Epilogue

EPILOGUE

SPENCER

TWO MONTHS LATER

Standing in the middle of the empty apartment, I look around. It looks just like it did the day I moved in here. I thought that this was it. I had truly made it. This was luxury, and I’d worked my way here.

Moving to Austin for college was the scariest thing I’d ever done in my entire life, but Humble had my back. He supported me every step of the way, even when I wouldn’t return to Pineville to visit him. When I was being selfish. When I was being scared.

I moved from the dorm to an apartment with roommates, started my own business, and eventually got my own place. This place was me making it all by myself. This was my big start in the world.

Humble may have helped me a lot along the way, but not with this. Once college was over and I was working full-time, I stopped asking for financial help. I was determined to do it all on my own, and I did.

I bite my bottom lip, then inhale a deep breath, close my eyes, and just let it soak in. This was my home, this was my life, and now it’s the past. My future is outside somewhere, and I’m so excited about it that I have to pinch myself to make sure it’s real.

“You ready, beautiful?” a deep voice asks from behind me.

Turning my head, I look over my shoulder. I look at my future. My past and future are all wrapped up in one tall, muscular, bearded, tattooed body. How is this my life? I smile at the sight of my man.

“I’m ready,” I say.

It took us a couple of months to actually get out here and pack the apartment up. There has been a lot going on, even if I don’t understand or actually know what any of it is or what it means. Club business and that federal group—all of it—which has been nerve-racking, at the least, considering Jasmine has disappeared .

“Your Tesla is all sold and handled. Cash in hand,” Evan adds as he holds out his hand for me. “And the truck is already heading back.”

“Already?” I ask.

He grins. “You’ve been standing in here for at least an hour, Spencer.”

My eyes widen. I feel like I’ve been standing here for five minutes. Once I walk out of this apartment, I know I’ll never be back here again. I’m no longer this girl.

My world has been flipped around, turned upside down, and restarted. I never imagined this for myself, but it’s the sweetest ending and beginning all at the same time. Together, we walk out of the apartment, hand in hand, and I close the door behind me.

I’m not sure what the details of my future hold, but I’m excited about it nonetheless. We make our way down the staircase, and then he walks us over to a brand-new mint-green-and-white Bronco.

Evan reaches for the passenger door handle. “Evan, what are you doing?” I hiss.

He turns his head, looking over his shoulder at me with a smirk. “Hop on in, beautiful.”

“Evan?” I ask.

He laughs softly. “The Tesla is gone. I told you it had to go because it just won’t work in East Texas.”

“You did, but you didn’t say anything about a new car,” I say.

He steps away from the car and lifts his hand. His palm cups my cheek as he looks into my eyes. “Beautiful, I’m your man. You’re giving me more than I could ever dream of. Moving back to Pineville, living in my cabin, sharing a whole fucking life with me. The least I could do was buy you a car.”

Tears fill my eyes. His words are beautiful. He is beautiful. I love everything about Evan Hughes, and in this moment, I love him even more. It’s not about the car. It’s about everything else.

“I don’t need the car,” I whisper. “Just you.”

He hums and leans forward, resting his forehead against mine. I feel the weight of his body against my own. He’s breathing heavily, almost panting before he speaks, and when he does, I feel his warm breath wash over my face.

I love him.

No other words matter, but when he speaks again, it’s like he calms every single fear I’ve ever had in just a few sentences. This is the kind of man I always wanted for myself, but I just didn’t know who it would be. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be Evan. I thought that chapter was done the day I walked away from him and went to college.

“And I know you don’t need a fucking thing, but I’m going to spend my entire life giving you everything, Spencer. You make my life worth living, and I plan on showing you that every goddamn day.”

“I love you,” I whisper.

No other words need to be said. Instead, just the three most important ones.

“I love you, too, beautiful. Let’s go home.”

Home.

And home is where we go—our home.

brEW

THREE MONTHS LATER

There are balloons and shit everywhere, cupcakes and desserts, food, loud music, and toddlers running around. This is fucking family right here. Adam turns seven. It’s the first birthday he’s ever celebrated here, and my brother is going to do it up right, and right he does.

The clubhouse has turned into a romper room and not a sexy one. Family surrounds us as we pass through the door. I almost laugh, mainly because it’s hilarious to have a kid’s birthday party in the bar of an MC clubhouse, but here the fuck we are.

There are cartoon dogs dressed up as policemen everywhere, and the irony of it all makes me laugh. “Do you think this is enough?” Spencer asks, holding up the gift by the handles.

Looking at her hand, I smile, then shift my gaze back to the table where there are gifts, just like ours, lined up. They are different shapes and sizes, but I would guess we’re all getting him equal gifts.

“It’ll be fine, beautiful,” I rasp.

She gives me a shy smile and moves toward the table. Dropping my hand from hers, I watch her walk over and then set the gift down. Adam runs toward her and wraps his arms around her thighs. I watch as Spencer returns the hug and pats him on the head.

Adam runs off a moment later, and Spencer makes her way over toward the women. Kyle places her hand on her round belly, and I find myself watching her a little closer than I probably should.

“You good?” Gnaw asks from beside me.

With a grunt, I rip my gaze from his woman and look at him. “I want that, Spencer carrying my kid. That’s all I was thinking.”

Gnaw grins. “Better get on it, old man.”

He’s not fucking wrong. “Guess I better marry her fast, then. Don’t think she’d be open to it otherwise.”

“You’re not getting any younger. At this rate, you’re gonna be fifty, walking your kid to their first day of school.”

I can’t contain my laughter. Placing my hand on my belly, I shake my head a couple of times. “You are not fucking wrong on that.”

I move to the bar as I think about the conversation. I need to propose to Spencer, but at the same time, I can’t. That needs to be done when Clink is out of the pen. She wouldn’t marry me, and I wouldn’t ask her without her brother free.

So, it seems as if I’ll indeed be the fifty-year-old walking my kid to their first class at the elementary school after all.

The party continues. Men chat, drink, and eat. The women run after toddlers and the birthday boy is given all of the attention possible, including the whole room going quiet to sing the birthday song.

Never been to a kid’s party before, but I have to guess that this is one amazing birthday party. What kid doesn’t want to be surrounded by his aunts and uncles? Then we watch him open his gifts.

It’s a good fucking day, and I never thought I would have so much fun at a party, but Adam just isn’t some kid at the club. He’s my nephew by blood. I lift the beer bottle to my lips when he gets to my gift and shouts an excited thank-you across the bar.

Feeling fingers wrap around my shoulder, I look to the side to find those pink-painted nails that were wrapped around my cock just a few short hours ago. Following those fingers, the wrist, and the arm, I look up at the face they all belong to.

“I told you he’d like it,” I say.

Her lips curve up into a small smile. “Do you get tired of it?” she asks. I hum as my answer, but I don’t say anything, instead waiting for her to continue. “Of being right all the time?”

I can’t contain my laughter. I wrap my fingers around her wrist and tug her around to the front of my body. Encircling her with my arms, I look into her eyes. She is smiling down at me, shaking her head from side to side as my chuckles die down.

“It’s not me who is always right. At the risk of sounding like a complete fucking pussy in my own clubhouse, it’s you, beautiful. It’s always been you, and you knew a long time ago what I was too goddamn blind to see. So, you’re the one who is right, not me.”

Spencer smiles, her gaze focused on mine and nowhere else. “We’ll just have to agree to disagree.”

Pulling her closer to me, I touch my mouth to hers. “Our life is perfect just as it is, but I want what they have,” I rasp. “When it’s time.”

“When it’s time?” she asks.

I dip my chin in a single nod. “When our whole family is here. Not when we’re separated like this.”

“You mean Humble?” Spencer asks.

Shifting my head back slightly, I study her gaze, holding it with my own. “I mean Humble,” I confirm. “Wouldn’t be right to get married, have kids, any of that shit, without him.”

Spencer cups my cheeks as her eyes search mine. Tears fill her eyes. I watch as they slide down her cheeks. Then she leans forward, and I feel her lips touch mine. She doesn’t deepen the kiss. Instead, she speaks.

“You, Evan Hughes, are always right,” she exhales.

This life is ugly. It can be downright horrific. There are murders, births, rebirths, and tragedies. But it also has its bittersweet moments as well. This is one of those. Not because my woman isn’t perfect but because we are in a state of limbo until Clink gets out of prison.

And as fucking annoying as that is for us, it’s selfish for me to even think that because he’s the one living in hell right now while I’m here, breathing freely.

“You can show me just how right I am later and how much you love me for it,” I say with a smile.

“You know I will. Don’t I always?” She laughs softly, then pushes away from me. I let her go, watching as she walks over to the women.

It’s a great fucking view, her ass as she moves across the room. I watch her, knowing that I don’t deserve her. I am a fucking murderer—a savage. Everything I do for this club is illegal, or at least skirts the illegal. She is all things good, and I’m not worthy of her.

But I love Spencer Maddison, and I’m going to earn her every day until the day I die.