I walk over, and he tucks me into his arms. “I know, but it’s going to be so hard.”
“It will, but once she’s out the other side, she’ll have a better life. Keep thinking of that.”
I snuggle closer, breathing him in. The past week has been chaotic, but between Lucas and my dad, they’ve managed to deter any backfire from what happened that night. I asked a few questions but they just assured me it was fine and I didn’t need to worry about it. I trust that. I trust them.
They’ve had a whole new respect for each other since.
We’re having a cookout tonight for Dad’s birthday, and for the first time, Lucas is invited. I don’t think that it’s entirely perfect between them, but they trust each other and respect each other, and that’s all I could ever ask for. It’s not as though Dad is going to involve Lucas in the club business, but Lucas also won’t stick his nose in and cause problems.
They’ve found even ground. And I’m okay with it.
“Are you still coming to the cookout tonight?” I ask him, letting go and stepping back.
“Fuck yeah.”
“You’re not worried about all those grumpy bikers?”
He takes my chin and tilts it back. “I’d walk through fire for you, honey. Dealing with a bunch of bikers is nothing.”
I giggle.
He grins.
That’ll never get old.
~*~*~*~
“Oh my god! Stop!” I cry to Addison, throwing a brat at her face.
She ducks, and laughs so hard she doubles over. “It was fucking hilarious, Lucas. She was so cute and little . . .”
“Stop it!” I yell again, laughing so hard tears run down my cheeks.
“I can’t stop until I get all the bad stories out of the way. He needs to know the gritty details of you and poop and . . .”
Lucas is laughing and turns to me, winking. “I’m enjoying the stories, kid.”
“I’ll hurt you.” I grin.
“Enough now, child,” Dad says to Addi, and she flips him the bird.
“Now I see where you get it.” Lucas grins at me.
“It’s all Dad’s fault.”
Dad chuckles and keeps flipping the burgers.
“So, Lucas, do you like being a cop?” Skye asks, throwing her legs on Danny’s lap. He grunts and flings them off, but she puts them right back on.
“Yeah,” he says to her.
They get into a conversation about his job and I just listen, smiling as I watch. We’re all sitting in a big group, fire in the middle of us, beers flowing freely. Mercy and Max aren’t here. He went to visit her in the city where she is attending college. They’re good friends like that, and he’s missing her. Ebs is gone again, so it’s just Danny, Skye and I.
The conversation can tend to get slightly awkward, but that’ll smooth over in time. I didn’t expect it to be perfect, but the fact they’re here, together, is an awesome start.
I stand and walk over to my father, standing beside him. “How’re you feeling, old man?”
He looks over to me, putting the lid down on his grill.
“I’ve got a cop in my compound.”
“Yeah, you do.”
“You know that feels like I’ve broken every rule.”
“He’ll only ever be in here during cookouts; the rest of it he has no intention of bothering with. He cares about me. He wouldn’t do that.”
“Nah, I don’t think he would . . . still . . . took a lot of convincing to get him in.”
I wrap an arm around his waist. “They’ll be fine.”
He hugs me close. “Happy to see you smilin’ again.”
I sigh and press my cheek to the leather jacket that’s always a permanent fixture on his body. “Me too. There was honestly a time I thought I’d never smile again, but being here . . . being with Lucas . . . I’m thinking that is becoming a distant memory. He saved me.”
“Know that, baby girl.”
“There was a time I thought I couldn’t be saved.”
“Know that too, darlin’.”
“I’m glad he’s in my life.”
Dad sighs. “Fuck, me too.”
I giggle. “Did you just admit to liking Lucas Black for me?”
Dad grunts. “Don’t repeat it.”
I lean up and kiss his cheek. “Love you, old man.”
“Yeah, love you too, baby girl.”
Life is looking up.
~*~*~*~
“Your family is awesome,” Lucas murmurs later that night as we sit on his porch after a successful cookout.
“Yeah, they really are.”
“Never thought I’d say that, but I can see why they mean so much to you. They’re not what I expected.”
“They never are, but they’re used to it. Everyone judges them before they know them.”
“I’ve learned that means they’re missin’ out. They’re good people. Loyal, brave, fierce. . .”
“Yeah, they are.”
“And you,” he says, pulling me into his side. “You’re the best kind.”
I grin and look up at him. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, baby. I never thought I’d find light again, but turns out there is always light at the end of a tunnel, no matter how long.”
“Every tunnel has an end, Lucas. You just have to believe it’s there.”
He strokes a thumb down my cheek. “Never thought I’d be happy after I lost my baby, but you’re showing me that there is a chance I’ll breathe again.”
“She’d want this for you, you know?”
He smiles weakly. “Yeah, I know.”
“Tell me about her.”
Lucas tells me about Shylie, from her as a baby right through until the day he lost her. He talks about her with pride, and warmth, and such love it makes my heart swell. He was an incredible dad; I can tell that just from his words. He’ll make an incredible dad again.
“She sounded perfect, Luke,” I whisper.
“She was the best.”
“Do you think you’ll ever want kids again?”
He looks out at the stars sparkling on the clear night sky. “I thought I never wanted a child again after I lost her, but then I met you and you showed me that I can find happiness again. We’ve both been through more than most, yet I feel stronger than I’ve ever felt. I don’t deny that having another child would scare me, and that’s an issue I’d have to work through, but yeah, I do think one day I’ll want more.”
My heart explodes with happiness. “I’m glad,” I whisper. “Because I’d really love a little girl just like Shylie.”
He smiles down at me. “Me too, kid.”
“Luke?”
“Hmmm?”
“This . . . me and you . . . is it forever?”
He turns me to him and captures my face in his big hands. “I’ve had women, I’ve been married twice, but I’ve never needed something the way I need you, Ava. You’re the piece of my soul I lost, and with every passing day you’re healing me. I’m so in love with you it fuckin’ hurts.”
“You love me?” I croak.
He leans down, kissing my lips. “Fuck yeah I do.”
I tuck myself into his side. “Tell me when you knew.”
He pulls me close and we stare out at the stars that are shining so brightly tonight, as if they know somehow they brought us together. They say you meet people in your life for a reason, and sometimes it takes a while to know what that reason is. I met Lucas in the worst possible condition, yet somehow, through it all, we’ve come out tougher.
Sometimes the greatest heartache makes the strongest people.
“I knew the second you looked up at me on the sidewalk that day. I saw something in your eyes, something so fragile and beautiful, something I hadn’t seen since my daughter. I wanted to protect you, to wrap my body around you and make it all go away. I knew in that second that you would change my life, and you did, Ava—you changed everything.”
A tear trickles down my cheek, and he swipes i
t off with his thumb.
“You’re my reason,” I whisper.
“Your reason?”
“Everything happens for a reason. You’re my reason, Lucas Black.”
We analyze the reason for things so often in life when sometimes we just need to look at what’s right in front of us, and the answers will be so very clear. Lucas Black, my cop, my broken, beautiful man, was my reason all along.
And that’s all there needs to be.
THE END
If you’re unfamiliar with the MC Sinners and are intrigued after reading this, you can buy all the books. The titles are as follows.
Hell’s Knights – Book 1 (Cade and Addison’s Story)
Heaven’s Sinners – Book 2 (Spike and Ciara’s Story)
Knights’ Sinner – Book 3 (Jackson and Serenity’s Story)
Enjoy x
Bella Jewel, Pandemonium (MC Sinners Next Generation #1)
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