now, so that’s something. I hope he gets put away for a very long time.”
“He will be. And when he gets out...let’s just say I’m someone who likes to hold a grudge,” he replies in a dry tone.
“What’s happening with your...business?”
He hesitates before answering. “After recent events, I can’t trust that my family will be left unharmed if I walk away. I don’t think there is any walking away in this...line of work. On the top is the only place that’s safe for me. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet, but trying to retire made me lose my only sibling, and I don’t want to lose anything or anyone else. Right now I have power. The power to protect Abbie, and you, and anyone else I love. If I let go of that, I don’t know what will happen. I’m trapped.”
I can see it from his point of view. I guess it would be hard to walk away. He’d probably have to leave the city and move somewhere else, somewhere where no one would know him. “You do whatever you need to do. But I’m always here if you need something.”
He smiles at me like I’m being cute, but I do mean it. “I appreciate that, Bronte.”
“Your daughter is dropping in for lunch tomorrow if you want to come and eat with us,” I say. “We’ve all never caught up properly before. I think we need to start doing that.”
“I agree,” he says. “I’d love to have lunch with you both.”
He leaves, promising to return tomorrow, and as I continue working on my computer, one thought crosses my mind.
Is life going to be normal now?
Crow walks in, another bright printed shirt spread across his large, muscular body. “Babe, you want to go for a quick ride? Prez wants me to go and pick up something, and I thought we could go to the range and have a shoot. You wanted to learn, and I’m going to teach you.”
I grin.
I don’t think my life with a Knight is ever going to be normal, and I love that.
I love him.
* * *
The next few months just whizz by. I get the payout from my dad’s will, I rent out his house, and I make a huge donation in his name to the children’s hospital. I give a chuck of money to Nadia, so she doesn’t have to stress over money anymore and can keep her business going. She initially refused, but then only agreed when I became a silent partner. So now I partially own the business that I was laid off from. Crazy how life works, right?
I try to give some to Abbie, but she declines, telling me she has enough money. Jasper ended up in prison, serving a long sentence for murder, and Jean is safely out of town with her daughter.
“Do you feel safer now?” Nadia asks me, sitting at my work desk at Fast & Fury and eating carrot sticks and hummus.
“I do,” I admit to her. “But I also feel even safer knowing I can now operate a firearm and do basic self-defense. If something happens, I can try to fight back, not just have to run away like last time and hope for the best.”
I’ll never allow myself to be that weak and vulnerable again. I learned that the women at the MC all know basic fighting skills, and they all know how to shoot a gun. I think it’s left me feeling a little more confident now, and I will continue to take classes to keep getting better and toning up my new skills.
Crow comes up behind me and places his hands on my shoulders, massaging the knots there.
He’s been my saving grace through this whole thing. He has pulled me through the depression after losing the baby, something I still struggle with every day, but I’m still able to smile, to go to work, and to enjoy my life.
And I owe that all to him, and my own strength.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Three Years Later
“Quinn Frieda Billie Crow,” I say out loud, looking at the little bundle in my arms. She might not be of our blood, but I love her just like I would my own, and have since the moment I found out we were going to be adopting her. “She’s so cute, Crow. I can’t even deal right now.”
“I know,” Crow agrees, kissing the bottom of her little foot. “She’s perfect.”
I did end up having to have a hysterectomy about eighteen