Page 76 of Vows of Ruin

Max chuckles. “They needed a little push to get together, but it’s all worked out.”

Maura’s eyebrows go up. “So it was your idea to share your wife?”

“Yes,” Max says without hesitation. “I could see that they loved each other and didn’t want to admit it out loud. I’m not in the business of denying people what they need or want.”

She nods at that like it’s the most logical thing in the world, then swings her gaze to Margot, who suddenly looks like she’s under interrogation lights. “And you, dear? Are you with these two?” She gestures at Elias and Riot flanking her like bodyguards.

Margot lifts her chin. “Yeah. But our story happened a little differently. There were margaritas. And… other things involved.” She shrugs. “It just sort of worked.”

Maura nods like she’s just been told someone likes their tea with sugar. Then her eyes land on Torque and Wrecker. “And where’s your woman? Or do you share them too?’

I choke on a drink, Wrenley slaps a hand over her mouth, and Margot outright loses it, laughing so hard she has to lean on Riot.

Torque just shakes his head. “I have a woman. Just one-on-one, no sharing her. I have no problem with their life, but that’s not for me.”

Maura’s gaze swings to Wrecker, and the whole table goes quiet, waiting.

He points a fork at her. “If you think I’m dating someone and bringing her around this bunch of crazy people, you’re mistaken.”

Max smirks. “He’s got a point.”

Elias grins around a mouthful of bread. “Smartest thing Wrecker’s said in months.”

“Eat your bread, hacker boy,” Wrecker fires back.

The laughter rolls through the room, easy and unguarded. For a moment, it’s just family around a table.

Then Wrenley leans forward. “Maura… Thank you for doing this for these girls. And boys.”

Maura waves her off at first, but I see the shift in her eyes, something fierce and unyielding underneath the warmth. “Elias is working on tracking down families for the girls who want to go home.” Wrenley continues. “But most don’t have families to return to.”

Maura’s gaze sweeps the table, lingering on each of us, me, Max, Wrenley, even Elias and Riot, and there’s nothing casual in her voice when she says, “Nonsense. They have me now. They are family.”

It’s not just for the girls. It’s for all of us.

Margot lifts her glass. “To family.”

Glasses clink, and for a few breaths, everything feels whole.

The road hums beneath the tires, that steady low vibration that fills the silence none of them seem ready to break. Torque’s at the wheel again, sunglasses on, one hand resting loose on the steering wheel. Wrenley’s in the back between Max and me, head leaning on my shoulder, her fingers absently tracing the tattoo on my arm like she’s trying to memorize it for later.

We left the farm at sunrise. Maura stood on the porch in her housecoat, hand raised, watching us go. Wrecker stayed a minute longer, crouched beside Daisy, promising to visit when things were safe. She cried, soft, quiet tears, and Wrenley was right there, kneeling beside her, brushing the girl’s hair back and whispering something I couldn’t hear. Daisy smiled through it, clutching Hugo’s fur in her small hands.

It's that image that sticks with me. Wrenley, bloody-knuckled, scarred, feral as hell, and somehow still the gentlest thing in the world when it matters. I’ve seen her take lives without flinching, and yet she held that kid like she was something breakable. It messes with my head a little. How she can be both. How she can still want both.

Max glances at me, like he knows I’m lost in my thoughts. He doesn’t say anything, reaches over, and brushes his thumb over the back of Wrenley’s hand. For one brief, insane second, a thought hits me, one I’ve never let myself entertain before. Wrenley, with a child. Our child.

The image is like a punch to the ribs. She is sitting on the floor of some sunlit room, that soft smile curving her lips as she laughs at something small, tiny hands reaching for her wild hair. My tattooed fingers holding something fragile and new.

It’s… disorienting. Because that’s not us. We live in chaos. In blood and vengeance. In the constant hum of danger that never really fades. Kids don’t fit into that world. They never could. But still. After seeing her with Daisy, how protective and instinctive she was, it’s hard not to wonder.

I shift, trying to shake the thought. Torque’s talking about needing to stop for gas, and Wrenley hums in her half-sleep state beside me, lips parted just slightly. The morning light catches her hair, making it glow like the embers of a fire. She looks too damn peaceful for someone built for war. Maybe that’s what love does, it makes you imagine impossible things.

Chapter Thirty-One

Wrenley

The mansion exhales when we step inside. The kind of quiet that settles deep, not peace, not really, but close enough to pretend. Liam’s voice rolls through the entryway, calm but commanding. “Showers. Food. Then sleep.”