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EPILOGUE
VIVIAN
It had been one year since Cillian James walked into her life. Viv’s life changed forever that day. It was the day she hired the hot as sin ex-con, covered in tattoos and able to melt her panties with just one word in his sexy Irish accent. Yeah, Cillian was a nice surprise and just when she thought life couldn’t take her by surprise anymore, the universe sent her their baby girl.
Viv looked down at her sleeping two-month-old daughter and sighed. Little Jessica was the spitting image of her father and she had him completely wrapped around her tiny finger. They debated on the name until one night when they were at Savage Hell and one of the guys in the club said they should name the baby Jesse James, like the outlaw. Cillian was immediately on board but she worried that the name was too masculine. Cillian came up with Jessica and she agreed to let him call her Jesse, for short. She had to admit, knowing her daughter’s short temperament and hot head, the name seemed to fit her.
“Let’s go on a little walk, Jesse. I think your Daddy is going to work late tonight and we’ll bring him some dinner,” Viv whispered, kissing her daughter’s fuzzy little head.
Viv had hired a full-time manager at the diner to keep up the place. She still went in every morning but was home in time for Cillian to go into his shop by lunchtime, most days. They had a great little system worked out and were lucky enough to both be business owners, allowing them time with Jesse. While she was still pregnant, Viv worried that their schedules might be too much on their growing family, but it seemed to work for them.
The guys at Savage Hell had decided to give Cillian a loan to start his shop. It had been his dream to open a garage in town and Savage even helped him to find the perfect location. The place had been a garage back in the day and it just took a little bit of elbow grease and the guys all pitched in to help get it up and running. It was so special to watch Cillian’s dreams realized. She remembered what it was like her first day on the job as the owner of her grandmother’s diner and not just an employee. She knew that the garage meant everything to Cillian and she was so proud of him. He called his place Roadkill and she had to admit, she loved the name. It seemed to fit both who Cillian was and the man he had become.
He had even made enough in the first few months to pay back most of his loan to Savage Hell. Savage had told him not to rush, but her husband didn’t like to be in debt to anyone, not even men he considered family. They had decided to save everything he made from the shop until he could pay the club back, living off what she could bring home from the diner. Things were tight, but they were doing it. In just a few more months, Cillian would have his debt paid and own his garage free and clear.
Cillian worked on the club’s vehicles at a discount and the guys gave him enough business to keep his place going for a good long time. Cillian hated taking money from the guys, after everything they had done for him, but Savage insisted that was the way it was going to be. Word got around town that he was not only a damn good mechanic, but trustworthy and charged a fair price, and people started taking their vehicles to him.
Viv put Jesse in her stroller and walked the mile to Cillian’s garage, to take him the food she had brought home from the diner. “Well, there are my two best girls,” he said, as they turned the corner. “What brings you in tonight?” he asked. He pulled Viv in for a quick kiss and peeked in on the sleeping baby.
“We missed you,” Viv offered. “And, we thought you might want some dinner?”
“Well, I’m starving and I missed you both too. I’m almost ready to knock off for the night. You want to join me for supper?”
“I was hoping you’d ask,” Viv said. “I brought dinner for two and I’m sure your daughter will wake up and fuss for her dinner soon enough.”
“She’s just like her mama,” Cillian teased. “Fussy when she gets hungry.”
“We call that ‘hangry’ in America,” she said. Cillian chuckled and went to the back bathroom, to wash up.
“How about we eat in my office and you can both tell me about your day,” he said.
“Well, I’m pretty sure Jesse won’t have much of an update, but I got caught up on the mountain of laundry, so I’d count today as a win,” Viv said. She sat down across from Cillian and he pulled food from the bag.
“I was going to come home and grab a quick bite, shower and head back out, but if you need me to stay home, I can,” he offered. Viv knew he had church tonight over at Savage Hell. Tuesday nights were usually just her and Jesse curled up on the sofa, watching some reality television show. Viv knew how important church was to Cillian, especially since he was about to patch into the club. It was all he had ever wanted—to be a part of something and now, he was. She wouldn’t take that from him.
“No, you go to church. Jesse and I will find something on television and try to wait up for you to get home. I won’t make any promises about that last part though. Our little princess has been waking me up at four in the morning for her feeding, lately.”
“You’re sure?” Cillian asked.
“Yep. I’m hoping that sooner or later, I’ll be able to go in with you and hang out with Dallas while you have your meeting. We’ve been wanting to get the kids together for a play date but Dallas said the baby had a cold and didn’t want Jesse to catch it.”
“Well, a playdate sounds like fun,” Cillian said. “How about a Mommy and Daddy playdate this weekend?”
“What did you have in mind?” Viv asked. She had been to the doctor two days earlier and had been given the all-clear on the sex front. She knew that Cillian had been secretly marking off the days on his calendar that he kept in his desk, waiting for her to give him the green light.
“I was thinking a night away, just the two of us,” he said.
Honestly, Viv wasn’t sure she was ready to leave the baby, but she didn’t want to turn down the opportunity to spend some one on one time with her husband. She knew how important that was for a newly married couple.
“You look a little worried,” he said.
“I’m just not sure I’m ready to leave her,” Viv admitted.
“I figured you would say that, so I took it upon myself to enlist some help.” Cillian smiled across his desk at her, looking so damned pleased with himself.
“What did you do?” she questioned.
“Well, how about the three of us fly to Repo’s cabin and stay for a few days. You know, get away from it all and reconnect?” Cillian bobbed his eyebrows at her for good measure, causing her to giggle.
