"I'll be there in twenty minutes," I tell him.
"We'll be waiting," he says, and something in his voice makes my pulse quicken.
As I gather my purse and keys, I catch sight of myself in the hallway mirror.My hair is mussed from running my hands through it, my makeup smudged from the emotional confrontation.I look nothing like the polished socialite Ethan wanted me to be.
I look real.Alive.Like myself for the first time in months.
The thought should terrify me.I'm about to walk into a motorcycle clubhouse, into a life I know nothing about, to help raise five children who aren't mine.
Instead, it makes me feel like I'm finally coming home.
Twenty minutes later, I'm walking through the doors of the Saint's Outlaws clubhouse, and Lily launches herself into my arms before I've even cleared the threshold.
"Aunt Evie!You came back!"
"Of course I came back, sweetheart."I hold her close, breathing in the scent of her strawberry shampoo and the lingering sadness that clings to all of them."I promised I would, didn't I?"
Over her head, I meet Hades' eyes.He's watching me with an intensity that makes my skin heat, like he's trying to see inside my soul.
"Everything okay?"he asks quietly.
"Everything's perfect," I say, and for the first time in a long time, I actually mean it.
Because standing here in this chaotic, loud, imperfect place, surrounded by children who need me and watching Hades watch me like I'm something precious, I finally understand what I've been missing.
This is what home feels like.
This is what love should feel like.
And I'm done settling for anything less.
CHAPTERFIVE
hades
Evangeline's apartmentbuilding is exactly how I remembered.A secure apartment building with doormen, the kind of place where residents pay more in monthly fees than most people make in a year.It's a world away from the clubhouse, from the life I'm offering her.
But she chose us anyway.
"This the place?"Tempest asks from beside me, his bike rumbling to silence as we park in the visitor spaces.
"Yeah."I kill my engine and pull off my helmet."She texted twenty minutes ago.She should be ready."
Tempest's studying the building with the same tactical eye he uses when we're scoping enemy territory."Fancy neighborhood.Security cameras on every corner, private guards.If someone wanted to keep tabs on her movements..."
He doesn't need to finish the thought.I've been thinking the same thing since she called me yesterday.Breaking off her engagement, walking away from this life, it makes her vulnerable in ways she might not even realize.
"Keep your eyes open," I tell him as I walk toward the entrance.
The doorman gives my cut a long look but doesn't say anything when I give him Evangeline's name.The elevator ride to the fifteenth floor feels endless, my nerves stretched tight with anticipation.
I shouldn't be this fucking wound up about seeing her.Shouldn't be counting the hours since she walked out of the clubhouse last night.Shouldn't be replaying every word of our phone conversation.
But I am.
The door opens before I can knock, and the sight of her stops me cold.She's dressed in black, simple and elegant, but it's her eyes that catch me.She looks wrecked… and real.No gloss, no perfect mask.Just Evangeline, finally done faking.
"You came," she says, and there's surprise in her voice.
