Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Mary Jay

He was there.

Just like always.

"So you didn't wind up in jail, or you managed to get bailed out before I got off of work."

Hail was sitting on the bench outside the bar with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and a beer in his hand. "I promised you I would be here when you got off work."

He had, and he had kept that promise. "Does that mean things went well for you today?"

He reached his hand out to me, and I placed mine in his. He pulled me to him, and I straddled his lap. "Things went exactly as planned, babe. You don't have to worry about the Broken Jokers ever again."

"Really?" I asked.

He nodded and pressed a kiss to my lips. "I wasn't joking when I said you were protected by the Lost Mavericks."

I laid my hands on his shoulders and looked into the eyes of the man I loved. "How did I get so lucky?" I whispered.

"I'm the lucky one, Mary Jay. You can't tell me any different. Now, tell me you missed me, and then I'm going to introduce you to your new family."

I tipped my head to the side. "I missed you, and I don't know if I'm ready to meet your friends."

"Family," he corrected. "And they're your family now, too."

I had met a couple of the guys in the past weeks, but not all of them. Now, I was going to meet every last one of them all at the same time.

"So not only do I get you, but I also get a whole new family?"

Hail smiled and cupped my face with his hand. "Yeah, babe. You have a new family that will always protect you."

"Lucky," I whispered.

He shook his head. "Protected." He pressed a kiss to my lips. "Forever."

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