty judge for what he was.
Mayors fell, governors, cops, businessmen.
There was so much fallout, that the Straight to Hell MC didn’t even matter. The club stayed out of danger.
People were more interested in what Cartright had done. Heidi and her daughter were able to come out of the shelter. News of what Cartright tried to do to the shelter was also aired, as well as the murder of Cathy, the shelter volunteer.
“Hey,” Phoebe said.
Grace got to her feet and leaned over to hug Phoebe. “How are you feeling?”
Phoebe had been shot in the chest, similar to Reaper, but it missed her heart.
She did end up staying in the hospital for two weeks as a bullet had punctured her lung.
The club also made sure she was well protected, but it would seem with all the truth coming out about Cartright, the whole world and some of his allies had turned on him. No one wanted to help the judge now.
“I’m feeling so good. Honestly, but do you know what I think I’m going to do?” Phoebe asked.
Grace winced. “Do I even want to know?”
“I want to go into journalism. Helping to bring down Cartright, that meant something to me.”
She couldn’t help but be nervous. “You want to be part of the press?”
Phoebe stopped and she pursed her lips. “Shit, you’re right. They’re just as big a pain in the ass as judges.” She shrugged. “I’ll figure something out.”
Grace stayed at the coffee shop for another hour, talking with Phoebe.
They had become good friends in the last three months.
The only visitor Phoebe had was her. She had come to learn that Phoebe didn’t have any family.
She was all alone in the world, and knowing that hurt her soul, so she made sure she took the time to get to know her.
“Where’s your hot biker boyfriend?” Phoebe asked as they stepped out of the coffee shop. As if mentioning his bike magically brought him into view.
“My ride awaits,” Grace said.
She hugged Phoebe, who then gave Reaper a wave as he pulled up outside of the coffee shop. Reaper nodded in her direction, but he was waiting for her and her alone.
Grace moved her bag to go across her body, and then she moved in close, and straddled the back of his bike. She couldn’t believe there was a time she was afraid to ride the back of his bike, whereas now, she absolutely loved it.
Wrapping her arms around his waist, she pressed her lips against his neck. “Hey, honey, did you miss me?” she asked.
He groaned and put his hand on top of hers. They did this often, teasing, touching, getting to know one another. “You drive me crazy,” he said.
She knew he hated her being out of his sight. It was why she no longer worked at the bubble tea shop, but he did accept her working at the shelter. They always arrived together. It felt good to be doing stuff with him.
“Good.” She smiled as he pulled away from the curb, and then they rode off, but she noticed they were not going toward the clubhouse.
Sometimes, he liked to take her for long rides, and over the last few months, they’d been going on many journeys where he showed her places he loved.
It felt good. For a while, she truly believed she was going to lose Reaper, and in nearly losing him, she never wanted to be without him.
It took that fear to make her realize just how important he was to her.
She loved him so much, and she still hadn’t told him.
She wanted to, so many times, but she was also afraid it would make him pull away, and that was not something she wanted.
Grace was used to people she loved disappearing, leaving her, like her parents.
They were more interested in her sister than her. She never trusted anyone else.
They kept riding, coming toward a small park.
There was no one around, as it was getting late and the sun was already starting to set.
He brought the bike to a stop, and Grace climbed off first, and she no longer had weak legs, so she was able to climb off without nearly ending up on her ass.
Reaper joined her, pulling her into his arms, and he surprised her by sinking his fingers into her hair and kissing her.
“I’ve missed you,” he said.
“Reaper, I was only gone for like an hour, two tops, and—” She didn’t get to finish what she was saying before his mouth was on hers, and it felt so good once again. Okay, so it might have only been an hour or two, but she had missed him as well.
He broke the kiss and Grace slowly opened her eyes. “Wow, that was some kiss.”
“There’s something I want to ask you,” Reaper said. “And I’ve been thinking long and hard how to ask you this, and in all honesty, I don’t know the best way.”
She’d never seen him nervous, and yet that was exactly how he looked. Grace was a little confused.
“What’s wrong?” For a split-second, Grace didn’t know if Reaper was about to tell her in a very polite way that they were going to end this relationship. She had no idea why her thoughts were suddenly swarming to the negative, just that they were, and there didn’t seem to be a way to stop it.
Grace had every intention of telling Reaper she loved him with all her heart, and there was no one else she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, yet what could she do now?
If she told him how she felt, and he wanted to end it, it would look like desperation.
No, there was no way she was going to do that.
She forced a smile to her lips. “Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it.” There, that sounded reasonable.
Reaper cleared his throat, and what was worse, he looked down at the ground, and Grace didn’t know what was going on. Is this the way a relationship ended?
And then, she couldn’t help but pause as Reaper lowered to the ground, but he didn’t sink to his knees, no, he literally put one knee down, looked up at her, and she was able to see what he’d been rifling through his pockets to find.
In his hand, he held a velvet box. Her heart instantly started to pound, but she didn’t know if she should get her hopes up yet.
“Grace, you are my world. You mean absolutely everything to me, and there is no one else I would ever want. You’re everything. I don’t want to live without you. I know I’m not originally what you had planned, and for that, I’m sorry.”
“Reaper?”
“I love you. I love you more than anything in the world, and you’re the only woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
He lifted up the velvet box, and inside was a dainty engagement ring that was so perfect. Grace loved it the moment she saw it.
“You’re everything to me,” she said, cupping his face.
“Is that a yes?”
She burst out laughing, because she struggled to see through the tears of happiness.
“Yes, yes, a million percent it’s a yes.”
He got to his feet and she was amazed as he slid the ring right on her finger, and it was a perfect fit.
****
One Month Later
Reaper lifted Grace up into his arms. He was done playing nice, done posing for photographs, or having another piece of cake shoved into his mouth.
The club had done wonders with the wedding and he would always be grateful to them, but now was not the time to be drinking beers with them, when he could be balls-deep in his wife.
Grace had accepted his proposal, and then came the chaos of actually getting married.
Grace didn’t want to do it in the church, so that meant the clubhouse.
The other little problem they had—Grace was pregnant.
She didn’t want to be showing in the pictures, or for their little boy or girl to think they had only gotten married because she was pregnant.
Her hormones were already all over the place, and Reaper just wanted to give her everything her heart desired.
Rather than a long engagement, it was a very short one, and they agreed to get married at the club, with as little decorating as possible. With the club’s help, and the other old ladies, they were able to create a wedding of dreams.
Grace was everything to him, and he knew she had done this partly so he didn’t have to be uncomfortable with a long, drawn-out wedding. He didn’t like standing up in crowds and being watched. When he was with his club brothers, that was all he needed.
Some of the women from the shelter came for Grace’s side, as she didn’t have any other family to attend.
It didn’t matter, because the club made sure there were no sides to be taken.
They put all the chairs together, and Lord offered to walk her down the aisle, which was at the side of all the chairs.
He knew it meant the world to Grace that his club prez would do that.
The ceremony was short and sweet, along with a short reception, that exploded into an even bigger party. Now, he had forced his wife away from the crowd.
Kicking open his door, he slammed it shut, and for good measure, he even locked the door so no one would dare to enter and disturb them. Slowly, he lowered his wife to her feet, and he cupped her face, staring into her beautiful eyes.
“Hey, you,” he said.
Grace smiled. “It has been an amazing day.”
“Okay, so we can either strip naked, go and take a shower, come back, and pass out and sleep.”
“Or?”
“I can strip you naked, we go and shower, and I make love to you all night long until you forget your own name.”
Grace ran her hands up his chest, and then circled them around his neck. “I like that option.”
Reaper chuckled. “Which one?”
“The one where you strip me naked and make love to me all night long.” She let out a gasp, as he spun her around and within seconds, she was naked, other than her lingerie, but that was easy to take care of.
He flicked the catch of her bra, peeled her panties off, and then picked her up in his arms, and carried her through to the bathroom.
She chuckled. “Reaper, I haven’t even gotten you naked.”
He paused at the shower, turned it on, and waited just a moment for the water to heat up before putting her onto her feet.
And when he joined her, he moved her right up into the corner of the shower and kissed her.
The water flowed over them, mingling with their kiss.
At the same time, he pressed a hand between her thighs, rubbing her pussy.
She moaned his name. He slid his fingers between her slit.
“You’re all mine, Grace. Every single part of you is mine. I’m not ever letting you go.”
“Good,” she said, offering him that sweet smile. “Because there is nowhere else I want to be, Reaper. I want to be your wife and the mother of your children. Does this mean I’m your old lady now?”
She giggled and it was the cutest sound.
“Most definitely. You’re club property now. The Enforcer’s old lady.”
He pressed his hand against her thickening stomach. His family. The Straight to Hell MC was one thing, this was another level. Finally, he was going to have a family, and he would make sure his kid never suffered the way he did.
Grace would be treated like the queen she was, and he would devote his life to them.
The End
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