"You asked." His hands settle on my hips. "I don't talk about it much, but you deserve to know."
We stand there for a moment, just holding each other. "Do you have siblings? Other family?"
"No siblings. My grandfather died years ago. It's just me and my mom." He pauses. "Well. And you now."
The words hit me square in the chest.
And you now.
I'm his family. He's mine.
The weight of that settles between us, warm and terrifying and right.
"What about you?" Shadow asks, pulling back to look at me. "I know about your dad, Dakota, Shiver. But yours showing up still doesn’t make sense to me."
"Jolene." I smile slightly. "You know she and Dad divorced when I was around sixteen, but she never really left. Still shows up for Sunday dinners. Still acts like an ol’ lady even though she's not wearing the patch anymore. It's... complicated."
"Complicated family," Shadow says.
"Aren't they all?"
He grins, and the heaviness of the conversation lifts slightly. "Fair point."
We finish the dishes in silence, and when we finally head to bed, I fall asleep in his arms feeling like I know him in a way I didn't before.
Not just the enforcer. Not just the dangerous man who claims me.
But the son who visits his sick mother. The man who carries his pain quietly. The person beneath the leather and ink.
And I think I might be falling in love with all of him.
Shadow's phone rings at eight in the morning, pulling us both from sleep.
He groans, reaching for it on the nightstand. "Yeah?"
I can't hear the other side of the conversation, but Shadow's expression shifts from sleepy to alert in seconds.
"Yeah, I'll be there. Give me an hour." He hangs up, looks at me. "Ranch work. They're installing new fencing in the south pasture today. Need all hands."
I sit up, the sheet pooling around my waist. "I'll help."
Shadow raises an eyebrow. "You don't have to?—"
"I want to." I swing my legs out of bed. "Besides, you'll be watching me all day anyway. Might as well be useful."
His grin is slow and wicked. "Can't argue with that logic."
We get dressed—jeans, boots, tank tops.
I tie a bandana around my neck to hide the marks he left, and Shadow watches me with dark, appreciative eyes.
"You look good in ranch wear, darlin'."
"I grew up on this ranch, remember?" I pull on my work gloves. "I can work fences."
"Never doubted it."
Charlie's at my feet, tail wagging despite the cone still around her neck.
