She closed her eyes.
He squeezed her hands. “I’d die for you.”
Her fingers flexed within his. “Don’t say that,” she whispered.
“It’s true. Never thought it would happen to me. Never thought I’d find the right woman that’d make me feel that way. But fuck,” he blew out a breath, “you fuckin’ walked into that pawn shop an’ gave me wood that wouldn’t quit. Knew it right there an’ then, I needed to know you.”
“You just wanted to fuck me.”
“Yeah, that, too. But believe me, a lot of good-lookin’ women walk into that pawn shop. Not one of ‘em... not one, babe, had ever affected me like you did. I get now what Z, Hawk an’ Dawg say about how when they found their women it hit ‘em hard. The second I saw you it hit me just as fuckin’ hard. So,” he released her hands and pushed to his feet, cupping her cheeks, not allowing her to avoid his gaze. He needed her to see him. See how much she meant to him. Because this could be his only shot. “Beggin’ you, babe, just gimme a chance to prove I’m everything you need. Promise I’ll do my damnedest for you every fuckin’ day. An’ if one day you decide I ain’t good enough, that I didn’t do my fuckin’ best for you an’ you wanna walk away, then ain’t gonna stop you.”
She sucked in a breath and her eyes went wide. She jerked her face out of his hands and said, “Dexter Dougherty, you’d let me just walk away from you?”
His heart stuttered then began to beat furiously. “Only want what’s best for you, babe.”
“You think you might not be it?”
“Fuck that. Know I am.”
“Then I’ll ask you again... You’d let me just walk away from you?”
His lips twitched. “Truth, babe? No. Would never let you walk away. Would do everythin’ in my power to keep you by my side. Keep you where you belong.”
“Dex,” she whispered. “We haven’t even known each other that long.”
“Yeah, babe. We’ve known each other our whole lives,” he patted his chest, “in here. Was only just recent we found each other. Realized you’re what I’ve been missin’ all my fuckin’ life. Hopin’ it’s the same for you.”
She shook her head. “You’re something else.”
“Ain’t gonna deny it.”
She turned and looked over at the remains of her home. “So much stuff has happened. So much.”
“Yeah. Know it.”
She held out her hand and he knew exactly what she wanted. He placed the folded, torn-out pages from her mother’s diary into her palm. She closed her fist around them, then took a step toward some remaining embers. After looking one last time at the crumpled papers in her hand, she dropped them onto the glowing hot coals. The pages instantly ignited and burned quickly until there was nothing but a swirl of paper ash. Some of those remnants actually floated up into the early December air.
Dex stepped up to her and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. She didn’t pull away, but instead tightened her fingers on his.
“Can’t change the past,” he murmured. “But can put it behind you.”
“You’re right, you can’t change the past.” She tugged on his hand and looked up at him. “But you can shape the future.”
He jerked her toward him and into his arms. He pressed his mouth into her hair. “Sorry, babe. Sorry all this shit had to happen to you. Sorry you had to deal with so much loss.”
“The house. My business. Those are things I can rebuild. Start fresh, like you said. Losing my mother... That was, still is, the hardest. She was the only reason I stayed in this area. Now everything’s gone that held me here. I realize I can go anywhere I want now.”
He said nothing and just waited.
And waited.
And fucking waited.
“Yeah,” he finally said, hoping that would spur her to continue.
“Yeah,” she echoed him on a breath.
“Babe.”
“Yes?”
“That all you gonna say?”
“No.”
He waited again as they stood at the edge of her burned-out home. He was trying his damnedest to be patient, but that was wearing thin. It was now mid-December and even though the air was a little warmer around the house because of the fire, it wasn’t that warm, and he only wore his long-sleeved tee and his cut. His nipples had pebbled painfully and his piercings ached from the brisk weather. He rubbed a palm over one of them and that caught her eye.
“Kelsea.”
He frowned. “What about her?”
“I want to meet her.”
“Yeah. Not sure she knows yet.”
“She’s my sister. I want to be there for her. Get to know her.”
“Yeah, babe. Got it.”
“That will be part of the whole ‘shaping the future.’ I assume I’m her older sister.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“Maybe she can help me with restarting my business.”
“Yeah, that’d be good. She don’t do shit but party an’ get her ass in trouble. But, babe... She lives in the Valley.”
“I know. Pittsburgh’s only like twenty minutes from Shadow Valley, right?”
“On a good day.”
“Well then, we’ll make every day a good day.”
He locked his knees so he wouldn’t fall at her feet once again. He couldn’t believe things were going his way, but they were and he wasn’t going to fuck it up.
“Do you think your uncle would mind you sticking around Harrisburg for a week or so while I get my stuff sorted? I’ll need to meet with the insurance companies and my employees, figure out what I need to do since I now have nothing. Not even clothes or paperwork. Or anything. I mean it’s like being totally reborn.”
That it was. “Don’t think Ace will fuckin’ mind me stayin’ here to help you get your shit sorted.”
“While we’re getting that shit sorted, maybe we can figure out where we’re going to live. I’m not staying in your room at church with you.”
“Can’t anyway.”
“Why?”
“We discussed this shit.”
She snorted. “Oh, that’s right, because I’m a woman.” Her gaze bounced back over the remains of her house. “Then we might have to find somewhere temporary until I can get a check from the insurance company.”
“Got it covered.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. “What?”
“Wanna house? Want one just like this? Got it covered. Club will cover it ‘til your check comes through. Got some green stashed away, too. That’s one bonus of livin’ for free at church, can bank a bunch of money.”
“How much money?”
“Probably enough for a healthy down payment dependin’ how big a house you want.”
Her mouth dropped open. “An’ you lived in that hovel?”
“Yeah. Just slept, showered an’ jerked off in there. Didn’t need much.” He met her blue eyes and he pulled her into his arms. “Babe.”
“Yes?”
“You comin’ to Shadow Valley for me or Kelsea?”
“Well, I have to say you.” She reached into his cut and tweaked his nipple. “I have so many more things I want to do to you yet.”
He smiled at her words. “But your toys are gone.”
“Yes, but they’re replaceable.”
“Glad you were in the Valley with me, babe, when the Warriors struck. Because one thing I fuckin’ know is, you ain’t replaceable. Got me?”
She pressed her forehead into his chest and wrapped her arms under his cut and around his waist. “Yes, Dex, I got you.”
“Got your back, babe. All this shit’s just a bump in the road. What don’t kill you makes you stronger. Though, not sure how much stronger you can get. You’re one fuckin’ amazin’ woman, Brooke. Can’t believe you’re in my arms right now. Can’t believe you’re comin’ home with me.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” she whispered. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
He dropped his head and took her mouth,
kissing her long and hard. Claiming her, letting her know that, yeah, she belonged to him, but he belonged to her, too.
“Let’s go find a motel.”
“So I can get my affairs in order and call the insurance company?”
“Yeah, that, too.”
They wandered back to her cage, but he stopped suddenly, drawing her to a halt.
She looked at him with a question on her face.
“Just gotta say... Thank fuck you walked into the pawn shop that day.”
Her lips twitched. “And thank fuck you undressed me with your eyes. Just like you’re doing right now.”
“Nope. Ain’t doin’ that. Got told by some bossy chick that it’s sexual harassment.”
“Yes, well, there’s a punishment for that.”
He smiled and tugged her faster toward the car. “Can’t fuckin’ wait.”
Epilogue
Brooke sat at a table under an enormous tent and her gaze bounced over the crowd. Nash’s band, Dirty Deeds, was set up along one side, playing some classic rock songs. At least their volume wasn’t deafening today like it normally was at some of the parties and pig roasts the club had at church. The “guests” could talk with each other easily and not have to yell back and forth.
Kiki, in a simple, but stunning ivory dress, was wearing a huge smile and dancing with her father. Well, the glowing woman should be smiling. She married the man she loved beyond life today. And she was getting closer to having her first child with him. Her huge baby bump kept bouncing against her father awkwardly, but it seemed as though neither father nor daughter minded.
Hawk wasn’t dancing, of course. Instead he was sticking close to Kiki’s mother and his own parents, Janice and Ace, even though his eyes followed the woman who had his first name tattooed onto the back of her neck and now his last name tacked onto her own with a hyphen. The club’s vice president looked super handsome with his mohawk freshly trimmed, the sides of his head shaved smooth, wearing brand-new black jeans, and a crisp button down, long-sleeved back shirt under his cut. A new, shiny titanium wedding ring adorned his finger that had a sapphire-colored band circling the center. He said the color reminded him of Kiki’s eyes.
Ivy, also now obviously pregnant, leaned back against Jag as they stood near the edge of the dance floor. She swayed along with the music as his arms were wrapped around her, his hands planted on her stomach. They watched the few souls brave enough to be out on the dance floor that had been set up in the center of the tent.
Slade was on one side of the tent while his ol’ lady, Diamond, was on the other talking to Axel and Bella. Brooke heard things had been strained between them since the night the truth about Pierce came out. Brooke hoped things worked out between the two, since they not only lived together in a cabin here on the farm, but she’d been told they were perfect together.
Hopefully, they could move past what Brooke’s biological father did to Diamond at such a young age. Brooke wasn’t even sure if Diamond remembered all the details. She hadn’t approached Diamond about it, deciding to let the other woman reach out first, if she was so inclined.
As she watched Zak with Baby Z in his arms approaching her and Dex, her hand dropped to her own stomach. Her damn ovaries were acting up again.
Dex leaned closer and asked softly, “You okay?”
His deep voice sent a shiver down her spine. She turned and met his concerned, dark eyes. “Yes. Whatever’s in the water here, I’m not sure I want to drink it.”
“Babe, you’ve been drinkin’ it for months now.”
His warm fingers wrapped around her bare knee under the hem of her dress and squeezed. Even months later, his fingers still sent a shock of lightning through her that landed in her core. That didn’t help her screaming ovaries one bit. Nor did the fact that he’d trimmed his beard very short this morning after their rough and tumble early morning sex. Besides the worn cut he wore, everything else was freshly laundered and he looked and smelled good enough to eat.
Unfortunately, they hadn’t had enough time this morning to break out any toys, but she would make sure they made up for it later.
“That’s what I’m afraid of. I think I’m going to start getting water delivered to both the house and office.”
“So, you’re sayin’ you don’t want my kid?”
“I didn’t say that. I still have a long way to go before I can hire more employees and get my design team working smoothly together. Until then, I’m too busy rebuilding my business to concentrate on raising a child. I’m not saying never, just not now.”
“Got Kelsea helpin’ you.”
A couple weeks after their initial introduction, Brooke had asked Kelsea if she wanted to come join her business at the ground level and help her get things rolling in the Pittsburgh area. Her newly-found sister had balked at first but then surprisingly agreed.
Brooke had wondered if one—or more —of the club members had convinced her. Maybe even Dex himself. Though he never said if it was him, she wouldn’t put it past him.
Everyone was worried about Kelsea. And they should be. Her behavior had been a bit out of control recently. From what Brooke understood, that wasn’t anything new with her younger sister. However, the whole Pierce thing apparently made it worse. Brooke hoped to help get her on the right track.
“Yes, and that would be all well and good if she was more reliable.” She glanced around and found the subject of their discussion on the dance floor. “Who’s she dancing with?”
Dex’s neck twisted as he looked for his cousin. He finally spotted what Brooke had... Kelsea plastered against a man wearing a Dark Knights cut as they ground against each other on the dance floor.
He frowned. “Think it’s the same Knight she was dancin’ with at Z’s weddin’.”
“Should we be worried?”
“Knights are allies, babe. Nothin’ to worry ‘bout.” Dex lifted his chin to an extremely large black man across the room. “Magnum will make sure his brother stays in line.”
Brooke noticed that this Magnum did have his eyes glued to Kelsea and the other biker from his club. With arms crossed over his broad chest, he was as large as Diesel, who happened to be standing next to him watching the same scenario. Only D had his baby girl in his arms like normal. That man never let his daughter out of his sight.
Out of nowhere, Lily, Emma’s daughter, bravely approached both enormous men and tugged on Diesel’s cut before lifting her hands in what looked like a plea to hold Violet. D’s gaze dropped to the blonde-headed girl and he shook his head, then went back to watching Kelsea’s practically-having-sex-on-the-dance-floor moves.
Brooke rolled her lips inward when Lily tugged on Diesel’s cut again, refusing to be ignored, and held up her hands. D dropped his gaze once more to Dawg’s stepdaughter and shook his head.
When she did it a third time, a giggle slipped out of Brooke. The girl was determined. But so was D.
She couldn’t tell who was more stubborn. Especially when Lily stomped her foot, tossed her blonde head, and planted her hands on her hips, glaring up at Diesel.
“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” Dex muttered in the seat next to her. “She’s gonna be a pisser. Dawg’s gonna have a hellion on his hands in a few years.”
Dawg was too busy talking to his teenaged daughter in another corner of the reception tent to notice. He seemed to be giving Caitlin some sort of lecture. But then the girl was sixteen going on thirty, as well as beautiful, which was a dangerous combination. And there were a lot of men at the wedding and reception today. Almost seventeen years of age or not, she was hard to ignore. Unless Dawg caught them staring, then they suddenly found something else more interesting to look at.
After Z had been stopped multiple times on his journey to their table, he finally arrived and sat in a chair next to Dex with a grunt. He placed Baby Z on the floor between his legs and held both of his son’s hands so he wouldn’t waddle away.
She twisted toward the club president. “The insurance check
s cleared. I’ll be paying the club back this week. I’ll give it to Ace.”
Z turned his stunning blue eyes to her. “Yeah. Good. Glad the loan helped.”
“I couldn’t have gotten back on my feet so quickly if you hadn’t been so generous.”
“You’re family, so...” Z drifted off, his eyes dropping to his son.
“Not really,” she murmured.
“Kels’ sister,” he stated. Then he lifted his chin at Dex. “His ol’ lady. Family.”
“Right.” She still wasn’t sure how she felt about being “claimed at the table” by Dex a couple of months ago. In these biker’s eyes, that now meant she was Dex’s property.
And both of them knew that wasn’t true.
But if it made things smoother for Dex with his brothers, then she accepted the title. Albeit reluctantly.
Suddenly, their attention was drawn to Axel who had a firm grip on Bella’s hand as he approached his brother.
“What?” Z barked as Axel stopped in front of him.
Axel gave his brother an answering frown, then asked, “Seen Jayde?”
Z glanced around the tent with narrowed eyes. “Fuck no. Not since earlier.”
“Linc’s nowhere to be found, either,” Axel muttered, his jaw tight, his blue eyes scanning the crowd.
“Doesn’t mean they’re together,” Bella said with a sigh. Both men’s eyes landed on her and they scowled.
“Fuck,” Z muttered under his breath, then looked at his younger brother. “You gonna kill ‘im or am I gonna kill ‘im?”
“Neither,” Bella said, pulling her hand from Axel and plugging it on her hip, “since they are both consenting adults. Not to mention, Axel’s a fucking cop and you already did enough time in a concrete box, Z.”
“We’ll just hurt him a little bit,” Axel grumbled.
Down & Dirty: Dex (Dirty Angels MC Book 8) Page 21