Mine.
I’ll never allow her to regret what she did. She could have won. She could have left.
But she wanted to stay and I gave her a way to do it.
I pick the cards up and slide them back into the box. Except for one. I walk over to my cut and slide the ace, the one that could have changed everything if she had flipped it over as well, into the pocket of my cut and pat it once.
When I slide back into bed, Quincy reaches for me and tucks her body against mine while letting out a sigh filled with contentment. I wrap my arms around her and pull her impossibly closer.
Right where she belongs.
EPILOGUE
SIX MONTHS LATER
QUINCY
My hand brushes over the leather of the property cut I’m wearing and I can’t help but marvel at what my life looks like right now. It’s everything I never knew I could have, which is kind of strange considering the life I used to live.
Even though I’m in Las Vegas full time, my life feels simpler here. I haven’t gone on an audition in months, and I haven’t heard from my agent in over two weeks. I don’t miss a damn thing about the life I used to feel trapped in.
Not when I’ve found a family. Even though I wouldn’t have imagined it would include leather clad bikers and the women they’ve fallen for. But here I am.
Claimed as an Old Lady.
I’ve never been happier.
Margot was shocked when I called her and told her I was moving to Las Vegas. She sputtered. She tried to ask questions. Then she simply sat quietly before demanding, “Explain.”
So, I did.
When I got to the end, to how we bet it all on one poker hand, she let out a little sigh like it was the most romantic thing she’d ever heard while I giggled. And then she congratulated me and said we’d have to plan a time for her to visit, along with Blake, I’m sure, to make sure everything is on the up and up.
I’m not entirely sure what Blake would find if he dug into the club, but I don’t really care.
Hawkins will never allow anything bad to touch me. I know it down to my very soul.
Speaking of my biker, he’s eyeing me like he’s up to something and I can’t help but wonder what it is. Even though we’ve found a place together, away from Elysium, we spend a lot of time here. It’s nice being surrounded by people who care. At least for a little while in the beginning, I was starving for that kind of connection.
“How about a hand?” Hawkins asks while pulling a deck of cards out of his cut pocket. Even though Cowboy and Stone are sitting at the table with us, my man only has eyes for me.
I arch an eyebrow and sass him, “Are we playing for real or are you going to try to make another unhinged bet?”
He winks at me and smirks. “Worked, didn’t it?”
I can’t help but grin. It did work. Kind of.
“Fine,” I wave a hand toward the cards in his hands, “I’m in.”
The game starts out normal enough and the conversation flows around the table. Brielle and Rian come up and watch the action, and I can’t help but grin at the girl who treats me like I’m the coolest aunt she’s ever met.
I’m not thrilled with my hole cards, but Cowboy and Stone fold almost immediately and it gives me pause. When I meet Hawkins’ blue eyes, I can see the challenge there and I’m unable to resist.
We both see the turn and the glint in my biker’s eyes is still there. I can’t find it in me to back down now.
I expect him to call, but he doesn’t.
No, that would be too simple for a man like Hawkins.