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“Because of me,” I whimper.
“No, Ruby. Not because of you. Never you,” he promises. “But I wanted to live for you. I regretted not telling you before I left you at the bus stop…”
Every word he says sounds labored, like it physically hurts him to speak.
“I should let you rest,” I cry out. “But I can’t believe you’re here. I don’t want to lose you again.”
“I love you, Ruby,” he cuts me off. “The meds are about to make me sleep. But I just want you to know that.”
“I love you, too, Hawk,” I cry again. “I’m so happy that you’re here,” I whisper.
I look at his beaten face, wondering how bad of a shape the rest of his body is in. Like he said, sleep is pulling him under.
“He will be okay.”
I jump in distress when I remember that Devereaux is still in the room with us.
“Once he recovers, you two will have a lot to talk about. When he’s up for it, I will offer him the same thing I offered you. My protection.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I will be forever in your debt, Miss Santiago. And I always keep my promises of taking care of those who took care of me.”
Without looking away from Hawk, I think about what he’s saying.
“I still want to leave this state,” I confess. “Move far away from here.”
“Hawk has to leave as well,” Devereaux informs me. “It was part of the agreement with the club.”
I turn my head to stare at him. “Where can we go?”
“Montana is beautiful,” he says. “I think you’d both like it.”
I nod but don’t say anything. I will have to think about it. Make smart decisions for once. Hopefully, with Hawk by my side, because if not, it was all for nothing.
Devereaux takes his leave, and I am now alone with Hawk. Unable to resist, I lie down next to him and place my head on the pillow next to his. I watch him until my eyes start closing and a deep sleep pulls me under. When we’re both up for it, we’ll talk.
Montana doesn’t sound so bad.
As long as we’re together.
The End
EPILOGUE
Hawk
Six years later
Some promises are meant to be broken. Me being on Texas soil is one of them. Breaking that promise for Ruby means everything.
The last six years have been equally hard and amazing. Once I recovered from my injuries, Devereux proposed for me and Ruby to move to Montana. That’s where his home was. He offered us protection and a way to live a normal life.
Since money was not an issue for either of us, Ruby and I took our time to get to know each other better. Throwing I love you’s around was easy until you actually had to put the work into a relationship. I didn’t have any experience with that, and she didn’t either. Our fights were of epic proportions, but we were determined to make it work.
Unfortunately, we never got to see my mother again before she passed. It was something that weighed heavily on both of us. But we took relief from knowing she was not suffering anymore. She died only five months after I got voted out of the club, so there had not been any time for us to strategize on how we could go back and visit.
Her death affected Ruby a lot more than it did me, as strange as that sounds. She cried for days over it, and there was nothing I could do to make her feel better about it.
