Page 80 of Property of Quake

“Of course. What if you only think you love me?” she asks, throwing my own words back at me. “What if, ten years from now, you realize you’ve tied yourself to a former nun who doesn’t always understand the ways of a biker club? What if me supporting you despite my reservations isn’t enough?”

“As long as you’re here, it’s enough,” I tell her and realize how true the words are. “Whitney, I don’t want a woman who's going to bow down to me or accept everything at face value just to avoid a confrontation. I know there are things that I do that you don’t and won’t approve of. I can’t change that, but I can promise that I will do everything in my power to not let that darkness touch you.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I love you, and I’m so sure that it’s you I want. It doesn’t make sense, but if I’ve learned anything since meeting you it’s that life won’t always make sense. It won’t always come in a neatly wrapped package. It’s unpredictable, chaotic, a little scary, and so worth experiencing.”

“I’m sure. I think I was sure after our first meeting. I fucking resisted it, resisted you because I thought it was an impossible dream. But you’re here, we’re here, together. And it makes me so happy.”

Silence settles around us. We’ve crossed some major bridges in the last few minutes of conversation, but there’s one more.

And that shape comes in the form of a little girl with a protective beagle.

Honestly, Melissa could be a deal breaker for me. Not in the way one might think, but I want her in my life. I want to be the man she looks up to, the man she thinks of as her dad. I know she has a dad, a father who died and can’t be there for her, and I don’t want to replace him. I just want to be a part of her life, stand in for him.

I think Whitney wants the same thing, but we’ve never really talked about it. We’ve acted as Melissa’s parents, worked together to protect her and keep her safe. We’ve showed her love and kindness, gave her a home together.

But doing that in times of crisis and out of perceived obligation is very different from making the choice to do it out of pure love.

“What about Melissa?” I blurt, opting to rip off the Band-aid.

Whitney bolts upright. “What about her?”

Just spit it out, Quake. You’ve got this.

“I want her to stay here, with us.”

The smile that graces her face is perhaps the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. “I want that, too.”

“So, it’s settled?”

“Settled?” she asks.

“We’ll adopt Melissa, be a family,” I say.

Her smile falls. “Quake, it’s not that simple. There’s a process. It will take time. And we need to talk to Melissa first. She deserves to have a say in this.”

“Right, yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You were thinking with your heart, and that’s one of the things I love about you.” She cups my cheeks. “We just have to do things right, ya know? For Melissa. She needs security, and it’s up to us to give that to her. We can’t do that if we skip steps or take anything for granted. We don’t want to lose her.”

A thought occurs to me, but I don’t put voice to it. I do, however, file it away for a later discussion with Lyric. I know we have to do things right, but I’ve learned the hard way that doing things the right way doesn’t always work out. Doing things the KOAMC way always works out, one way or another.

“You’re right,” I agree. “We’ll do things right.”

She eyes me suspiciously, so I lean close and press my lips to hers. The distraction works because the next thing I know, my former nun is straddling my hips and rocking her pelvis into mine.

“Have I told you that I love you?” I groan into her mouth.

“Yes, but tell me again,” she moans, throwing her head back when I slide my hand down the front of her pants.

“I love you, Whitney. So goddamn much.”

EPILOGUE

WHITNEY

Eight months later…

If someone had told me a year ago that I would be sitting in family court beside my husband while waiting to finalize the adoption of our daughter, I would have assumed they were talking about someone else's life.