“Y’all alive?” he asked, drinking coffee from a mug that said “Roll Tide” on it.
Bronc grinned. “All accounted for, Rafe. Appreciate the assist.”
Rafe nodded. “The Parisian wolves will take full responsibility for the mess. You’re squeaky clean with the Council. Tell your people to lie low for a week, let the news cycle die, then go about your business.”
Juliet asked, “And Steiner?”
Rafe’s smile turned cold. “I understand that thanks to Harper, with an assist from the French connection, he won’t bother anyone again. I’m sorry you took some hits, Harper. But great work on improvising the weapon to end that son-of-a bitch.”
I looked at my mate, pride shining in my eyes.
She nodded at the camera. “Yes, sir.”
Rafe continued. “I know Maltraz has to be pissed. Steiner’s docks were how he could get his cargo loaded without detection. Now he’s got to figure out another way. Yet again, Iron Valor has gotten in his way. He might get over it, or he’ll come for you, and then you can send him to hell yourself.”
Nobody disagreed.
Rafe continued. “If you could let Gwen know the plane will be ready to bring her back to Birmingham at noon today I’d appreciate it.”
Bronc agreed. “Thank you for loaning her to us for this mission. Her help, as I understand it was invaluable.”
Rafe nodded and ended the call, leaving only the sound of silverware on china and the clink of coffee cups in the room.
Bronc looked around the table. “Anything else?”
Gunner said, “Need more bacon,” and everyone laughed, just a little too loud.
For the first time in years, the air felt safe.
Bronc squeezed Juliet’s hand, then stood. “Go home. Rest. There’s nothing on the horizon but spring and sunshine. Let’s enjoy it for once.”
The meeting broke up in the usual Iron Valor way—slow, with a lot of half-hugs, shoulder claps, and promises to meet again soon. Aspen dragged Papa out by the hand. Oscar waved from her shoulder. Gunner lingered, talking low with Bronc. Wrecker and Parker left together, arguing about who had to fill the tank on the way to the city.
I lingered with Harper, finishing the last of my coffee. She stared into the mug, then at me.
“I can’t remember a time when my heart has felt so full,” she said.
I pulled her to me. “I can’t remember a time when I felt so much love.”
She smiled and said, “Me neither.”
This was our home. This was our family. And for once, I had everything I ever wanted.
Epilogue
Gunner
I’ll be honest, County Line on a Thursday night was never my first choice. I preferred Sam’s, even if the beer cost a dollar more, but County Line was neutral territory, and Bronc said I had to make myself “seen” here once in a while, let the locals remember whose name ran this county. So I nursed a Shiner and tried not to look like a wounded animal, even as the local pack girls prowled the shadows, waiting for my scent to slip.
You could tell a lot about a bar from its woodwork. Sam’s was slick, lacquered, with round corners polished by decades of elbows and bellies. County Line’s was hard, unfinished, gouged with pocketknives and stained with spilled High Life. All thebarstools had at least one broken rung, and the only thing keeping the beer fridge from toppling over was a cut-up phone book jammed under its front leg. The whole place stank of desperation and Fritos. If you wanted to disappear, this was the place to do it.
I watched the dance floor, all but empty this early except for a couple of college kids with dollar bills pinned to their shirts, and a pair of local farmhands doing a lazy two-step with one girl between them. Usually, I’d be scanning for prospects, but tonight, I had no interest in local talent. Not when my mind was stuck in a loop over the one girl who’d been driving me crazy since she’d stepped off that plane almost two months ago.
From the jump, she acted like Dairyville was beneath her, like every store was one step away from closing, and the locals were lucky if they could read a stop sign. She didn’t try to fit in, not once. She tried to exude sophistication. Except she forgot her daddy was shot dead in a parking garage because of his illegal financial dealings and she and her mama were living on the kindness of strangers now.
The thing that pissed me off most was that it worked. She had every man in the county, wolf and otherwise, noticing her, and lots of the women hated her on sight. It seemed to me she really was just out of control.
I shouldn’t have cared, except for one tiny detail.
