I grab the envelope from him and tear open the seal. Something small and hard nearly falls out. “Mom’s engagement ring?” I ask. “Dad?”

  He goes back to reading his paper. “Your brother’s not going to use it,” he says. “And even if he does get married someday, I feel like your mother would be happy if you had it. You know…for Birdie.”

  A sudden rush of emotion clogs my throat and I cough, but I quickly wash the feelings down with water.

  “You know we haven’t been together that long,” I say. Not that I don’t plan on making things official with her. But between her father dying, us starting a business with the club’s and my dad’s help, her inheriting both money and new relatives… There’s not been a lot of talk about our future. A lot of happy nights and blissful days, but we’re still sort of taking it day by day.

  My father folds his paper and crosses an ankle over his knee. “Son,” he says, looking me in the eye, “Why are you waiting to start your future? Haven’t you lost enough time already?”

  His words stun me, and not in a good way. I clench Mom’s ring in my hands and nod, but Dad quickly reaches across the table and grabs my wrist.

  “That didn’t come out the way I meant it,” he says, shaking his head. “I’m not… I’m not nuancing what I think. I’m sorry, Logan.”

  He releases my hand and scoots his chair back roughly. “When you went away, I thought…I felt…” He reaches a finger under his glasses to wipe at his eye. “I was sure what happened was my fault. Your tattoos, this biker business… It was all reaction to me. The kind of father I was. I blamed you for acting out, but I blamed myself more.”

  He looks me in the eye and shocks me by dropping a hand on top of mine. We’re not holding hands, but he’s squeezing the top of my hand, my sparrow covered by his, marked only by age spots and veins.

  “Son,” he says. “I’ve made mistakes. You’ve made mistakes. Life is too short to keep paying back debt. She’s a very, very special woman. You deserve her. If you love this girl, take a chance on having it all.”

  I look down at Dad’s hand covering mine, and I nod. “Thank you,” I say. “That… It means a lot to hear you say that.”

  I get up from the chair and tuck the ring into the armband holster. I don’t want to chance it coming out of my pocket while I’m running.

  “Love you, Dad,” I say.

  He nods and unfolds his paper. “See you later.”

  I jog back home, where the house is already in full swing. Birdie is taking her meds and eating one of the breakfasts she prepped last night.

  “Feeling good?” I ask her as I kiss her on the cheek.

  It took months of tests and trial and error, but it turns out the doctors are pretty sure that Birdie’s headaches are the result of prediabetes. Since her dad developed type 2 diabetes around the same age she is now and there’s no other cause that they could find, she’s been trying to control her blood sugar and watch her diet to see if that helps ease the headaches.

  “I feel great,” she assures me, turning my face to kiss me on the lips. “But you stink.” She swats my ass.

  “Mama, that’s so rude. You can’t tell people they smell like that.”

  I ruffle Mia’s hair. “Thanks for protecting me, kiddo, but I definitely stink.” I down a glass of orange juice and get ready for the afternoon.

  Once we’re all dressed and ready, Birdie and I drop Mia at Lia and Leo’s, where Zoey and Mia are going to hang out with baby Rider with Tim and Juliette while the rest of us party at the compound.

  The girls have become even closer than sisters, and now that Alice is almost due to give Zoey a real sibling, we’re planning on giving Mia bunk beds so she can have her best friend over any time Zoey needs a break from the newborn madness. Morris has begged for a bed so he can escape the newborn madness when he needs it, but that man is so excited to have a child, it’s almost comical.

  “Give me that smoosh.” Birdie runs through Lia’s front door, holding her arms out to baby Rider.

  Lia hands him over and wipes her face with her hands. “Take him. Take him. Tim and Juliette are on their way, but I haven’t even showered yet. Can you manage this maniac while I get ready?”

  Birdie takes the squirming infant in her arms and loudly smooches his cheeks, making him crack up and drool all over her. “We’ve got this.”

  Birdie and Mia hang out on the floor, cooing and playing with Rider, who’s doing his level best to crawl and jam everything into his mouth, while Lia’s dogs bark up a storm in the backyard. Leo comes stumbling in about ten minutes later, his hair wild and a bag of diapers in his hand.

  “You’d think we’d learn,” he says, dropping the diapers on the couch. “Buy ahead, buy in bulk. Whatever we do, it’s never enough. Is it just our kid who goes through like thirty diapers a day?”

  Mia wrinkles her nose. “That’s disgusting. Is it all poop?”

  Leo kneels beside her and whispers, “You don’t want to know, kiddo.”

  He runs upstairs to change just about the same time Alice and Morris knock on the door. I open it for them, and Zoey nearly knocks me over trying to get to Mia and Rider.

  “And hello to you,” I say, stepping out of the path of the flying child.

  Alice, just days away from her due date, and Morris come inside. Morris picks up the baby so that Alice doesn’t have to bend. They take turns smooching little Rider and making the kid laugh until Tim and Juliette show up to babysit.

  “Is this the party, or is the party some place else?” Tim greets his buddies and even me warmly, while Juliette gives Zoey and Mia hugs hello.

  Birdie and I leave Mia with instructions to behave and help Rider’s uncle and aunt and to keep things clean, and then we all head over to the compound.

  On the drive over, I take Birdie’s hand. She’s in the passenger seat of her beater, staring out the window as we pull away from Leo and Lia’s.

  “What’s on your mind?” I ask.

  She smiles. “Nothing specific. Things just happen so fast. A year ago, I was broke, alone, and mourning the loss of my mom.” She traces her fingertips over the sparrow on the back of my hand. “I had no clue what happiness could be ahead.”

  I squeeze her hand and don’t say anything. I feel the same way, and while we have a lot ahead of us—work and her health—the future has never looked brighter. I have an idea suddenly and turn the car around and head back toward her house.

  “Everything okay, babe?” she asks.

  I nod. “Yeah, forgot something. Will just be a minute.”

  I pull the car up out front and park. “Come with me?” I go around to the passenger side and open the door for her. I take her hand and lead her to the front door, motioning for her to sit. The Florida sun is bright outside. Just like the day I was released, I can smell the faint scent of citrus on the air.

  The heat on my neck feels so, so good, even if I’m starting to get hot. The fact that I can go wherever I want, whenever I want, is still a gift I don’t take for granted. In the sun. In the shade. For a run. A coffee shop. The compound. My world has gone from a killer for a cellmate to a woman who shares her bed, her child, her home—her everything—with me. And I do the same for her.

  “Here?” she asks. “Outside? Crow, what’s going on?”

  We sit side by side on the front stoop. The very same place where I first spotted Mia, crying and looking for help so many months ago.

  I’m silent for a moment as I contemplate what to say. What I’m feeling. I think back to that day. The man I was, running away from everything and into a future I couldn’t have dreamed. Right here is where my second chance at life started. In a moment that was filled with fear and pain. Now, this stoop, this place, is home to me. A place of safety, happiness, and love.

  “I love you, Birdie,” I say. “You mean everything to me.”

  Her face flushes, and she leans against me. “Baby, I love you too.”

  We sit together for another few seconds before she looks me in the face. “Are you worried?” she asks. “About your dad meeting everybody from the club? We don’t have to go, babe, if you’re uncomfortable. I mean, I think it’s going to be fine. Your dad can be a handful, but…”

  As she’s talking, I unlace our hands and pull my mom’s ring out of my pocket and work it over her finger. “Dad gave me this this morning,” I tell her. “It belonged to my mom.” I meet her eyes. “I thought you should have it. Unless you want me to pick out something just for you.”

  Her mouth drops open, and she looks down at her hand. The ring is lovely, not a massive sparkler, but a modest oval set with tapered stones on either side. “Crow, what is this?”

  “An engagement ring.” I hold her hand in mine. “I was thinking we should—”

  I don’t even get the words out when she plants her mouth on mine. “Yes,” she pants against my lips. “Yes, yes.”

  We kiss until I’m sure we’re making a scene for the neighbors and my dick strains against my pants. We either need to go upstairs and celebrate privately, or we need to cut this short and head out to the party. Birdie has tears in her eyes as we walk hand in hand back to the car.

  “I’m sorry my mother’s not here to see this,” she says, staring at the new gem on her finger. “She would have loved you.”

  “You think? I’m not exactly the type moms love.” I chuckle, intending that as a joke, but Birdie shakes her head.

  “No more,” she says firmly. “No more poking fun at my man. No talking down about my man. You got it, buddy? I’m proud of you, Logan Taylor. You’ve got to start feeling that same pride in yourself.”

  I soak up her words as we pull into the compound lot. “One more thing,” I say, needing to get this out and hoping not to get any pushback. “I want to adopt Mia.”

  “You what?” she asks, sounding shocked.

  Once I park the car, I turn to face her. “Bryan’s not a father. He hasn’t been around or even called since I’ve been in the picture. He doesn’t deserve something as precious as she is.”

  Birdie’s eyes are filled with tears. “You’ll have to ask Mia, and you’ll need to get Bryan’s approval—or however the court handles it.”

  “I have no doubt the asshole won’t have a problem with it. It’ll let him off the hook for child support.”

  “As if he ever paid it,” she mumbles.

  “If Mia says yes, that she’ll have me as her dad, I want nothing more than to officially make us a family.”

  Birdie places her hand on my arm. “We already are, no matter what a piece of paper says.”

  I lean over, grabbing the back of her head and giving her a long, deep kiss. I almost get lost in her, forgetting where we are and what we’re doing until she pulls away.

  “We have to go in,” she whispers, staring at me with soft, sweet eyes.

  “Fuck,” I groan, wishing we could be alone for the entire night, but knowing the guys are going to lose their shit when they hear the news.

  “Come on,” she says. “It’ll be fun.”

  We link hands as we walk into the party, already in full swing.

  Lia has a beer in hand and is clinking the neck of her bottle with Tiny. Madge is spooning food onto a plate for my dad, who somehow beat me here and is looking both uncomfortable and also totally intrigued. Leo, Dog, Eagle, and Morris all have drinks in hand, and when they see me come in, they roar in welcome.

  I turn to Birdie, who has locked eyes with Alice and looks like she’s bursting to share the news. “You good?”

  “Never better.” She kisses me lightly, then makes a beeline for her new best friend.

  I’m standing in the middle of the compound kitchen, watching my father, my fiancée, and all my brothers together. It’s the end of an era, for sure, when pregnant women, kids, and dogs become part of compound life. But somehow, it’s even better this way.

  I grab a beer and clap my dad on the back. “Birdie’s wearing a little something you gave us,” I tell him.

  He nods at me. “I’m happy for you, son,” he says and goes back to nibbling wings and potato salad from Madge’s plate.

  As I join my brothers, I feel for the first time in a long time what I’ve always wanted and never thought I’d feel. Freedom. Freedom to be happy. Freedom to forgive. Myself, and the people in my life who haven’t made shit easy.

  Freedom comes with responsibility and consequences. I know that much. But as I twist the cap off my beer and stand beside my brothers, I’ve never appreciated what I have and how I got here more. Birdie’s smiling and watching me as she and Alice talk. She’s got people in her life now—half-siblings and friends. Even Mia has changed in the time I’ve known her, now that she has a best friend and dogs and little Rider. Somehow, all of us together make a big, untouchable family.

  It all started with a headache, a little girl, and a broken man who went stupidly into the unknown. Only this time, my instincts couldn’t have led me into a better place. I may not have trusted my gut then, but stopping to help Mia and Birdie somehow made right my past wrongs.

  I may believe that Birdie accepted me despite everything I’ve done, but earning my own trust back, believing in myself again, that’s the real challenge. And it’s something I’ll work on every day for as long as it takes.

  With her by my side, I’ll be the man I want to be. The man I know I am. Flaws and all. I blow my woman a kiss and turn to my boys.

  “Cheers,” I say, holding my beer up so the sparrow on my hand looks like it’s flying. My brothers raise their glasses and boisterously echo my toast.

  “Fuck yeah!”

  “Woo-hoo!”

  That single cheer sets the fun loose, and the drinks start to flow. The conversation gets rowdy, and there’s no better homecoming.

  Celebration. Togetherness.

  Good times and good fortune.

  No matter where we came from or how we got here, we’ve got this.

  We’ve got each other.

  And that’s everything.

  Are you ready for more? Broken Wings, Arrow’s story, is waiting for you.

  Arrow has been grinding for years as a bounty hunter and private investigator. After setting down roots and opening his own office, his business doesn’t take off the way he’d hoped. Just when he’s about to change course, a beautiful woman is in desperate need of his services.

  Tap here to read now >> Broken Arrow

  OPEN ROAD SERIES

  Book 1 - Broken Sparrow (Morris)

  Book 2 - Broken Dove (Leo)

  Book 3 - Broken Wings (Crow)

  Book 4 - Broken Arrow (Arrow)

  The Open Road series is interconnected with the Men of Inked: Heatwave series. Learn more at menofinked.com/heatwave-series

  Also available in alternative paperback

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