Kya laughs softly. “You’re squeezing me to death.”
“Wrong answer.”
She grins up at him. “I love you too, psycho.”
“Good.”
Then he kisses her while Gio loudly groans, “Oh my God.”
The entire yard bursts out laughing.
Shadow looks like he wants to crawl out of his own skin being the center of attention. Which makes sense. The man barely speaks on a normal day. Now he’s standing in front of half the club while Shaina stares at him in a wedding dress like he personally hung every star in the sky. He looks at her like she’s the only thing keeping him tethered to earth.Twisted watches from the side with crossed arms and an expression caught somewhere between emotional and ready to threaten somebody if this goes wrong. Not that it would. Shadow’s been gone for his daughter since the beginning.
Shaina steps closer first, smiling softly when he immediately reaches for her waist like instinct. “You okay?” she asks quietly.
Shadow grunts once. “Too many people.”
The yard laughs.
Joker calls out, “Use your big boy words.”
Shadow flips him off without looking away from Shaina. That makes her laugh softly. Then the laughter fades because Shadow’s expression shifts. Still hard. Still dangerous. But raw underneath it. He stares at her for a long moment before speaking. “You found me when I had nothing left worth giving.” The yard goes completely quiet. Shaina’s face softens instantly.
Shadow’s thumb brushes slowly against her hip. “I didn’t know how to want this,” he says roughly. “Didn’t know how to stand still long enough for somebody to love me.” Emotion tightens his jaw hard enough everyone can see it. “But you stayed anyway.” Shaina’s eyes fill immediately. Shadow swallows once.
“You’re giving me a daughter.” His voice roughens further on the words. “You’re giving me a family. You gave me a reason to think past tomorrow.”
Twisted visibly looks away for a second at that. Because he remembers exactly what kind of man Shadow was when he first came to the club. A weapon. Nothing else.
Shadow steps closer until their foreheads almost touch. “You’re mine,” he tells her roughly. Simple. Possessive. Absolute.
Shaina starts crying immediately. Not delicate tears either. Full emotional collapse. Because everyone here understands what those two words actually mean coming from him. Not ownership. Belonging. Permanent devotion from a man who trusted nobody. “I know,” she whispers back shakily.
Shadow closes his eyes briefly like hearing that physically hurts him in the best possible way.
Shaina reaches up, both hands framing his face gently. “You know what I love most about you?” she asks softly.
Shadow’s brows pull together slightly. “Question feels dangerous.” The yard laughs quietly.
Shaina smiles through tears. “Everybody sees how scary you are first.”
“Smart people.”
“Shadow.” One corner of his mouth twitches. Then her expression softens again. “But I see the man who watches every room before I walk into it.” Her fingers brush along his jaw. “The man who would rather bleed himself dry than let the people he loves hurt.” Shadow’s hand tightens at her waist. “You love so quietly,” she whispers. “But God, when you do… it’s everything.”
The words land like a punch.
Shaina smiles shakily through tears. “And I promise,” she says, “that no matter how dark life gets, you’ll never walk through it alone again.”
Shadow exhales hard through his nose and pulls her flush against him immediately. Like he physically cannot keep distance between them anymore. “Love you,” he mutters roughly into her hair.
The yard goes dead silent again. Because that might be the longest sentence anyone’s ever heard him say publicly.
Shaina laughs softly against his chest. “I love you too.”
Then Shadow kisses her hard enough to shut the entire yard up for a second before Blaze yells, “Okay, damn, save some aggression for later.”
Shadow doesn’t even break the kiss to flip him off.
