Chapter 29 #2
“They’re yours.” He says this with pride.
Pride he doesn’t deserve to feel but still, something in my chest unclenches.
For the first time, he’s not trying to claim them as his, he’s acknowledging her.
He looks at the three of us then. “You really love her?” he asks.
I don’t know if there’s disbelief in his voice because of residual judgment of her or just that he can’t understand our dynamic, or perhaps he’s simply trying to make sure we’re worthy of the incredible woman he now finally sees.
Flint answers first, without hesitation. “Yes.”
“From the moment I met her,” Hunter says, jaw clenched, unashamed of this romantic admission. He reaches out and squeezes her hand. Their mutual attraction and his willingness to risk everything for her started this whole thing. I’ll forever be grateful that he ignored Flint’s order, our agreement.
I step forward slightly. “With everything we have.”
King nods slowly. “And she loves you.”
It’s not a question, but Tori answers it anyway. “Yes,” she says.
He looks back at her. “I thought taking you back would fix things,” he admits. “End the humiliation and the mutiny.”
“You never wanted me back,” she says.
“I didn’t know how to be a father to you, not after everything I’d done. I never knew how to do it without her.” He doesn’t need to mention his late wife for us to know who he means.
That lands heavier than I expect. I can’t imagine the pain I’d feel if I lost Tori, if she died giving birth to our children. But I know I would never blame our babies.
King hesitates. Then he does something I genuinely never thought I’d see. He steps forward, not aggressively, not confidently, he’s tentative, dare I say it, afraid. “Can you forgive me?” he asks, holding up his hand as if to reach out and touch her but then dropping it.
It goes quiet, his words sucking the air out.
I stiffen immediately. He’s asking her to forgive him?
After everything he’s done? After a lifetime of misery and neglect?
I look at Tori. I can’t believe that instead of rage or pain, all I see in her eyes is consideration.
She’s actually thinking about it. I can practically see the memories flickering through her mind.
The damage. The strength she built from it.
“I don’t know,” she says finally. She’s stronger than I am for that. Fuck off would have been my response.
His jaw tightens, but he nods. “That’s fair.”
“We have a long way to go,” she continues. “And forgiveness isn’t something you can demand.”
“I’m not demanding, just asking.”
“Yes,” she agrees. “But that doesn’t mean you can expect it.”
Flint steps slightly closer. “This doesn’t mean we trust you either.”
“I don’t expect you to,” King replies curtly. Years of being enemies doesn’t go away after one semi-apology.
“You try anything,” Hunter adds quietly, “and there won’t be another conversation.”
He nods. “I’m not here to start another war,” he says. “I’ve had enough.”
For once, I believe him. Not because he’s changed into a good man overnight. But because he’s lost everything. He looks at Tori again. “You’ll be a better parent than I was,” he says.
She doesn’t hesitate. “I already am.” I feel triumphant that she isn’t going to let him get away easily, she isn’t going to pretend he was a good father, that he tried when he didn’t.
A faint smile crosses his face. “I know.”
The wind shifts, the change is palpable as he studies her one more time.
I see it the moment it clicks in his mind and his view of her changes.
He isn’t looking at a rebellious, unwanted, burdensome daughter anymore.
He’s looking at a woman who survived him.
A woman who is no longer his but her own person.
“You look like your mother,” he murmurs again. “She would’ve been proud.”
Tori’s chin lifts slightly. “You don’t get to speak for her. She would have been ashamed of you.”
“Yes,” he agrees, hanging his head. He steps back.
No threats. No drama. Finally, there is just acceptance.
Acceptance of what he had and what he lost. Of everything he should have done differently.
“If you ever decide to talk,” he says quietly, “I’ll be waiting.
But if not, I understand. Have a nice life, Tori. ”
Tori makes a choked, strangled sort of sound, it’s the first time he’s called her by the name she prefers. I reach out and squeeze her hand.
King turns and walks back to his bike. This time he leaves without an escort of loyal soldiers. He is just a man. He doesn’t look back as he turns on his engine and rides away. We don’t move until the sound disappears completely. Only then do I let myself breathe.
I wrap an arm around Tori, pulling her close. “You okay?”
“Yes,” she says, letting out a deep breath.
I brush my thumb across her knuckles. “You were fearless,” I tell her.
She looks up at me. “I was afraid,” she admits softly.
“Doesn’t matter,” I say. “You stood up to him anyway, you said what you needed to say.”
Flint steps in front of her, searching her face. “You don’t owe him anything,” he says.
“I know.”
I believe her. If she decides to forgive him, I won’t like it, but I will respect it. It’s her choice to make. We walk back toward the clubhouse together. I keep my hand on her belly, feeling the steady rhythm of movement inside.
Finally, it feels like the war is over. It might not be a clean, simple, happy ending, but it’s over. And now we can focus fully on the future, on our children and the life we want to build for them.
Inside, the brothers relax gradually. Screw mutters about anticlimactic showdowns.
Hank shakes his head. Smoke just watches Tori like a protective big brother.
Shelly hugs Tori, whispering words of encouragement about her bravery.
I love that our friends, our family, care about Tori and our babies as much as we do.
They treat her as something sacred, because she is.
I pull her down gently onto the couch once we’re inside. “You sure you’re okay?” I ask again, quieter now.
She nods. “I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive him,” she admits. “But… I’m not afraid of him anymore.”
That’s the victory. Not the collapse of the Raging Bulls or the Ghost Riders winning a decades long war.
This, is. Tori finally feeling safe and unafraid.
She leans back against me, heavy and warm and alive.
I rest both hands over her stomach as one of the babies kicks hard enough to make her laugh.
“I think that one’s yours,” I tease.
She rolls her eyes. “They’re all yours.” She looks between me, Hunter, and Flint.
I grin, the guys smile too. Mine. Ours. Hers. Not his.
As I sit there, feeling the steady strength of the family we built out of war and defiance, I realize something simple and absolute—King lost the moment Tori stopped being afraid. And he knows it. I think he knew it long before she did.