Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Stella set down her knife. “Do you expect him to give up his patch for you?”
“Absolutely not.” My voice came out sharper than I meant, but her question shocked me because it was something I’d never considered. “I would never ask that. The last thing I want to do is change him. The Hounds are part of who he is. I respect that.”
All of the women smiled, and then Poppy laughed softly. “Knew the answer before you even opened your mouth, bestie.”
Stella leaned forward, her voice gentle as she murmured, “He’d give it up for you, Clara. If you asked. Our men would burn the world down or walk away from it entirely if that’s what we needed. But you give him the peace that balances the danger. The family he never had growing up. The roots.”
Linden nodded. “As long as you accept him patch and all, he gets the best of both worlds. He keeps doing what he does best for the Hounds, then he comes home to you. To the life that reminds him there’s light after the dark.”
“Your mom and dad told me all about how much help he’s been.” Poppy squeezed my hand. “From what they said, anyone who’s seen him out there knows he finds satisfaction in it. And your family adores him.”
Stella’s eyes were soft. “Rebel doesn’t talk about it a lot, at least not around me. But I’ve heard enough to know he never had roots growing up. You give him the stability he’s probably always craved. He’s not going to walk away from it. Or you.”
“I just…I want him to have everything.” I blinked back tears, swallowing hard. “The club, a house on my family’s land. Kids running around. But I don’t want him to feel like he’s giving anything up.”
Elena reached over, covering my hand with hers. “He won’t. You’re not taking anything away. You’re adding. You’re giving him a place to come home to.”
The low rumble of engines drifted through the open window. Poppy grinned. “They’re back.”
I didn’t wait. I was out of the kitchen and through the common room just as the door flew open. Ronan walked inside first, and I ran straight into his arms.
He caught me, lifting me off my feet and burying his face in my hair. I didn’t care who saw. My world narrowed to him—alive, whole, and home.
“Baby,” he rasped against my neck. “I’m here.”
I clung tighter. “I knew you’d come back.”
“Always.” He kissed me hard. “Come on.”
He carried me through the clubhouse, up the stairs to the room he told me he kept here for nights when club business ran long. The door shut behind us, and he set me on my feet, his hands framing my face. “I’ve got something for you.”
He stepped to the dresser, opened the top drawer, and pulled out a smaller version of his leather vest. The back patch read PROPERTY OF REBEL in bold white letters around the Hounds of Hellfire logo.
My breath caught in my chest as he held it out to me. “Be my old lady, Clara. Wear my patch. Let the whole world know you’re mine.”
Tears spilled down my cheeks before I could stop them. “Yes.”
He slipped it over my shoulders, the leather cool against my skin. Then he stepped back, his eyes soft in a way I’d rarely seen. “Looks good on you.”
“I love it.” I laughed through the tears. “Almost as much as I love you.”
He captured my mouth in a deep kiss before murmuring, “Thank fuck, baby. Because I love you so damn much.”
I thought that hearing those precious words from him meant everything…until he reached into the same drawer again and pulled out a small black box. When he turned toward me again and dropped to one knee, I pressed trembling fingers against my lips.
He flipped open the lid with his thumb so I could see the simple diamond solitaire inside. A slightly bigger version than the ring my mom had worn for decades, and exactly what I would’ve picked out for myself if he’d taken me to the jewelry store.
“Marry me.” He plucked the ring from its velvet bed. “I want to build a house on your land big enough to raise a bushel of kids in the orchard. To come home to you and our family every night. Let me give you everything you’ve dreamed of, while you give me everything I never knew I needed until you crashed into me.”
His proposal was perfect, easing any lingering concerns over him wanting the same future I did. I nodded, crying harder. “Yes. Absolutely, yes.”
He slid the ring on my finger, stood, and pulled me into his arms. Tilting my head back, he kissed me again, pouring every ounce of his love into me. When he finally lifted his head again, I was breathless and dazed…but not too much to enjoy breaking in his bed with a celebration for just the two of us. One that he insisted was when our first child was conceived.