Vicious Heart (Desert Kings MC #2)

Epilogue

Riley

I’m not sure what happened to the bodies, I just know that Cam took me home. We slept in his apartment, and for the first time he slept well into the next day, his body relaxed, his breaths even.

The next morning he went to the clubhouse, I guess to get their stories straight. I didn’t ask questions, I knew everything I needed to know. Preacher had killed my father for the money. Cam had killed him. Cam Savage was in love with me.

Neither of us had to run anywhere. I knew who I was, who he was, and who I wanted us to be. This life my mom had been so afraid of, was one I’d been made for. Part of me was glad she wasn’t here to know I was more like Archer than I was her.

As hard as Cam would protect me, I would protect him. Starting with law school, in Vegas, so we could split our time here at home. While he was gone, I had a lot of time to think. I showered, got ready, and was halfway to my car by the time he texted me to come to the clubhouse.

When I first pulled in, only a few familiar bikes sat in the gravel lot. But more pulled in behind me. Inside, Dylan was already behind the bar, flipping through a magazine. I went to her first, around the bar, to hug her tight.

“Thank you.” She whispered against my ear, the emotion so thick in her voice that tears stung my eyes.

“They’re my family too.”

“Yeah, we are.” She pulled free of me and gave me a smile. “My brother and Cam are on the roof.”

I nodded and left her to her magazine, stopping long enough for AP to ruffle my hair at the bottom of the steps. He didn’t say anything, didn’t need to, his proud smile said it all.

On the roof, Cam and Merc stood at the ledge, looking out over the desert below them. The sun was setting, very similar to the first time Cam had brought me up here. Minus the big party and the bottle of tequila I wished I’d snatched at the bar.

Merc turned first, smiled but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. “He’s still pissed at me.” We’d all been through so much in the past forty-eight hours. He looked tired and I felt that too.

Cam snorted, socked him in the shoulder, then turned and crossed the roof to me. He picked me up in a big hug, then kissed me until I couldn’t breathe. “Hi.” His eyes were red and he tasted of tobacco and maybe a little weed. I wouldn’t doubt it.

“Y’all get it worked out?”

He shrugged. “Nothing to work out. Is there?” But something still hung heavy.

“I had no other choice. We needed them all to follow you.”

“You worked it all out?” He tapped a finger to my temple.

“Yeah, I did. And I’d do it again.” I looked past him to Merc. “You said he’d take care of me, he did. You aren’t the only man to kill for me now.”

Then the smile slid slow, the corners of his mouth turning up and his blue eyes sparkling. “Yeah, I kind of owe him now.”

Merc’s laugh was light. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

“I love you.” I snuggled against Cam’s chest and he tightened his arms around me.

“I know.” He laughed when I faked a knee to his groin. “I love you too.”

The door slammed against the wall behind us.

“It’s a great night for a party!” Jester’s familiar, jovial shout made me chuckle. “For the lady.” He bowed a little and handed me a half full bottle of tequila.

Puck was with him, hair pulled back, grinning. They all were, everyone was lighter—happier. Cam had slayed their dragon.

When Jester jerked Cam into a hug, I let him pull him from me, and opened my bottle. I took a swig as I sat in my father’s chair on the roof. Puck sat beside me and tapped a beer bottle against my tequila.

“To Archer.”

“Cheers to that.” And I could say it. I hadn’t known my father, but he’d given me the life I hadn’t realized I needed. As much as Cam had, he’d saved me too.

“Kenna here?” It seemed a natural thing to ask Puck, since she was with him a lot—kept his kid.

“Nah.” He shook his head, contemplated the bottle, but never took a swig. “I haven’t seen her since…”

He let that trail off, but I knew what he meant. I’d only seen her the once, hadn’t had a chance to see her more.

“No babysitting?”

“Nope.” There were shadows on his face when he said it.

“She went through a lot, she’ll come around.”

It was his silence that hurt my heart. He may not say it, may not even know it, but what he felt for her was more than just a friend. I’d seen that in the tender way he’d carried her from that frat house.

Never one to let anyone brood for long, Jester shouted something at Puck that had the big man saluting me with his bottle and taking off toward the group of them. Cam peeled away and came over, taking his seat.

“You look serene.” He turned and inspected me, before taking my free hand and twining his fingers with mine.

“And you look happy.” I responded as he pulled my fingers to his lips and kissed them.

“I am. I wouldn’t be here, without you.” The matter-of-fact way he said it made me duck my head.

“Neither would I.”

We didn’t say anything then, just watched the sunset over the of his best friends, his family.

My family.