Page 106 of Thornhill Road

“Not here for you. Here for her,” he said, nodding toward Tess. “The best thing you ever did for me was die. It brought Tess to you and then to me. Aside from my little girl, nothin’ matters to me more than this woman.

“She didn’t want you dyin’ alone. She’s good like that. Better than me. Can’t give her what she wants—not when it comes to you. But I can give her this. You get to see me one more time. See how I turned out. Fuck of a lot better than you—in spiteof you.”

Ed’s eyes grew laden with tears, but Mustang was not moved.

“I’m sorry, son,” he whispered.

Mustang stared at him a minute longer, wondering if he believed him. Then he realized it didn’t matter whether he did or didn’t—Mustang had no intention of forgiving him.

Without another word, he turned toward Tess, pressed a kiss into her hair, then took his leave. It wasn’t much, but he’d given all he had to spare to that man, and he’d done it just in time.

The next day, in a sad, empty house, Edmond Thomas died alone.

Tess

Ten Months Later

It had been oneyear—to the day—since we first met. It wasn’t hard to convince Mustang the occasion warranted a date. It was even easier to get him to agree the only logical place for us to go on said date was the biker bar in which we’d met.

It didn’t matter that he was there all the time, or that I still found myself at the bar, in a pair of kickass jeans and killer heels on a somewhat regular basis. Neither did it matter that he was thirty-seven years sober, and I was four months pregnant—which meant we’d be at the bar, surrounded by a bunch ofpatrons getting drunk, while we simply enjoyed the live music and each other’s company.

Steel Mustang was, no doubt, theonlylogical place for us to go.

So, we were there, at the bar, with Winnie, Bull, and a couple of their brothers, enjoying the live music and each other’s company.

As Mustang grazed his knuckles repetitively up and down my side, I admitted that for me—it was his company I was enjoying the most.

It was hard to believe it had already been a year.

So much had happened in such a short span of time.

In spite of our weird schedules, our little family had managed to find a rhythm. Winnie remained a godsend, but we’d also totally lucked out with a new neighbor who had a daughter who happened to be perfect babysitting age. Grace was amazing, and Mary-Kate loved her.

Then again, Mary-Kate was a sweetheart. She loved almost everyone.

Grace had one more year before she graduated high school and left us all in pursuit of her dreams. I tried not to think about when the time would come that we’d have to say goodbye—though, as my belly began to expand with our anticipated new arrival, I knew everything would look different in a year anyway.

Even though we had a fair bit of summer ahead of us, Mary-Kate was already excited for the fall. She’d attended part-time preschool the previous school year, and she could hardly wait to start kindergarten. She thought school was so fun, and—in classic Mary-Kate fashion—she’d made friends with just about all her classmates. She was always quick to remind anyone that Otto was still herbestestfriend, but she looked forward to getting to return to a classroom filled with kids she wouldn’t see over the break.

Even though she’d suffered a loss the previous summer, Mustang’s little princess was resilient. She was also thriving with the consistency of living under one roof. Mustang never said it out loud, but I could see how proud he was to be able to give her the kind of life where she couldn’t wait to go back to school. It was so much more than the childhood he’d been given.

School had never been his thing, seeing as he had other things to worry about. Othergrown-upthings no kid should have to shoulder. But Mary-Kate didn’t have to carry such burdens. Mustang didn’t care if it was school or something else. Whatever dreams his daughter wanted to go after, he intended to make sure she was free to chase them.

It was one of the many reasons why I loved him.

While it had been fairly easy to find a rhythm at home, life as an ol’ lady to a Wild Stallion had come with its own challenges.

The guys were great. They were family—mine as much as Mustang’s—and I’d learned quickly how much respect came with my title.

It was actually kind of badass.

Yet, while club business wasn’t always a big deal, or even something Mustang put on my radar, there had been a few nights over the last year when I didn’t sleep so well—my man out on business with his brothers.

Winnie hadn’t steered me wrong. I wasn’t sure I was ever going to get used to the inherent dangers attached to some aspects of their MC lifestyle, but it came with the territory. If nothing else, I’d learned to accept it. I trusted Mustang. Even more, I’d learned to trust the other Stallions to have his back. Their loyalty to one another was a beautiful thing, and that’s what I loved about being a part of the Wild Stallions family.

No matter how ugly or illegal or terrifying things got, it didn’t change the hearts of those men.

Deep down, all they really wanted was to live free and protect their own.

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