Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 40057 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40057 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
When she finished and bandaged my skin, she leaned in and whispered against my mouth. “Mine.”
“Damn right,” I muttered. Then I yanked her onto my lap and kissed her like we were still in that warehouse and I’d just found her again.
Ten minutes later, we stood at the mirror with our hands entwined. She turned hers over and extended her ring finger, and I did the same. She lined up our hands and pressed our inked fingers together—thin black rings, etched the day after I proposed.
We’d make it legally official next month, but we didn’t need an altar or an audience. We already belonged to each other.
She rested her head against my chest and sighed. “This feels more permanent than any ceremony ever could.”
“That’s ‘cause it is.”
EPILOGUE
ELENA
Saturday afternoons were always the busiest. Kids of every age ran around the clubhouse’s backyard. The women lounged at the picnic tables, swapping stories over sweet tea and cookies, while the men grilled enough food to feed an army. Which was basically what the Hounds of Hellfire were in some ways.
Kayde darted between the picnic tables, a blur of dark curls and grass-stained jeans.
“Daddy, Bella’s winning!” he shouted as he sprinted past.
Reeve smirked at our son, flipping a burger at the grill. “Then run harder, kiddo.”
His cousin shot past him a second later, ponytail flying. “I’m faster!”
Domenico, lounging beside King at another table, groaned dramatically. “She’s going to give me gray hairs before I’m forty.”
Gabbi elbowed her husband. “Please. You were halfway there when she was born.”
It still blew my mind that I was connected to the mafia. I had no idea when I fell for Reeve that his family tree was so complicated. The cousin he saw more as a second mother was Silver Saints royalty through her marriage to Mac, even though Bridget had been born and raised as a Hounds of Hellfire princess. Even more shocking, her mom had been a DeLuca, which meant she also had mafia blood. So did Ink.
It was something we didn’t share with my parents because they’d never understand. When they joined us at times like this, they just saw our extended family.
I carried a plate of cut fruit toward the tables, enjoying the sunshine. Every once in a while, my gaze strayed to my husband, who was even sexier than when we met.
Six years married, and he still looked at me like I was the center of his universe.
“Mommy!” Kayde skidded to a stop at my feet, breathing hard. “Can I have lemonade?”
I smoothed a hand over his hair. “Did you drink water first?”
He fidgeted. “Maybe.”
Reeve barked a laugh. “Which means no.”
I handed Kayde a cup of lemonade anyway because he’d probably earned it with all the running. He chugged half of it in one go, wiped his mouth with his arm, and zoomed off again.
Reeve abandoned the grill long enough to wrap an arm around my waist from behind, pulling me into the solid heat of him. “You okay?”
“Better than okay.” I leaned against his chest. “I never imagined my life could look like this.”
He pressed his nose to my hair. “Yeah. Me either.”
A few hours passed in a chaotic mix of food, noise, and kids everywhere. Bella and Kayde teamed up to terrorize everyone with water guns. Even King got sprayed before he could duck back inside.
Eventually the chaos mellowed. Some kids napped. Others colored.
Fifteen minutes later, we realized Kayde and Bella were suspiciously quiet.
Gabbi rose first, scanning the yard like a woman who knew exactly how much trouble her daughter could get into. “Bella?”
The only answer was muffled giggling.
We exchanged looks and followed the sound around the side of the building.
“Bella, what are you—oh.” Gabbi’s question broke off in a shocked gasp.
When I saw the kids, I got why.
Bella stood proudly with one arm extended, while Kayde crouched at her feet, marker in hand, perfecting the bold lines of a tattoo. One that suspiciously looked like a Hounds of Hellfire patch. Except it had Kayde’s name on it, in childish but weirdly competent block lettering.
My jaw fell open. “Kayde Pierce.”
He looked up at me with a radiant smile. “Mommy! I made Bella a pretty tattoo!”
Bella beamed. “‘Cause we’re cousins, so I’m a Hound too!”
Reeve appeared at my side, having sprinted across the yard. His eyes landed on the kids, and he chuckled.
King leaned against the wall, laughing. “It’s a damn good thing they’re practically related, or else this kinda thing could spark a war between our club and the DeLucas. One that even Ink wouldn’t be able to stop.”
I stared at the bold block letters on Bella’s arm and couldn’t help laughing. Kayde hadn’t just inherited his artistic talent from us. He’d definitely gotten his daddy’s territorial streak too.
Kevlar is next!