I swallowed against the ball of emotion suddenly choking me. I wouldn’t ever fully get over the loss of my father and we still didn’t know who’d killed him. I still had a long road with my mother. But with Axel by my side, propping me up, I felt like I could do anything. The truth was that with the love of a great man Icoulddo anything.
“Yeah, babe,” I grinned. “Now are you gonna take me for a ride?”
He licked his lips, his eyes perusing my form in a way that made my heart pound and knees go weak.
“We’ll take the long way,” he growled into my neck.
In so many ways, we had taken the long way around, but in that time, we’d come together far stronger than I’d ever thought possible. It was time to hold tightly to my man for whatever the future held and always remember to enjoy the ride along the way.
Epilogue
One Month Later
“Mom?” I called as I walked through our house. It was a bit of a disaster with the construction we’d started and I was ready to have my home back – well a bigger version of it anyway.
“In here,” her voice called from the nursery.
I found my son and mother sitting on the floor looking at books. Maddox squealed when he saw me, crawling over to be picked up. I scooped him up kissing his sweet neck and smiled.
“How did you two do?” I asked, tickling his belly.
“Great,” she smiled, rising to her feet.
Ever since that visit over six weeks ago, we’d been letting her spend time at the house. It was only recently we began leaving her alone with Maddox for any length of time. Maddox adored her and the feeling was mutual.
“Do you want to stay for dinner?” I offered as she followed me into the kitchen.
“I would but Sal wanted me to help with Wren for an hour or so tonight,” she shared with a bright smile.
I knew that was huge for her. My brother had been decidedly more cautious about letting our mother near his family. Slowly but surely, he was coming around as she proved on a daily basis that people could change. He knew it was possible since he himself had already proven that ten times over.
“That’s great. Give her a kiss for me. I’ll be over there tomorrow,” I replied as I tried to keep my slightly frazzled state under wraps.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
Hopefully.
“Yep,” I nodded far too quickly.
She didn’t press. Our relationship had dramatically improved to something far healthier than we’d ever had, but we still had a way to go.
I walked her out hearing my phone buzz from the other room.
Is he home yet?
Have you told him?
Jill’s persistent texts made me sigh with exasperation. It had been all of twenty minutes since I’d seen her.
I was also irritated with her constantly dodging my questions about her love life. Her divorce was in full swing, but she’d settled in comfortably in Hawthorne. She loved her job and had daycare for Mason. I wanted to see her have some fun.
Not yet
I typed quickly, setting my phone aside and beginning to make dinner while Maddox entertained himself with the Tupperware drawer. He was growing up so fast; he’d be walking any day. I couldn’t believe it.
Axel strode in as I was putting the casserole in the oven. He’d been spending more hours at the club as the guys worked to solve what the cops weren’t. There were no official answers about my father’s murder, but every day, it looked more and more like it had been the Black Riders. The consequences of that were daunting at best.
“Hi, baby,” his deep voice rumbled and he kissed my neck.
