Page 84 of Living Without

Stoke snorted. “Let me guess, your brother.”

Malinda screamed for her son and then went after him with Nary following. It gave me a chance to pull Stoke aside. Hell, not that I really wanted to. Nerves were eating at my insides. Still, I forced myself forward and came to a stop beside Stoke, Killer, Dodge, Talon, and Griz.

“Vicious, how’s things?” Talon asked.

“Good,” I mumbled and flicked my gaze to Stoke. He rocked back on his feet and smirked over at me.

“You wanna talk to me, brother?” he asked.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I said, “Ah, yeah.” Then Dodge’s phone rang. We all fell silent. No one would ring on the day of Nary’s party unless something had gone down at one of the businesses.

“Yo?” Dodge answered. “Yeah. Fuck. Serious?” A pause and then, “I’ll send some brothers your way. Pick ’em up at the airport.” When he ended the call, he looked to us and informed, “That was Dallas. He wants backup in his situation. Apparently Melissa is married already, but something ain’t right with it all.”

“I’d go, but I don’t want to leave Nary yet,” I said.

“Nope, I get it. Gonna send Beast and Knife.”

“She never mentioned she was married,” Talon stated. “Shit, Julian would have said somethin’. Whatever’s goin’ on doesn’t sound good.”

“If he needs more than Beast and Knife, I’ll send some more brothers. Until they find out more, we’ll just have to wait,” Dodge said. “For now, I’m gonna go talk to them, you lot enjoy the party. And, Vicious, go and ask Stoke for his girl’s hand already.” He smirked and then walked off.

Air caught in my throat, and I started coughing. Stoke slapped his hand to my back while they all laughed. The other brothers made themselves scarce. I rubbed at my chest and met Stoke’s glare. Then the fucker smiled and again slapped my back.

“Knew the day was comin’. Was gonna give you more shit before I agreed to hand my girl over to you, but shit, this has been a long time comin’. You’ve proven yourself to her, to me, and to Nary’s mum. I trust you, Saxon, and I’d be fuckin’ honoured to have you as my son-in-law.”

“Christ,” I clipped.

Stoke chuckled. “Go and get your woman and make her even happier.”

Clenching my jaw, I relaxed it and said, “Thank you… fuck, for so much. If it wasn’t—”

“No.” He shook his head. “I may have helped. But it was all you who got to be the good man you are today.”

Emotions got the better of me. I pulled Stoke in for my own slap to his back. After I shifted back, I nodded, turned, and found my woman straight away. She was in the middle of the floor with her girls surrounding her. I started towards her with my guts on fire from all the anxiety I was feeling. Still, nothing would hold me back.

* * * *

NARY

“One last thing, angel,” Saxon said from behind me. I turned, but he wasn’t there. My hand was taken and my gaze travelled down. My breath caught in my throat as tears filled my eyes when I saw my man on his knee in front of me. “You mean the world to me, Nary May. I fucked up a lot with us.” People laughed. “So I still want the chance to prove to you every day for the rest of our lives how much I love you. Will you do me the honour of becomin’ my wife?”

Words.

I had lost them. All I could do was nod, over and over. Everyone cheered. Saxon took hold of my shaking hand and slid a ring on my finger, then stood. He swung me up in his arms where he then proceeded to kiss me.

I had been wrong. Everything wasn’t perfect; it was more than that.

It wasn’t until later that day, I leaned into Saxon and asked, “Where’s Dallas?”

He smirked and answered, “Forgot to tell you, he’s in Sydney trying to claim his woman.”

I threw my head back and burst out laughing.

Look out, Melissa. The Hawks men knew what they wanted, and they made sure to get it.

“You happy, angel?” Saxon suddenly asked.

Turning, I wound my arms around his neck and looked up into his eyes. “Very happy.”

He smiled. “Why’s that?”

“Because I have your ring on my finger. I have your love, your body, and I get to spend the rest of my days with you.” I gave him a quick kiss, only to pull back and ask, “Are you happy?”

“Fuck yes. I was never meant to spend my days living without my angel in them, and now I don’t have to. I got you, Nary May, soon to be Black.”

With tears swimming in my eyes, I whispered, “I got you right back, Saxon Black.”

THE END