Page 115 of Hidden

Watched me fuck up.

Watched me become who I was.

And once—just once—they had watched me fall in love.

My smile faltered before I could stop it.

Because there had been a night, years ago, where this room had sounded just as loud. Just as alive.

And for the first time in my life, Gabriella had been in the middle of it.

She had been here.

With me.

Safe in the arms of my club and wrapped up in the kind of acceptance we had both once been stupid enough to think meant we’d made it. And Christ, I could still remember the look on her face that night. Like she couldn’t quite believe she was allowed to belong here. Like maybe, just maybe, the world had finally decided to stop being cruel to us.

I looked down at the cards in my hand, but I wasn’t seeing them anymore.

I was seeing her.

Drunk and smiling. Soft in my arms. Swaying to a song that had become ours before either of us realised it would one day ruin me.

And just like that, I was twenty-one again.

Chapter 29

Gabriella

Before

21 Years Old

I was drunk, but I was also so unbelievably happy.

The noise from downstairs filtered into the bedroom, making me sigh with nothing but contentment

Tonight was Luke’s twenty-first, and we had both celebrated with his entire club. It was chaotic, it was sometimes frightening, but it had been real. I had been welcomed.

Natalie had convinced my dad that we needed a girly night, and she was covering for me, giving me an excuse to spend the entire night here, with the man I loved.

And now, here we were, away from the noise and his boisterous brothers. We were simply… existing. Like a normal couple.

Luke gathered me into his arms, resting his chin on top of my head, my own head cradled against his chest, and we swayed to the music.

There was no rhythm to our steps, no pattern in mind. We just held each other as song after song played for us.

One of his hands was against the small of my back, keeping me pressed against him, and my fingers traced the small dog wearing a crown tattoo on his chest—the princess and the stray.

“I love you,” he whispered against my hair, his words slurring slightly.

“I love you, too,” I replied, closing my eyes and breathing in the unique scent of this man—my man.

For the first time, this felt truly real. His club were welcoming, we were alone together… we had defeated the odds, and somehow made this work. We were going to be okay.

A small buzzing sound against my ear interrupted my thought process, and I pulled back slightly to look up at Luke.

“Are you humming?” I asked with a small laugh of disbelief.