Not caring one single fuck about all the eyes on us I kiss her hard on the lips. At first she seems stunned, but then her lips move against mine. I can taste the tears that have fallen downher cheeks. It only makes me kiss her harder. To prove to her that this isn’t our end.
Regretfully I break our kiss. Swiping away the remains of her tears I then kiss the tip of her nose before kissing the apples of both her cheeks. “I love you, Grace.”
She smiles. Even though her heart is being beaten she smiles. And that smile is purely for me. “Not possibly more than I love you.”
Raising her up with me I do something that I know goes against club rules but I honestly couldn’t give a fuck. If Sticks wants to fight me over it he can.
With care and deliverance I shrug out of my Vipers MC cut. I hold the worn leather that has seen better days in my hands. In truth this cut is an extension of me. It’s who I am. And I wear it with fucking pride and honor everyday.
Some men would say they’re nothing at all without their cut, but I’m nothing without her.
Gasps are made as I slip my cut through her arms. The cut swallows her frame, appearing more as a dress on her body. “I love my club and I love my brothers, but I love you more Grace. You’re mine in every sense of the word. And in this life, my life, that makes you my Old Lady. So, I’m giving you this, a piece of me no one else will ever have, and I’m entrusting it in your hands. And when I come back to you I know you’ll have it waiting for me.”
“Oak,” she chokes out my name as a sob catches in her throat. “I can’t take this.” She begins to take it off but I stop her.
“Yes you can,” I tell her and she lays her arms down by her side. “Take this as my promise that I’m coming back to you.”
“Son,” Sticks interjects and I give him a cutting glare.
“If you’re about to tell me I can’t do this I respectfully disagree with you,” I say harshly.
Sticks shakes his head. “Wasn’t going to say a damn word. I just wanted to let you know all of us here will protect your woman and Connor with our life. You have nothing to worry of.”
I nod my head in gratitude. Him officially welcoming Grace and Connor into this family like he did with Nora long ago settles me. “Thank you.”
The heartfelt moment is broken by another pounding at the door. Grace tenses. I pull her in for a hug and rub my arms up and down her back to soothe her. “Stay strong for me, Grace. Keep fighting.”
“I’ll never stop,” she vows.
I smile down at her. “I know.”
Allowing myself another minute I hold her in my arms. I breathe her in, and as my eyes close I memorize every detail of her.
It takes more than strength as I let her go. It breaks my heart when I hear the pained whimper leave her lips. And it completely shatters when I take a step away from her.
A force then comes knocking me in the side. Small arms wrap themselves around me. Looking down I see the top of Connor’s head. I ruffle his hair and he only holds me tighter. “All will be good, champ. I promise.”
“Don’t lie to me,” he mumbles. “My sister can’t lie to me and neither can you.”
I wrap my arm around the kid, emotion trying to get the best of me. “I’m not lying to you, champ. I’ll be back. I promise.”
“If you break it I’ll never forgive you.”
“I’m not going to break it.”
He squeezes me one last time and as he looks up at me he wipes away a tear with the palm of his hand. “I’ll take care of her for you.” A young boy that already thinks and acts like a man.
“You promise me to take care of each other until I come back.”
He nods his head. “Until you come back.”
He runs to his sister’s side then. She wraps an arm around him as he tucks himself in her side. And it’s almost surreal how I had closed my heart out a long time ago and yet these two have opened it.
Knowing I don’t have much longer I say the last of my goodbyes, for now.
They all wait in turn. Sticks being first, followed by Rosa, Slater, Pax, Stella, Dex, Haven, and Dani.
Then it comes down to the three people who make saying goodbye that much fucking harder.
