by Frankie Love
Once I settle her in the living room of my loft with the girls and Teri, I peel away into my office with Ace, Landon, McQueen, my dad, and Jeb.
“How you holding up?” I ask McQueen.
He looks at his dad; both men shake their heads. “This is fucking insane, is what it is.”
“You haven’t even heard the half of it,” I tell them.
“What do you mean?” Jeb asks.
“The family she grew up with was the Anarchy Motorcycle Gang.”
“What the hell?” McQueen asks, his eyes aflame. “Fuck, that’s crazy.”
“A motorcycle gang kidnapped a little girl?” my dad asks, incredulous.
“Yeah. The woman who kidnapped her was a little ... out of it. Mentally. From what Tess has told me, the woman was really protective, really wanted a child. She must have been obsessed with getting one at any cost.”
“Fuck,” Ace says shaking his head. “I mean, it makes sense—any means necessary. No way would a couple in a biker gang be allowed to adopt.”
“I suppose.” Landon shakes his head. “But damn, poor girl.”
“Poor girl is right,” my dad says. Clapping Jeb on the back, he adds, “I’m so sorry.”
Ace is less inclined to get sentimental. “I’m gonna fuckin’ kill those bastards.”
“I’m right behind you.” McQueen straightens his shoulders. “Who the hell do they think they are?”
“They are the most elite bikers in the country,” Landon tells them, showing us his phone screen. He’s pulled up a motherfucking Wikipedia page on the Brotherhood. “This is high-profile shit. Were her kidnappers just random members?”
“No, he was the president,” I tell them, running my hands through my hair. “That’s why she was so freaked out about her face getting press time. She was scared they’d find her.”
“And have they?” Ace asks, getting to the heart of it, fast.
“They know where she lives, know who she is. They’ve scouted out my place, her place. That’s why we went to my parents—to get off the grid. But this morning, on my way to the hospital, I saw them again.”
“We need to call the police,” Jeb says. “Get you a lawyer, the whole nine yards. If I see them, I don’t trust myself, boys.” Jeb’s eyes are as fiery as his son’s, and he’s ready to fight.
I barely know the guy, but it fucking makes me proud that Tess has a father in her corner who’s willing to fight for her too. She deserves that. My woman deserves everything.
“We can’t call the cops.” My shoulders tense, and I draw in a breath. “Tess has reasons.”
The men pause, looking at me. “Does she want to return to those people?” McQueen asks tentatively.
“Oh, hell no,” I tell them. “But her reasons are ... substantial.”
“Let’s go talk to her.” McQueen shrugs. “Because I’m fucking ready to get revenge.”
I draw in a deep breath, knowing that a gang of bikers is looking for revenge, too.
Walking back into the living room, I ask Tess if I could have a moment alone.
Aware of how open my loft is, how there is actually very little privacy, and how right now I would fucking kill for some, I pull her into my bedroom.
I take her by the hand into my large bathroom and lock the door.
“Don’t worry, baby—I’m not gonna seduce you while all these people are here.”
“God, Jack, I wish you would.” Tess sits on the counter and leans her head back against the wall. “This day is amazing, but also really draining. I kind of just want to go to bed.”
She closes her eyes and looks so weary. The moment she opens them again, I see how much is boiling under her surface.
“All your stuff is still at your apartment, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” she says, her clear eyes welling with tears. “I had that realization about Teri and Jeb, and fainted. I left everything when I got in the ambulance, and even though I have this family—and you—I just feel so untethered. Like I’m floating. And I don’t know where I’ll land.”
I swallow, stepping toward her. “Should I have waited to propose? I didn’t really consider the implications of your emotional state. I was only thinking of myself, of what I wanted.”
She grabs my wrists, pulls me close to her. I wrap my arms around her as she wraps her legs around me.
“Jack, I want to be your wife. I want to tethered to you, with you. I just need this mess to be over.”
“It won’t just disappear, Tess. The men out in the living room are ready to fucking blow up this town to get revenge. And I understand. They want to know why they can’t go to the cops. And the cops are going to be here at some point, doing interviews and reopening this case. A child kidnapping is a big deal.”
“Well, the woman who kidnapped me is dead. My dad—or the man I thought was my dad—may not even have been there. We have no idea. Maybe my mom kidnapped me alone, before she ever met my father. And if it was all pinned on my mother—well, she’s dead. She’s had her payback. The revenge has been served.”
“I don’t think it’s that simple. The Brotherhood is back, Tess. They’re still here in Vegas.”
Her face crumples, and she sobs into my chest. “No, Jack. I just want it to disappear. I don’t want to keep running.”
My chest tightens. I have my fucking answer about the music contract. I can’t be the person Tess needs me to be—I can’t offer her the life she wants—and sign a hundred million dollar contract. I can’t be on tour for the next ten years and be her protector.
I can’t be everything. And fuck, music may be my life, but it isn’t Tess. And life without her isn’t worth living.
I kiss her forehead. “Girl, it’s gonna be okay.”
“How do you know? Everyone out there probably wants to know why I’m so against involving the cops.”
“So what? We don’t owe them anything. It’s your story, baby. Your life. Let’s make this as simple as possible.”
“How can this be simple?”
“We tell them you’re exhausted. That you love them, but need to sleep. And that tomorrow we will talk with the police—which we will.”
“No, I can’t,” she says, crying in my chest.
“Shhh, we can and we will. We tell them about the woman who raised you, give them her name, that you grew up on the road, and let them know that, as far as you last knew, she died.”
“That’s all true,” she says, looking up at me, “but what if it opens the whole thing up?”
“Then we deal with it one step at a time.”
“You aren’t going to do something stupid?” she asks. “Like go chase them and start some showdown?”
“Do you want me to do that?” I ask. “Because, look, Tess—I’m not that guy. Some guy who wants to show his strength by the way he fights. I’m not a mafia boss.”
“I know you’re not,” Tess tells me. “I would never want a man like that, Jack. I don’t think fighting is what makes a man strong and powerful. Or even how much money he has or how important his career is. None of that matters to me.”
“Good. Because I don’t want to fucking own a club or a hotel or any part of the fucking strip.”
“What do you want?”
“I want to make choices that keep you safe, Tess, keep you whole. I just found you; there’s no way in hell I’m gonna lose you.”
TESS
Jack and I walk back into the living room to let everyone know that I’m exhausted and need to be alone for a while.
Before I can explain what I need, Emmy jumps in. “Oh, sweetie, we had no idea about your past. You never told us. We’re so sorry.” She pulls me into a hug and I shoot Jack a look of confusion. What did he say?
“I can’t believe you were raised by a biker gang. Tess, that is bananas,” Claire adds. “I just can’t imagine losing Sophia that way.” She starts crying and Landon pulls her into a hug.
“It’s fine,” I deflect. “I left two years ago and have been totally oka
y on my own.”
“Oh, love,” Teri says, wiping tears from her eyes. “It’s not okay at all. We are all so heartbroken for you. Unreal is what it is, and the fact that somehow you and your brother found one another ... after all this time ... it’s a miracle.”
“And we’re gonna kill those motherfuckers,” McQueen says. Then, looking at his mom—our mom—he grimaces. “Sorry, excuse the language.”
“No one is killing anyone tonight,” Jack says, standing behind me. “Tess is exhausted, and I’m sure everyone else is, too. There’s a lot to figure out, and we need to decide how we want to proceed with the charges and the police.”
“Call Denzel,” Ace says.
“Of course,” Jack says. “And can someone get the things Tess was packing at her studio and bring them over here tomorrow? We should get a storage unit for her other things. Can one of you guys move on that?”
“We can,” McQueen says. “JoJo’s brothers will help me in the morning. My dad, too.”
“And I’ll help, of course,” Jack’s dad adds.
I’m overwhelmed at all the people willing to help me, wanting to be here for me. I’ve never had anyone in my corner.
JoJo looks around the loft. “So are you moving in here, for now?”
“Um.” I swallow, looking over my shoulder at Jack.
“We’re actually moving in together, permanently,” Jack says, straightening his shoulders with pride. “We’re getting married.”
“What the actual fuck?” Ace asks.
“Baby!” Emmy says, smacking her husband’s chest at his outburst.
I can’t help but smile. I love that Jack just called it out. Said it like it is. He isn’t ashamed of me, or wanting to hide me. He wants everyone to know I am his.
“Jack, this is so sudden,” his mom says. “I mean, I’m thrilled; I just had no ideal.”
“I can’t live without her.” Jack says it so plainly that I know I’m just beaming. All the stress seems to disappear; he gives me strength just by being beside me.
It makes me want to be beneath him, too.
“Son,” his dad says. “I’m so happy for you. And Tess, I couldn’t be happier to have you in my family.”
He gives me a warm hug, and it fills me with such pride.
“Jeb and Teri,” Jack says. “I’d have asked for your blessing, but I proposed before I knew you were officially related. And damn, even if I knew, I don’t think it would have mattered. I needed to ask her when I did. There was no way in hell I could have waited another moment to hear her say yes.”
“Man, look at all these pussies,” McQueen says, his mouth as filthy as ever. Teri looks at her son with horror and shock, and I have a few ideas about what she actually thinks of her son’s career as a male dancer.
She must hate it—she must despise it—but there’s no denying the fact that she’s still here, with him. That is family. She doesn’t have to agree with everything her child chooses in order to love him.
“You were the last man standing,” Landon says, clapping him on the back. “But look how far you’ve come.”
Everyone is giving hugs and congratulations, gathered in so close to us that it feels like the perfect engagement party.
It also feels surreal, to gain two new families in the space of a day.
I need one of my self-help books to walk me through how to process all of this, because my head is spinning and my heart is exploding.
Emmy, Claire, and JoJo walk over to me, grinning. “Shit, Ashley is gonna flip out,” Emmy says, her eyes wide as she pulls me into a hug.
“Let’s keep this on the down-low until the press eases up. The last thing I want right now is another story about us,” I tell everyone. “Okay?”
“Absolutely,” Claire promises. “I’m just so happy for you. I had no idea two weeks at his parents’ house would equal a proposal.”
“Isn’t that exactly what happened to you?” I ask.
“Oh, shit,” Claire says, laughing, remembering our trip to England. “That is so true.”
“Do you think you’ll get married soon?” JoJo asks.
“I don’t know; I honestly haven’t even thought about it. I mean today has been a little monumental in terms of my life.”
“Holy shit, right?” Emmy shakes her head. “Honey, we had no clue your life was so....”
“Complicated?” I try.
“Yeah,” Claire says. “You’re always so happy and supportive. I don’t know how you aren’t bitter or broken.”
“She’s a survivor. Like all of us.” Emmy pulls me into another hug, and Claire and JoJo wrap their arms around us too.
I wish I could close my eyes and make time stop, that I could stay in this loft, with these people, forever. It feels like the peak moment of my life. The pinnacle. Like nothing will ever be better than this.
But Jack is ushering people out before I can press pause, so I try to memorize the hugs of congratulation from Teri and Jeb. I try to say the right words when they dial up their other son, my other brother, on FaceTime and have me introduce myself, with McQueen by my side, smiling with tears in the corner of his his eyes.
McQueen may be a foul-mouthed asshole, but damn, I can tell that he’s going to be a really good brother.
Jack’s parents kiss my cheeks and squeeze my hands tight and whisper words of affirmation in my ear.
“Tess, remember in my kitchen, when you told me the memories of a woman who took care of you, who sang you lullabies?”
“I remember,” I tell her, so grateful that I felt safe enough with her to tell her those memories. “It was my mother, all along. She was right in my heart.”
The door finally closes, and Jack and I are alone in the loft. The security detail is still out front, and Jack has texted Kirby telling him he’s turning off his phone for the night. No one needs to bother us, not now.
Right now there is only one thing I need in the entire world.
Jack.
The man who picks me up and carries me to bed.
Chapter Twenty-Three
JACK
All I want is to show her how badly I want her, for-fucking-ever. I want to exhaust her so she has the best night’s sleep of her life. I want to take her in my arms and hold her, until she closes her eyes and dreams only of good things.
“You think they liked me?” Tess asks as I place her on my bed. I pull my shirt over my head, and lay down beside her. This conversation is not the prelude to let’s get naked and fuck, this is a let’s get heavy and real talk.
Which is pretty much the truth of Tess. If she has something she needs to say—something true—she’s gonna tell me.
And I’m fucking lucky to be the man she feels safe enough to tell everything to.
“Who?” I ask.
“Teri and Jeb. I mean, I know McQueen likes me enough, because we’ve hung out, but ... his parents—my parents—do you think they’re disappointed in who I’ve become? I mean, they don’t even know the half of it.”
“What do you mean, baby?” I ask, looking into her eyes. “Why would they ever be disappointed in you?”
“Jack,” Tess sighs, trying to roll over, to hide her face. I pull her back. “You might not understand, because you had this idyllic life with gardens and chicken coops and homemade whatever, and then you went to college, and now you have this successful career—I mean, you are the complete package, the absolute dream. You’re literally on the cover of magazines and on billboards. The fact that you’ve chosen me is bonkers. You get that, right?” She shakes her head. “But, like, the difference between you and them is that you chose me, mess and all.”
I try to cut her off, but she doesn’t let me.
“Listen, Jack, just hear me out, okay?”
I nod silently, knowing she needs to speak her mind.
“The thing is, Teri and Jeb didn’t get to pick. I’m this girl who used to be whored out by her father, who murdered her mother, and who’s currently rocking a job as a cocktail wai
tress in fishnets and pleather. Not exactly daddy’s little girl.”
“Tess, no one sees you that way.” I stroke her hair, tuck strands behind her ear, cup her cheek with my palm.
“But they should. Because that is literally who I am.”
“A part of you, sure. But not all of you.” I want her to see herself as I see her: strong and resilient and not at all swayed by the world. She’s steady, even though she has every reason to falter.
“What if it’s not enough for them?”
“You are the bravest woman I know. Your father—your kidnapper—was slowly killing you. Breaking you. Destroying every good thing about you. And you know what?”
I sit up, and pull her up, too, because I need to say this with her eyes on mine, with my hands in hers. With my shoulders squared to this woman I get to live my life with.
“Tess, you saved yourself from a monster. You fought the fucking dragon. You might think you need a man like me to protect you—and, fuck, I will protect you. I will keep you safe. But for two long years you’ve kept yourself safe, and you’ve kept yourself whole. You’ve worked your ass off, and fought for every good thing you have. You won this battle. And, sure, the man who raised you may be out in Vegas right now, looking for you, but fuck him. You’ve beat him before. This time, if that dragon crosses your path, you’re gonna fucking slay him.”
“Who the hell are you?” she says, looking at me with a pounding heart, gasping for breath, eyes so clear and bright. Alive.
“Yours, Tess. I’m yours.”
And I pull her mouth to mine, my love and desire pressing against her as our tongues entwine. My arms wrap around her, easing her into my lap. I grab her ass, wanting all of her.
“Oh, baby,” she moans, lifting her hands over her head so I can tug off her top.
I pull the lacy cups of her bra down and run my hands over her gorgeous tits. She kisses me hard, tugging on my lips, as if begging me to take more of her, all of her. As if asking me to never slow down. I won’t.
She leans back on the bed, and I pull off her leggings, her socks, her panties. “Remember those granny panties you bought at Roscoe’s?”