Chapter Epilogue

Hawk

Eight Months Later

"W hat the fuck do you want?" Eric sat on the other side of thick glass with the ugly as fuck green phone in his hand and an angry scowl on his face.

I pushed my face into a fake pout. "Not happy to see me, Detective Owens?"

"Fuck you," he snarled, and leaned back in his chair. "Is that why you came, to brag?"

My lips curled into an amused grin. "Brag? Why would I brag? Because Laura is my wife and she's going to give birth to my son any day now? Or because your attempt to ruin me backfired and you'll now be calling this place home for the next fifteen years?" My smile grew. "What kind of man would brag about that?"

When my club brothers had gone to his house in Steel City it became clear that him paying off Los Ochos, was only the tip of the iceberg. Working in Organized Crime could be a lucrative business if you were a dirty cop.

"Then what is this, some kind of threat?"

I wasn't sure what my plan was when I hopped on my bike and made the ninety-minute drive to the prison, but as I waited, it all came together. "I thought about it, you know. Paying off a few different people to make this the worst fucking vacation of your sorry life, but Laura said you'd be miserable enough without my intervention. Is she right? I hear life ain't so rosy for cops behind bars, especially dirty ones."

His nostrils flared, and I wasn't sure if it was the mention of Laura or my presence. "Fuck you, Hawk."

"Okay, then." I stood and leaned forward. "Just remember that I'm the one who came and offered the olive branch, Eric. The others won't be nearly as charitable." He was a dead man walking even if he didn't realize it. The deals that hadn't gone through thanks to his bullshit, had cost money and lives, something nobody would forget—or forgive—easily, if ever. "Have a shitty life, Eric."

"She's too good for you," he called out before I hung up the phone. "You know that, don't you?"

I smiled. "Fuck yeah, I do. And every damn day I make sure she knows just how loved she is, how special she is to me. I'm not dumb enough to fuck it up and hurt her." I sent him a pointed gaze to remind him just how thoroughly he'd fucked up. "Don't get yourself killed, Detective . " At the end of the day, Eric wasn't worth the potential shitstorm that would follow in the wake of his death, so I left with a clean conscience.

He would die, but it wouldn't be because of me or the Steel Demons MC. We had officially washed our hands of him and the need for revenge. Putting a cop behind bars was more than enough.

***

As soon as I was outside the prison, my phone began buzzing furiously. "Yeah?"

"Hawk," Kristy shouted. "Where the fuck are you? Laura is in labor, and we're headed to the hospital. Meet us there!"

I hauled ass down the highway, eager to get to the hospital where I'd first met her and had become so intrigued by her.

I'm about to be a father.

That thought was both terrifying and exciting. Today was the day I'd get to meet our son and I couldn't fucking wait.

I broke every speed limit to get to Laura in record time, barreling through the hospital in search of the maternity ward. "Laura!"

Kristy's head popped out of a room, and she wore a frown. "What are you, a jungle animal? Get in here." Falling for Laura had meant inheriting another feisty woman in my life, and for the life of me, I couldn't be mad about it.

"Laura?"

"Hawk," she shouted, and then doubled over in pain.

I was at her inside instantly. "Hold my hand, babe. Do it just like we practiced." I breathed and she followed suit, over and over for what felt like an eternity, but really it was barely an hour before a baby's wail echoed in the room and our son lay against his momma's chest. "Holy shit, that's our baby."

She flashed a sleepy smile. Her hair was stuck to her forehead and neck. She was exhausted and beautiful. And mine. "Dominic Junior."

"Junior?"

"Of course. We can call him Dom or DJ. What do you think?"

"I love it," I said, and she handed my son to me. I cradled the little bundle with blond hair in my arms. "He's so fucking small."

"He's only seven pounds, Hawk." The amusement in her voice was clear, but in the next moment she was asleep.

I kissed the top of her head and sat in the chair beside the bed, holding my son and utterly fascinated by him. I knew I would do anything to protect him and Laura, and any other family members that came along. That feeling, the love, was powerful and all-consuming. It was like nothing I'd ever felt before, and when he looked up at me with his mother's gray eyes, I knew I'd plow through the fires of hell to keep them happy and safe.

For the rest of my days.

THE END