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“He told me that a king was nothing without his queen. That the two most important cards in a deck were the ace and the queen. You want the ace up your sleeve. And you need the queen at your back because women fight dirty.”
closed my eyes and for just a moment, I wasn’t June Johnson. I wasn’t Tucker Talbot’s daughter. Emmett wasn’t my enemy, and this wasn’t all part of some grand scheme to get my revenge. For just a moment, I was a woman who shared a primal attraction with this sexy man. This man who pushed me to shed my inhibitions and be free.
She was mesmerizing. Sexy. Mysterious. I was a statue, my eyes aimed at her like my entire purpose in this life was to watch her.
He stripped me down completely. Everything. My clothes. My shoes. My defenses.
Emmett wasn’t the monster Dad had made him out to be. He was kind and generous. He was intelligent and too sexy for his own good.
This had to stop. Christ, I was tired of looking over my shoulder. My family couldn’t take another loss. These women and men deserved to live in peace. To see their children grow.
Those were my arms to touch. Those were my tattoos to explore.
That had better be the only goddamn thing his lips touched tonight.
I had no claim on him. Not after what I’d done. But the surge of bitter envy through my veins was enough that I had to force myself to keep still. Otherwise, I’d walk over and rip that brunette’s hair out from the roots.
As Leo crossed the grass, Dash and I shifted, making space for him on Mom’s blanket. He sat without a word. We didn’t need them. This was what we were. Clubhouse or not. Tin Gypsy or not. We were brothers. We showed up for each other until the end.
“Bryce knows too,” Dash said. “All of it. She’s known for years. And I swear to God, she loves me more for it. Because she sees how hard I try to do better. She makes me want to be a better man. Every day.”
“Life’s short.” Dash gestured to Dad’s tombstone. “If our fathers taught us anything, it should be to appreciate what you have because it can all disappear in a second.”
“Sounds like her entire life has been based on a lie. The truth has a way of changing your reality. A way of setting you free. There’s a win, a win for everyone here. You and Nova included.”
Bryce Slater herself had written the article. It stated that one of the garage employees had started the fire on accident. In the public police report, Emmett had been named that employee and that he’d be paying a fine. He’d taken the blame. He’d protected me. Now it was my turn to repay that favor.
“I like simple food too and I’ve made your tacos three times since the last night you made them for me. Your shower is the best shower in the world, and apparently, I can’t sleep if it’s not in your bed. The nights spent talking to you on your deck were the best nights of my life.”
“I’m in love with a man I don’t deserve.” The lump in my throat began to choke me, but I pressed on. “I lied to you. I used you. And for that, I’m sorry. But I don’t regret falling in love with you. I never will.”
“Emmett, if you’re looking for your future over your shoulder, you’re turned the wrong way.”
There’d be no other woman for me. Nova had ruined me entirely and for the rest of my life, no one would take her place.
God, how I had missed her. How I’d craved her. If there were any doubts about this, they disappeared the moment her tongue tangled with mine and the world melted away. The past melted away. I kissed her until she was breathless, then pulled away to drown in those dark coffee eyes. “Hey, baby.” A smile stretched across her face. A smile I hoped to see every day for the rest of my life. “Hi, Ace.”
“Do you think we can move past it all?” He framed my face with his hands, towering over me. “The future isn’t behind us, baby.”
It was strange to think I’d been lost my entire life. That facing the man who should have been my enemy was what had brought me here. I hadn’t even known I was lost, yet here I was, found in Emmett’s arms.
“How about right there?” He raised a hand and pointed to the small clearing in the tree line. It was beyond the boundary of his yard, not that you could see it with the snow, but I’d spent enough time here that I knew the yard like it was my own. I guess . . . it was my own. “Right there for what?” He shifted us, pushing me so that I leaned against one arm while his hand dove into the pocket of his jeans. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, maybe a key to the house or something, but a diamond ring was not it. “How about we get married right there?”
Five months later, when the forest was teeming with wildflowers and the smell of spring infused the air, we stood in that clearing. Emmett made me his wife. He became my husband. And we stepped into the future, forging a life together, and leaving the past on the road behind us.
Today was the first annual Clifton Forge Motorcycle Club charity ride. Pride swelled in my chest as Emmett turned to Dash. The two friends—two brothers—shared a look that made it hard to breathe. This ride was for their fathers. For Draven. For Stone.
“You good?” Emmett called over his shoulder as we followed Dash onto the highway. I answered with a kiss to his shoulder. To the place where he’d put the tattoo of our children’s names. Mine, he’d tattooed across his heart.
Like I’d done since the beginning when I had yet to realize that the man I’d been meant to ride through life with was Emmett. He’d set me free. We’d set each other free. His queen. And my Ace.
