Page 133 of Riding the Edge

“I hope it’s a girl,” I say over him. “I hope you get to know that bond a father has with his daughter. Cherish it, man, fucking cherish it, because one day some guy with long hair is going to come around and he’s gonna steal her heart.”

“I can’t let you take the rap for this. Lacey will never forgive me. She needs you Jack.”

“She needs you more,” I reply. Leaning forward, I place a hand on his shoulder. A beat of silence passes between us and I force a smile.

“Make sure my grandchild knows he or she had a grandpa and that he loved them very much.”

“You’re talking like your dying,” Blackie growls.

“No,” I say with a shake of my head. “But by the time your kid is old enough to visit, I’ll be too far gone, and I don’t want the memory of me in a straight jacket to be the only one she’s got.”

Drawing in a ragged breath, I thread my fingers through my hair and look across the table.

“That being said, I think that it is in the club’s best interest to have Wolf take the gavel. He’s the only one here who truly understands what I’ve tried to create here and I’m certain he will lead this club away from tragedy. He’ll keep you all breathing and take the club to a place where you can be proud to be a Knight.”

Lifting his eyes to mine, I see the boy, not the man, the fifteen-year-old kid who saved my ass and got sent to juvie. We were brothers before we knew the definition of brotherhood and we’ll be brothers in our next life too.

“Any objections?”

The room is silent.

I’m not surprised.

Wolf is the heart of this club and everyone here knows that.

Standing up, I lean over the table and grab Blackie’s patch. Reaching into my pocket, I retrieve mine as well and make my way to the new president of the Satan’s Knights.

The lone wolf is now the king.

Next to him, I lay a hand on his shoulder and hand him my patch.

“Godspeed, my man.”

Taking the patch, he stands and draws me into his arms.

“You’ll always be my brother,” he says against my ear. “And you will always be the pulse of this charter.”

Slapping my hand to his back I pull back and watch a single tear slide down his cheek.

“I appreciate that,” I tell him, raising my hand to his bearded cheek. “Look out for my family, will you? Keep Blackie straight and make sure Reina has everything she needs. I don’t know the details of the deal or how long I’ll be gone. I might die in there for all we know, I don’t want her dying out here. She’s got a lot of life to live, see to it that she does that.”

Before he can object, I push him away and slap Blackie’s patch against his chest.

“Pick your VP, Wolf,” I say. As I step backward, I watch Wolf stare at the two patches in his hand and slowly lift his head. Turning to Pipe, he hands him the vice president patch and I take another step towards the door.

I’m going to miss these fuckers.

I’m going to miss every one of these bastards.

Even the ones that broke my balls over the years.

“Reina’s waiting for me,” I rasp as I brace my hand on the frame of the door. All eyes turn to me and I give them one last wicked grin.

“We had one fuck of run, didn’t we? It wasn’t always easy for us, but we showed everyone you ain’t gotta be blood to be a family. I love you my, brothers,” I tell them. “That’s what you are, you know? You’ll always be property of Parrish.”

You’ll always be mine.

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