The room went quiet.
All eyes turned to Atilla.
He studied us both for a long moment.“You sure about this, Jade?”he asked.
I swallowed.My voice came out barely above a whisper at first.“Yeah,” I said.I cleared my throat, lifted my chin.“Yes.I’m sure.”
“You know what it means,” he said.Not a warning.A reminder.“This isn’t a necklace you take off when you get tired of the color.This is life.Ours.Yours.His.You wear our name, you wear what comes with it.”
I squared my shoulders.“Might as well make everything official.”
A few men chuckled around the table.Someone muttered, “Damn right.”
Atilla’s eyes gleamed with unmistakable pride as he nodded once.“Marci.”
She rose from her chair against the wall, a folded bundle cradled in her hands.
My heart slammed.
It wasn’t a ring.It was better.
She crossed the room and placed the leather in Atilla’s waiting grip.
He held it out where I could see.
Small cut.My size.Black leather that smelled new and rich.Savage Raptors rocker across the top.The club’s skull in the middle.Kane’s road name, FALCON, stitched small near the front.
And at the bottom, in clean white letters: PROPERTY OF FALCON.
Atilla’s gaze stayed locked on mine.“You sure?”he asked one more time.
I thought about my old apartment.Thin walls.Late notices.Roth’s footsteps in the hall.Then I thought about this place.General teaching me how to read the road by the way the light hit the asphalt.Spade knocking on my door with a new map and tired eyes.Kane’s laughter in the dark.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything,” I said.
Atilla’s mouth curved.“Then welcome home, Jade,” he said.
He flicked his fingers at Kane.“Put it on her.”
My hands shook as Kane took the cut.
He stepped behind me, settling the leather across my shoulders with reverence that made my eyes sting.
Cool, then warm as it molded to my body.
He smoothed his palms down my arms, then stepped back to my side.
“Turn around,” Spade called from the far end of the table.“We gotta see.”
I rolled my eyes and did as he asked.
The weight on my back felt… right.
Like armor.
Like roots.
Applause broke out.Whistles.A couple of catcalls Marci shut down with a hard look.
