I looked at her, my eyes blurry once more, barely able to hold in the emotion she’d roused within me. “I can’t do that,” I choked, hating the weakness in my voice. “Admitting I need saving is admitting I’m….”
“Human?” Lizzie finished for me. “I’ll tell you a secret. We all are. Even these idiotic macho men who think they can crush cars during bicep curls,” she joked, eyes moving to her macho-man husband for a second. “It’s okay to be human, you know. It’s painful, immensely so, but the rewards are worth it. But it’s not easy. Not like the movies. True love doesn’t fall into place. It isn’t as easy as breathing. It’s a struggle. Takes work. Every day. You’ve got to fight for it, but it’s only the most beautiful of things that are worth fighting for.”
I sucked in a ragged breath, my eyes finding Luke. His had been on me for what looked like a long time.
“Fuck yeah it is,” I whispered.
Lizzie was hauled away by her husband not long after her heart-to-heart. But not before he kissed my cheek and smiled at me, his wrinkled eyes sparkling. “Happy for you, girl. You deserve this.”
Then he left. No long speeches, no drama, just saying what he meant in as few words as possible.
That was Ranger.
The space beside me wasn’t empty for long. My eyes were focused on Luke chatting with Brock in what actually looked like a pleasant conversation, so I hadn’t realized Evie had sat down until she spoke.
“Sure know how to shake things up, babe,” she commented, her eyes following mine.
I grinned. “Don’t I always?”
She lit a smoke. “True, but you shake things up in what people think are some of the most dangerous ways, but until now, they were the safest.”
I frowned at her. “What do you mean?”
Evie was still focused on Luke. “You’ve spent a lifetime being strong, babe.” She drew in her cigarette. “Not just for you, but a whole club full of men who are only really as strong as the women they love and the women who love them.” She blew the smoke out. “You saw that shit, what it did. So you kept being strong and made sure you didn’t wear the particular brand of love that made you weak. That dangerous kind.” She eyed me shrewdly. “Don’t doubt your courage, girl. You’ve got more of it than any man in here.” Her gaze went around the party, focusing on Steg for just a moment, her hard eyes softening at the corners. “But the bravest thing you’ll ever do in your life is let someone love you, and love them back.” Her eyes went to me, squeezing my hand in a rare gesture of tenderness. “Don’t turn into a coward now when it means the most.”
I looked at her, at the woman who was more of a mother than my own mother ever could’ve been. “I won’t,” I promised.
“Ah, impressed you stayed away for this long,” Evie remarked, eyes no longer on me.
I focused on Luke, who’d obviously made his way over to us during Evie’s version of a heart-to-heart.
He grinned, sitting beside me. “Stayed away for long enough already, ma’am. Not looking to do it much in the future.”
She nodded, face mild. “You call me ma’am again, we’ll have problems.”
I swallowed a giggle.
Luke’s eyes twinkled. “So noted.”
Evie got up, brushing ash off her jeans. She focused on Luke, that mild look still on her face. “Her will and courage are stronger than that of anyone I’ve ever met. Unbreakable, like a fucking diamond. Her heart, though, it’s as fragile as glass. You’d do well to remember that, if you’re fond of breathing.” It wasn’t a threat exactly, but there was a violent undertone.
Luke nodded again, and then Evie was gone, in the direction of Steg.
Luke’s arm went around me and I immediately sank into him. He kissed my head.
“You’re not considering running away yet?” I asked, half joking.
He pulled back, eyes serious. “Never fucking running away from you, babe. And I won’t let you do it either.”
“I won’t,” I promised. “I don’t think I physically could.”
He kissed me hard on the mouth. “That’s the way it should be.”
It seemed that the day I’d thought everyone in my family would disown me—the day I brought Luke home—was the day that everyone told me what an idiot I was.
But in a more delicate way.
Not one single person had shown any hostility toward Luke or me.
But there was one noticeable person who hadn’t said anything.
He was sitting at the bar, on his own; Evie had taken Belle and Kingston home so Gwen and Cade could have a night together.
“You gonna be okay here if I go talk to Steg?” I asked Luke.
He squeezed me, then let me go, eyes following mine as I stood. “’Course, babe.”
We were on the sofa inside, shooting the shit with Bex, Lucky, and Gage.
Gage clapped his large hand on Luke’s back. “Sure, he’ll be fine. I’ll take care of him,” he promised.
I gave him a look, then turned to Lucky. “You do not let him do any fucked-up shit to my boyfriend,” I ordered.
Lucky shrugged. “Hey, he might like it.”
I shook my head and went to sit beside Steg. He silently poured me a drink. I sipped it, letting the silence simmer, waiting for him to say something. He didn’t.
“You’re not disappointed in me?” I asked hesitantly.
I had to ask, but fuck, I didn’t want the answer. This man was rough, dangerous, cold and sometimes downright cruel. But never to me. Never. He taught me everything he knew about being an outlaw, and I taught him how to be a father. It wasn’t his choice or his calling, but he took to it, went all in, doing the absolute best he could.
And I loved him. Felt safe with him. Protected.
So he did his job.
He looked to me. “Disappointed?” he parroted. Then he looked to Luke, who had somehow gotten Gage laughing. “Fuck no, girl. Not even surprised.”
I blinked.
“You’re a rebel in a world of rebel. Rule breaker in a world where there are no rules. It’s only logical that you’d search for somethin’ to be the ultimate rebellion. ’Spect that might’ve been part of it, at least at the start maybe.” He regarded me. “More likely you saw a good man thinking he had to go down a path that’s famed to be paved with good intentions. Different road to the one some of the brothers have walked, but same destination, though. And like you’ve done with many of those brothers, this one included, you took him off that path. You being you, you probably convinced yourself that was a bad thing. You were a bad thing. ’Cause that’s you. Thinking with your heart, forsaking it for others. But he’s here and there’s light in your eyes, so I’m guessin’ he convinced you that you’re far from a bad thing. And he looks at you like you tether him to this earth. Plus, you got the biggest unbribeable lawmaker off our asses.” He chuckled. “Disappointed? No, my girl, I am not. I’m happy. Finally happy my family is there.”
“Where?” I asked in a small voice.
“There. The place where they’re meant to be. With who they’re meant to be with.” He narrowed his eyes. “Though there hasn’t been near enough drama for it to be the end of this.”