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A weight shifts from my shoulders as I look around at the group, a chuckle from Emily lightening my heart.
My childhood may have been stripped of all that is kind in this world, leaving me broken, bruised, and alone. But I have a future with the Ruthless Brothers, one where I’m loved and part of a family. Now, I can make peace with my pain, knowing everyone who hurt me is gone.
Life is no longer about survival; it’s about living, and loving, and feeling. A luxury I’ve never had with the numbness that’s always coated me.
I vow to forever be brave, forever be loved, and forever cherish my every breath.
Epilogue
AXEL
“Welcometo the shit show that’s the Ruthless Brothers MC,” Gray cheers, lifting his beer bottle in the air, and the four new prospects copy him. A buzz zaps through the air, making me grin despite my usual icy exterior.
It feels like we’re on cloud nine, dancing with victory, toying with hope, and basking in the bright rays of the sun.
Four months have passed since we brought the Devil’s Brutes to their end, and it’s been the best four months of my life. The club is getting stronger and stronger. No more looking over our shoulder, no more fucking fools thinking we owe them anything, and no more drama either.
It’s not going to stay like this forever, there’s always someone thinking they’re the next big dog barking for the top spot. Let them, I’ll enjoy putting them back in their place.
I chug my beer with everyone else around the table in Church before Ryker hits the gavel against the wood. People slowly start to disperse, until only Ryker, Gray, Emmett, and I remain. Shift shuts the door behind him, knowing we’ll want a minute of privacy to ourselves, and I sink back in my seat.
“We’re going to have to start building another fucking addition at this rate,” Emmett muses. Ever since Graham left, his men have stayed. We patched them in two weeks ago, and now another round of prospects have joined our ranks. Thankfully, most of them have somewhere to stay in town, but he’s right. An addition may be necessary.
“Don’t let Maggie get wind of that, she’ll have us decked out and organized for the next six months,” Ryker says with a chuckle. She is keeping us in top shape as always, but she’s finally starting to let her hair down and enjoy a life away from the club. Watching Gray go and pick her up at four o’clock in the morning because she’s completely drunk with Delia is amusing as hell.
“Speaking of women, Scarlett and Emily should be back from campus now,” Emmett states, glancing down at his watch, and I quickly jump to my feet before him. He instantly glares in my direction, but since I’m closer to the door, I’ve got more of a chance than the rest of them.
Flipping him the bird as I grin, I rush out of Church in search of the woman that has been consuming my mind all day. I love the fact that she’s fully invested in getting her degree. This time taking courses that are better suited to her, but I still wish I could spend twenty-four hours a day with her, seven days a week.
I step into the bar area, the atmosphere alive with members and what was the Ruthless Bitches, who are newly named the Ruthless Babes, thanks to Scarlett and Emily’s influence. The music is thumping and everyone is having a good time. Moving toward the bar where Maggie is handing out bottles of beer, I brace my arms on the wooden top and wait for her to see me.
She serves two more people before her eyes settle on me and she smiles. “She’s outside in the yard and has asked for me to send you out there when you are done with the new guys,” she says, and I nod.
Moving around the bar, I don’t give her a moment to process what’s coming before I wrap my arms around her and pin her to my chest. She freezes, shocked at the touch before her arms slowly wrap around me. Her shoulders shake, a gasp echoing in my ear as I rock us slightly from side to side.
I’ve been building up to this moment, practicing with Scarlett and pushing my boundaries to let in those that love me wholeheartedly, past the grumpy exterior and into the vulnerable side of me. Besides Scarlett, Maggie is the only woman I wanted to be able to have a connection with. She’s been a mother to me, the woman I could have only dreamed of as a child, and I need to know she feels that.
Slowly leaning back, I look at her to see tears tracking down her cheeks and a wobbly bottom lip. I smile softly at her, which makes her glare as she swats at my chest. “Do not make me cry like that, you big goof,” she grumbles, and I take a step back.
Not wanting to make the moment awkward, I wink and spin toward the door. Taking purposeful strides in search of my woman, I shove open the double doors to find myself face-to-face with Scarlett.
“Hey.” Something flickers in her eyes that I can’t quite decipher.
“What’s wrong?” I grunt, my mood slipping as the need to put an end to whatever is affecting her takes over.
“Oh, nothing. Nothing’s wrong, there’s just some people here… that are asking for you.” Her words make me freeze, my eyebrows knitting in confusion as she points over her shoulder. “There are three men and a woman sitting on the bench to my left. The guys are dressed in expensive suits, but they look far from official. While the woman is dressed casually. I haven’t seen them before,” she explains, but it doesn’t make me feel any better.
There’s no point delaying the inevitable, so I lace my fingers with Scarlett’s and pull her along with me. As I approach the picnic bench, my gaze casts over the three guys in suits, before I settle on the woman. Her shoulder-length blonde hair shines in the late afternoon sun, her bright red lips making her look more like a boss-ass bitch than a whore, and her small frame might make her look dainty, but her eyes and her posture tell me she’s poised for an attack.
As we near, she looks up at me and gulps harshly. Before I can say anything, she rises to her feet, rubbing her hands down her jeans as she peers up at me. “Hi, you must be Axel.”
“And you are?”
She smiles at me like I’m not being rude, but the way Scarlett grips my hand tells me I most definitely am.
“My name is Wren.”
“And…”
