by Avelyn Paige
“And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Our hug lasts a long time, and I don’t ever want it to end. But as it always happens in this clubhouse, the moment is disrupted when Twat Knot flops down into the chair Wyatt had just vacated and says, “My turn!”
Hashtag
“Why do we have to go to this party again?” Hayden grumbles from the back seat of our new Ford Explorer. I’d wanted to add a side car to one of my bikes for family trips, but Shelby had vetoed that idea, and away we came with this beast of a car. Little did she know, Hayden and I had made a trip of our own to the Harley dealership beforehand. The sidecar was already being installed on my spare bike. Better to ask for forgiveness later than permission now, right?
“A patch party is an important night for a prospect, Hay,” I explain.
“Not really a place for a child, though,” Shelby argues.
“We’ll be long gone before the debauchery starts, Shel. As a member, I have to be there, and it’ll be nice for the two of you to meet everyone officially.”
“Is Walter going to be there?” Hayden inquires.
“I don’t know what you see in that beast of dog.”
“He likes me.”
“You mean, he likes those treats you keep taking him when you go see Blair,” Shelby corrects her. “No dog can resist a cheeseburger.”
Red and Hayden have really struck up a friendship after I’d asked her to come over to see Hayden. She’d been having frequent nightmares since her kidnapping. Red wouldn’t tell me what the two of them had talked about, but Hayden seemed happier when they did.
The clubhouse comes into view, and every single space is taken in the front parking lot. I peer over at Shelby, who cocks one side of her lips before noticing me watching her.
“Large crowd for a patch party,” she remarks.
“He’s a popular guy.”
I maneuver our car into a space near the back of the front driveway. Hayden’s out of the back seat before I even get my seatbelt off.
“Hayden!” her mother calls after her.
“She’s fine, Shel. Probably just going to look for Red and Walter.”
We both exit the car, and meet up at the front of it. Shelby chews away at her bottom lip. The last time she was at a patch party, it was my own, and she left me because of it. Stepping into the door together with our daughter is the start of something new for us as a couple, and as a family. We just needed to take the first step toward our future.
Shelby reaches out, grasping my right hand tightly. I give it a quick squeeze and she smiles at me. The last few weeks gave us the chance to get to know each other all over again. To find out just who we had grown up to be after so many years apart. It was like we were kids again, fumbling through the motions until we got it right. And damn, had we gotten it right. This morning in the laundry room was proof enough of that.
“Should I tell the guys to lock the doors tonight so you don’t run away on me again?” I tease.
“We’ll see how the night goes,” she sasses right back as she jerks my hand, leading me toward the clubhouse door, the music thumping against the exterior of the building.
“Sounds like it’s started already.”
“Not without the guest of honor.”
She stops abruptly, pivoting to look at me, her face covered in confusion.
“Open the door and see for yourself.”
She wavers when her hand reaches out for the handle. The door swings wide, and a loud cheer erupts from the inside when we both walk through it.
Every single member of my club, and even a few of the guys from our sister chapters, line the interior of the room under a banner Hayden and I had hung up earlier when Shelby thought we were making a trip to a game store for an expansion pack. Hayden stands next to Lorna with a sign of her own.
Shelby brings her hands to her face when her eyes hit the banner. In big block letters, it reads, Marry me, while Hayden’s sign reads, Say yes, Mom!
I pivot, moving in front of Shelby and slipping my hand into my pocket. She’s stunned silent as I kneel in front of her, the crowd going quiet.
“What are you doing?” she whispers.
“Thirteen years ago, I thought I’d lost you. I’ve spent every one of those years we’ve been apart trying to figure out a way to find you, to fix what was broken. Then lo and behold, you came barreling back into my life with one of the greatest gifts you could have ever given me.”
Shelby lifts her gaze up to look behind us. Reaching up, I grab her hand, holding it in my own.
“I can’t promise you that every day is going to be easy, but I can promise you that even when you want to kill me, I will only love you. When I fuck up, you’ve got everyone here with us tonight ready to kick my ass back in line. This club is the only family I’ve ever known until you and Hayden came back into my life. And with my family and yours present, Shelby Jo Dawson, will you do me the honor of marrying me tonight?”
“Tonight?” she chokes out. “We can’t get married tonight. We don’t have a license or an officiant.”
“I can handle the second part of that,” Priest yells out from the crowd.
“He’s really a priest?” she mutters under her breath. “A biker priest?”
“After everything we’ve been through, that’s the part you question?”
“I guess so,” she giggles. “But it won’t be legal without the license.”
“We’ll go to the courthouse tomorrow. I’m not letting another day slip away without you being my wife. I can’t risk you running again.” I smile up at her. “What do you say, Shel?”
“Say yes already, Mom!” Hayden shouts.
“Yes!”
Revealing the contents of my project, Shelby breaks down into a sobbing mess. The beautiful ring glittering in my hand is the one belonging to her grandmother. I slip it onto her delicate finger and rise, holding her against me.
“How did you get her ring?” she murmurs against my shoulder.
“Lorna. I think she finally likes me.”
Hayden comes barreling in between us, hugging us both.
“Don’t think I forgot you,” I whisper to her. The two of them release me, and Hayden turns to face me. Pulling out a second ring, I hand it to her. Her face pales as she brushes it with her fingers.
“This was the ring I bought for your mom on the night of my patch party. This ring is my commitment to you. No matter what happens, we will always be family.”
Curling her hand over the ring, she hugs me tightly. “I love you, Dad.”
“And I love you.”
“How about we get this show on the road?” Judge bleats out.
Priest shoves his way to the front of the crowd and positions himself between us, while Hayden steps to her mom’s side, serving as her maid of honor.
“We are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Shelby Dawson and Wyatt Hayden.”
“Wait!” my daughter interjects, stepping between us.
“That’s your name? Wyatt Hayden?”
I arch my brow. “Yeah?”
She wrinkles her nose in disgust. “So my name is going to be Hayden Hayden?”
Laughter erupts around the room, but Shelby and I just grin at each other. That’s my girl. My girls. My life.
Judge
One Month Later
“Fifty fucking years old, GP,” I say, gripping a beer bottle in my hand. “That’s half a fucking century.”
Numbers had never bothered me before. But then, I’d never turned fifty years old before today either. I motion for the waitress to bring another round before turning to watch the girls on the dance floor.
They’re all so fucking young. I could be their damn grandfather. That shit is truly depressing.
“Cheer up, old man,” Hashtag chuckles, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “Your present will be here soon.”
I love my club, and they know I’ve been struggling. First with Natalie and Kevin, becoming an instant dad to two damaged teena
gers. And second, that I’m almost old enough to collect a fucking pension—if I had one.
That’s why they’d suggested a new venue. They’d brought me to Sharkey’s. This bar is perfect for a guy like me, or so they’d said. It had been once, about fifteen years ago, but now I feel like I should be walking around, handing out condoms and ten-dollar bills.
“Excuse me?”
I turn to see who’d spoken, and take in the tall, slender woman in front of me. Her hair is pulled into a tight little knot at the back of her head, and her glasses are resting on the tip of her nose. She’s wearing a business suit, the kind you see in movies with the sport coat and matching skirt. She looks like a librarian, but the girl is stacked, and that’s when I realize just what kind of librarian she is.
“Halle-fucking-luja!” I roar, looking around at my boys. “I thought you guys had gotten me something stupid, like a new helmet or a saddlebag for my ride, but this….” I look the librarian up and down with insurmountable approval. “Fucking hell. Happy birthday to me!”
The woman’s eyes go wide as she takes a step back. “I beg your pardon?”
“Do you just do the show, or do you provide the after-party too?” I reach for her, wanting to feel her on my lap.
“Judge,” GP blurts out from behind me.
“I don’t provide any show, sir,” she snaps back, her face twisted in anger. “And I don’t like what you’re insinuating.”
Laughing, I take another swig of my beer. “I’m insinuating that I can’t wait for you to take off that shirt and show me them gorgeous titties.”
“Judge!” GP hollers, but it’s too late.
The librarian’s hand comes up and slaps the side of my face, hard enough to send my chair sideways.
“I will not be spoken to like that. My name is Grace Halfpenny, and I’m a caseworker for Child Protective Services. I’m looking for a man named Eugene Grant.”
Oh shit. I sit up straight in my seat and place the beer gently down on the table. “I’m Eugene.”
I ignore the snickers from the guys around the table as Ms. Halfpenny huffs and pulls a stack of papers out of her briefcase, plopping them onto the table in front of me. “Mr. Grant, it has come to my attention that you’ve been caring for a Kevin and Natalie Tucker without legal right to do so. Those children are wards of the state.”
I may have offended her, but I don’t like her tone when it comes to those kids. “Those kids are orphans who had nowhere to go. They’ve had a fucked-up few years, and the last thing they needed was to be separated and shoved into some goddamn foster home.”
“Mr. Grant, you don’t have the right to make that call.”
I stand and move closer, using my size to intimidate her. “I will make whatever call I see fit. Those kids are happy with me, and that’s how it’s gonna stay.”
Her nostrils flare, and I have to remind myself that she’s a total bitch, because the look of her pissed off is one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen.
“You haven’t heard the last of me, Mr. Grant.” Turning on her heel, she marches toward the door.
“I liked you better when you were a stripper!” I call out to her back, just trying to piss her off now.
It works. I smirk when my words stop her short, but she doesn’t give me the satisfaction of seeing her sweat. Instead, she keeps walking, straight out the door, and hopefully out of my life for good.
Yeah, right.
“Wait,” Twat Knot says with a laugh, clearly not getting the brevity of what had just happened. “Your name is Eugene?”
Read more about Judge’s story in Dark Guardian.
The Series
Dark Protector
Dark Secret
Avelyn Paige is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who writes stories about dirty alpha males and the brave women who love them. She resides in a small town in Indiana with her husband and three fuzzy kids, Jezebel, Cleo, and Asa.
Avelyn spends her days working as a cancer research scientist and her nights sipping moonshine while writing. You can often find her curled up with a good book surrounded by her pets or watching one of her favorite superhero movies for the billionth time. Deadpool is currently her favorite.
Also by Avelyn Paige
The Heaven’s Rejects MC Series
Heaven Sent
Angels and Ashes
Sins of the Father
Absolution
Lies and Illusions
* * *
The Dirty Bitches MC Series
Dirty Bitches MC #1
Dirty Bitches MC #2
Dirty Bitches MC #3
* * *
Other Books by Avelyn Paige
Girl in a Country Song
Cassie’s Court
Geri Glenn writes alpha males. She is a USA Today Bestselling Author, best known for writing motorcycle romance, including the Kings of Korruption MC series. She lives in the Thousand Islands with her two young girls, one big dog and one terrier that thinks he’s a Doberman,, a hamster and two guinea pigs whose names she can never remember.
Before she began writing contemporary romance, Geri worked at several different occupations. She’s been a pharmacy assistant, a 911 dispatcher, and a caregiver in a nursing home. She can say without a doubt though, that her favorite job is the one she does now–writing romance that leaves an impact.
Also By Geri Glenn
The Kings of Korruption MC series.
Ryker
Tease
Daniel
Jase
Reaper
Bosco
* * *
Korrupted Novellas:
Corrupted Angels
Reinventing Holly
Other Books by Geri Glenn
Dirty Deeds (Satan’s Wrath MC)
Hood Rat
