Chapter 23

Mia

For the first time in my life, life is sweet. I’m not scared of the person I love walking away from me. I’m where I’m supposed to be. And this realization hit me even more when I woke up in the arms of Ares this morning after he confessed the words I’d imprint in my heart forever.

I love him and he loves me, all of me. Even after seeing who I really am, he still wants this life, this marriage with me .

“Hello, wife,” his raspy voice says, his rough hand rubbing circles on my stomach in the most delicious way to wake up.

“Hello, husband,” I answer, an impossible smile tugging at my lips. I slept like a baby in his arms all night, his musky scent pushing away all my doubts and fears.

He is my home, my shield, my anchor.

“You smell so good. How d’ya do that? Always smell like apple pie, I swear.” He inhales deeply, burying his nose in my hair.

I chuckle. “As long as you like apple pie.”

He turns my face and kisses the corner of my lips, then murmurs words only a husband could say to his wife and still get away with. After a few minutes, I’m flushed and panting when he gets up and leaves a rough kiss on my forehead with a devious smirk.

“Get your pretty face downstairs. Vox will be here soon to pick Rose up, and we can all have breakfast together,” he says, closing the buttons of his black shirt.

“Don’t tell me you guys already had a meeting before I woke up,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“Not one, two,” he replies, winking at me with his sinful smile. Of course he did, must have called his VP the second he woke up to get a heads-up on last night.

I shake my head. “I’ll be there in a minute,” I say, pushing the bed sheets away, stretching my legs.

“Don’t be too long, Mrs Malone, or I’ll come back and drag you down myself.” He smirks.

Can this man be any more attractive?

“I’m well aware.” I chuckle, biting my lips and noticing his jaw tightening at the sight.

Ares

“Four in Philadelphia, five in Pittsburgh, and two in Cleveland,” assures Vox with a determined voice.

“Five in Pittsburgh…” I rub my stubble, “good, that’s fucking good.”

“We’ll need to takeover it soon to avoid the Greeks to get ahead of us but, yeah, pretty fuckin’ great,” he says with a half-grin, patting my shoulder.

“You did good, Vox… Thank you,” I rasp, clearing my throat, looking at my mug of coffee on the kitchen counter.

He nods and swallows his coffee. “Yeah, no problem.”

Giggles echo behind us as our wives come from the living room, smiling from ear to ear, Rose silently laughing then glancing at her husband with a look I can only understand too well now.

“Oh my god, Vox. Harley is the cutest cat ever. Rose just showed me when she sleeps in plants.” Mia chuckles, wearing a long blue dress, with her hair loose making my imagination go into dark places.

“Yeah, that little thing is putting hairs all over the place, even got some on my bike.” He shakes his head, then smirks at his wife, who’s carrying a smug smile and signs something I don’t get.

“Rose says I complain, but I like the fluff ball more than I want to admit.” He shrugs, his eyes locked with Rose’s. “Yeah, alright.” he rasps, chuckling before kissing his wife’s hair.

“Rose, come sit here. I’ll make you some tea,” Mia says, showing one of the stools to her, then stepping to the kettle. “Is granola and yogurt okay with you? I can also make a smoothie if you want? I got all the superfood powders you can imagine,” she tells her while holding a jar of granola and I can’t help but smile at my wife talking about food with excitement.

She’s not there yet, but she’s on her way to healing. I can feel it in my guts, and I’ll be there every step of the way to support her.

Rose points to the jar with a smile, her blonde locks contrasting with her blue eyes. Mia makes her a bowl, applying herself more than usual to make it nice and then gives it to her. Then she grabs oat, berries and vegan yogurt stuff, which I tried once without looking, and fuck, won’t do the mistake again. She makes her bowl and sighs. Once she’s satisfied with it, she joins Rose.

All sat around the marble counter, we chat and talk about their life in Seattle, and Mia and Rose make plans to “binge-watch a new series together . ” Whatever that means. They even make a fucking pinky promise about it, making Vox and I exchange a much dubious look. Our women contrast with our biker lives, but fuck, I don’t think he would exchange it for anything in this world, and neither am I.

“Angel, we gotta go. Plane leaves in an hour,” Vox says, standing and shaking my hand. Rose hugs Mia, and my girl signs “See you soon” to Rose. Bet she taught her a few signs, and I am proud my woman’s trying hard to learn them.

“It was so great to have you guys,” adds Mia, sliding next to me like a puzzle piece, my hand resting on the low of her back.

After they leave, I turn to my wife and kiss the hell out of her.

“God,” she gasps, panting, her cheek all fucking pink with her swollen lips and disheveled red hair.

“Just Ares.” I smirk. She pushes my chest, shaking her head.

“I gotta show you something,” I tell her, my tone back to business.

“Like now?” she asks with her hands on her hips.

“Yeah,” I deadpan.

“I’ve got a video call with a client in an hour, will it be enough time?”

“It will, it’s not that far.”

“Oh, where are you taking me?” Excitement pulls at the corner of her hazelnut eyes.

“You’ll see. Put your shoes on, princess. We’re going now. I’ll head to the club after. Ash and Carter will bring you back,” I command.

“Carter too?” She raises a brow.

“Yeah, if that’s alright with you. He will replace Shadow from now on.”

“Oh, um, yes. I mean, Shadow was super nice but I like Carter too. He’s, he knows how to keep things for himself, kind of helps when I’m around food,” she explains and I’m glad she’s comfortable with the guys. I stroke her cheek, wishing I could make this fucking eating disorder go away.

“He’s cold as fuck, but he would take a bullet for the folks he cares about. Just gotta give him a bit of time to warm up,” I explain. She nods with a little smile and my shoulders go down a bit, relief washing over me knowing that she’s alright with this. Ash and Carter will make the best team to protect her, and with Carter's reputation, hell, I doubt we’ll ever have any issue.

Sitting on the entryway bench, she puts on a pair of green high heels with strings and butterflies. I shake my head. My woman got unusual taste.

But I guess that’s good.

Otherwise, she would have never chosen me.

“C’mon, let’s go, princess.” Grabbing her delicate perfectly manicured hand in my rough palm, I lead her to our black SUV.

Time to show my girl what I’ve been working on for months.