Epilogue
TYRE
Christmas lights glowed across the compound, strung between poles and wrapped around trees in warm white strands that reflected softly off the pool water behind the clubhouse.
The Florida air carried just enough chill to justify the giant heaters scattered beneath the tents, but not enough to ruin the night.
Music drifted through the yard, mixed with laughter, clinking glasses, and the low rumble of my brothers giving each other shit near the bar setup Fury and Gauge had thrown together beside the clubhouse.
And right in the center of all of it stood Cecily. My wife.
The realization still hit me like a punch every time I looked at her.
She was fucking beautiful in a way that made it hard to breathe right.
Her dress hugged her body before falling in clean lines to the ground, the winter lights catching in her wild, red hair while her brown eyes searched for me through the crowd.
The second she found me, her whole face lit up.
Mine. That feeling hadn’t faded once since the day I met her. If anything, it’d only grown stronger.
I leaned back in my chair at the head table, whiskey in one hand, while I watched her laugh with Jana, Ashlynn, and Lark near the dance floor.
The wedding itself had been exactly what she wanted—intimate and outdoors under the lights behind the clubhouse with our families surrounding us.
Just us, our people, and promises that settled deep into my bones the second I slid my ring onto her finger. And I’d meant every damn word.
Across from me, Blitz smirked over the neck of his beer bottle. “You’ve been staring at your wife for twenty straight minutes, brother.”
“Fuck off.”
He chuckled, entirely unbothered. “Just saying, if you keep fucking her with your eyes like that, one of the old ladies is gonna hose you down.”
Edge dropped into the empty chair beside me and snorted. “Too late. He’s already mentally stripped her naked at least six times since dinner.”
“Seven,” Nitro corrected dryly from further down the table. “I counted.”
I flipped all of them off without taking my eyes off Cecily. “One more word about my wife and sex coming from any of your mouths, and my woman will be remembering our wedding day as the one where several of my brothers lost limbs.”
That only made the assholes laugh harder.
Kane leaned back beside Savannah, his arm stretched lazily across the back of her chair while he watched me with obvious amusement. “Leave him alone. Man just got married.”
“Exactly,” Edge shot back. “Which means he’s legally obligated to suffer through our commentary.”
Century lifted his beer. “It’s tradition.”
I shook my head, but I couldn’t even find it in me to be annoyed tonight. Not when Cecily glanced over again and smiled at me like I was the only thing she saw in the entire fucking world. It hit me straight in the chest every damn time.
A few minutes later, she slipped into the empty chair beside mine, her fingers brushing over the back of my neck while she leaned in close enough that her perfume wrapped around me immediately.
“You’re staring again,” she murmured near my ear.
“You’re my wife. I’ll stare whenever the fuck I want.”
Her cheeks pinkened slightly, and I grinned against the side of my whiskey glass.
Her mother appeared out of nowhere, carrying another plate of desserts while my mother and younger sister hovered nearby. Then our fathers and my younger brother came up behind them.
“Cecily really needs to eat more,” her mother announced, setting the plate down in front of her. “Training this hard burns calories.”
“And after the Olympics,” my mother added smoothly, “there’ll hopefully be grandchildren burning some energy, too.”
Cecily nearly choked on her drink.
My younger brother barked out a laugh while my dad smirked shamelessly beside him.
Her father nodded like this was a completely normal public conversation. “You two will need a proper family house in California eventually.”
Cecily looked horrified. I probably looked entertained as fuck.
“Ares,” she hissed under her breath, cheeks blazing.
“What?” I asked innocently. “They’re just planning ahead.”
She kicked my shoe hard enough to shake the table. I just winked and pulled her onto my lap, wrapping her in my arms and burying my face in her hair.
Ten minutes later, I was finally able to drag her away from both sets of parents before they started discussing baby names or nursery colors. The second we stepped away from the crowd and into the quieter shadows near the pool fence, she spun toward me with narrowed eyes and flushed cheeks.
“We don’t need to have kids right away,” she informed me, blushing hard again.
She was tempting as fuck when she did that. I grabbed her waist and backed her against the fence, crowding close enough that her breath caught while my mouth brushed her ear.
“Baby,” I growled low enough that nobody else could hear it, “the second you’re ready, I fully intend to have you knocked the fuck up.”
Her eyes widened, and I smirked as I slid one hand down to grip her ass through the silky material of her dress.
“Until then,” I continued roughly, “we’ll get lots of practice making babies.”
“Ares!” she whispered, horrified, delighted, and turned on all at once. The look on her face nearly killed me.
I kissed her hard before she could recover enough to argue, swallowing the soft noise she made when I pinned her tighter against me. Her hands slid into my hair, her body melting into mine while I kissed her beneath the Christmas lights.
Then the clubhouse back door slammed open hard enough to rattle windows.
Every biker instinct in the yard immediately sharpened.
Rev came storming outside looking like absolute hell—dirty and visibly furious enough that the entire party quieted instantly.
His cut hung open over a sweat-soaked shirt, and dried blood was smeared along one forearm.
Kane was already moving before anybody spoke, and Edge and I followed immediately.
Rev stalked halfway across the yard toward us, his chest heaving slightly while his gaze searched wildly for Kane.
“What happened?” Kane asked.
Rev dragged a hand through his hair, pacing like he was trying not to lose his shit completely. “Woman ran out into the road in front of my bike on one of the backroads near the outskirts of town. Damn near hit her.”
Edge’s brows lifted slightly.
“She’s in deep fucking trouble,” Rev continued, his voice turning colder. “Bad enough she practically climbed onto my bike begging me not to leave her there.”
The look in his eyes said everything before another word left his mouth.
I recognized that expression immediately. Obsession. The utter certainty that settles into a man the second he finds his woman.
Kane clearly saw it too because his eyes narrowed. “Do we need a safehouse?”
Rev’s jaw flexed hard. “She stays with me. If she needs to be moved, I will go with her.”
Kane nodded, solid as always. “Let’s go inside and talk.”
Rev finally seemed to realize he’d just burst into the middle of a wedding reception covered in dirt and fury. He looked over at me. “Sorry for interrupting your wedding party, brother.”
I waved him off instantly. “Go take care of your woman.”
Understanding flashed across his face. Because every man standing here knew exactly what he was feeling right now.
Kane, Edge, and Rev disappeared back into the clubhouse while I turned toward the dance floor again, where Cecily stood watching me with curious concern written all over her face.
“What was that about?” she asked when I reached her.
I slid my arm around her waist and pulled her close again. “I’ll explain later.”
She studied my face for another second before nodding, then I tugged her toward the dance floor.
The music had shifted softer, Christmas lights glowing overhead while people laughed and danced around us.
I pulled Cecily into my arms, her body fitting perfectly against mine while her fingers linked behind my neck.
“You happy, baby?” I asked quietly.
Her eyes lifted to mine, shining beneath the lights. “So happy it scares me a little sometimes. Like if I blink, I’ll realize this was all a dream.”
I grinned slowly and kissed her forehead. “Good. Means you’re paying attention.”
She laughed softly and settled closer while we swayed together beneath the lights, surrounded by our family—by blood or by oath—and the chaotic, beautiful mess of the life we’d built together.
“Besides, I know you, baby. You’re gonna make all your dreams come true.”
I believed it with everything I had. California waited for us. And the Olympics waited for her.
But no matter what happened, as long as we were together, I was home.