So I waited.
I warned her that if he touched her - especially her belly - I was calling it off. Having them so close was so dangerous to her. A bullet could really change my life. If I lost Ana and I lost our baby, I’d go complete outlaw. I would strip my cut and burn it. I’d take the road and raise so much hell the only way to stop me would be to put a bullet between my eyes.
That’s what my family meant to me.
I saw Porter reach for Ana.
She sprang into action so fast and smooth, I was honestly impressed. She put her palms to his shoulders and drove him back with a really good shove. Then she lifted her right leg up between his legs, hitting his balls so hard, he let out a squeal that sounded like a hungry pig.
I’d never forget that sound.
Porter grabbed his balls and dropped to his knees.
Ana then swung her hand, slapping him across the face.
That was enough.
I stood up and let out a whistle.
One by one, my boys all popped up from behind gravestones. It was so fucking symbolic it made my heart race. The Reaper’s Bastards rising up from the dead.
Matteo, Slam, Elijah, Noah, Ari, and Liam.
They all stood up, shotguns in hand. All were pointed at Porter.
Ana heeded the warning and turned, bolting away from the scene. She ran right where I was standing.
I had just a handgun. Pointed right at Porter. I walked toward him, watching him trying to catch his breath from the ball shot Ana had given him.
“Don’t fucking try to move,” I said. “Or I’ll make it so painful… I’ll bury you alive.”
“You won’t get away with this,” Porter yelled, then he winced in pain.
“I already did,” I said.
Me and Vinny came to terms on some more territorial shit. Things were going to to work out just fine. All Vinny needed from me was to make sure that when Porter was gone, there was no chance of Porter being found and no chance that it would point back to the MC or hurt the family.
Near the back of the cemetery where all the old bones were buried, there was a fresh hole dug. The guy that took care of the cemetery had a thing for strippers and always wanted to have sex on a grave. I made sure that happened. In return, he had a grave ready for Porter.
I walked to Porter and stared down at him. “You never stood a chance against me, Porter. I’m fucking Knoxville. I’m part of the Reaper’s Bastards.”
“Fuck you,” Porter said.
That was enough talking for one day so I pulled the trigger.
The boom echoed for a few seconds.
“No, Porter, fuck you,” I said.
The gun would be buried with Porter.
I dropped the weapon and turned to walk to my darlin’.
I scooped Ana up in my arms and hugged her tight.
Something about it was just fitting. Being near all that death. Being with my boys in the club. Showing true force and power. Holding the only woman I ever loved in my arms.
“I have something for you,” I whispered into her ear. “Come on.”
We ran through the cemetery together, laughing, probably the most romantic and macabre scene ever. But I didn’t give a shit. I had to smile. When Ana turned her head and smiled at me, the wind caught her hair and spread it across her face. We were running toward freedom. Toward family.
We got on my motorcycle and I took off, my darlin’ right there with me.
She had no fucking clue what I had planned for her.
I said I would never ride anything that didn’t have two wheels or a slit. But for Ana, there was always an exception to the rule.
When she saw the yellow moving truck in the middle of the lot at the garage, she looked confused.
“I don’t get it,” she said.
I grabbed her hand and walked her to the truck. I opened the passenger door and helped her up. I walked around to the other side and climbed into the driver’s seat. I started the truck.
“Knox…”
“Darlin’, the day I met you, you were climbing out of a yellow moving truck. It was the most important day of my life. It was the day the rest of my life was presented in front of me. So that’s why this is happening right now, like this.”
“What is?” she asked.
I looked at her. “All our shit is packed into the back of this thing. I had the guys do it while we were out. No more apartment for you. No more clubhouse for me.”
“Where are we going to live?” she asked.
The answer came ten minutes later.
Noah’s friend of a friend’s aunt had passed away recently and the family wanted to unload the house as fast as possible. It needed some work but I loved a good challenge. I was able to cash in all my savings and get the house through another favor with someone at the local bank. He had helped my grandmother save the house I lived in more than once and more than once he had gotten himself into some gambling trouble and I was there with my boys to bail him out.
None of that mattered.
What mattered was the look on Ana’s face.
There was a small white fence in the yard. The house had shudders, not red, but I could paint them.
I took her hand and kissed it.