Rome's Chance (Reapers MC #6.6)(45)

Not only that, we had something in common. Something big.

“Okay,” I said, offering him an unsteady smile. A flash of movement caught the corner of my eye, and I turned to look out the window. A bird had landed on the ledge.

The sky was bright blue, and totally clear. Gorgeous.

Mom would’ve loved it.

I felt a tear roll down my face.

Rome had been right. The sun had still come up this morning, and it would tomorrow, too. I’d get through this. And then some day—once my head was clear—I’d be ready.

We’d finally have our chance.





Epilogue



One year later



Randi



I woke in the darkness, knowing exactly where I was.

My bed, my home. My family, all together under one roof, at least for the weekend.

Rome was already up and moving. He’d left a cup of coffee on the table next to me, God bless him. I reached for it. Still hot. I’d just taken a second sip when my alarm went off.

Three in the morning.

I slipped out of the covers, pulling on my clothes quietly. Aiden and Kelly had been up half the night with the new baby, and I didn’t want to wake them. Mom might be gone, but our family was alive and growing. She’d always been crazy about babies, and she would’ve loved playing grandma.

All the fun and none of the work.

I reached for my necklace, fingering the emerald pendant she’d given me the day she died. Then I opened the clasp and took it off, setting it on the bedside table. The diamonds sparkled under the lamp, reminding me that every morning, I got to make a choice. I could either get up and go to work, or I could sell the jewelry and run away to a beach in Mexico.

For the first six months, I’d seriously considered it.

My new life was stressful and exhausting.

Some days, I’d been so frustrated that I wanted her to come back to life just so I could kill her again for leaving us in this situation. Other days I cried for hours. Through all of it, Rome had been there for me.

And not just Rome—others had stepped up, too.

Tinker, Peaches. My new boss, Dr. Andrews. And then there was the Reapers MC.

They’d surprised me the most.

First it was Gage and Tinker. The day after Mom died, Gage had suggested that the kids and I stay with them until we found a new apartment. Rome offered his place, too, but I felt like our relationship was way too new for me to be moving in my family. Tinker had been my first boss, and sort of a mother figure. Staying with her felt more natural.

What I hadn’t realized until later was that it hardly mattered where we landed. Rome and Gage had decided we needed help, and they were members of the Reapers MC.

That meant we had the rest of the club behind us, too, because the Reapers were a package deal.

It started when Tinker organized a group of six women to scrub the blood out of the carpet in our old apartment. Then they packed stuff for the kids and cleared out the fridge. Within a week, Tinker found space for us in the building she owned—I decided not to ask how she pulled that off—and then a bunch of guys wearing Reapers colors showed up one Saturday morning to move us in.

Just like that, we had a home.




Rome didn’t spend the night with me at first.

For one thing, Kayden kept having nightmares. Half the time, I’d wake up to find him sprawled across the bottom of the bed. But Rome was true to his word—he gave me time. After a few months, he started sleeping over once or twice a week. Then I got tired of him borrowing my toothbrush, so I bought him one. He needed a drawer to keep it in, of course, then one day I realized we’d been living together for five months.

Things went well. Lexi and Kayden liked him, and while our schedule could get weird, somehow we made it all work.

Life was good.

Then one evening—early in May—Rome announced that we really needed to jump out of an airplane together.

This struck me as a bad idea.

I was allergic to gravity, and I felt strongly that if God wanted me to fly, he’d have given me wings. But Rome wasn’t the kind of guy to give up easy—and he didn’t mind playing dirty. The next evening, he’d opened a bottle of wine, pulled me onto his lap, and then showed me a video he’d made with his brother, Damon. It wasn’t anything fancy—just a GoPro that he’d attached to his helmet the last time they’d gone skydiving together.

I watched two of them laughing and joking while they double checked their equipment. Apparently, Damon had gotten laid the night before. Rome gave him shit, said the girl must’ve been drunk.

Damon flipped him off, and then a few minutes later, they jumped out of the airplane.

The free fall seemed to last forever, although it couldn’t have been more than a minute. Damon pulled his cord first, and his chute burst free. Rome’s did the same. The camera pointed down, and I saw the entire valley laid out beneath them. Then Rome turned it on Damon.

In the distance, his brother waved, then flipped him off again.

They seemed to float slowly for a while, then suddenly the ground was rushing up toward the camera. My breath caught as the video jolted during the landing. Rome gave a whoop and reached down to unstrap his harness. A minute later, Damon tackled him, exuberant and full of life. The camera broke loose, falling into the grass.

Damon shouted, “That was sick! Can’t wait for the next time!”