Filthy Devil (Dark Horse MC #6)

Chapter 35

CHAPTER

THIRTY-FIVE

JAMES

Shit.

Oh. Shit.

Nash is pissed.

Not just a little pissed either, but he is livid. I’m completely quiet as I walk into the house. Standing in the middle of the living room, I drop my shoes on the floor and pinch my eyes closed, inhaling a deep breath and letting it out slowly before I turn around to face him.

Nash is standing across from me, his arms crossed over his chest, his chin tipped slightly as he looks down his nose at me. We stare at one another in silence, and I can’t help but wonder what he’s going to say because it’s clear that he has something on his mind.

“You want to leave?” he asks. “Feel fucking free because there isn’t a price on your head any longer. You’re free, James. Free to do whatever the fuck you want.”

Pinching my eyes closed, I let out a heavy exhale as I focus my attention on him. He doesn’t say anything. He’s waiting for me to respond. I don’t know what I want to say to him. I want to tell him that I love him, but it seems backhanded.

If I loved him so much, why did I walk away from him? At least, that’s what I would be thinking if the roles were reversed. I would be hurt if he kept trying to get away from me. And here I am, doing the same thing.

“I’m sorry, although I’m sure that doesn’t mean much.”

He tilts his head to the side. “What do you want, James? Because I know what I want, and I thought I was really fucking clear on it. I thought you trusted me, and we were on the same goddamn page.”

My heart beats so fast I’m pretty sure Nash can see it beneath my skin. I shift my weight from foot to foot. My eyes search his for a long moment, and then I move toward him.

One step, then another, but I don’t get close enough to touch him. I stay away, too afraid to actually speak. I’m not sure what to say to make this better.

“I fucked up. I freaked out, and I screwed everything up,” I whisper as tears fill my eyes.

Pressing my lips together, I try to blink back the tears, but they don’t go away. They roll down my cheeks in a heavy stream. Nash doesn’t move. He watches me, his face completely expressionless.

I can’t tell what he’s thinking. He gives me absolutely nothing. Then, as if something snaps inside of him, he closes the distance between us. One step, then another. His arms wrap around me as he pulls me against his chest.

“You’ve got to fucking trust me, James.”

“I know,” I whimper. “I promise I do. That’s not why I left. It all just seemed so much easier without me.”

Nash dips his chin, and his mouth touches mine, his lips so warm and soft as he kisses me. Then he lifts his head, and though he doesn’t move away from me, I can feel his chest warm and firm against my body.

“Nothing in this fucking life would be easier for me without you, sweetheart.”

A fresh wave of tears begins to flow. His head shifts forward, his lips touching my wet cheeks once each before he lifts his head, and his eyes find mine again.

“Nothing, James.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper.

He takes a step backward, releasing me. I open my mouth to protest the loss of him. But then something happens. He slowly sinks down to his knee, his eyes never leaving mine, and my breath hitches.

“Don’t got a ring yet. You can get whatever the fuck you want. Pick your ring, biggest one you can find. I love you, and I want to marry you, James.”

I don’t have any more tears left to fall. Touching my hands to my cheeks, I try to pat at the wetness there. He’s on one knee in front of me. This man with his tight shirt, his perfectly worn jeans, and his leather vest. This man with his silver beard and gorgeous blue eyes.

This man who I’m madly in love with.

“Yes, Nashville Stanley. Yes, today. Yes, tomorrow. Yes, forever. I love you, too. So much.”

He smiles and stands to his feet, then he wraps his arms around me and smashes his mouth against mine. My body melts against his. I love him. Pulling my face away slightly, I look into his eyes.

“I’m so sorry. I only ran because I love you so much, and I wanted to protect you. Protect your family. I should have trusted you to figure it out. I knew you would. I just…”

The words die on my tongue. They completely die because he kisses me, and his tongue fills my mouth. He tastes me, consumes me, and I cannot believe I almost walked away from this.

He pulls away slightly, his eyes searching mine. “I told you that you could go, that you were free to walk away, but I would never let you leave me. Not now. Not in a million fucking years. You’re mine.”

Pressing my lips together, I roll them a few times as I try to calm myself down. My mind is in a million different places and right here all at the same time. I don’t know what to do. What to think. What to say. All I know is that this is a dream come true, and I almost ruined it all.

My knees almost give out, but he catches me. He always catches me, even when I don’t know that I’m falling. Lifting my arms, I grip his shoulders, my eyes searching his. “You’ll always catch me,” I state.

It’s not a question. It’s a statement. I know that he will always catch me. No matter what happens to me.

“I’ll always catch you, sweetheart.”

NASH

Calling church in the middle of a strip club is not the norm. Thankfully, I know that this building is secure, and since our clubhouse is gone, we don’t have much of a choice, seeing as the only other options are someone’s house or an empty lot that’s currently being cleared for a new building.

The men all look around in confusion. They have no fucking clue why I’ve called them here. They wouldn’t. This is something I’ve never done before. Even when I announced that I was leaving Pineville and coming down here, my closest men knew before everyone else.

“I’m calling this meeting to order, mainly because I have a few things to go over with everyone,” I begin.

Bugsy clears his throat as he shifts in his seat. Rev does the same. They have no fucking clue what I’m going to say, not a goddamn inkling. But it’s time for me to say it, even if they aren’t happy about it.

“I’m going nomad.”

The room is silent. A bunch of old bikers stare at me, their eyes wide in surprise. I’ve clearly shocked the shit out of them, and that makes me chuckle to myself. Clearing my throat, I give them a smirk.

“And I’m getting married.”

That announcement is probably the least shocking of the two. Although I never planned on settling down, the moment James came into the picture, you’d have to be blind to see that she wasn’t different and special and fucking mine.

“You’re going nomad because you’re getting married?” Rev asks. “That young whore making you leave your club, your brothers?” he asks, his face red with what I assume is anger.

But that shit isn’t going to fly. Nobody talks about James that way, and not a single fucking person is going to accuse me of being led around by my dick. Shaking my head, I press my lips together for a moment before I speak.

“That will be the one and only time you refer to James as a whore. She’s my woman, my old lady, and my fiancée. What she is not is a whore.”

“Let Nash do what he wants. He wants to go away, travel around, then he can do whatever the fuck he wants,” Bugsy states.

I can tell he’s saying the words, and he seems to give a fuck about them, but I know he doesn’t. He is fucking thrilled to see me go. He’s wanted my spot for fucking forever. Hell, he’ll probably throw me a going-away party. I would actually be surprised if he didn’t.

“What happens to your investment in the club?” someone asks.

I could give a fuck about the ventures in the club. I’ve made plenty of money over the years. I also did something that hardly anyone does in this type of life. I fucking invested my cash. I don’t need to work. I haven’t needed club funds for at least a decade.

“Split it among yourselves equally. I walk away, and all I need is my base that I put in.”

Bugsy and Rev share a glance. I would try to read into that shit, but I decide it’s not worth it. None of it is. They’re Atomic’s problem now. I’m ready to retire and start my second life. A life with James that includes a fuckton of sex and maybe even babies if we’re lucky.

“To Nash,” Bugsy calls out, lifting his hand.

He’s got a fucking bottle of water in it, and I wonder when we became complete fucking pussies. It had to have happened around the time we left the Pineville chapter and opened the strip club.

The rest of the club cheers me, and I close my eyes, trying not to laugh. I thought this was where I needed to be, where I was wanted. But it’s not. I love the Dark Horse MC, and they’re my family, but Corpus Christi, no matter what I tried to do to make it work for me, it just doesn’t.

I just didn’t fully realize it until now. Instead of hanging around the strip club, I decide to head home. The men try to get me to stay, but I have a woman waiting for me. I’ve never wanted away from my men, my club, like I do right now, but I want to go home to my woman.

I want to start my new life with her.

Right fucking now.

Pulling the bike up the driveway, I kill the engine just as my phone buzzes in my cut pocket. Reaching inside of the inner pocket, I take out my phone and glance at the name on the screen. With a smirk, I slide my thumb across the screen and hold it to my ear.

“Dad,” Elvis murmurs.

“Elvis,” I reply as my greeting.

There is a moment of silence before he continues. “You called Atomic and told him to cease fire? What the fuck is going on?”

I almost laugh at him because it’s clear that he is confused as fuck. But instead of doing that, I tell him everything. Every fucking thing. Including the fact that we succeeded in eradicating the Southern Mafia that we once knew and bringing the men from underground to take over.

“The ceasefire was the only way I could compromise. They took the price off James’s head. And they’re staying out of the South completely. Far as I know, they’re going international, and honestly, I don’t give a fuck as long as they stay the fuck away from us,” I end with a grunt.

King doesn’t respond immediately. Then I hear him let out a heavy sigh. “Does this mean no more war?” he asks.

“Depends on what you have with the Demon Guns.”

“They’re fucking obliterated,” he says with a chuckle. “The only group we were focused on was the Southern Mafia. Now that’s done, can we possibly breathe?”

“We can breathe,” I murmur.

And we can, at least for this very moment. We may not be able to next month or even next week, but for today, we can. Elvis clears his throat, and I can tell he has something else to say.

“And James?” he asks.

“Asked her to marry me,” I state.

He chuckles. “Didn’t see that coming at all, Dad.”

I should laugh with him, but I have more to tell him. I’m not sure if he’s going to be pissed at me or maybe, since he wanted me to go back to Pineville, he might even be happy with my news.

“There’s more,” I continue. “I’m going nomad.”

Silence.

Complete and utter silence.

Then my son speaks. Not my brother, not a member of the Dark Horse, but my son. When he does, I realize that although I fucked up with him when I was younger, he loves me anyway.

I’m not sure I deserve that love, but just like with James, I’m going to hold on to it, keep it, and strive every fucking day of my life to deserve it. To deserve them, my family. Because I know I don’t, I never have and I never will, but I’m never going to stop trying.

“Happy for you, Dad. Does this mean we’ll see you more?”

Fuck.

I do not deserve him.

“Yeah, son. It means you’ll see me more.”

“And you’re happy?”

“Happier than I fucking deserve.”

“Good.”

Clearing my throat, I try to fight the tears. He tells me to come up and visit soon, and he’ll talk to me later. Without a doubt, he knows I’m on the verge of tears. And just when I get my shit together, the front door of my house opens, and James stands on the front step.

She flashes her smile in my direction, and I swear to fuck, my heart stops. It fucking stops beating in my chest at the sight of her. I watch as she makes her way toward me, and without a word, her lips touch mine, reactivating my heart and starting my new life.

“Hey, sweetheart,” I murmur against her lips.

“Come inside,” she sighs against my mouth.

Don’t mind if I fucking do.