We must have rode for the better part of an hour before we finally pulled to a stop near a park. Hunter killed the engine and climbed off, helping me back down from his metallic steed.
“A park?” I chirped up, my gaze wandering. “I didn’t know Los Angeles had much in the way of parks…”
“I’ve been here a couple of times, usually at night,” Hunter remarked warmly. “Before the police raid that shattered the Dragons, I had to come this way two or three times to meet with the club to meet with Talon. Happened to come across this place, and it’s stuck with me since. I made sure it was still around while we were doing our little investigation, here in town.”
Hunter took my hand in his, and we began to stroll. Even at night, this place was beautiful. As I glanced over the trees and the winding lake around us, I reflected on this handsome man that walked beside me, and all that we had been through in our lives.
We were practically our first everything.
This beautiful, powerful man had always taken care of me, to the best of his ability. And he had been damn good at it, especially when we were young lovers against my sheriff father, against those who were jealous of our undying love, against the world…
Fate had intervened to tear us apart, and we had gone for almost a decade thinking that we’d never see each other until the day we died. But then it had transpired to bring us back together again…
“It’s beautiful here,” I told him, pulling closer. The streetlights and the surrounding city only made this gorgeous little respite from the urban life pop brighter. A younger couple walked past and smiled cheerily at us, clearly enjoying the beauty as much as we were.
“Yeah, it sure as hell is,” he whispered. “But it’s nothing compared to you, Princess.”
“You sly charmer,” I chuckled, but my cheeks warmed with the compliment all the same.
“Listen, Sarah,” he whispered, kissing my forehead tenderly. “It tore me apart when you left last time, especially after finally having you back…”
“I know it did,” I nodded sadly, resting my head on his shoulder for the moment. “It broke my heart to do it too, but it had to be done…”
“I know. I get it, just like I did a few months ago,” Hunter acknowledged sadly. “But these last few weeks have put things into perspective for me. I can’t let you be in danger again, and I think it’ll kill me if you just walk out that door again…”
I lifted my head from his shoulder and watched him as he continued to speak, turning to meet my gaze.
“You told me that you want me to continue leading the Devil’s Dragons. You said that you want me to stay in charge, no matter the danger, doing my best to make our world better for the sake of our child… are you sure that you mean that?
“I can walk away right now… Grizz won’t be happy, but he’ll understand. He can lead this club without me, taking it in better directions…”
“I meant it,” I answered calmly. “I want you to run your club. You’re good at it. You haven’t let them down yet. And you know that things need to change to keep them alive and prosperous.”
He nodded solemnly, accepting my answer. “Okay. But you have to realize, Sarah… if I do this… I just can’t do it without you anymore.”
I looked at him sideways as he dropped down to his knee. With a quick and graceful motion, the little black box he pulled from his jacket pocket flashed a beautiful little rock on a stunning engagement ring…
“Holy shit, Hunter,” I gasped in amazement.
The passing couple, discreet as they were trying to be, had noticed the scene and stopped a little way down. They were pretending to watch the twinkle on the water instead of the biker who was suddenly proposing to me in this wonderful place he’d brought me to…
“Told you before, Princess,” he grinned back up at me from his knee. “All sorts of funny things a kidnapping can do, sort of like proving what’s really important…”
“You were always a hopeless romantic,” I laughed cheerily, noticing with awe how the bright neon lights of the city danced off of the water surrounding us.
“Some things never change,” he chuckled.
I took the ring from the box, nodding with tears in my eyes as I placed the wet jewelry around my finger. While our nearby guests cheered us on, I was overwhelmed with how beautiful it looked on me.
My heart swelled with love and adoration.
I glanced down at my darling and replied:
“Some things change for the better.”
Epilogue
Hunter
Six Months Later
I gazed across the sea of babies in the newborn infirmary, watching their tiny, slumbering forms. Sarah was asleep in her hospital bed, dozing off the aftermath of a long and, at times, excruciating birth.
Wonder which one is mine.
The elderly nurse in the room answered the question for me, taking a small, sleeping infant from its bed and curling it up in its blanket.
I watched her walk around to the door and up the corridor before she carefully handed me my son.
“Congratulations, Dad,” she smiled. “Connor looks happy and healthy.”
Connor…
I’d let Sarah pick the name, although she picked a good one for our child. While I held him close and watched him sleepily push a finger into his tiny mouth, I felt the warmth of paternity overcome me.
The name suits you, kid.
“Are the rest of them with you?”
“Oh yeah,” I chuckled, glancing towards the waiting room doors. “Those are my other boys.”
The nurse pulled her lips into a grimace. “Coming up here in all that black leather, scaring everybody. Darn near gave some of us old ladies a heart attack!”
“Don’t you worry,” I grinned knowingly at her. “I’ll get them out of your hair soon enough.” My eyes filtered down to my newborn son in my arms. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go pull a Lion King moment…”
Holding Connor to my chest, I backed up through the doors and crossed the waiting room towards the Devil’s Dragons.
The nurse had been right – they were earning a lot of funny looks for our dress code. My men proudly wore their black leathers and jeans while taking up a quarter of the chairs by themselves.
The Devil’s Dragons had accepted Sarah in with open arms, especially after seeing the way she’d handled herself in the field in Juarez and in California.
I was pretty happy to realize that she was still a complete badass. Pregnant or not. Even my fireball of a bartender back in El Paso had started treating her with respect, especially when they heard that she’d shot a legendary arms dealer and lived.
Grizz was the first one to notice me, and patted the men on either side on the shoulders. Within seconds, the entire club was glancing over and ascending to greet me.
“Boss, is that–”
“I told you it’d be a boy–”
“Takes after his old man–”
“What a tiny little thing–”
I proudly held my child up before them all.
A wide smile beamed across my face as they began to hoot and holler, startling the other waiting parties and causing the gang of nurses to look over at us, all flustered.
“Club, meet your newest member… Connor Hargreaves, heir to the Devil’s Dragons!”
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