She caressed my cheek. “I had no idea.”
“Why would you? I was pretty forgettable. Shy and awkward around all the intimidating members.”
She kissed me softly. “You weren’t forgettable to me. After the first time we talked, or more like I talked to you”—she tittered—“I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I’d even told my roommate at college all about the hot biker I’d met.”
A grin stretched across my face. “You did?” She had never told me this before. After Justin had taken her to college, I’d tried to forget her, even forced myself to meet new women, but it hadn’t worked. Emilee had been seared onto my soul the first time I saw her.
“Mhm. Why do you think I pursued you when I came home for winter break?” Her cheeks turned pink, her eyes glittering with love.
“Hell, I have no idea why.” Every time she tried to talk to me, I’d make a fool of myself. My mind would go blank when I stared at her beautiful face. I’d hear my uncle Raul telling me to stay away from her. But I couldn’t.
“Aww. I was smitten, that’s why. I had butterflies in my stomach whenever you were around.”
I pulled Emilee closer and pressed my lips to hers. Talking about us and how we had fallen in love made me feel mushy as hell.
Dante let out a screech. Em and I turned toward him, and he grinned.
“Aww, were we ignoring you, sweet boy?” Emilee scooped him up and kissed the crook of his neck.
I could sit back and watch her fawn over our son all day long. She adored him, loved him with every fiber of her being.
Emilee was an amazing mother, fiercely protective and selfless. Dante was a lucky boy to have her as his mother.
“Do you ever wish you had a brother or sister?” I caressed my son’s head. It was still hard to believe he was here. Both he and Emilee. “Dante should have a sibling or two.”
Emilee leaned into my chest. I curled my arm around her, pulling her closer.
“Yes. I wanted a sister.” She kissed my cheek. “I want a couple of more babies.”
I gazed into her pretty eyes. “How soon do you want to get started making baby number two?”
“Well, we haven’t been using protection. I could already be pregnant.”
“I hope you are.” I kissed Dante’s head, then Emilee’s lips. “I want Dante and his brother or sister to be close in age. They can be best friends.”
“I’d love for them to be besties. I guess I won’t get on birth control.”
“You know you and our son are all I need to be happy, right?”
She snuggled into me. “Yes. And I don’t need anything else except you and Dante.”
My childhood hadn’t been like Emilee’s. She’d grown up surrounded by people who cared about her, and she’d had loving parents.
I didn’t have any memories of my dad, Oscar. He was Uncle Raul’s younger brother. My dad had worked in construction. When I was four, he’d gone to work and never came back. At the job site, he’d fallen off a roof and crushed part of his skull when he hit the ground. He’d died instantly. His death had changed my mom. She hadn’t been able to cope with his death and turned to alcohol, then drugs. The older I got, the worse she got.
My mother hated me. She had taken her anger out on me, called me names, hit me, all because I reminded her of my dad. When I turned eighteen, I called Uncle Raul and told him everything I’d been through. He drove out to Indiana two days later, beat up my mom’s boyfriend, and told her off.
I hadn’t seen my mom since.
Emilee hummed to Dante. I didn’t know the song, but it seemed to relax him. I assumed it was a lullaby, one Dante recognized, as his eyelids grew heavy.
I inhaled the fresh air, relishing this time at Wennberg Pond with my family. Little D and his future siblings would have the best childhood I could give them. I’d make sure they always felt loved and safe.
No one would ever take my family away from me ever again.
17
Dodge