Page 58 of Jett

She exhales a shaky breath and I bend and lay a soft kiss against her lips. She doesn’t open her mouth, but she doesn’t need to. Just having her lips on mine, her body pressed close, and the scent of her in my sinuses is enough.

For now, it’s enough.

RAINE

AWEEK LATER, I SAYgoodbye to the last of the mourners at the wake. The boys and their old ladies are all here to support me on this day. And while Joshua’s old work colleagues may have found it strange that a biker gang had taken up residence of the back row of the funeral home, it brings me comfort knowing they’ve all come for me.

Kick, Tank, and Jett talk in one corner of the room. Crazy stands by the buffet table, poking at the devilled eggs. Grim, Country, Trigger, Diesel, and Killer have taken up posts near the exits. The only ones missing are the new prospects and Raphe, and they stayed behind to watch over the clubhouse.

Kick leaves the group and walks toward me. “How you doin’, babe?”

“About as well as could be expected for a widow who’s trying to hold it together in front of the big, bad bikers.”

“You don’t have to hold anything together, sweetheart. That’s what we’re here for.”

For the eightieth time today, I burst into tears. I’m so sick of crying. I need a wine, a long, hot bath and ... well, I need to lay my husband to rest. While technically, I already did that two hours ago, I still have a lot of things to say to him when no one else is around. Things I can only say with half a bottle of wine in my system.

Kick pulls me into a quick hug and Indie comes over, nudging him out of the way so she can hug me instead. I’m so thankful to have her and Ivy in my life. I’m lucky to have all of them.

“Thank you,” I say glancing first at Kick and then at his gorgeous old lady. “Both of you. I don’t know how I would have gotten through this without you, and Jett, or Tank and Ivy.”

“Hey.” Indie takes hold of my hand and squeezes. “We’re family. That’s what family do, right?”

“Right.” A wistful sob escapes me and I wipe away my tears. “I’m sorry. I just realised with Joshua gone, I have no family. No legal family members anyway.”

“Well, we might not be related by blood or marriage.” Indie shoots a pointed look at her biker. “But we’re tied together by the brotherhood, so I think it still counts.”

“Of course, it still fuckin’ counts.” He wraps an arm around Indie’s shoulders and squeezes, then he draws me into his side and crushes us together.

“Ow. Jesus, Biker.” Indie shoves him away. “You squished my fucking boobs.”

“What? I was just trying to get Raine to feel the love.”

“She’s straight, arsehole. And don’t lie. You were hoping for a hottie subway sandwich. Never gonna happen.”

Kick winks and Indie takes my hand. “Raine, call us if you need us. I’ll be there in a heartbeat, minus this jerkoff, of course.” She thumbs a hand toward Kick.

---