Page 136 of Roses and Skulls

Epilogue

Elijah 5 years later

Tiny hands wrap around me, holding on tight to my leather cut. My daughter’s little squeals of laughter make my heart happy. As I pull into Black Rose Custom Bikes, I see her mama watching us from the bay door. Billie Rose waves, a grin on her beautiful face.

I help Aurelia off my bike. She runs to her mother, wrapping her arms around her legs. “Daddy went really fast,” she tattles on me.

“Oh, he did, did he?” Rosie raises her eyebrow at me.

Giving her a kiss on the cheek, I sidestep her when she tries to slap my ass. “Her mama likes to go fast too,” I yell as I make my way to the office.

Aurelia skips ahead of me and heads over to the jar of suckers we keep on the desk. Her dark hair is pulled back in a French braid that bounces against her back.

“Who braided your hair?” my wife asks as we follow her.

“Kelsie,” she mumbles around her candy. She brings me a cherry one and climbs up on my lap.

“Grandma and grandpa will be here soon. Don’t spoil your supper by eating too much candy.”

Aurelia, the gold that made us stronger, rolls her eyes. I laugh because she looks just like Billie Rose when she does it.

Rosie smacks my arm playfully and plops down behind the desk. She slides over her latest sketch of a bike we’re working on for a customer. “I don’t know, what do you think about the pipes? I’m thinking maybe you could go a little lower yet, but I’ll leave that to you, baby,” she tells me before answering the phone.

My eyes roam over the bad ass bike staring back at me. I’m telling you, there is nothing better than working alongside your soulmate, especially one as talented as her.

When she revealed her surprise to me all those years ago, I was floored. It still amazes me that she gave up her dreams of running Bill’s bar for me… for us. But I couldn’t be more thankful. We’ve turned the space into a place where our kids can come to work with us, and we both get to do what we love. Her designing the bikes and me making her visions become reality. We’re making quite a name for ourselves.

“Where’s my little MC princess,” Dirk calls from the garage.

“Pappa,” Aurelia squeals, jumping off my lap, running out.

Rosie hangs up the phone. “That was Dan, he said he sent some ideas for his new bike over with dad.”

Dirk walks in, still intimidating as fuck. He’s what the ladies call a silver fox, but he only has eyes for Jesse and who the fuck blames him. Jesse is one smokin hot bitch.

My gaze falls on my wife. She still looks as young as she did the day I married her. But I’m sure she’ll age just as gracefully as her parents. I’m glad my kids will get all those good genes.

Aurelia laughs when Dirk rubs his whiskered face over her cheek. “Pappa, stop.” She wiggles out of his arms and runs over to the sucker jar.

Rosie scolds her, “I told you, no more.”

“I’m just getting one for brother,” she says batting her big brown doe eyes at my wife.

“Fine,” Billie Rose tells her, sighing loudly.

Jesse steps into the room, plopping my son onto my lap dramatically. “He’s all yours.” Tate looks up at me with sparkling blue eyes full of mischief.

“Were you naughty for grandma today?” I ask, bouncing him on my knee. He chuckles, grabbing for my beard so he doesn’t get bucked off. He shakes his head. “No?”

His grandmother places her hands on her hips. “Don’t lie to your daddy, you were a little shit today.”

He rubs his eyes, clearly tired from his reign of terror.

“Tate escaped out the back door and it took your dad and I a full thirty minutes to find him. I just about called the police,” Jesse says, throwing her hands in the air.

My wife stands up and walks over to us. She pulls Tate from my arms and starts tickling him. “Where did you hide this time?” she asks.

“Billie Rose, don’t encourage him,” her mother scolds.

---