Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“See? And Letty is meant to be a mom, so I doubt Shades will go too much longer without putting a baby in her. We’ll be up to our ears in babies.”
He’s saying all the right words, but I have to be sure. “And that’s enough for you?”
Wilder gathers me in his arms and nods. “Fuck, yeah, that’s enough. Is it enough for you? The road ahead of us is uncertain, Maven, but one thing that is for goddamn sure, I love you. I want you. And I want you to want me back. For real.”
My breath hitches at his words. “Oh, Wilder. The only thing I want for certain is you.”
“Yeah?” His smile brightens beautifully, and my heart soars that his man, this handsome man wants me.
I nod. “Yeah.”
“No more worries about the rest of the world and what they’ll think of us?”
I suck in a breath and let it out slowly, shaking off those negative opinions and stank-eye looks that I know we’ll get when we’re out together. I shrug off the haters and let the worry flow from my extremities until I feel strong and confident in my love for this man.
“No more worries. I’m ready to take this chance at happiness with you, Wilder. You are a good man, and you make me happy. You also fuck like a god. And you’ve shown me that my best years might not be behind me.”
He lets out a whoop of joy and sweeps me up in his arms, spinning me around. I laugh and wrap my arms around his neck. This may not be the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but it feels right. And that’s all that matters.
I bury my face in his chest, feeling light and free for the first time in weeks. “I really do love you, Wilder.”
“Does this mean you’ll finally go for a ride on my bike?”
“What about lockdown?”
“We can wait,” he says easily. “I have all the time in the world for you, Maven.”
Epilogue
Wilder
Ace sits at the head of the table for another session of Church with a serious expression on his face. This war is taking its toll on the club in terms of resources, both physical and mental.
“Other than a few scrapes and bruises, we have suffered no losses, and that’s impressive.” A rare smile spreads across his face as he sits back in his high-backed chair.
Dix nods his agreement. “As un-fucking-believable as that is, it’s enough of a reason to celebrate.” With a shit-eating grin, Dix produces two bottles of Kentucky bourbon, his favorite dark liquor. “We’re celebrating because we’ve won several battles, but the war isn’t over, brothers.”
“Exactly right,” Ace adds and looks around the table until his gaze lands on each and every one of us in attendance. “The Kings are going the way of the fucking dinosaurs, but they aren’t there yet.”
“Nogales,” I growl and smack the table. “That slippery motherfucker is like a cockroach. Somehow he always finds a way to survive.”
As long as that crazy fucker is out there, the MC remains on lockdown. None of us want to let our women out of sight, let them roam free while he’s still out there crazy and desperate as fuck.
“We need to take him out,” Ace says emphatically. “The longer he’s out there breathing, the more time he has to rebuild his dying MC.”
“Fuck that,” Shades growls. “We need to get the fuck out there and find this asshole. ASAP.”
“Shades is right. Finding Nogales is the first order of business.” Ace turns to me with a sigh. “Your job, your only job right now, is to search for everything owned by Nogales or Hector, fuck even that asshole Cyrus. Anything that Nogales, or his aliases, are listed on as property holders, bank or government liens, underwriters, co-signers, whatever the fuck else you can think of.”
I nod. “I’m on it. What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking of a campaign of terror. We take everything he owns, everything he gives a fuck about, anyway we can. Whether that’s a hostile takeover, an accidental fire, police raid, anyway we can fuck with him that will force him to hit back.”
“Got it.” Nogales is good at hiding out, good at saving his own ass without fucking regard to his brothers. Luckily for us, I have a long list of properties owned by Hector and the Iron Kings. “It’ll take a couple hours, but you’ll have it before the night is over.”
Ace nods his approval, and his shoulders relax at my assurance.
“The next order of business is tracking down Jordi and Devon, like yesterday.” Shades rolls his eyes. “My money is on Jordi.”
“Yeah, brother, I get that you have your reasons,” Preacher says with a heavy heart. “But both prospects have been missing for days at this point. It could be either one of them.”