She’s carrying my kid.
I stop in front of her and simply take her in, for a second. “I love you, sweetheart. And this is yours, if you want it. I’ll love you either way. I need you to know that, first and foremost. But would you consider wearing it and officially become my old lady?”
Her eyes drop to the leather, and I see the smile when she recognizes her name on the front. Then, I turn it so she can see the back.
“Knox,” she whispers, as I hear the footsteps of my brothers as they come to stand closer behind me.
“It means you’re mine to protect. But it also means you’re officially one of us. Everyone in this room will protect you. No one will hurt you. Not without going through them or me.”
Maren’s eyes fill with tears. “I don’t have to have sex with you in front of them again to earn it?”
There are chuckles from behind me, and even I smile at that one. “Absolutely not.”
Her fingers hover over it, and then, she slips her arms through it and settles it onto her shoulders. “I guess I better live up to it,” she says, before turning so I can see it.
Cheers go up around me, but I step up behind her and kiss her neck before placing my hands over her stomach.
“Got one more surprise for you,” I say. “It’s in the pocket.”
She slips her hand in to retrieve the folded paper, then turns to face me. “What is it?”
“A lease. Twelve months. You need a gallery, so I got you one. I had the guys strip it back to the walls and paint it white. New lighting. New flooring. Left the rest bare so you can set it up however you want.”
Then, her eyes well up real fast, and tears slip over her cheeks. “Oh my God. You got me a gallery. You really think I’m a good artist.”
“Don’t cry,” I say, pulling her to me. “I hate when you cry.”
“I’m not crying,” she lies.
“Well, I should be. I just realized I gave you a new business right when you told me you’re pregnant, so if it’s too much for you, now, I can?—”
“Shut up,” she says, before stepping up onto her toes to kiss me. “Just shut up.”
Whoops and cheers erupt behind me, and congratulations flow about the cutandthe baby.
“How come I can’t tell Prez to shut up?” Sunny says behind me.
And I don’t care.
Because I’ve got my woman, my child, and a future worth fighting for.
EPILOGUE TWO
Ishould be happy for my president. Intellectually, I’m not so stupid that I don’t know getting an old lady and finding out you’re gonna be a father is a happy thing.
But something inside me is…gone.
Ever since Alvarez’s men beat me to within an inch of my life, I’ve felt broken, like a switch got flipped.
During the day, I don’t feel anything.
Not the pain from all the surgery I’ve had to endure, because I numb it with whiskey and painkillers I skim when Reaper isn’t looking.
Not happiness. Not anger. Not even the restless itch that has me chasing a high, a fight, a woman.
I’m fucked.
Because it’s like I’m standing on the edge of something bottomless and dark, and I don’t even have it in me to be afraid of the fall.
