Page 131 of Tempest’s Torment

When most of the food is gone, Rogue finds me again. "I got the last of the information back from Calloway and Webb."

My stomach tightens.

"It's clean, Lilah. We've got everyone. There's nobody else."

"You're sure?"

"I'm really fucking sure."

I stare at him. No other watcher, there’s nobody sitting outside Petals, and nobody waiting for the right moment. It's over.

"You okay?"

The answer comes easier than I expect. "Yeah. I actually am."

I step outside for some air.

From the doorway, I can see almost the whole clubhouse: Natalia beside Ghost, Rogue with Wren on his lap, Hades trapped beneath a sleeping Lily, Venom and Inferno still arguing over the barbecue.

Then I find Kai. I always find Kai.

He's talking to Sniper when he glances toward the door and spots me. His eyebrows pull together for half a second, checking, before I smile and his expression eases.

Lucy would have loved this.

I can picture her in there, asking questions nobody wants to answer and making herself at home within five minutes.

When you get out of here, live enough for both of us.

For three years, I thought she meant survive, to run, to breathe, and to keep going. Maybe for a while, that's exactly what I needed it to mean.

But now I have a life. I have Petals. I have women dragging me into arguments about paint and children planning enormous bouquets. I have an entire motorcycle club that crossed state lines to bring me home.

And I have a man who's moved into my apartment without officially moving a single box.

Kai steps outside. "You hiding?"

"No."

He comes to stand beside me and his hand finds mine.

"I was thinking about Lucy."

"Good or bad?"

"Good." I look through the doorway. "She told me to live enough for both of us."

His fingers tighten around mine.

"I thought she meant staying alive." I lean against him. "I don't think she did anymore."

Kai follows my gaze into the clubhouse.

"I think she meant this."

"This?"

"People, work, friends. Coming home and tripping over your boots."