by April Lust
Seeing my father was even more emotional than seeing Mom again. He pulled me into a bear hug, and told me under no uncertain circumstances that I was never to disappear like that again. I started crying in earnest as he held me close and stroked my back.
“Honey, you could have always come back,” Dad said, after I’d explained about Jack. “I wish you would have called.”
“I just felt so stupid,” I muttered, rubbing my toes on the plush carpeting of their living room. “I felt like you couldn’t forgive me for being such a dumb little kid.”
“That’s bullshit,” Dad said. He grinned as Mom carried Isabelle into the room. “And your daughter is just beautiful. She looks a lot like you did as a baby!”
“That’s what Mom said,” I repeated. Mom and Dad burst out laughing and even Charlie joined in. Soon, Mom made tea and pulled out photo albums and we all sat around talking and laughing.
Charlie did pretty well, too. I wouldn’t have expected a biker to fit into my family. While we certainly stood out from my parents with our tattoos and leather jackets, Charlie did all of the important things correctly. He even called my dad ‘sir,’ something Jack would have died before agreeing to.
It felt so good to be back with my parents. Over the years, I’d trained myself not to think about them. When I was still with Jack, it had been pretty easy. After all, I’d been concentrating on how to survive being with an abusive monster as best I could. But as soon as I’d gone out on my own, to Durango, regret had set in.
“I’ve missed you so much,” I confessed quietly to Mom and Dad when Charlie stepped outside to take a phone call. “I’m so sorry, Mom. And Dad. I know I should have tried to call, but I didn’t know what to do.”
Mom reached over and patted my leg. “I know, honey,” she said. She glanced at Charlie – he was outside, on the back porch, pacing as he held the phone to his ear. “And this seems like a nice man. He’s Isabelle’s father?”
I nodded. “He is,” I said. “And he’s taken good care of me. He’s very protective.”
Mom nodded. “And Jack…” She trailed off. “What about him?”
A wave of nausea washed over me and I waited for it to pass before opening my mouth. “He’s in prison, Mom. He’s going to jail for a long, long time. He was convicted of assault and selling drugs. Like, bad drugs.”
“I never liked him,” Mom said. The air between us grew tense, and my father cleared his throat and excused himself. Mom glanced down at her hands in her lap – they were smaller than I’d remembered, and more wrinkled. She’d added another couple of small diamond bands to her left ring finger. I winced when I remembered that my dad gave her a piece of jewelry for every anniversary.
“I know,” I said. “Mom, I’m so sorry. I should have listened to you. I should have gone to college, or anything. And I know you’re not proud to have a daughter in her twenties working retail, with a baby, who’s not even married. But I want you to know how much I—”
“Hush,” Mom said. She took my hand in her own and squeezed. “Honey, with this economy, even the people who did go to college are still working retail. That doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters is that you’re safe and happy.” She looked out at Charlie again, who was still pacing outside. “And honey, are you really happy living in Utah? In such a small town?”
I nodded. “For now,” I admitted. “But…at some point, Charlie and I want to move back here. He still has some friends around here, and I want to be closer to you.”
“And I want to watch this adorable baby grow up,” Mom said. She scooped Isabelle into her arms and kissed her on the head without even waking her up. “She’s just the cutest, Nicolette. How was your delivery?”
# # #
That night, alone in the guest room, Charlie held me in bed for a long time while I cried. I couldn’t explain it – I should have been over tears by this point. But there was something about coming home, about having my parents accept me again, that felt so good I couldn’t even put it into words. Charlie stroked my hair and kissed my forehead every few seconds.
“Are you happy, babe?”
“Yeah,” I whispered quietly into his neck. “Thank you for this, Charlie. Thank you for giving me my family back.”
“Hey, what did I say?” Charlie shifted in the bed and began to rub my back with the heels of his hands. “I told you – Isabelle and me, we’re your family now. But I’m glad you get your parents back, too, babe. I’m really happy for you.”
My heart broke right then. I kissed him softly, staring into his bright green eyes. “I’m sorry you didn’t ever have this growing up,” I told Charlie. “But I promise, I’ll love you forever if you’ll let me. And you’ll always have Isabelle and me. I want to give you everything you’ve given me.”
Charlie grinned. He pulled me close and kissed me again until I felt my toes tingling with desire. “Trust me, babe,” he said quietly, nipping at my lower lip. “You already have.”
Chapter 31
Charlie
The next morning, I had some shit to get done. After having breakfast with Nicolette and her folks, I drove out to the Steel Gods’ hideout. They were all sitting at the bar, having a beer, and by the looks on their faces they were none too surprised to see me.
I walked over to James, one of the guys who’d joined the MC around the same time as me. “Hey,” I said. “Thanks for seeing me like this.”
James looked at me warily. “No problem,” he said. He pulled me into a half-hug and slapped me on the back. “Are we gonna be seein’ you around here?”
I shrugged. “Depending on what Nicolette wants to do,” I said. “But I can’t get involved with anything illegal again. Can’t risk leaving her with that kid all alone. She needs someone to take care of her.” I sighed. “And I’m gonna ask her to marry me sometime when we’re here. So I can really take care of her, y’know?”
“Fuckin’ congrats! Get this man a beer!” The other guys cheered and clapped. One of them tossed me a cold can of Bud and I popped the top, chugging the cold, yeasty brew until my stomach was full.
“I need you to promise me that Jack ain’t ever gonna hunt her down again,” I said. “Even if he gets out of the big house. He can’t come near Nicolette. She’ll get a restraining order, but that goes for her kid, too. I legally adopted her.”
“I swear,” James said. He gave me his hand and we shook. “I’m the new Prez now, anyway, so I make the fuckin’ rules. Jack isn’t welcome around here, even if he does get out.”
“Oh yeah?” I smirked. “What else did he do?”
“He fuckin’ left Kip stranded in prison in Utah,” James said. He made a fist and punched his other hand. “And he was fuckin’ stealing money from the club. About three million of it. All siphoned right into his personal bank accounts.”
“No shit,” I breathed. Jack had been like a god of the Steel Gods, and no one had ever been willing to disobey him before. Hearing that the guys had finally turned their backs on him for good was the best news I’d ever gotten.
By the time I left the clubhouse, I was feeling nervous again. Nicolette’s parents cooked dinner, and we all sat out on the front porch together afterwards, drinking iced tea and looking up at the sky. I’d really missed California – maybe it was in my blood now – and being back felt like the perfect vacation, the perfect time to tell Nicolette how I really felt.
When the sun started sinking low in the sky, I got up and walked over to Nicolette. She gasped as I dropped down on one knee and pulled a small velvet box out of my pocket.
“Nicolette, I know we didn’t meet under the most ideal circumstances,” I said slowly. “But since we met, I’ve never been able to get out outta my mind. You’re the perfect woman, and the only woman I could ever imagine spending the rest of my life with. I love you, and I want to take care of you and Isabelle until the day I die. Will you marry me?”
Nicolette teared up. She blinked, her big brown eyes shining in the twilight. Her blonde-streak
ed brown hair was pushed over one shoulder, and her lips were pouty and trembling. “Yes,” she whispered. “I love you, Charlie. And yes, I want to marry you.”
With shaking hands, I lifted the ring out of the small box and slid it onto her finger. “You’ve made me the happiest man on earth,” I said. “And I’m so glad.”
“About time!” Nicolette’s dad thundered. He walked over to me and clapped his hand on my back. “Son, I had no idea you were gonna take so long!” He threw his head back and laughed loudly. “Congratulations, both of you!”
Nicolette glanced from me to her father. “Charlie, what’s he talking about?”
I licked my dry lips. “When I first called your parents, to see if they would want us to visit, I asked permission for your hand,” I said. “I know it’s old-fashioned. But I know how much the approval of your folks means to you, and I wanted to make sure I was doing right by them.” I smirked. “I’ve been doing things wrong for so long that it’s taken me forever to learn how to do them right. And dammit, Nicolette, I need to do right by you. I need to do right by Isabelle, too. And all the other kids we may have.” I raised my eyebrows and smiled as Nicolette’s face blushed bright red.
Nicolette glanced down at the ring on her finger. “It’s too perfect,” she said softly. “I don’t believe this.”
I grinned. “Yeah, well, living in a cottage in Utah sure has its perks,” I said. “That’s why I wanted to stay out there for a while, babe. I wanted to make sure I could buy you a ring. But now that you’ve got it…” I trailed off, teasing her. “Feel like moving back to Carlsbad?”
The pressure of Nicolette’s little arms around my neck were all the answer I needed. We kissed as her parents picked up Isabelle and carried her into the house, giving us some privacy.
“You happy?” I raised my eyebrow at her. “You happy, marrying me and settling down with Isabelle?”
Nicolette’s eyes were shining with happy tears as our lips met. “Yes,” she whispered softly. “I love you, Charlie. This is the happy ending I always wanted.”
I couldn’t stop the lump from forming in my throat as I kissed her back. “Good,” I said quietly. “This is everything I always wanted, too.”
THE END
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More by April Lust
His Broken Angel: Inferno Hunters MC
Breaking this angel will be my finest work yet.
She deserves a better man than me.
But that won’t stop me from making her mine.
Her ex-husband is determined to take back Ellie and her daughter.
Too bad he’ll have to go through me to get them.
I’ve suffered losses that would’ve destroyed a weaker man.
I survived, but I left my emotions in the past.
I’m all stone now.
Cold.
Hard.
Unyielding.
Until Ellie walks in.
Seeing her awakens something in me I thought had died long ago.
And the sight of her little daughter stirs a protective instinct I never knew I had.
From the moment our eyes meet, I know one thing for sure:
They both belong to me now.
She tries to brush me off.
She’s got demons of her own, hot on her trail, and she’s scared that I’ll only make things worse.
But her resistance is like a drug to me.
I’ve had a taste of her, and I’m ready for the rest.
“No” is not an option.
And when her ex-husband tries to recapture the family he lost,
I know what I must do.
These two angels are mine now.
And not even Satan himself could take them from me.
His Perfect Angel: Shadow Reapers MC
I just bought my perfect angel, and now I’ll use her as I please.
Nora’s boyfriend was a lowlife. She deserved better. She deserved me.
So I bought her.
Now, I’ve got her tied naked to my bed. She’ll be whatever I want her to be:
A toy. A hobby. And a vessel for my baby.
Nora was a good girl in a bad situation.
She fell for the wrong loser, and before she knew it, her life was a mess of lying to cops and suffering her scumbag boyfriend’s abuse.
But then she walked into my MC’s den, and everything changed.
I didn’t just want to have her; I needed to have her.
That flawless skin deserved to bear my ink.
That flawless mouth deserved to give me pleasure.
And that flawless belly deserved to grow heavy with my seed.
It didn’t take much for me to get what I desired.
And once the money changed hands and her now-ex-boyfriend is booted unceremoniously out the door, it’s just her and I alone together.
Her clothes will come off.
Her legs will spread open.
And I will use her to get the son I’ve always wanted.
His Precious Angel: Steel Gods MC
My precious angel will do what I say… or she’ll face the consequences.
I’m supposed to bring her back home, whether or not she likes it.
But Nicolette is desperate to stay away from the Steel Gods MC.
She offers up her body to me – whatever it takes to retain her freedom.
Now, I’m faced with a choice: do I finish the job and reel her back in – or keep her for myself?
I’m a bounty hunter, not a detective.
It’s not my job to ask questions.
So, when my MC president tells me to go retrieve his runaway girlfriend, I get on my chopper and track her down.
But it’s never that easy.
For starters, she’s a stone-cold stunner.
I’m having trouble sleeping at night – my head is too occupied imagining how it would feel to tear her clothes away and bend her over my bed.
And as I follow her trail, I learn that there are secrets contained in that pretty little body.
Secrets like hidden scars.
Secrets like bruises from the man I’m bringing her back to.
And beneath all of that… an unborn baby.
I’m risking my patch and my brotherhood if I do the things I want to do to her.
But screw it…
This one is mine now.
His Little Angel: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance
I’ll slaughter anyone who lays a hand on my little angel.
Cowards crave affection. Alphas crave control.
The waitress seemed timid, until I showed her the power that lies in submission.
But if I’d known who she was, I would have stayed the hell away.
She’s the daughter of a mobster… and now, she’s pregnant with my child.
I’m a shark in this murky underworld – cold, calculated, and as ruthless as they come.
When I saw the innocent girl in the bar, I simply followed my instincts…
And I feasted.
Her moans are still echoing in my head when I leave.
I go to my father, the most powerful mob boss in the city, only for him to drop the mother of all bombs on me.
Isabella was no random girl, he says.
She is the daughter of a dead mobster, and there are men out to kill her for her vast inheritance.
I’d thought her body was merely a momentary pleasure… but as it turns out, it’s the key to the future – both hers and mine.
I track her down just in the nick of time, fighting off two assassins to keep her safe.
That’s the end of things, or so I thought.
But she reveals yet another surprise.
There’s another life at stake here:
The baby growing in her womb.
I’ve never had anythi
ng worth protecting before.
But now I have two lives to safeguard.
And if these bastards come anywhere near my little angels,
It’ll be the last thing they ever do.
SINNER’S PASSION: A Dark Bad Boy Romance
I might go to hell for the things I’ve done… but I’m going to take her with me.
I didn’t ask to be a f*cking babysitter.
Especially not for a celebrity brat with a mouth that needs taming.
I know it’s wrong to punish her. To tie her up. To tease, tempt, claim.
But the thing is… I just don’t give a damn.
I didn’t ask to be a hero. I just did what had to be done.
