“Yes, yes, I love you.”

Bishop took my hand in his. “I promise I’ll make it up to you all the times I was such an asshole.”

I laughed. “Okay. I’ll let you.”

He rose out of his chair to lean over and kiss me. “I love you, too,” he murmured against my lips.

Once again, I fought the tears as I felt as if my heart would explode from happiness. Surprisingly, it didn’t set off any alarms. As Bishop sat back down, he frowned slightly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was just thinking that I love you so much that I wish we could start over. Like we could forget the past of you being an agent and all that bullshit.”

“All we can do is try.” When I pulled my hand from his, he stared at me in surprise. I then held it out for him to shake. “I’m Samantha Vargas. I’m an agent with the ATF.”

“Bishop Malloy—sergeant at arms of the Hells Raiders.”

As we shook, I smiled. “That’s a start.”

EPILOGUE

SAMANTHA

My fingers flew furiously over the keys as I typed up my latest debriefing. As I relived the takedown, I couldn’t help smiling. After all, it wasn’t every day that you apprehended a gun trafficker who carried his shipment in a clown-decorated ice cream truck.

It also made me think of Gavin and how he would have hated the case. The one thing he was afraid of was clowns. A year might’ve passed since his murder, but I still thought of him and missed him every day.

A knock came at my door, but I didn’t look up. “Yeah?”

“Are you still here?” Peterson asked.

“Just finishing up.”

“You should have left an hour ago.”

I glanced up at him. “Since when do bosses encourage their employees to be slackers?”

Crossing his arms over his chest, he countered, “When that employee has a wedding rehearsal in less than two hours.”

After hitting save on the file, I held my hands up in defeat. “Fine, fine. I’m leaving now.”

“Good. If I had to see one more text from your future sister-in-law about where you were, I was going to scream.” At my laugh, he narrowed his eyes. “Just exactly how did she get my number?”

“You’re in the wedding party, and as the wedding planner, Alexandra needed your contact number.”

“I see.” He motioned me with his hand. “Come on. I’ll walk you out.”

I had to smile at his overprotectiveness. Even though it had been close to a year since Eddy attacked me, Peterson still insisted on walking me out if he was in the building when I left at night. He would also be walking me down the aisle tomorrow at Bishop’s and my wedding. Although I could have asked my older brother, Steven, or my stepfather, Peterson had really been a father figure to me over the years.

We took the elevator down to the parking garage, and then Peterson walked me over to my car. “See you in two hours.”

“Drive safe.”

“Yes, Daddy.”

Peterson gave me a wry grin. “You better watch that. I might just get a kick out of it in a dirty-old-man way.”

I laughed. “Get out of here.”

He waved and then headed down the row to his car. Just as I started the car, my phone rang. I smiled at the ID. “Hello, Future Husband.”

A chuckle came from the other end. “Hello, Future Wife. You leaving work?”

“Yep. On my way to the clubhouse now.”

“Good. I’ve had Alexandra and Annabel on my ass most of the afternoon.”

“Oh man, double trouble there.”

“Damn straight.”

Since I lacked the girly girl gene for interest in wedding planning, Alexandra and Annabel had taken over the details. Whenever they tried to make it too much, Bishop and I would veto them. In the end, we decided to get married in the same place that Annabel and Rev had. It made sense to do it at Tohi Ama. It was where we had spent our first night together. The place where we started our relationship. It made sense that we would become man and wife there as well.

“So I picked up your mom and stepdad at the airport. Your brother and sister and their families won’t get in until later tonight, which will be better for you to make the introductions.”

“Thanks for doing that. How are they?” What I meant to ask was how they were adjusting to being at an MC clubhouse surrounded by bikers. My mom, who still harbored a lot of prejudice against bikers, had had a hard time when I told her about Bishop. She hadn’t wanted to accept our relationship for a long time, and I think she hoped I was just sowing some wild oats or something rebellious like that. She couldn’t understand how someone with my history could ever trust, least of all love, a biker.

But as the months went on, Bishop and I remained serious. When we got engaged, she tried through numerous phone calls to talk me out of it. Over and over again, I tried explaining to her that the Raiders had gone legitimate, and while Bishop and his brothers had killed in the past, they were nothing like that anymore, least of all like the man who had killed my father.

It had taken a face-to-face meeting for her to actually start to warm to Bishop. We had gone down after Christmas and spent New Year’s with my mom and stepdad. Bishop was extremely patient with her and kept his temper when she was openly hostile. Finally, it all came to a head over dinner one night at my mother’s favorite restaurant.

After Bishop picked up the check, he turned to my mother. “Mrs. Bennett, there’s something I need to say to you.”

My mother pursed her lips at him as she reached for the last of her wine. “What is it?”