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My phone buzzes on the table, the ringer silent. Judge again. He’s been blowing up my phone since the moment we took off. After what happened the last time I left the safety of the club, I’m sure he’s pissed, but I’m not ready to answer to him yet. I’m not ready for him to call me back to the clubhouse.
Liam has also been calling. If Judge is pissed, Liam’s irate. If the voicemails he’s left me are any indication, he’s got a bullet in the chamber of his gun with my name on it. He’s convinced I’ve kidnapped his sister before he could finally get her back, and he’s not going to let that slide.
Bria rolls onto her side and places a hand on my chest. “Liam again?”
I shake my head. “Judge. Says I need to get my ass back there.”
Sighing, she slides over me, tucking her naked body against the side of mine. “Maybe we should go.”
I look down at her, sliding my fingers through her hair. “You want to?”
“Not really. I love being here with you, but at the same time, I’ve just found out I have a brother, and he wants to get to know me. I want to get to know him too, but…”
I wait for her to continue, but she doesn’t. “But what, Angel?”
A blush creeps into her cheeks. “But I don’t want to leave you.”
Thank God. “I’m not leaving you, Angel. Not for a second. I’ll be here for as long as you’ll have me.”
“Really?”
I frown, not liking the doubt I hear in her tone. “Baby, I’m not trying to pressure you into anything you’re not ready for. I know you’ve been through hell, and I can’t imagine the trauma you have to heal before you feel whole again. But if you’ll let me, I want to be there with you every fucking step of the way.”
Bria swallows, a tear escaping and sliding down her freckled cheek. “I don’t know if I can do that without you.”
I tip my head to the side. “Angel, you could. I don’t want you to, but you can fucking do anything, with or without me. You’re the bravest woman I’ve ever met.” She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “Baby, look at me.”
She opens her eyes, her lashes now wet with tears, but she doesn’t say a word as she holds my stare.
“You’ve been through a hell most men couldn’t handle. You stayed strong, you stayed true to who you are, and you never fucking broke. If that isn’t strength, I don’t know what is.”
Bria chokes back a sob and cups my cheek. “I love you,” she whispers.
My heart misses three whole beats as I take in her timid smile, and that’s when I know. I know that I can’t live without this woman. Yes, I’d absolutely done it before I met her, but was that really living? Because since I met Bria, my life has been filled with color and love. Yes, I love her. I just hadn’t wanted to tell her that before she was ready and risk scaring her away.
“Marry me,” I say, sliding up on the mattress until my back is against the headboard.
Bria sits up, blinking at me in surprise. “What?”
“You heard me, Angel. Marry me.”
She clutches the blankets to her chest, a tiny frown forming on her brow. “But we hardly know each other.”
Reaching for her hand, I pull it to my chest, splaying her palm over my heart. “I know you snore,” I say, grinning when she gasps. “I know you like peanut butter on your toast and three sugars in your coffee. I know you love children and are good with Henley. I know you like to hum in the shower, and you sleep on your side, rolled up like a fucking armadillo. I know that we still have a lot of moments from our pasts we haven’t yet shared with each other, but since you came along, mine doesn’t seem to cast a cloud of darkness over me anymore. It can’t, because you light up everything around you.”
Tears flow freely down Bria’s cheeks, her eyes filled with so much love and tenderness. “Priest,” she whispers.
“I love you, Angel. I love you so fucking much, it hurts to breathe sometimes. I want to be the one at your back when you make the hard choices. I want to protect you from the nastiness of the world so it can never touch you again. I want to help you heal and conquer this whole damn universe, because I can’t imagine a life without you in it. You deserve to be loved, Angel. You deserve to be shown kindness, love, and respect. Let me do that for you. Let me be the one to give you all of that. Marry me.”
She stares at me for longer than I’m comfortable with. When she finally moves, she throws herself forward, colliding with my chest and feathering kisses all over my face. “Yes,” she sobs. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Relief washes over me. My decision to ask her may not have been planned, but just the idea of her saying no is enough to crush me. “I swear I’ll make you happy, Angel.”
“You already do.” Her lips move to mine, claiming them in a slow, tender kiss.
When she pulls away, I grin, feeling almost giddy with joy. “Come on.” Flipping back the covers, I jump out of bed and tug on my jeans.
“Where are we going?”
