“You won’t get away with this.”
My tongue clicks. “You’ve already said that. But we’ve already gotten away with it. Emery and Mason have taken your empire apart, one account at a time, returned money that was owed, and moved anything else out of reach. There is no one to protect you, and there’s no one who will come looking for you. As far as they’re concerned, the body the Feds just found in your burned-down casino is yours.”
“My casino—”
I laugh at the genuine pain on his face. “So that’s what it takes to get a reaction from you? I have to threaten the one thing you actually care about—your casino?”
“You burned it down?”
“We did. Your legacy is in ashes, and the money you’ve stolen has been returned to its rightful owners. Including your niece, who will get every cent of the inheritance she’s owed from her father.”
“You can’t let him do this.” He looks at Steel as if he’ll find any sympathy there. “I can help your club.”
“Like you helped the Iron Sinners?” Steel asks. “Like you helped those women you bought and sold and abused?”
Panic finally swells in Zane’s eyes as he realizes this is it. He’s done.
He grimaces, stepping back, but there’s no escape. “My niece deserves so much better than you.”
“You’re right, she does,” I agree with him. “She deserves the whole fucking world. But for some reason, she’s chosen me of all people. I hope that kept you up at night.”
He raises his chin, facing off with me. “It didn’t.”
I reach behind me, pulling out my gun and lifting it to his forehead. To his credit, he doesn’t try to run. He doesn’t so much as break my gaze.
“Then I hope it haunts you in hell.” I pull the trigger, and his head snaps back.
His body slumps to the ground, and I stare down at what remains of the man who made my wife’s life a living hell—who tried to destroy my club.
My brothers stand in silence for a moment. Not out of respect for Zane, but for this chapter closing. At the edge of the room, Mason stays by the door, staring at his father for a moment before leaving.
It’s a strange moment of closure. What started with Tempe being sent to our clubhouse became so much more. We’ve been battling Zane for years, and now he’s dead. In that time, everything has changed. We’ve changed.
We’re different men from the men we were when this war started.
Now we have old ladies. Kids. The next generation is officially starting.
Steel steps forward, his boots pausing at the edge of the puddle of blood. “The prospects can clean this up. Let’s go home.”
At that, I turn my back on the past.
For the first time, I’m looking forward to the future.
Epilogue
Emery
Five Months Later
Hayes takes the turnonto an open stretch of road, and we break free from the traffic. For miles after that, there’s nothing but us and the hum of his bike as we ride through the desert. My arms tighten at his waist, my body flush against his.
The breeze whips the strands of hair that stick out from my helmet, and I’m completely free.
Since first arriving at Hayes’s doorstep, I’ve unlocked a part of myself that used to scare me. A side that my uncle was constantly trying to stifle. Hayes is the opposite, intent on watching me enjoy the world. He wants me to embrace my strength, to be that example for our daughter. He respects me. He’s honest with me.
Together, we’ve made ahome.
And surprisingly, it’s in the same house that he grew up in.
