Page 102 of The Truths We Seek

Not exactly how I pictured our morning going, but you won’t find me complaining.

Except my phone rings right as I go to step toward the bathroom. “I’ll be in in a minute,” I call out to her, frowning harder when I see the name on the screen of my phone.

“What do you want, Edward?” I grunt down the phone. I have nothing to say to this asshole, so there’s no reason to call. We wrapped up the shit with the Ghosts and the Demons before handing over everything to the Knights. Not that they gave us much choice, but since our goals aligned, we accepted their terms. The bikers are their problem now, and good luck to them. That is one headache I don’t fucking miss. Childish, inflated ego, assholes that they are.

“That’s no way to greet a friend, Meyer. So good to talk to you. I just wanted to check in, make sure you’re playing along to the rules of our agreement.”

I clench my jaw, trying to keep my rage bottled. Yes, we agreed to give these assholes basically everything, to play by their rules, but the threats they made about Quinn if we didn’t... yeah, it still pisses me off. “You already know we are.”

“Glad to hear it,” he purrs. I swear I can see that stupid ass smile on his face. I’d love to beat it from him. “We have some new... opportunities coming up. I wondered if you and your family would be interested.”

“I told you we were out and I meant it. Your rules aren’t hard to follow because we don’t want to be a part of that shit anymore, so you can keep your opportunities and leave us the hell alone.” The silent threat hangs in the air between us. I wasn’t exactly subtle after his threats to Quinn, but I wasn’t bluffing then either.

The Knights might be powerful and far reaching, but you touch the things I love and I will burn you and everything you hold dear to nothing but ashes.

“Oh, I remember.” I pinch the bridge of my nose and contemplate changing my fucking number, not that I think it will help, but it might make me feel better. “Anyway, that was all, just checking in. I’m sure we’ll speak again soon.”

“Lets not,” I grunt and end the call.

I won’t say there aren’t parts of that life I miss, but for the most part, I’m happy with the exchange we made. That doesn’t mean I’m not still waiting for the other shoe to drop at some point.

People like Edward Riley never really let you go once they have their claws in you, not unless it’s to let you bleed out slowly. So slowly you don’t even notice it.

Letting out a breath, I drop my phone onto the bed and enter the bathroom to find Quinn already showered and wrapped in towels. “I was cold and now I’m hungry. We can play later.”

She pats my cheek before ducking away, but I swat her ass as she runs. I grab a quick shower, dressing once I’m done while she dries her hair.

I clear out my emails while I wait for her, excited about her last gift, but also curious as to how she’ll react.

“Food?” she asks as she shuts off the hair dryer, and I can’t help but laugh. I do love her appetite.

“Let’s get food,” I agree.

Carlos cooks up a storm for breakfast, it’s basically a breakfast buffet in my kitchen, but since he wasn’t here yesterday, I guess this is his version of birthday breakfast for Quinn. I do love how they still bicker like they hate each other when it’s so obvious how much they don’t.

The guys are already chowing down, and I know it’ll be hours until Shae makes an appearance. Mama will have already been up and out for the day. I got my early-bird trait from her, that’s for sure.

I sit and enjoy my coffee while enjoying watching her eat. It’s only when she leans back, groaning and rubbing her tummy, that I pull the envelope from my back pocket.

Her eyes go wide as I slide it across the table to her. “What is this?”

“The surprise I said about,” I tell her with a wink.

“I thought breakfast was my surprise. You already got me so much, you give me so much every—”

“Open the freaking envelope, Quinn,” Hunter says, cutting her off. I know she’s still not used to being loved, and especially not in the potentially over-the-top ways we go about it, but this is how we love. And it’s never going to change.

She carefully opens the envelope and her eyes go wide as she reads the paper inside. “Snow?”

“Yes, there will be snow,” I chuckle. “At least, there better be. Can’t really go snowboarding without it. We have a cabin on the lake, not far from the main resort.”

The way her entire face lights up is exactly why I got us this trip. I remember her telling me how much she missed snow last Christmas, that she’d never got to play in it as a kid, but whenever it snowed, she could hide and pretend that she was in a land far, far away. Admittedly, this is only Canada—I wanted to take her to Austria, but Shae thought a closer trip would be a better idea for our first actual vacation together—but there will still be plenty of snow for her to pretend she’s back in her fantasy land.

“Thank you, Meyer,” she gasps, flinging herself from her chair and into my lap. “Thank you.”

“Happy birthday, Kitten. Here’s to the many more that we get to spend together.”

EPILOGUE

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