few years ago. My father pulled strings and made sure they didn’t go to jail.”
I chuckle. “A bad crowd? As opposed to your father, the drug kingpin.”
She blows air through her lips and shakes her head with a wry smile. “I hope you understand what you’re getting into with me,” she giggles. “My family is insane.”
“Holidays should be fun,” I grunt. “Your father and I can bond about the time he locked me a cage in the basement for two years.”
She frowns and looks down, but I just laugh and pull her close. Nothing—literally nothing—could bring me down now. Not when I’m free, and home, and with her.
“All I need is you, love,” I murmur. “But your family doesn’t scare me, either.”
She pulls back, blushing as she looks up into my eyes.
“Did you just…” she shakes her head. “Never mind.”
“Love,” I growl. “I called you love.”
“Thought so,” she whispers.
“Know why?”
She shakes her head, looking into my eyes.
“Because I love you.”
She rakes her teeth over her lip, pulling tight to me as she looks up with a grin.
“I love you too,” she says quietly.
Our lips come together, and I my heart pounds as I kiss the woman of my dreams, and the love I never knew I’d ever find.
“I…” I shake my head. “Angel, I don’t know what happens next, or what this shit with that vest is, or who these people are, but—”
Headlights suddenly crest a hill, and the low rumble of a motorcycle—no, several motorcycles—draw closer and louder.
“Whatever happens,” she whispers, lacing her fingers with mine. “We’re here together.”
There are six bikes, and they come to a stop about thirty feet from us. The engines shut off, but the headlamps stay on, blinding us. I can tell a few figures step forward, and I bristle, moving in front of Catalina. I growl at the silence, my big hands closing to fists.
“You look pretty good for a dead guy, you know.”
I blink, and reality just fucking goes upside-down for a second. The man who spoke keeps walking forward, but even before he comes into focus, I know him, based on the voice. But, that’s impossible, because—
“You’re dead,” I say quietly.
“Sorry to disappoint.”
A second man steps forward, and it’s like a cut to the heart. Because, this man, like the first, is a familiar voice from another life. A friend, a brother.
…Another part of me that died that day those years ago.
But I know that voice—I know both their voices. They step forward, and the fucking floor just drops out from under me.
“How,” I breathe.
My legs feel unsteady, and my head spins as I try and accept what I’m seeing in front of me. The first man is Ryker James, the second is Axe Dawson. In another life, they were brothers of mine—Ryker president, and Axe vice president of the Lost Devils MC.
“You’re…” the world spins, and I suck in air. A hand squeezes mine, and I know it’s Catalina. My rock.
“You’re dead,” I choke out.
“So are you,” Ryker growls.
They’re older now, and yet, I can’t say they’re harder looking or rougher. Because the truth is, they look more at peace now than I ever saw them looking those years ago.
“Oh, so am I.”
A third man steps forward, and this time, I just drop to my knees. Stone Rivers is another brother death stole from me that night—one of my best friends, actually. And yet, all these years later, he too is standing right fucking in front of me.
“I don’t understand…”
“Neither do I, brother” Stone hisses out. He strides forward, and as I stand, he throws his arms around me in big bear hug.
“How the fuck are you here?” He growls, pulling back and shaking his head, his eyes darting over me like he can’t actually believe what they’re seeing.
“It’s a long fucking story,” I growl. “How the fuck are you here?”
“Long fucking story,” he grins. “Holy fuck, man.” He blinks, shaking his head.
“Crying, Rivers?”
He chokes out a laugh. “Get fucked, Bannon.” He flips me off with a grin. “Hey, heard a rumor that you don’t talk much these days.”
“I don’t.”
“Well that’s an improvement.”
I chuckle, grinning and still not quite believing that I’m not dreaming as I step back and put my arm around Catalina.
“This is Catalina,” I growl.
“Del Campo,” Ryker says quietly, stroking his beard and looking on edge.
“Cool it, dead guy,” I mutter, grinning at him. “She’s with me, and she’s the reason I’m alive, and here. Her father too, actually.”
Ryker arches a brow. “Now that’s a story I’d