His eyes landed on me.
My heart stuttered.
“Jade,” he said.“How’s it feel?”
A thousand answers fought for space in my mouth.
I thought about Jason laughing with a mouthful of pizza.Miss Irene stamping my library card.Casey’s daughter holding my hand during drills.Kane whispering I love you against my hair.
Thin but steady.
“Loud,” I said finally.“And quiet.”
Kane squeezed my hand.
Atilla shifted his gaze.“We’ve got another piece of business.”
Confusion swept over Kane’s face.“We do?”
“Don’t play dumb, Falcon.”Atilla crossed his arms.“You suck at it.”
Laughter rippled around the table.
My stomach flipped.“What’s happening?”
Kane turned to me, panic and joy wrestling in his eyes.Then he rose to his feet.“Prez,” he said.“Request.”
Atilla raised a brow.“You doing this here?Now?”
“Yes, sir,” Kane said.“Feels like the right time.”Kane pivoted to face me fully.
My blood rushed simultaneously to my face and feet, making me dizzy.
“Ka -- I mean, Falcon.What are you --”
He extended his hand toward me.“Jade Fairmont.”His voice remained steady despite everything happening around us.“Come here.”
My vision swam as I tried to process what was happening.
I rose on wobbly legs and allowed him to pull me up beside him.We stood together facing everyone -- club members at the table, women gathered in the back, and the imposing skull logo looming from the wall above us all.
Facing my future, apparently.
Atilla leaned back, folding his arms across his chest.
“All right, son,” he said.“Let’s hear it.”
Kane took a breath.“This club took me in when I struggled to find purpose,” he said.“I built a family, finally earned my patch.I thought that was all I’d ever need.Then Jade rolled up to our gate bleeding and pissed off and more stubborn than anyone I’ve ever met, and the world got bigger.”
A low sound rolled through the room.Agreement.Teasing.Something warm.
“Nobody asked her to join this war,” he went on.“The names Diaz and Roth meant nothing until they became her nightmare.Yet when it mattered, Jade stepped up.Jason’s notes became our roadmap because of her patience.Our kids learned to drill under her watch.While we hunted through woods chasing shadows, she guarded home without flinching.The club never locked down for some random woman.We stood together because of who Jade proved herself to be.”
My throat closed.
Kane’s hand found mine again, fingers twining, grip sure.
Kane’s voice dropped to a rougher register.“Love doesn’t begin to cover what she means to me.”His hand tightened around mine.“No pretending here -- she deserves better, and mistakes will happen.But this promise stands: she’s mine, I’m hers, and nothing will drag me away.The question before all of you now is whether she can wear the patch that tells the whole damn world exactly where she belongs.”
