37. Luna

37

Luna

One Week Later

Ghost has been working nonstop on the perimeter of the compound for the past week, adding additional sensors and cameras. An animal won’t get onto the property without him knowing about it. And it’s one of the many reasons I know he’s stressed.

He keeps busy to stay out of his head, and I wish I could take it all back.

As if he didn’t have enough haunting him, that night he rescued me added to it.

Seeing how they chained me down.

Watching his brother take a bullet to save my life.

It haunts me too.

I thought that by taking action, I could save the club from the trouble I was causing. But if I’d known Steven was behind it all along, I would have known that was never possible. He didn’t want me to finish a job; he wanted to cage me like his pet.

And I’m thankful every day that Ghost saved me from him.

I’m still working through the nightmares of what happened, but hopefully, someday, I’ll be able to move past it.

The only relief I find now is in Steven’s death.

He would have let his club rape me, drug me, and abuse me just to bring me into it. That wasn’t him caring, and it certainly wasn’t him saving me. He was evil through and through, and there was no bringing him back.

I just wish Legacy hadn’t been shot in the process. Thankfully, he’s on the mend, and Ghost and Steel are finally picking him up from the hospital today. Ghost and I have been helping around Legacy’s house, keeping Bea in a routine since Margaret is still struggling with her own health issues.

We’re doing all we can to repay Legacy for saving my life. Although, nothing feels like enough.

I pace the kitchen and wait while Bea watches cartoons. I’m the reason she almost lost her father, and I hope he forgives me for putting him in that position.

When the front door finally swings open, Bea jumps up. Legacy limps in, and his jaw tenses with every step, but he won’t let Ghost help him. He tries to bury his pain so Bea won’t see it.

“Daddy!” Bea runs to Legacy and throws herself against him .

She grabs his leg, and even if it’s not the one that was shot, it shifts his weight, and he winces. He plants a hand on the wall to steady himself as he leans down to kiss the top of her head.

“Morning, Honey Bea.”

Legacy was born to be a dad. His little girl is his entire world, and even if he’s hurting, he reaches down to pick her up.

“Daddy, you’re home.” She wraps her arms around his neck.

“Of course. Not even the doctors can keep me away from you.”

“Is your boo-boo better?”

He taps her nose with his finger. “Almost.”

“Did you bring me a pudding cup?”

Legacy tips his head back and laughs. “No, but I heard Uncle Marcus stocked the fridge for you this morning.”

“Yay!” Bea cheers, and he sets her down so she can run to the kitchen.

She stole Legacy’s pudding every day she went to see him at the hospital, and clearly, she can’t get enough.

Ghost stops beside Legacy and grabs his arm. “You got it?”

“I’m good.” Legacy shrugs Ghost off, stepping into the house. “Hey, Luna. Thanks for looking out for Bea while I was gone.”

“Of course.”

He drops into the chair that faces the kitchen so he can watch Bea eat her pudding while she eyes the cartoons from her stool at the counter .

“I’ll get the bags.” Ghost steps outside, leaving me alone with Legacy.

I circle the couch and sit facing him. While Ghost has gone to see him every day, I haven’t seen him since he was bleeding out in the van after taking a bullet for me.

“Don’t do that,” Legacy says, shaking his head at me.

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t feel guilty. It’s all over your face.”

“I’m the reason this happened to you.”

He drags his hand through his hair. “Luna, this comes with the gig. When you’re around here long enough, you’ll understand that. I’d have done this for any of my brothers because that’s what this patch means to me.”

“If Ghost had lost you—”

“Then he’d have you and Bea.” Legacy looks at Bea. “And she’d have had him. Do I want any of that to happen? No. But that’s how this family works around here. You’re a part of that now, so you need to understand that.”

Tears sting my eyes. “I didn’t mean to bring you all into it. But they had pictures of Austin and Bea. If they got hurt because of me—”

“Luna,” he cuts me off. “The fact that you put yourself in danger because you were trying to protect them is why I don’t regret what happened for a second. You were protecting them, and I was protecting you. That’s what we do for family.”

“Family…”

Legacy looks to the door, where Ghost is carrying another one of his bags in .

“Yes, family. You may or may not see it, but you saved my brother, Luna. He was a shell of himself until he met you. I couldn’t watch him go back to that. And you didn’t deserve whatever punishment you were bringing on yourself by turning yourself over.”

“So you don’t blame me?” Tears sting my eyes. “You don’t hate me for what happened?”

“Never.” He looks up as Ghost walks into the room. “I’m thankful for you, and so is Bea. You’re family now.”

My throat burns as I hold back tears because I truly believe what Legacy is telling me. He doesn’t trust anyone, but he thinks I’m good for Ghost. And I want to be that.

“Now, get out of here and enjoy your honeymoon phase or whatever the fuck people in happy relationships do.”

“We can stay if you need us to,” Ghost offers.

But Legacy waves his hand at him. “I’ll be fine. I need some time with Bea to talk to her about Margaret.”

“Is she getting worse?”

Legacy nods, and my heart hurts knowing how close Bea is to her nanny.

“Don’t worry about us. I’ve got it,” Legacy says.

“I’ll take care of you, Daddy.” Bea runs over and jumps onto his lap, and he smiles through the pain that flashes in his eyes.

“I know you will.” He kisses her forehead. “But it’s my job to take care of you. So you let me worry about that.”

She nestles against him.

“Call us if you need anything.” Ghost snags my hand, pulling me up off the couch. “Don’t hurt yourself getting better. ”

“I’ll call. All right?”

Something about how he says it leads me to believe he won’t, but we don’t have much of a choice.

Gathering the last of our things, we leave Legacy and Bea. And when we step outside, Ghost pauses on the front porch.

“Would you ever want to live out here?” he asks, wrapping his arms around me.

I glance at the small street they call the neighborhood. “I’ve never thought about it. It’s quiet.”

“It is.” He nods.

“And I know you like being in the middle of things to keep an eye on them.”

He leans down, kissing the center of my forehead. “I can keep an eye on things from anywhere. But if you want a home, I’d be fine living out here.”

“I already have a home, Ghost. I have you.”

He brushes my hair off my face when the wind kicks up. “Have I told you lately you’re perfect for me?”

“Yes. But that doesn’t mean you should stop saying it.”

“Don’t worry, little owl, I won’t.” He leans down to kiss me, and I sink into his hold.

I part my lips, and he deepens the kiss, claiming me like I’m not already completely his.

“Ghost,” I mumble against his mouth, and his chest rumbles with a growl.

Tempe calls Steel Jameson most of the time, reserving his road name only for when they’re at the clubhouse. But I rarely call Ghost Marcus .

Maybe it’s because I met him as Ghost. Or maybe it’s because I know that’s who he is in so many ways. A man who will always be haunted, but he found a way to let me in and love me anyway.

“Let’s go home,” I say.

He takes my hand to lead me down the porch steps, and that’s where I am because home is where Ghost is.