Epilogue

EPILOGUE

KING

“ H oly shit,” Onyx breathed while watching Kyla, my eight-year-old daughter, execute a perfect roundhouse kick and land in a ready stance before throwing a jab cross and ending with a spinning jump kick. She shifted into a horse stance, then stood straight and bowed. She’d already impressed the fuck out of them with the rest of the kata.

“Bad. Ass…” Kevlar stuttered, his eyes wide.

“Just wait,” I smirked.

Stella bowed at the mat, then walked on carrying a bo staff. “Nice form, baby girl. You’re going to kill in forms at belt testing next week. Now let’s see your bo kata.”

Kyla bowed to her mother, then took her bow and went to stand in front of the mirror.

We’d added a space at the back of the house to create a dojo for Stella and the kids to learn and practice.

Kyla started spinning her bow, then it was flying all around her, going up in the air while she did three turns, then catching it before moving on to the next incredible move.

“What the fuck?” Echo gaped, earning himself a smack on the back of the head by my wife, who’d come to stand beside me.

“Language,” she snapped. Then she turned back to watch Kyla fly through the air and land lightly on her feet with the bo resting against her body, slightly below her armpit. Then she bowed again and walked to the edge of the mat.

Stella smiled proudly and put her hands on Kyla’s shoulders. “I can’t believe my baby girl is earning her black belt,” she said in a watery voice.

Kyla’s nose wrinkled, and she sighed. “Aw, Mom. Don’t get all mushy. You’ve still got Daphne and that one”—she pointed at Stella’s gently rounded stomach—“to teach.”

Stella sniffed. “Doesn’t matter. I’m still going to cry when you get your belt.”

“At least she cried at my ceremony too, squirt,” Cadell chimed in.

Kyla glared up at her big brother. “Don’t call me squirt! I’ll kick your ass!”

Stella gasped, and every badass biker in the room adopted an innocent expression. “Who taught my little girl to swear?” Then she looked around and sighed. “Never mind.”

After glaring at all of us—but mostly me—she looked at the kids and gestured to the mat. “Let’s see your combined routine for the competition next month.”

When they walked away, Porter—a new prospect—shook his head and glanced at me. “Did your old lady just say that your eight-year-old daughter is earning her black belt?” he sputtered.

“It’s only first degree.” I shrugged. “She’s been studying karate nonstop since she was just barely four.”

It was unusual for kids to earn a black belt so young, but Stella was a fucking amazing teacher, and Kyla loved it so much. It was pretty much all she did in her spare time.

“Besides, Cadell was a black belt at her age,” Onyx told the kid.

“Yeah, but he’s a boy?—”

“You don’t want to finish what you were about to say, prospect,” I growled.

The color drained from his face. “Um, sorry, I didn’t mean to…I hope I didn’t piss you off. I?—”

He was cut off when Echo burst into laughter, and the rest of the boys chuckled.

Porter looked at him in confusion.

“It’s not the prez you have to be worried about if you say shit like that,” Echo explained. “It’s his old lady.”

“Damn fucking straight,” I grunted as I turned back to watch my wife and kids, feeling pretty damn smug.

Want to know what went down with Blaze and his mystery woman? Find out in Blaze !

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