“Your car was a piece of shit, Red. I didn’t get you anything for Valentine’s Day, so…” he shrugs.
“So? Cade where’s my car?” I ask again.
“Larry’s boys have it, but you don’t need it anymore. The truck is your Valentine’s present.”
“You bought me a truck for Valentine’s Day?”
“We needed a truck, and you needed a better vehicle,” he says with a shrug. “Besides, you deserve your things around you, sweetheart.”
I don’t know how to wrap my mind around the fact that he bought me a new truck, but something hits me with his response.
“Does having all my things with me include Stinker?”
“You love that dog. Plus, I’m partial to him, too. He gave me an in.”
“An in?”
“He was my excuse to stay with you that day, Red.”
I roll my eyes. “You wouldn’t have left even if Stinker wasn’t there.”
“Truth,” he laughs, and I grab his face.
“Thank you for taking care of me, Cade.”
“I’ll always do that, sweetheart,” he says, and I believe him.
When we kiss and I open my eyes, Cade looks really smug. Men. I can’t let him get too cocky…
“You could have at least told me your plans, Cock McStuffins,” I grumble. I hear Larry laugh, but I’m too busy staring at the sparkling eyes of the man I love.
“You could have asked, Anita Hardwood.”
“Shut up and take me upstairs, Stud. I’ve got shit you need to sort out.
“I’m not wearing a fucking rubber, Red.”
“Bareback it is.”
“Jesus, do you neither one get that this is creepy as fuck for me?” Larry growls.
“Lock the door behind you, Larry. We’ll come by the club and say our goodbyes in the morning,” Cade says.
“Love you, Larry,” I tell him.
“Love you too, sweetheart,” he calls, but by that time, I can’t respond, because Cade’s mouth is on mine, leaving me completely occupied.
Epilogue
Keys
One Year Later
“You look like a well satisfied man,” Shaft says with a smirk, slapping his empty glass down on the bar. I pull my gaze away from Red who is sitting across the room, holding our daughter, Lara. She’s talking to Shaft’s woman, Bree, and her brother Larry, who is in town visiting.
Lara Elizabeth Valor is two months old today and she’s as beautiful as her mother.
“Because I am,” I tell him, and I know I have a satisfied grin on my face. It seems to be all I wear these days.
“I have to tell you, after all of the shit that you’ve given me, it’s kind of satisfying to see you as wound up over Finley as I am over my Bree,” he laughs.
I’d flip him off, but that would just encourage him. Besides, he’s not wrong. This past year with Finley has been the best year of my life. Every fucking day with her gets better and better. When I think back, I realize how close I came to telling Shaft I couldn’t go to Sweetwater. If I’d done that, I might have never met my Red. I didn’t even realize how bored with life I had become until she popped into my life.
Everything was empty until Red.
“What was the call from Skull about?” I ask him, because ever since it came, Shaft has seemed distracted.
Shaft lets out a long sigh. “One of Beast’s allies has gone missing.”
“Who?”
“The president of the AC’s,” Shaft answers, causing me to frown.
Asphalt Chaos is a club in North Carolina that’s been having issues forever. I’m not sure why Beast is wasting time even trying to form an alliance with them, but I suppose he has a reason.
“That fucking club has been a mess for years,” I point out. “Grabber made a lot of enemies. Maybe they finally caught up with him, or he just took off. Hard to tell about that asshole.”
“Maybe,” Shaft answers.
“What is Skull wanting us to do?”
“Nothing specifically, mostly be there if Beast needs reinforcements. His club is new, just starting out. He doesn’t have the manpower to deal with a huge threat alone.”
“So, it was more or less a heads up,” I respond, my gaze seeking out my woman, who happens to pick that moment to look at me and smile.
“More or less,” Shaft answers. “But when you have treasures like we have, old buddy, you always have to worry every time you get a call. Life is different when you have nothing. But you and me, Keys? We have everything to lose now.”
“True enough. When are you picking your kids up from Torch’s?”
“Tomorrow. I was going to go today, but they’re safe there and I want tonight alone with my woman. Your bundle of joy is little, but trust me when I tell you, Keys, our little gifts from above, as sweet as they are, can be evil little cock blockers with the faces of angels,” he responds, making me laugh. The laugh slowly turns into a smirk when Bree gets up with my daughter in her arms, cooing and taking her down the hall toward the private rooms of the club. Bree has baby fever. Shaft was already complaining about that when I left. He loves his babies, but he wants more time with his woman. I know that look, however. Bree’s going to be watching my angel—which means I’m the one going to be having fun with my wife.