Wiggling around until I was laying on top of him, I dropped my forehead to his, and he laughed. I didn’t move, though, just kept us right there, eye to eye, so that I was staring at one big violet cyclops eye as mine unfocused.
“Say it again.”
“This hurts my brain. Back up.”
Jittering us both, I shook my head. “Say it!”
“I love you.”
“Again.”
“Shane….” He chuckled, and I squirmed when he dropped his hands to my asscheeks.
“Say it.”
“I love you.”
Closing my eyes, I struggled to think of words that would be meaningful but couldn’t. “Promise me you’ll always be there for me. You won’t throw me away. Please promise.”
“Oh fuck. Baby boy, I….” He groaned, his voice a raw sound in the room. “I promise. This is a double promise. Carter… Carter made me promise to take care of you.”
My heart squeezed. “Of course he did.”
West hugged me close, and I snuggled in until his chin rested on top of my head.
“What now?”
He shrugged. “Now? We live our lives. We try not to fuck things up, and if we do, we talk to each other and remember we love each other and fix them. We paint the windows and fix the kitchen and the ceiling in the living room, and all the other things we’ve been ignoring.”
“Did I already say I love you, Daddy?”
“You did, baby boy.”
“Good.”
Epilogue
West
“Do you have plans this weekend?” Madden asked from his desk over in the corner. He was the only other lawyer who already worked with River when I came on, and together, the three of us took care of some of the most dangerous and richest men in New Gothenburg. I discovered that the Kings of Men MC were only the beginning of River’s reach. Apparently he helped mob bosses in New York City too, which meant I’d have to sit the New York bar exam sometime soon.
Madden was a short man, only standing at about five-foot-two, much shorter than my six foot. He had photo-perfect looks, though, with short mahogany hair and sharp cheekbones. Wearing only the most expensive suits, he came from a rich family with important ties I didn’t even want to think about. River said he was an asset, and I believed him. If anyone knew which people to trust, it was River. Madden was fresh out of law school but had the street smarts of a man who’d been practicing law for years, and I had slowly come around to trust him myself.
“I do, I’m spending it with my boy. He has vacation time.” My heart stuttered at the thought of having Shane to myself for a week without the interference of school. He still needed to work, but without his classes, we had a lot more free time.
Madden grinned and leaned back in his office chair, hands clasped behind his head. “Yeah, River told me about him. Told me he’s pretty hot.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Keep it in your pants, kid.”
He laughed, loud and boisterous. “It’s all good. I’m a proud bottom. You’d be more my type than your boy. You do threesomes?”
“No,” I said without missing a beat. I turned and packed up my briefcase, ignoring his cackling.
The door opened, and I pivoted to see River walk in after an older man with gray-speckled brown hair. I didn’t need to see the back of the leather jacket he wore to know he had a motorcycle club patch on it. I’d heard too many stories about King, as he was nicknamed, not to know who he was. I’d also seen him in the courtroom when I got one of his boys off on drug charges last week. Straightening when they walked toward me, I sent them a nervous smile.
“West, I’d like you to meet Aaron Arthur. His men know him as King,” River said. Next to King, River seemed twice as clean in his three-piece black suit.
I held out my hand to our visitor and smiled when he shook it. “I know who you are. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Arthur.”
He smirked. “Friends call me King, and after that fucking fantastic job you did with Barber, you deserve to call me it too.”
Pride swelled in my chest and I tamped down the urge to grin like a fool. “Thank you, King. It’s been a privilege to defend Luke.”
King laughed roughly. “Shit, don’t let Barber hear you call him that. He hates his name.” He patted my hand and then released it. “I told River I want you to defend our boys too. Barber was the test, and you passed. Where the hell were you hiding?”
“He was working for Brickton,” River answered, running his hands through his short brown hair. “He was a waste of talent there. It took me five years to convince him to join me.”
“Well, I’m relieved he’s finally here.” King slapped my shoulder. “Good work. If you need anything, you let us know, all right?”
I nodded, not sure what else to say. King laughed before he walked toward River’s office. River gave me a thumbs-up behind King’s back before disappearing inside.
Madden snorted. “You heard the rumors about him? He likes men too. Most of his club do. I’d die to get in bed with a biker. You think they like it rough?”
“No doubt,” I answered with a shrug. Grabbing my suitcase, I gave him a salute. “Speaking of men, I’m going home to mine.”
“Enjoy it. Don’t fuck too hard, we don’t want you to have a sore back on Monday, old man,” Madden teased.
I gave him the finger, which only made the brat laugh. I took the elevator down to the new car I’d bought a month ago. Instead of the shitbox that barely got me to work, I now had a brand-new Toyota RAV4. It was a nearly purple color Shane had chosen.
“It reminds me of your eyes,” he’d said with a shrug. I didn’t argue. How could I? I drove a car now with an air conditioner that didn’t make screeching noises every time I switched it on.
By the time I got home, excitement had me tapping my foot impatiently. I nearly missed a red light and drove through it, but luckily, I slammed on my brakes just in time. The woman in the car next to me glared, though, and I waved my hand in apology. That’s what I got for not concentrating.
After I arrived at home, I opened the front door of the house, and smiled at the smell of dust and paint. We’d only just started painting our living room last night and were in the process of pulling out the kitchen counters to install new ones. David stopped around to help, and he wasn’t as useless as I thought he’d be. Apparently his brother was a carpenter and he’d learned a few things by working with him. Shane and I agreed we’d pay David’s brother to come in and install the new cabinets and counters, but we didn’t need him to pull the old ones out.
“Beautiful boy, are you home?” I asked, dropping my briefcase on the floor.
“In the kitchen, Daddy,” came Shane’s melodic voice.
There was laughter, and I followed the sound into the kitchen where David and Shane were currently ripping out the last counter. The sight of them had me laughing as well. They were both dressed in white overalls with splotches of navy paint from where they’d worked in the other room. Their faces and hair were covered in dust bunnies, and a sheen of sweat coated each of their foreheads. Shane swiped at his face with the back of his hand and glanced at me, grinning widely.