Page 36 of Owned By Knuckles
The words should scare me. Should send me running like they always do. But instead, they settle warm in my chest like they belong there.
"Good," I say. "Because I'm already gone for you."
We stay like that until evening falls and it's time to face the club. Time to introduce her to my family and hope they see what I see, a woman worth fighting for.
But right now, in this moment, it's just us. Safe and warm and together.
And for the first time in my life, that feels like enough.
Epilogue - Savannah
Eight Years Later
"Mama! Mama! Ruby won't give me Mr. Whiskers!"
I look up from packing the last of our suitcases to find my daughter Lily standing in the doorway of our bedroom, her dark hair sticking up in every direction, her amber eyes filled with righteous indignation.
"Ruby has her own stuffed animal," Lily continues, crossing her arms in a gesture she definitely learned from her father. "She doesn't need mine too!"
"Ruby!" I call down the hallway. "Bring your sister her cat, please!"
"But Mama!" Ruby's voice drifts back, identical to her twin's in every way. "Mr. Whiskers wants to play with Princess Sparkle!"
I suppress a smile. They're five years old and already experts at negotiating. I blame Ryan for that. He's been teaching them how to argue their case since they could talk.
"Girls," I say, walking into the hallway where both twins are now standing, glaring at each other. "We're leaving for the airport in two hours. If you can't share nicely, neither of you gets to bring stuffed animals to Paris."
"No!" Both voices ring out in unison, identical expressions of horror on their faces.
"Then figure it out. Together. Like we've talked about."
I leave them to work it out and head back to the bedroom. Ryan is sitting on the edge of our bed, watching me with those sharp blue eyes that still make my stomach flip even after eight years.
"You're too hard on them," he says, but he's smiling.
"And you spoil them rotten. We balance each other out."
"Fair point." He stands and crosses to me, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind. "You almost done packing?"
"Almost. Just need to add their last-minute stuff." I lean back against his chest. "Are you sure the club can spare you for two weeks?"
"Pope insisted. Said I've been working too hard and the girls deserve to see Disneyland Paris." His hands spread across my stomach, and I feel him smile against my neck. "Plus, Bones owes me for covering his ass last month. He can handle things while I'm gone."
Ryan's still a fully patched member of the Steel Sinners, still works security at the casino, still has that same fierce loyalty to his brothers that he had the night we met. But things have changed too. He's a father now. A husband. A man with responsibilities beyond the club.
Pope made sure the club understood that Ryan's family came first. And the brothers, every single one of them, treats our girls like they're club princesses.
Which they absolutely are.
"The girls are so excited," I say, turning in his arms. "Lily's been counting down the days for months."
"Ruby too. She made me promise we'd meet every single Disney princess."
"That's a lot of princesses."
"I'm aware." He grins. "But I'll do it. Anything for my girls."
My girls. He says it with such certainty, such ownership, like there was never any question that they're his in every way that matters.
