“I couldn’t tell you. Maybe try Mobsters R Us?” Linzie teases.
“Linzie, there’s one under here for you, babe,” Hawk calls out. I growl at him for calling her babe.
Asshole.
Hawk skips his happy jingle bell ass over to our table, setting her gift on the table in front of her. She tries to move off my lap, but I hold her to me. “Open it, baby.”
She looks at me, smiling, excitement flickering in her eyes. She tears through the tape, fighting hard not to tear up the paper.
“Oh, for shit’s sake,” Andi balks. “Tear the shit open.”
Linzie listens to her friend and rips the paper and the box open. Her eyes slide to mine before the lid is completely off the box. “Gabe,” she whispers. I nod, encouraging her to open it all the way. She does, then grips the dark leather vest in her hands, lifting it up for everyone to see. The women gasp. My men holdtheir celebration until they get the go-ahead from Linzie. This is her moment to accept my claim or walk away.
“We just talked about this last night. How did you have time to get this made?” she asks, staring at the Ol’ Lady cut in awe.
Turning her chin in my hand, forcing her eyes to meet mine. “I told you I knew you were mine a long time ago. I had the cut made before the shit went down with the Feds. I was just waiting for the opportune time to give it to you. After our conversation last night, I brought it out of the closet and had Trevor put it under the tree.”
“Trevor knew about this?”
I nod. “I made sure he was good with it before I asked you.”
Linzie’s eyes well with tears. She grabs my neck, hugging me tight and kissing along my jaw. I capture her mouth with mine, and the room erupts once more.
“You’reallmine now, baby. No going back from this.” She smiles, kissing me again.
“Did you see the name patch?” I ask.
“Doesn’t it just say Linzie?” She asks.
“Take a look.”
“Vixen?” she asks, laughing.
“You’ve earned the name.” I lean in, kissing below her ear and whisper, “Merry Christmas, my naughty little Vixen.”
EPILOGUE
LINZIE
“Everly! Come on, it’s not that big of a deal,” Mason calls after Everly as she drags Kaylie toward the clubhouse doors. The snow finally let up, and the streets are clear, so everyone is slowly making their way home again.
Everly spins on Mason. “You had no right to dig into our lives for information that has nothing to do with you. You’re not her father, Mason. You’re just a friend I knew in high school who grew up to be a biker.”
“Whoa!” Mason snaps. “I’m far more than that, and you fucking know it. You’re just too afraid to admit it.”
“I already told you I will never date a biker. I don’t want this lifestyle,” she yells.
“What’s wrong with it?” Mason tosses back.
“I will not be someone who waits up all hours of the night wondering where you are, who you’re with, or if you’ll even be coming home. I have Kaylie, and she needs stability. She needs a home.Weneed someone who will care enough to be around and not fuck off whenever he feels the need to take a long ride on a country road.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Mason asks, seemingly confused. “I’ve done nothing but be there for both of you in every way. I show up to help take care of Kaylie. I put a security system in when you were scared someone was watching you. I babysit so you can go out for a girl’s night. And you had absolutelyzerocomplaints when you made out with me in my room the other night. So, please explain to me what the fuck happened between then and now?”
“Hey,” Andi whispers beside me, effectively scaring the hell out of me in the process. “What’s going on here? Why are they fighting?”
“I’m not sure. I was about to find out until you came over here and started flapping your yap.” I tease.
Andi tosses her hands in the air. “Well, excuse the fuck out of me. I was just trying to get in on the gossip with my bestie. I didn’t know you’d be so touchy about the interruption.”
