Page 57 of My Single Dad Biker

I walk straight to her and pull her into my arms. Just hold her for a minute without saying anything. She wraps her arms around me and holds me back.

"Everything okay?" she asks against my chest.

"Yeah. Marrow's planning something but we're ready. The club's covering the school and the house. You're safe."

She pulls back and looks up at me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

I cup her face. "I'm fine because you're here and Louis is safe and the club's got this handled. That's all that matters."

She searches my face. "What do we do now?"

"We keep living. We don't let them make us scared. We do exactly what we've been doing."

"Okay."

Louis appears in the doorway. "Dad, you're home!"

"Yeah. Come here."

He walks over and I pull him against my side and Katherine is on my other side and we stand in my kitchen like that for a minute. The three of us. My whole life.

"We're okay," I say to both of them. "We're going to be okay."

Katherine looks up at me. "I know."

And I believe her.

We spend the rest of Sunday together. Lunch at home. Louis wants to work on his model airplane so we go to the garage and I help him with the detail work while Katherine sits on a stool watching and asking questions. She's genuinely interested in how the pieces fit together and Louis explains everything with the seriousness of an engineer.

Dinner together. Bath time for Louis while Katherine cleans up. Reading time and then lights out. Louis asks if Katherine is staying again and I say yes and he smiles and closes his eyes.

That night Katherine and I sit on the back porch again. She's quiet and I know she's processing what this means. That danger is real now. That Marrow is coming.

"Are you scared?" I ask.

"A little. But mostly I'm just... here. With you. And that feels more real than the fear."

"Good."

"I meant it last night. I love you."

"I love you too."

She leans against me and I put my arm around her and we sit in the dark listening to the night sounds. The future is uncertain. Marrow is planning something. The next seventy-two hours could bring violence or nothing or something in between.

But this moment is certain. This moment is perfect.

Katherine in my arms. Louis asleep upstairs. The club watching my back. Bloomfield protected. This is the life I built. This is what matters.

Danger exists. It's real. It's coming.

But love is more real.

And I'll protect what's mine with everything I have.