“I don’t care how late it is. I need to know you’re safe.”

“Okay.” He gathered her in his arms, holding her tight. “I…Thanks for understanding, babe.”

He gave her a quick kiss, grabbed his jacket, and headed out the door with the others, leaving her struggling with an unexpected lump in her throat as Truman, Gemma, and Biggs sidled up to her.

Truman said, “Are you doing okay?”

“Sort of. I’m nervous for them and Simone.”

“You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t,” Truman said.

“I remember the first time I saw the guys charge out the way they just did,” Gemma said. “It scared me.”

Roni was glad she wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

“The thing is, by the end of that night I realized that all those leather-clad guys banding together like that shouldn’t have been scary,” Gemma explained. “They’re like Superman on steroids. The scary guys are the ones they’re going after and protecting the rest of us from.”

“And you don’t worry that they’ll get hurt?” Roni asked.

Gemma nodded and said, “Of course I worry, but they’re keeping people safe and saving lives.”

“Are they going to fight?” Roni asked.

“Only if they have to, darlin’,” Biggs said, draping an arm over her shoulder, a pillar of strength for her to borrow from. “Don’t you worry. By now Diesel has about thirty Dark Knights on their way to Parkvale. They’re going to be just fine.”

His voice was as rough as sandpaper and as comforting as his embrace. More pieces of Quincy’s life were falling into place, including where Quincy’s caring nature and his drive to support and help others had been nurtured. She was falling for this family as deeply as she was falling for Quincy.

Chapter Eighteen

IT WAS NEARLY two thirty in the morning when Quincy climbed out of his truck and headed across the parking lot toward Roni’s apartment. When he’d first gotten out of rehab, he’d bent Truman’s and Jed’s ears after meetings and rough days. But he’d never had anyone to come home to. Now he made an effort to leave the nightmarish reminder of his past behind as he ascended the steps toward the woman who was front and center in his dreams of the future. When Roni answered the door, eyes filled with worry but looking beautiful in sleeping shorts and a tank top, and threw her arms around him, he’d never been more grateful in his life.

“Hi, baby. Sorry it’s so late.” Truman had texted him to tell him he’d tried to get Roni to stay at their place so she wasn’t alone, and when she said she would be fine, Gemma had offered to stay with her. But Roni had insisted she was okay. Quincy knew his strong girl well enough to realize she wouldn’t have wanted to be a burden on them.

She put her hands on his cheeks, searching his eyes, and said, “Are you okay? Is Simone okay?”