Page 28 of Claimed By Lock

I did this. I made the man who never smiles almost smile.

I'll take it.

Eventually, we end up outside. The sun's going down and we're leaning against his bike. His arm is around me. My head is on his shoulder.

"So what happens now?" I ask.

He presses a kiss to my hair. "Whatever we want."

Simple. Certain. So completely Lock.

The silence settles between us, comfortable and warm. Somewhere inside, someone laughs. A bike rumbles past on the road. The world keeps turning.

But right here, right now, everything is exactly where it's supposed to be.

I chose wrong once. I won't make that mistake again.

I chose Lock.

And he chose me right back.

EPILOGUE

One Month Later

The clubhouse is quiet when church is in session.

Not silent — there's still music from the jukebox, the clink of glasses, the low murmur of the few people left in the main room. But a different kind of quiet. Like the building itself is waiting for the men to finish whatever they're deciding behind that closed door.

I'm at a table near the bar with Demi and Bella, a half-empty beer in front of me. A month ago, I would've felt out of place here. Now it just feels like a Thursday night.

"How long do these things usually take?" I ask.

Bella shrugs. "Depends. Sometimes twenty minutes. Sometimes three hours and they come out arguing about something nobody will explain."

"The trick is not to ask," Demi adds. "They'll tell you what you need to know. The rest of it..." She waves a hand. "Club business."

I'm still learning the rules. What to ask, what not to ask. When to push and when to let it go. It's different from what I knew with Colt — he used "club business" as a wall, a way to shut me out whenever he didn't feel like talking. With Lock, it's not like that. He tells me what he can. The rest, I trust him to handle.

Trust. Funny how that word doesn't stick in my throat anymore.

"So." Demi leans forward, elbows on the table, something conspiratorial in her expression. "I heard something. Thought you'd want to know."

"About what?"

"About Colt."

I go still. Bella glances between us, eyebrows raised.

"I still know a few people from the Road Kings," Demi says carefully. "Old ladies, girlfriends. My dad doesn't know, but... we keep in touch. And word gets around."

"What kind of word?"

"He's out. Patched out." She lets that land. "Apparently he's been a problem for a while. Running his mouth, starting shit, making enemies he couldn't back up. The thing with you was just the last straw. My dad called it — said he was more liability than asset."

Rocky. Her father. The man who stood in that parking lot and shut Colt down while Lock faced him alone.

"When?" I manage.