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Fuck.

I can’t stand the fear in her eyes or the broken look on her face.

Shoving off the couch, I close the distance between us and pull her into my arms, wrapping one around her back and massaging the back of her head with my free hand. She buries her face in my chest and grips my cut as a shudder racks her body. Leaning down, I press a kiss to her cheek, just in front of her ear.

“I need you to stay here, baby,” I whisper, closing my eyes as I breathe her in. “I need to know that you’re completely safe so I can go handle this. It could go wrong if I’m worrying about you instead of focusing on what I need to do.”

She nods. “I get it. Just… please be careful, Diego, and hurry back to me. We need you.”

“You know I will, Mama.” Pulling back, I meet her eyes and when her lip wobbles, it almost breaks me, but this is something I need to do and I can’t let anything stop me. I cup her cheek and she closes her eyes for just a moment, soaking up my touch, before she opens them again and meets my gaze.

“Let’s get this over with,” Storm says, stepping up to my side and clapping my shoulder with his hand. I nod at him, not looking away from my girl.

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

She forces a smile to her face and releases my cut before swatting my thigh with her hand. “Get going. I’ve got plans for you for later.”

“Oh?” I ask, unable to stop the salacious grin from spreading across my face and she laughs despite the tears still shining in her eyes. My fucking chest aches as I hook my hand around the back of her neck and pull her closer, claiming her lips with my own. She whimpers, grabbing my arm as she almost melts into me and I smile into our kiss, feeling like a king once again. But that’s how it is whenever I manage to make this woman turn into a puddle at my feet.

I pull back before going back in for a few more quick kisses and when I’m done, I pull her into my chest and brush her ear with my lips.

“I love you, Isabelle.”

She sucks in a breath and her body shudders.

“You’d better be in bed, naked, when I get back,” I warn and she pulls away, her tears long gone and a wide smile on her face as she nods.

“Don’t make me wait too long.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Storm calls from the front door, irritation saturating his voice. “Can we fucking go, please?”

“Go.” Izzy laughs, smacking my hip to send me on my way. I reluctantly release her and wink before turning toward the door and my pissed off president. He shakes his head as I reach him, turning toward the door and shoving it open.

“I know I wasn’t that fucking annoying when I first started sleeping with Ali.”

I laugh. “No. You were worse.”

“How would you even fucking know?” he asks, fighting back a laugh. “You were still a cop back then.”

“I’ve heard the stories,” I remind him as we reach our bikes and he scoffs as he throws his leg over the seat of his.

“Bikers are a gossipy bunch of bitches.” He slams his helmet on his head as I climb on my bike and any more of his insults are drowned out by the roar of engines as we start our bikes. Storm takes the lead out of the compound and I trail behind him as we turn out onto the open road. The wind whips through my hair and the vibration of the machine erases all of my problems for a few moments. I soak it up, breathing in the calm of nothing else but me and my bike as we make our way across town to Luca’s apartment. My mind drifts, just like the road beneath my bike, from what Izzy will have waiting for me when I get home to thoughts of taking her out on the bike with me once the baby is born and we put all this other shit behind us. God, how amazing will it be to just be with her without the threat of death hanging over our heads?

This life - it’s one I’ve wanted for the longest time and I’m so fucking close I can taste it. The fact that she didn’t freak when I told her I loved her is a good sign and despite my frustration and her stubbornness, maybe she really is coming around. She still hasn’t opened up to me about her past but I’m more confident than ever that she will in her own time. She’s been carrying around a hell of a lot of pain for a long time and I know that shit isn’t easy to let go of. Lord knows I still have plenty of my own pain to deal with but being with her makes it easier to face and easier to let go of. How could I possibly hang onto the past when I’ve got a life with her to look forward to? As far as I’m concerned, the possibilities are endless and when I think about the future, I see it all for us. There’s a wedding and more babies and the family I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember.

Shit.

I just really hope that I’m not getting ahead of myself.

By the time we pull up in front of Luca’s apartment, I’ve managed to second-guess all my decisions a few times over but I shove it all away, focusing on the task at hand. I wouldn’t say I’m scared of Luca because as far as I can tell, he seems like a dumbass but his actions have been a little unhinged at times and that part does worry me.

“What’s the plan here?” Storm asks as he sit on our bikes behind the truck Gear and Hawk are sitting in. I glance up at the window to Luca’s apartment and sigh.

“I want to push him to lead us to whoever he’s working for but I’m just not sure how to do that yet.”

Storm nods, pointing to the truck. “Let’s check in with them.”

We climb off our bikes and approach the driver’s side window as it rolls down. Hawk nods to us from behind the wheel.