I let her go, but every part of me ached with the hope that when she decided, it’d be me she stayed for.
Chapter 60
Lucy
The door closed softly behind Jay, the faint click echoing in the stillness. His words lingered louder than the brothers downstairs, louder than the war we’d fought.
Because I’m in love with you.
I sat on the edge of the bed, fingers brushing the rumpled comforter where we’d laid together. My pulse was still hammering, not from adrenaline, not from fear, but from him.
He thought I’d leave.
A part of me thought I would too, once. Back when I was first trying to find out the truth about how Caleb died. Back when I rolled up in that dusty lot with nothing but a report full of secrets. I told myself I was there for answers, nothing else.
But the truth hadn’t been neat or clean.
I’d found betrayal, blood, broken codes. I’d found the truth of what happened to my brother.
And I’d found Jay.
At first, I hated him, for the kutte, the danger, for being the embodiment of everything that stole Caleb away.
Now, I couldn’t imagine walking away without tearing out something vital inside me.
He was right, though. I had another life somewhere else, an apartment, a job, a future that didn’t smell like motor oil and leather. But that future felt like it belonged to someone else. Someone softer. Someone naïve.
The woman I’d become had stood in the fire and chose to stay. Not because she had to but because she wanted to. Because she’d fallen in love too.
I showered quickly, steam curling the edges of the mirror, and dressed in what I could salvage from Jay’s dresser—a faded black shirt that came down to just above my knees and a belt. No panties. Everything I’d owned was now ash and smoke, and I really needed to go shopping, so it would have to do.
When I opened the door and stepped down the stairs, the low rumble of voices drifted down the hall. The church room. Jay’s voice broke through, steady, sure, already sketching the outline of a future for the Dead Knights. A future with tattoo shops, garages, and betting halls.
His future... our future.
I hesitated, hand on the doorframe, before I knocked once.
The voices died instantly.
“If the door’s open, you’re welcome to come in,” Jay’s voice called.
That stupid flutter hit my chest again as I pushed the door fully open.
Riot tipped his chin at me. Link gave me a brief nod. Finn, sitting in the seat that used to be Bishop’s, was grinning like he’d been crowned king. Keno rolled his eyes but didn’t comment.
But I didn’t linger on any of them. My eyes found Jay. Always Jay.
He was tired, scarred, still carrying the war on his shoulders. When his gaze met mine, steady and unflinching, drifting down the length of my body and back up, I felt the fire flare back to life.
“We’d actually value your input,” he said, his voice even.
Something cracked open inside me at those words. Wanted. Family.
“I can do that,” I said. My feet carried me forward until I was in front of him, then I slid between him and the table, wrapping my arms around his neck.
His hands were on my waist instantly, like they’d been waiting for me to fill the space. Heat licked through me at the contact.
“Pres,” Riot drawled from somewhere behind us. “You want us to leave?”
