I'd never been much of a reader and I didn't know a lot of classical mumbo-jumbo. But there was one old line that had always stood out to me. I forgot where it came from, but hell, a brainy motherfucker like Big G would probably get a kick out of it.
I put the knife down and picked up the chalk, scribbling on the board. When I finished, I held it up for Giovanni to see.
“Friends! Romans! Countrymen!” the board said.
Giovanni frowned, puzzled.
I tossed the board aside, picked up the blade again, and started to go to work on him as he shrieked behind the tape.
Too bad there was no way to keep him alive like he'd done for me. It only took about two hours instead of the six weeks they'd taken with me.
Still, it was enough.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Bard
Sunlight had started to peer through the windows of the Nest. After the celebration in the back room, Nic had gone to Lauren's place with her, presumably to spare her from any further trauma in case Giovanni started screaming. Nic's side was bandaged and Giggles said that as long as an infection didn't pop up, he'd be fine.
The rest of the Reapers drank and danced and partied until they passed out. Their unconscious bodies were slumped all over the room. The sight gave me a morbid shudder as I thought about how easily things could have turned against us earlier tonight.
They could have been lying out on the hill like that instead of in here with their bellies full of whiskey.
I didn't know what the future would hold for the War Reapers. But I knew that because of the risks we'd taken tonight, at least we'd have a future. And that would be enough.
The door to the back room opened and Growler wheeled out. He was covered in blood and holding the blade that had belonged to Giovanni. The look in his eye was strangely peaceful.
I walked over to him and crouched down so we could be face to face. “Are you finished in there?”
Growler nodded.
I put a hand on his shoulder. “So now what, Growler? Have you decided?”
He nodded again.
“Is it time for you to go?” I asked gently. I was prepared for him to nod a third time. I was prepared to take him out back and end it for him quickly and quietly, if that was what he felt needed to happen so he could go out with some dignity. Most of all, I was prepared to make sure that when he left this world, he left it knowing that he'd had brothers who loved him.
But instead, Growler looked me in the eye and shook his head.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Lauren
As we walked away from the Devil's Nest, Nic put his arm around my waist. “I'm looking forward to finally seeing your place. If I'd gone back there to begin with, maybe none of this shit would have happened,” he joked.
I stopped and turned to him, taking Nic's face in my hands and looking deep into his eyes. He looked surprised. “Hey, I was just kidding,” he said. “I didn't mean to upset you.”
“I'm so sorry I ran off like that,” I told him. “I know you were just trying to protect me. If I'd stayed, you wouldn't have had to come after me...” I started to cry.
“Hey, it's fine,” Nic insisted. He put his arms around me and held me tight, whispering into my ear. “I understand. You were scared as hell and I sure wasn't helping with all that talk about Growler. Just...don't run off again, okay? I couldn't handle that.”
I heard the vulnerability in his voice and looked up at him. “Because of the baby, you mean?” I asked.
“No,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “I mean, sure, I want to help you raise our baby...but I also want to be with you.” He took a deep breath and added, “I love you. Y'know? Both of you.”
“I love you too, Nic,” I said.
As we kept walking toward the CTA train station, I thought about everything I'd been through over the past couple of months. It was so strange to remember Christmas Eve, when it seemed like the worst things that could happen were getting turned down for a role and Jared breaking up with me. My world had felt like it was going to end.
But in the last two days I'd been threatened, attacked, shot at, and kidnapped and I was still here. I had strength inside of me that I couldn't have previously imagined. If it had been enough to keep me alive and sane through all of that, I knew it would be enough to raise a child.
Especially with Nic beside me.
Epilogue
Lauren
It had been almost a year since the night at the bunker. I still thought about it every day and I knew that Nic did too.
But we'd had a lot of other things to think about in that time, like the birth of our lovely son Bradley in September. There had been so many Reapers sitting and pacing in the hospital waiting room that the staff had nervously asked Nic to speak with Bard about it, since their presence was frightening the other patients' families. But even the Reapers who weren't allowed to stay sent stuffed animals and balloons to my hospital room to congratulate me.
There was also a large bouquet of flowers with a card that said, “Raise your kid right and keep your husband out of trouble. Signed, Supt. Grady.” That got a laugh out of Nic.
Bard kept running the Reapers and did a good job of keeping Nic away from anything too dangerous or illegal. It meant he'd had to give up his position as Sergeant-at-Arms, but Boomer seemed to be doing well with that role. Nic mostly worked as a mechanic now and he had even started collecting parts to build himself a new bike.
I'd managed to get a few roles in maternity-related commercials while I was visibly pregnant. Once I had the baby, Royce told me he'd be able to get more work for me once I'd lost the extra weight from the pregnancy. “Lauren my love,” he'd said with a wink, “take all the time you need. I'll let you in on a little secret. When you're ready, there will always be more commercials waiting for you.”
But now it was Christmas again. Nic and I decorated the tree while Growler played with Bradley on the floor, running a toy motorcycle across the rug and making engine noises in the back of his throat. Once his ankles had a chance to heal, he'd gotten a pair of prosthetic feet and done some physical therapy. He could walk short distances now and the doctors said that in another year or two, he'd probably be able to carry Bradley around. With the right customization for his prosthetics and a few adjustments to a bike, he'd probably even be able to ride again eventually. There was even talk of him getting a prosthetic arm at some point, but for now, he seemed to be managing well with his left arm.
As I helped Nic wrap the strings of lights around the tree, Growler stood up and walked into the kitchen. I was about to go in and see what he needed when he emerged again a minute later, slowly carrying a plate of cookies with a glass of milk carefully balanced on the edge. He brought them over to the fireplace and set them down in front of it. Then he nodded, looking satisfied.
“Hey, I thought you didn't believe in Santa Claus,” Nic teased him.
Growler raised his eyebrows, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a Santa hat. He placed it on his head carefully so the fuzzy white ball on the end hung over his eyepatch. Bradley cooed happily and Growler moved closer to him so Bradley could bat at the white ball with his tiny hand.
Nic plugged in the lights and they came on all around the tree. They twinkled red and white and green. I looked at Nic and saw that he was already leaning in to kiss me.
I kissed him back and wondered if I'd ever be able to stop.
THE END
A Taste of Zoey Parker
We also wanted to give you a taste of some of our other books! Included is a sample of BOUNTY by Zoey Parker, followed by a glimpse at Heather West’s MC romance, LEATHER AND LIQUOR.
A picture is worth a thousand words, but I only need three:
You. Are. Mine.
The life I lead isn't for the faint of heart.
A man like me has to say what he means.
Take what he wants.
And fight to keep what he has.
Erica thought she would be safe behind her camera.
Little did she know she was teetering on the edge of the rabbit hole.
When she sees something she shouldn't have,
she falls in.
She's lucky I showed up when I did.
Without me, she'd be thrown to the wolves.
Torn apart.
Devoured.
But it doesn't take long before she starts to wonder.
Is she better off on her own…
…or at the mercy of the beast inside me?
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter.
I tell her how it is:
"Moan as loud as you want, babe.
You aren't going anywhere."
Chapter One
Erica
This is a bad idea.
It was all I could think as I traveled deeper and deeper into a seedy part of town I had little experience with. The night seemed darker there, deeper. Scarier. As a kid I was fascinated with the way darkness changed the world around us. Things we wouldn’t be afraid of in the light, things we might even enjoy—trees rustling in the wind, a covered bridge, our own front yard—suddenly became ominous once the light went away. Shadow and darkness tended to do things to our brains.
That was why I started taking pictures in the first place. I became fascinated by the way light and dark played off one another. We all loved the light. We sought it out. We basked in it. Yet shadow made for a great shot. Better than one that was over-exposed. A lot more could be shown in a dark shot with just a hint of someone or something coming out of the shadows than in one taken in a brightly-lit room.