Page 94 of Peak’s Code

Maeve's eyes widened as the small velvet box appeared in his hand. "Peak."

He laughed quietly. "I had a whole speech planned."

"You did?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I forgot every word."

She smiled through the tears already gathering in her eyes. "That's okay."

Peak took both of her hands. "When I met you, I wanted Captain to leave me alone, so I agreed to investigate you.”

She laughed. "I remember."

"I wanted nothing to do with the club,” he said.

"I remember that too."

"I definitely didn't expect to fall in love with a woman who argued with me every chance she got."

"I still do,” she reminded.

"I know." He smiled. "I hope you never stop." He opened the ring box. Inside rested a simple platinum band with a round diamond that caught the last light of the setting sun. "I spent most of my life thinking home was a place." He looked into her eyes. "You taught me it's a person." Maeve covered her mouth. "I love you, and I'll love you when you're impossible. "I'll love you when you forget to sleep because you're chasing another mystery. I'll love you when you steal the blankets. I'll even love you when you beat me at cards."

"I've never beaten you at cards,” Maeve reminded.

"You will." He took a steadying breath. "Maeve Carter, will you marry me?"

She laughed and cried at the same time before throwing her arms around his neck so hard he nearly lost his balance on the dock. "Yes."

The word came out between tears. "Yes." She kissed him before he could slide the ring onto her finger. “Yes.” Cheers erupted from the shoreline, and Peak looked over to find every single member of the Grave Prowlers standing in the yard pretending they hadn't been watching the entire thing.

Captain whistled loudly, and Warden handed Ruin a twenty-dollar bill. "I told you she'd say yes." Wren wiped tears from her cheeks before running down the dock and wrapping both of them in a hug.

"I knew you'd figure it out eventually,” Wren said.

Peak laughed. "Figure what out?" Wren looked around at the house at his club, and the family surrounding them.

"Your code,” Wren said.

He frowned. "My code?”

Wren nodded. “The one you spent your whole life trying to write.”

Peak looked at Maeve, and then at the brothers who had become his family. He looked at the house that no longer felt empty and at the woman wearing his ring. After spending years believing he didn’t belong anywhere, Peak had finally found the one place he never wanted to leave—home.

The End

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Captain

Captain had spent over twenty years earning the respect sewn into the President patch on the front of his kutte. Respect wasn't given; it was bled for. Every scar on his body had a story behind it. Every brother sitting around the table had watched him spill blood for the Grave Prowlers before he ever became their Prez. They followed him because he'd never asked a man to do something he wasn't willing to do himself. That was the difference between a leader and a dictator. The Maryland chapter had survived because of that difference.

Captain sat at the head of the long oak table, nursing a cup of black coffee while the brothers filtered into church. Boots scraped across the worn hardwood floor, chairs groaned under the weight of patched members, and cigar smoke drifted lazily toward the ceiling.

The clubhouse was quiet—too quiet. Captain had learned that silence usually meant trouble was about to knock on his door. Ruin, his Vice President, dropped into the chair on his right. "Warden's checking the perimeter one more time," he said.

Captain nodded. "Peak still coming?"