Trusting Nicole (The Last Hangman MC #4)(68)

“How’s that?”

“That means you’re not a cold blooded murderer. You’re just a normal man who was dealt a shitty hand and made the best of it. Looks like your cards have changed.” Ant says smiling.

I look at all of them grinning at me and wonder what the f*ck they are up to. “Care to tell me what’s going on?”

“Remember a certain talk we had a couple months ago? About you having to make the decision?”

“Yeah.”

“This is your time.” Ant says looking at me.

“Meaning?”

“You’re slow today.” Gabe chuckles.

“Just had a fight with your sister, not fully with it.”

“We need to talk about that after.” He glares at me.

“Enough you two. Worse than kids.” Ant shakes his head. “Can you ride a motorcycle?”

“Yeah.” I look at him, confused.

“Good.” He smirks and pulls out a cut with the Last Hangman Logo on the back of it and lays it on the table. “The decision is yours. If you want in, you’re more than welcome. If you don’t, it won’t change anything. You’re still family.” He smiles genuinely and in that moment, I realize that what Nicole said was true. They had accepted me as their own. Despite everything they still want me as part of their club.

“Don’t you f*cking cry or I’ll make you eat the f*cking cut.” Gabe laughs.

“I won’t cry, you f*cker. Thanks for trusting me to be a part of your club.” I put it over my jacket and they all cheer. I laugh with them, but deep down, I wish Nicole was here to cheer and celebrate with me.

“Alright. Now that the festivities are over, we need to talk business,” Ant says.

“Oh come on, you’re spoiling the fun! Where’s the f*cking cake?” Bennett says, making all of us laugh.

“You have a weird addiction to cake. You’re banned from hanging out with the ladies,” Ant says while laughing.

“Now you’re really no fun at all.” Bennett scoffs.

“We won’t be long and then you’ll be able to go stuff your face. There’s no menace hanging over our heads as of late. We don’t have any other MC trying to f*ck with us, but I like our truce and alliance and would like to keep it and the deals going.”

“I agree. It’s nice not to be at war with the clubs in the area.” Ray chuckles.

“I agree, we’re good with it. It’s been working well, both in and out of war.” Ric says.

“Can I go stuff my face now?” Bennett asks seriously.

“Yes.” Ant says and we all burst out laughing as he limps, more like swaggers, out of the room.

“That man and cake.” Gabe shakes his head.

“I don’t know if the decision to patch me in was only made by the Hangmen or everyone, but thank you. No, I’m not going to get all emotional, Gabe. You can keep your tissues hidden. I never felt like I had a family and here I feel like I belong. Thanks for accepting me. That’s all.”

“It was a unanimous decision. You are family. You were even when you were a cop. The badge made it hard for us to patch you in, but we’d still have asked you. You never belonged with the cops. You helped us without corrupting yourself, that shows something.” We all laugh and it warms my heart that they had approved of me before they knew the truth.

“Party time!” Callum cheers and the room clears. Everyone leaves but Gabe and I.

“Is Aleck alright?” I ask Gabe.

“Yeah, Line wasn’t feeling too good so they went to the doctor to make sure everything is fine with the baby.”

I nod. “Hopefully nothing bad.”

“I’m sure she’s fine. She probably ate too much or spent too much time getting stuff done around the house. She’s unstoppable now that she’s on maternity leave.” He shrugs.

“I can imagine.” I chuckle.

“What happened with Nic?” He asks, getting straight to the point.

“I avoided her for a week. Went back to see her today and f*cked things up yet again.” I sigh.

“What did you do and why did you avoid her? She’s a handful isn’t she?” He chuckles.

“That’s for sure. I needed time to sort my head and I pushed her away, hoping she’d realize I’m no good for her, but it didn’t work. I told her I was scared to commit even though I wanted to and she got upset.”

“Typical.” He sighs. “I still don’t feel like I deserve Viv. Aleck still doesn’t feel like he deserves Line. Hell, I’m sure even Ant still doesn't feel like he deserves Ayd, although knowing the f*cker he probably does actually think he f*cking deserved her from the beginning.” We both chuckle. “Our women are stubborn. They know what they want and they won’t stop until they get it. They aren’t afraid of talking back and telling us when we f*ck up. They will lay it into us whenever we do something they aren’t happy with but they will be by our sides no matter what we do. In case you hadn’t noticed, Nicole loves you, she’s madly in love with you and nothing you say or do will drive her away. I’m sure if you cheated on her she’d probably kill you but still love you.”

“I would never cheat on her. I know she’s it for me I just don’t know how to f*cking show her.” I sigh feeling like I’m turning into a woman.