EPILOGUE
Six months later,Aurora still woke up before dawn. Not because of nightmares—those came less often now. It was because mornings had become hers. The quiet belonged to her in a way nights never had. She stood at the kitchen window with a mug warming her hands, watching the sun creep over the tree line, painting the world in soft gold.
She had moved in with Nitro immediately, and the house felt more like her own now. He had let her decorate any way that she wanted, but she liked the fact that they agreed on so many of her décor decisions. It wasn’t perfect or pristine. But it was real. It was the first real home that she had ever had, and she loved that she was sharing it with Nitro.
Nitro’s boots sat by the door, scuffed and familiar. A jacket hung over the back of a chair. A half-finished project cluttered the workbench outside. Those things were proof of a life that didn’t vanish when she blinked, and she liked that most of all.
Aurora had learned that healing wasn’t loud. It didn’t announce itself with grand moments or neat conclusions. It showed up in small things—sleeping through the night more often than not, walking into a room without scanning exits first, and realizing that time didn’t feel borrowed anymore.
She had found a good therapist and was still going to therapy. Once in a while, Nitro would attend a session with her for moral support. She really liked her therapist, and that was something that she never thought she’d say. Hell, she never thought that she’d be the type of person to actually go to therapy, but she was doing a lot of things she never thought that she would. Freedom had a way of changing a person, and Aurora hoped that she was changing for the better.
She still had days where memories crept in sideways and knocked the breath out of her. But she didn’t feel the need to run anymore. Instead, she’d talk to Nitro, and if he couldn’t help, she’d go to see her therapist. She learned to sit with the discomfort of her past instead of running from it. She let Nitro see her when she wasn’t strong, and that took a lot of guts for her. But he let her see him, too, and that mattered.
She’d kept her job at the repair shop because she needed something to do while Nitro was away on missions. At first, she spent that time worrying and hibernating. She refused to leave the house for fear of having to do so by herself. It was as though she was holding space for him to come home to, but her therapist helped her see that that wasn’t healthy. She shouldn’t just stop living every time Nitro was sent out on a mission. So, she decided to keep her job, and having the hours at work seemed to give her purpose. She even took on more responsibility and learned that she liked fixing things. She liked the way broken didn’t mean useless. She liked that her hands were capable and that she could fix things instead of just trashing them. She was broken at one point, and she spent time fixing herself. That was how she looked at the bikes that she worked on. They were broken like her, but she fixed them.
Some days she rode with Nitro down to the Iron Vipers, and some days she stayed behind to give him space to hang out with the guys. Choice had become second nature to her. When shehad no voice and couldn’t make decisions for herself, her life was meaningless. But when she figured out how to make choices both for herself and for her relationship with Nitro, she realized that she was good at it. Making decisions had become easy, and she wondered how she ever lived the way that she had, as a prisoner of the Saints.
Things with Nitro were good. They talked about their future together—marriage, kids, the whole nine yards, but they didn’t make promises they couldn’t keep. Aurora heard him behind her. His quiet footsteps, familiar presence, and growly voice had all become the balm that she didn’t know she needed in her life.
“You’re up early,” he said, voice rough with sleep.
“Always am,” she replied. He wrapped an arm around her waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. She had gotten used to him constantly touching her when they were in the same room. At first, that was hard for her since she never had anyone touch her out of kindness, let alone love, but trusting Nitro had become second nature.
She leaned back into him easily now. “You ever think about leaving again?” he asked.
She considered the question. “Sometimes,” she admitted. “But not because I need to escape.” She turned her head slightly, meeting his eyes. “Because I finally know I could and still choose to stay. I like being able to make my own decisions, and I have you to thank for that.” Nitro nodded, like that was exactly the answer he’d hoped for. Outside, the world waited, and for the first time in her life, that didn’t scare the shit out of her.
“Well, I was thinking about the two of us leaving together for a bit,” he said. “You know, like a vacation?”
She had never been on a trip. “I wouldn’t even know where to go on a vacation. I’ve never been,” she admitted.
“I figured, but thought it was time that we changed that. How about we start with something easy—like a trip to the beach?” heasked. “The world is a big place, and I’d like to explore it with you by my side. What do you say?”
She knew exactly what to say. “Yes,” she breathed. “I’d love to take my first vacation with you to the beach.”
Aurora finished her coffee and set the mug down, feeling grounded in a way she never thought possible. Her past hadn’t disappeared. It never would. But it no longer defined the shape of her future.
Six months ago, she’d believed freedom meant distance. Now she knew better. Freedom meant standing still long enough to build something worth staying for—and trusting herself to choose it every day.
Aurora stepped out onto the porch with Nitro beside her, the morning stretching wide and unfinished ahead of them. Their story wasn’t over. But for the first time in her life, she wasn’t afraid of what came next.
The End
You won’t want to miss what’s coming next from K.L. Ramsey! Here’s a sneak peek at Til Death Do Us Part (14 Days of Love and Lust Bikers and Mobsters Book 2) coming February 2027!
TORQUE
Torque woke before dawn,the way he always did when shit was about to go sideways. The clubhouse was quiet in that dangerous way. The place felt too still, like even the walls were holding their breath. Pale light crept through the high windows of the Prez’s room, cutting across the scars on his chest and the ink that told the story of a life lived hard and without apologies. He lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, jaw tight and his instincts screaming.
He didn’t need anyone to tell him that something was coming. Being Prez had taught him to trust his instincts, and right now, they were screaming at him. Peace never seemed to last, not for men like him, and especially not for clubs like the Iron Vipers.
Torque swung his legs over the side of the bed and reached for his cut, fingers brushing the worn leather like it was an extension of his skin. The Iron Viper patch wasn’t just a symbol—it was a promise of protection and loyalty. The men in his club were more than just his brothers—they were his blood. But lately, the promise of his patch had been tested from every goddamn direction.
He would do just about anything to help his guys. When Nitro came to him, telling him that his woman needed protection from the Saints, he didn’t hesitate. He put them up in one of the Iron Viper’s safe houses, and when the Saints came looking for blood, he made sure that they paid the price. Their club was basically dismantled, and his guys killed their Prez—Salis. But they quickly learned that when you cut off the head of the serpent, two more grew in its place. The same was true with the Saints. Torque might have crippled their club for a bit, but they came back stronger and angrier than he’d ever seen them. They might have won the first war with the Saints, but wars had consequences.
Torque stepped into his boots and laced them slowly, his mind already running through the threats that were waiting to greet him for the day. Rival clubs were sniffing too close to Viper territory. They had a shaky alliance that depended on men he didn’t trust farther than he could throw them. And to top it all off, law enforcement was breathing down their necks like a rabid dog that had finally caught their scent.
And then there was her.She was the one variable Torque couldn’t control, no matter how hard he tried. The woman who had crawled under his skin and made a home there. The woman who had survived him—his world, his enemies, his darkness—and hadn’t run. That scared him more than any rival Prez ever could.
