Page 93 of Sweet Revenge
All together.
As a family.
A family who had taken me in as one of their own.
I took a deep breath and let it out easily. The first time I’d done that in a long time.
And I knew it was only the first of many to come.
EPILOGUE
GUNNER
When I walked down the stairs, I was immediately struck by how quiet the clubhouse seemed. Although it was Monday, and most of our guys would have early work days tomorrow, so it shouldn’t have been all that surprising. I moved across the open area, nodding at a few guys lingering over a beer and talking shit about their bikes and women. Always bikes and women. Hell, I couldn’t fault them because those were my two favorite things in this world too.
I thought of Maggie upstairs in the shower and knew I was going to make this quick. Maybe if I hurried, I’d catch her before she finished. I should just leave her the fuck alone; I knew she was tired from her first full day of work with Kat. It had been a month since the fire, and all had been quiet, so Bear and I thought it would be safe for her to start, although I didn’t think it was safe enough for her to walk in and out alone, so I’d been doing that. She started last week but only worked in the mornings, something like a training period, I guess and this week she started full-time. She looked wiped out when I picked her up, but she was smiling, so I knew it was a good tired. I took her to the restaurant Ritz works at for dinner to celebrate her first day and give her another new experience. Ritz cooked some amazing shit for us, and Maggie left feeling even more tired than when we’d gotten there. We went upstairs, and she headed straight for the shower, which was how I carved out a few minutes to talk to Bear.
He grinned when I reached the bar, grabbed a bottle of beer, and set it down in front of me. “How’d she like dinner?”
I snorted. “Loved it. Looks like something we’ll be doing more often.”
“Good. She deserves that.”
“Hell yeah, she does.” I agreed before putting the bottle to my lips and taking a long drink. “Needed to talk to you about something.”
His brow furrowed. “Something wrong?”
“No.” I set the bottle on the bar in front of me and leaned forward on my forearms. “Thinking it’s time for Maggie and me to find our own place. I want her to have something of her own, and I think she needs it. Fuck, I think we both do.”
Bear used a white cloth to begin drying a glass he’d just washed while I talked. When I was finished, he finally spoke. “I agree, and I know you’ve been waiting to make sure it’s safe for her to leave here, but I haven’t heard any rumblings lately, and I’ve been listening.”
I spun the bottle on the bar. “I haven’t heard anything either, which could be good or bad, but I’m tired of putting our lives on hold on the off chance they know we played any part in this shit.”
He nodded and slid the dry glass onto the shelf before grabbing another wet one and beginning the whole process over again. “You talk to Maggie about it yet?”
I tapped the sides of the bottle between my fingers. “We talked about it once before, but I wanted to wait and make sure it was a possibility before I brought it up again. She likes living here, but I don’t think she’s ever had a place of her own to do with what she wants, and I know she’s ready for that.”
“Probably as good a time as any, Gunn.” Bear slid another glass on the shelf, but his head snapped toward the door when it opened and Becs came through with a short blonde beside her.
He narrowed his eyes and called out. “Becs.”
She smiled his way and looped her arm through the other woman’s, practically dragging her to the bar. “This is my friend, Josie.”
Bear picked up another glass and begin drying it, but his attention stayed locked on Josie. “Josie?”
The woman nodded but looked like she’d have already bolted if Becs wasn’t holding on to her so tightly. Bear’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know my sister, Josie?”
“She picked me up a little bit ago off the side of the road where my car broke down,” Becs said.
“What the fuck?”
I sighed when I heard that growled from behind us and watched Becs’ shoulders slump before she turned in Race’s direction. “Don’t start, Race.”
Race’s eyes narrowed. “Why the fuck didn’t you call me if your car broke down?”
“Because my phone was dead.”
I glanced at Bear who seemed torn between also letting Becs have it for being so irresponsible or just letting Race. In the end, he couldn’t hold off on sharing his opinion either.