Sweet Revenge (Sinners MC Book 1), page 24
I pulled back and rolled my eyes, giggling softly. “You know this is not happening in front of Jack Dimarco’s house, right?”
He squeezed my thigh gently before he pulled his hand back out and wrapped it around the other side of my neck. Still smiling, he pulled me in close again and kissed me softly. “He’d encourage me.”
I laughed against his lips, and he pulled back, just watching me. “His grandkids are here. I don’t think he’d encourage you.”
He ran his thumb along my bottom lip. “I love how easily you laugh now.” He dropped his hands and sat back, putting some distance between us. “Come on, let’s go in before I throw the gift in the yard and take you home.”
I laughed even harder and pushed my door open. It felt good to laugh. I don’t remember a time in my life when I laughed so freely and in complete happiness. I fell into step beside him after he grabbed the large gift from the back seat, and we walked toward the house. He opened a gate right beside the house that led to a huge backyard, and I swallowed hard. A party this size still had the ability to freeze me, but I was determined to push through, not only for myself but also for Gunner. This family had wedged their way into all of our lives, and once they got in, they held on tightly, and I didn’t want to shake them off. I wanted to feel a part of their family like I did with the Sinners, and to do that, I’d have to spend time with them. I’d have to trust them.
Trust was hard for me, but I was getting better. After all, now I had someone who always had my back.
I stumbled a little when I noticed Luke walking our way with his wife by his side. Gunner balanced the gift under his arm before he reached down and grabbed my hand, squeezed it gently, and pulled me closer to tuck me against his side. I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding when I felt his strength beside me.
“You made it.” Luke said once he was standing in front of us.
Gunner lifted his chin. “Yeah, man.”
Luke tugged on Kate’s hand, and she smiled. “Hi, Maggie.”
I waved awkwardly, and she smiled wider. “Hi, Kate. Hi, Luke.”
Luke smiled and dropped Kate’s hand only to throw his arm around her slim shoulders. “I’m glad you could come.” He leaned forward and stared into my eyes. “Finally.”
I squeezed Gunner’s hand and nodded. “Me too.”
Kate looked up at Luke before her attention came back to me. “We want to thank you, Maggie, and properly this time.”
I jerked back, and my eyebrows came together in confusion. “Thank me. Why?”
Kate raised her eyebrows. “Why?” She pushed away from Luke and stepped forward. “Maggie, your bravery is what made it possible for all of us to be here and together like this.” She reached out and took my hand in hers. “I’m not sure I would’ve been strong enough to put my life on the line like you did.”
“I, uh…” I stuttered, having no response.
“Can I hug you?” Kate asked sweetly, and again, I had no words, so I nodded. She took a step closer, and I dropped Gunner’s hand right before she wrapped her arms around me. She pulled back and smiled wide. “Thank you, Maggie.”
I smiled softly and looked over her shoulder when I saw a few more people approaching. “Hey man, I’ll take that.” Luke grabbed the gift from Gunner and handed it behind him to another man.
He held the gift in one hand. “Hey, Maggie. I’m Brody, and this is Gia.” He gestured to the woman beside him. She stepped forward, and I noticed her hands were full.
“Hi, Maggie. It’s so nice to finally meet you.” She nodded her head in Kate’s direction. “Kate and I have been bugging these guys to get you here so we could finally spend some time with you.”
“Hi.” I answered awkwardly, glancing down at the bundle in her arms.
Gia took a step closer. “And this is our newest addition, Addison.”
Gunner grunted. “Can’t believe you had another girl, brother.”
Brody smirked. “I’m being punished for something.”
Gia laughed and smacked him in the arm. “You’re lucky to be surrounded by so many women. It would have done you and your brothers good to have more girls in your family. Maybe you all wouldn’t act like such cavemen.”
He swung his arm around her shoulders. “We have three kids under the age of five, baby. I don’t think you mind the caveman.”
She giggled and turned her head when Jack approached. He leaned down and kissed her temple. “How are my girls?”
She smiled sweetly. “We’re good, Jack.”
He stepped around her and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in for a hug. “Hi, darlin’. It’s nice to finally see you here.”
I squealed in surprise, earning me a lot of grins from his family standing behind him before I hugged him back, and whispered, “I’m so happy to be here.”
He pulled back and smiled down at me. “Now come on, my Anna has been dying to meet you. And you have a lot of family here to meet yet.”
He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and began steering me away. I looked back at Gunner who watched me closely, but I waved him off. I was okay. This didn’t feel scary or intimidating; it felt warm and inviting. I followed Jack through the yard and met so many people I knew it would take me a long time to get everyone straight, but it didn’t matter because I’d have that time. I’d have the chance. A chance I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would have.
And I let the warmth surround me. Finally, after all these years, life was giving me my happy.
Not all that long ago, I was afraid that fate had taken away any chance of me living a life I could be proud of, a life where I felt happy and free.
Now I understood that everything I endured wasn’t the end, but the beginning of something beautiful. Something that I never in my wildest dreams thought would be possible in my life. And something I was never going to take for granted.
I glanced across the crowd and found Gunner.
His eyes on me.
Always on me.
That no longer felt intimidating. It felt comforting to know he loved me so much that I would never have to face hard times alone again.
I would never walk alone again.
I smiled, and he grinned back at me, giving me a nod of his head that I found ridiculously adorable before he turned back to the conversation he was participating in.
When I felt someone walk up to stand beside me, I turned my head and came face to face with Luke. I took a sip of the water from the bottle in my hand.
He dropped his head and grinned. “I can’t even tell you how good it is to see you smiling.”
“It feels good to smile,” I admitted, picking at the label on the side of my bottle before finally saying what I always wanted to say. “Thank you, Luke. You can’t know how much it meant to me that you visited me and tried so hard to save me.” I smiled shyly. “Even when I was trying so hard not to save myself.” I turned to face him fully, taking in a deep breath and exhaling before continuing. “I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough then to just let you help me.”
His brows pulled in close together. “Maggie, you are one of the strongest people I know. You lived a life that few of us can understand, and you lived it staying true to yourself. In all that time with Snake, you could’ve become like the Widows, but you didn’t. You stayed true and honest and brave, and that takes more strength than most people have.”
“That’s what Gunner says.”
Luke grinned. “We’re both pretty damn smart.”
I giggled. “He’d say that too.”
“Maybe we have more in common than we thought.” His smile slowly fell, and his face grew serious. “He lost his mind, Maggie, when you were missing after my wedding. Never saw a man so determined. I knew, hell, we all knew that he’d tear apart this town, this city, wherever he had to just to find you.”
I shook my head. “I shouldn’t have done that, and I regret it. Regret that he was worried, that I took you from your wedding day, that I was selfish and never thought my decision that day would affect anyone else.” I smiled sadly. “I’m sorry for all of that.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, Maggie.” He smiled. “It all worked out in the end because here we are celebrating, and this time, you’re standing with us where you will always have a place.”
I smiled genuinely. “Your family is amazing. I never knew families like this existed.”
Luke reached out to grab my hand and squeezed gently. “It’s your family now too, and I expect to see you at all the events we celebrate. And trust me, we celebrate a lot of shit.”
I nodded my head once and giggled softly. He acted like he didn’t like it, even seemed put out by the enormity of his family and their expectations, but I’d been paying attention, and I knew that wasn’t the case. He loved every moment of it, and I was starting to understand why. “I’ll be there.”
Luke leaned down and hugged me just as Gunner approached. I stiffened, worried that Gunner would be upset that Luke was hugging me, but he smiled instead and waited until Luke and I parted to speak up. “You have your own woman, you know.”
I saw Kate come behind him and wrap her arms around his waist, shoving her body under his arm. “Oh, he knows.”
Luke stared down at her the way he had at the wedding, the way I’d seen him do the few times I’d been around them, and I realized it was the way Gunner looked at me.
I leaned back against Gunner and sighed when he wrapped his arms around me. My eyes drifted over the scene in front of me, taking in the couples, the children playing together, the dogs chasing them, the family all celebrating another amazing thing in their life.
All together.
As a family.
A family who had taken me in as one of their own.
I took a deep breath and let it out easily. The first time I’d done that in a long time.
And I knew it was only the first of many to come.
EPILOGUE
GUNNER
When I walked down the stairs, I was immediately struck by how quiet the clubhouse seemed. Although it was Monday, and most of our guys would have early work days tomorrow, so it shouldn’t have been all that surprising. I moved across the open area, nodding at a few guys lingering over a beer and talking shit about their bikes and women. Always bikes and women. Hell, I couldn’t fault them because those were my two favorite things in this world too.
I thought of Maggie upstairs in the shower and knew I was going to make this quick. Maybe if I hurried, I’d catch her before she finished. I should just leave her the fuck alone; I knew she was tired from her first full day of work with Kat. It had been a month since the fire, and all had been quiet, so Bear and I thought it would be safe for her to start, although I didn’t think it was safe enough for her to walk in and out alone, so I’d been doing that. She started last week but only worked in the mornings, something like a training period, I guess and this week she started full-time. She looked wiped out when I picked her up, but she was smiling, so I knew it was a good tired. I took her to the restaurant Ritz works at for dinner to celebrate her first day and give her another new experience. Ritz cooked some amazing shit for us, and Maggie left feeling even more tired than when we’d gotten there. We went upstairs, and she headed straight for the shower, which was how I carved out a few minutes to talk to Bear.
He grinned when I reached the bar, grabbed a bottle of beer, and set it down in front of me. “How’d she like dinner?”
I snorted. “Loved it. Looks like something we’ll be doing more often.”
“Good. She deserves that.”
“Hell yeah, she does.” I agreed before putting the bottle to my lips and taking a long drink. “Needed to talk to you about something.”
His brow furrowed. “Something wrong?”
“No.” I set the bottle on the bar in front of me and leaned forward on my forearms. “Thinking it’s time for Maggie and me to find our own place. I want her to have something of her own, and I think she needs it. Fuck, I think we both do.”
Bear used a white cloth to begin drying a glass he’d just washed while I talked. When I was finished, he finally spoke. “I agree, and I know you’ve been waiting to make sure it’s safe for her to leave here, but I haven’t heard any rumblings lately, and I’ve been listening.”
I spun the bottle on the bar. “I haven’t heard anything either, which could be good or bad, but I’m tired of putting our lives on hold on the off chance they know we played any part in this shit.”
He nodded and slid the dry glass onto the shelf before grabbing another wet one and beginning the whole process over again. “You talk to Maggie about it yet?”
I tapped the sides of the bottle between my fingers. “We talked about it once before, but I wanted to wait and make sure it was a possibility before I brought it up again. She likes living here, but I don’t think she’s ever had a place of her own to do with what she wants, and I know she’s ready for that.”
“Probably as good a time as any, Gunn.” Bear slid another glass on the shelf, but his head snapped toward the door when it opened and Becs came through with a short blonde beside her.
He narrowed his eyes and called out. “Becs.”
She smiled his way and looped her arm through the other woman’s, practically dragging her to the bar. “This is my friend, Josie.”
Bear picked up another glass and begin drying it, but his attention stayed locked on Josie. “Josie?”
The woman nodded but looked like she’d have already bolted if Becs wasn’t holding on to her so tightly. Bear’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know my sister, Josie?”
“She picked me up a little bit ago off the side of the road where my car broke down,” Becs said.
“What the fuck?”
I sighed when I heard that growled from behind us and watched Becs’ shoulders slump before she turned in Race’s direction. “Don’t start, Race.”
Race’s eyes narrowed. “Why the fuck didn’t you call me if your car broke down?”
“Because my phone was dead.”
I glanced at Bear who seemed torn between also letting Becs have it for being so irresponsible or just letting Race. In the end, he couldn’t hold off on sharing his opinion either.
“Becs, Jesus, why the fuck have a phone if you never charge it?” Bear asked from behind the bar.
She rolled her eyes, which I knew would piss off both men, and I chose to keep my opinions to myself. There was no reason for all of us to gang up on her. Jesus, I guess Maggie was really starting to rub off on me because I knew that was something she would’ve said.
“Listen, I screwed up and forgot to charge it. Josie saw me, pulled over, and picked me up. Now if one of you could just get one of the boys to go get my car, I’d appreciate it.”
“You’re seven fucking months pregnant, Becs!” Race shouted.
Her eyes widened. “I know that! I said I screwed up; I can’t do anything about it now!” she shouted, and they faced each other, both pissed off, but it seemed more at each other than the situation.
Bear threw down his cloth and walked around the edge of the bar, planting himself behind Josie who stood a little behind Becs.
Josie motioned with her thumb toward the door. “I’m just gonna go.”
She started to back up but ran right into Bear and stopped. She glanced over her shoulder at Bear before turning her attention back to the room.
“Knock it off, you two.” Bear’s deep voice broke the awkward silence.
Race’s eyes flicked toward Bear, and I watched the silent conversation taking place. I knew Bear well enough to know he was telling Race without words to move the fuck on because we all knew Becs would never back down.
Race tipped his chin and moved away from Becs, heading for the door, but stopped in front of Bear. “I’ll take Dozer with me.”
I smiled at the road name given to the relatively new prospect. He was a friend of Race’s from the Dimarco’s construction crew, and apparently, on his first day on the job, he slammed the bulldozer into something. I’d never heard the whole story, but Race started calling him Dozer, and it stuck.
Bear nodded, but then called out to Race over his shoulder. “Race.”
He glanced back. “Yeah?”
“If you’re taking Dozer, lock the door on your way out.”
I knew we still couldn’t be too careful. There was a time when we didn’t have to have someone watching the door, but with all the shit that went down and all the questions about the Widows still floating around, we had to be proactive.
Race nodded. Glancing one more time at Becs, he just shook his head and pulled open the door, letting it slam behind him.
Becs let out a breath, and I moved closer, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. She laid her head against my shoulder and shifted her attention to Bear when he started speaking.
“He’s worried about you, same as me. Becs, honey, you can’t keep taking chances like this. You got a baby to look out for now.”
“I forgot, that’s all. Stop worrying.”
Bear smirked. “That’s impossible.”
She pulled away from me and walked to her friend, but by the grin on Bear’s face, I’d guess she rolled her eyes at him. “Hey, Josie. Sorry about all the drama. Now, let me buy you that drink.” She held up her hand like she expected her to refuse. “And don’t you dare say no.”
She smiled and sat down on a stool while Bear walked around to the back of the bar. “What’ll it be?”
I smirked but didn’t wait for the answer before starting across the room toward Bull who was back by the pool table. I stopped along the way to talk with a few members and even listened to a story Pop was telling about his grandson before I made it to the table where Bull was playing. “Hey, brother.”
Bull glanced up from where he was leaning over the table, lining up a shot, but then quickly went back to his shot, sank the ball before he stood and faced me, hip leaning against the table. “Didn’t expect to see you down here tonight.”
I furrowed my brow. “Why’s that?”
He shrugged his massive shoulders. “Heard you were on a date.”
