Page 26 of The Riders’ Reign

He takes my hand, his fingers warm and solid. “I know we’ve been doing our best to hold ourselves back from this, but it feels inevitable, don’t you think? We were meant to be. There was a period right after the surgery where I thought I was dying, and after I got shot, too.”

His words make my heart stall before kicking back in rapidly.

“While I was in that dark place, I felt a sense of needing to get to the light for something, even though the light meant pain. I think that something was you. When I woke again, in this room, you were the first thing on my mind. All I could think about was how much fucking time I’ve wasted and how trivial all my concerns were. My daughter is a grown woman with her own life, and she doesn’t get to tell me what to do with mine. I can’t promise I won’t fuck up, but I’ve been letting those fears stop me. It’s cowardly. I will do all I can not to fail you. I won’t ever forget my first wife, and I know you wouldn’t want that, but I realize that loving again isn’t betraying her. It’s honoring her. She’d want me to go on. I’ve let all these things be excuses, Camile, because I was scared. Well, almost dying makes me see what matters. I want us to be together.”

I suck in a shaky breath. “Oh, Jack. Are you sure?”

“You could be standing in a crowd of people as far as the eye could see and I’d still know you were the only one for me. I love you, Baby-girl.”

“I love you, too. So much.”

I hate having to ask this question because it’s the one I fear the answer to the most. It’s the thing Ace has been most worried about. With his declaration of love, will Jack also ask me to choose?

I bite my lip, in a way I know I often do when I’m nervous. “What about the others?”

There’s a beat of silence, and I try not to squirm. Will he make me explain myself?

“Ace and Rook, you mean?”

“And Ghost,” I say in a quiet voice, emotion swelling up inside me.

I struggle to force it back down again, but it’s impossible. The truth is, we might not get Ghost back alive, and, if he dies, it will be all my fault. I can’t imagine functioning without it being the five of us now. If Ghost isn’t with us, will the rest of us break apart before we’ve even properly been joined together?

He sees my tears and reaches out to wipe them away. “Yes, and Ghost.”

“And you’d be okay with that? With all of you being involved with me?”

“Baby-girl, I know what kind of man I am. I’m not… easy to get along with. I can be harsh and gruff, and I’m fully aware that we’re in two different times of our lives. You’re still so young. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with you. If anything, as I thought about it, I realized that having the others involved makes this easier for me. I don’t have to worry that I might not be able to be the man you need, because you have Ace and Rook to fulfil that part for you, and if I worry about who will protect you when I’m no longer able to, well, then you’ll have Ghost.”

“That’s if—” I start to say, but he silences me.

“Then you’ll have Ghost.” There is more firmness to his voice. He won’t even contemplate the possibility of us not getting Ghost back.

“I love you so much,” I tell him. “I loved you before, and I love you even more now you’ve told me all that.”

“You’d just better make sure you save some time for when it’s just the two of us, okay? That’s all I ask. A little one-on-one time.” He makes a face. “I’m not sure how happy I’ll be to join in the group shit Ace and Rook seem to love.”

I smile. “I can definitely promise you alone time, Jack.”

“Good girl.”

He kisses me, and we stay that way, our forehead pressed together, our noses brushing.

I wish we could stay this way forever, but I’m very conscious that there’s a phone call happening, possibly right at this very moment, that could decide if Ghost lives or dies.

If Hector Sanchez gets so much as an inkling that his beloved psychopath of a son is dead, then Ghost is, too.

11

ROOK

I’m not entirely sure when this became my role, but somehow, I’ve ended up taking the lead on this call from Hector.

Is it because Ghost asked for me by name when he called? Did that somehow elevate me in everyone’s opinion? Or is it because I am the man who watched over Jack after he’d been shot?

Perhaps it’s a combination of both.

It wasn’t so long ago that I was fighting for my life to even stay in the club. I’d been sure Jack was going to kick me out after I acted alone to find Camile. If it hadn’t been for her, he’d have asked me to leave. Now, the most senior members of the club are looking to me to lead, and it’s a headfuck.