Final Ride: Hellions Motorcycle Club (Hellions Ride Book 9) by Chelsea Camaron

me.
    I look the two men in their eyes before I speak. “The miles shared between us have been long, hard, and one helluva ride. Comes a point where the road ends for every one of us. I thought mine would come the day I was no longer twisting the throttle for myself. That bitch called life had another lesson for me, I suppose.” I sigh. “Maybe it was something I missed before, maybe it’s karma. Fuck if I know.” I stand and slide the well-worn leather from my back.
    Holding the cut up in the air, I look over every single patch. Each was earned, never freely given. Every stitch was sewn with honor, respect, loyalty, and a love that is for every man who has ridden with me, for me, behind me, beside me, and will continue beyond me.
    Laying it out on the wooden table in front of us, I say, “The time is here. My final ride is done. Nothing comes before brotherhood. Never has.”
    “Until now,” Roundman adds.
    “Got a daughter.”
    “Know that, brother,” Danza says with a nod.
    “This is the lifestyle her mother never wanted for her. If I couldn’t honor her in life, I need to try in death. Gettin’ old, guys. We’re not young bucks anymore. I believe in the leadership beneath us. I believe the club will hold strong. My time is just here. It kills me.” I fight back the tears. This isn’t who we are, but that cut is a piece of me.
    “Denied.” Roundman’s firm reply echoes through the small space.
    “What?” I ask in shock. “You are going to deny me my daughter’s future.”
    Danza looks at Roundman, then up at me. “Come on, Blaine. We just talked the other day about times changing and things needing a shift in the club. Maybe it’s time we all reconsider our places. Maybe we need to look at where the weight falls.”
    “If I couldn’t walk away for Tilly”—I pace the space, frustration building inside of me by the second—“then I at least gotta take a step back for Shannon and give her my time. She’s my daughter. You really want to deny me and her this opportunity?”
    “Not in the least bit.” His tone is solid and unwavering. “You have this club in your heart, your veins. You will do whatever you want. You have no requirements left to this club, but this club will forever have your back, brother. That cut is yours, ride until you motherfucking die. The door is always open to you. This club is always available to you. Ride out, ride in, ride on—you do so always as a Hellion. Go do you, brother.”
    Roundman rubs his tired eyes. “You’re right; we are gettin’ old. Shit is tough. Shit is changing. Doesn’t mean you gotta walk away from somethin’ you built. You are and always will be an original. Take your time, have your family. One call, and we will always have your back. Your ol’ lady, she needs to know, one call, we are at her back. Your daughter, Shannon, may not understand us. She may not even like us. But, for you, we got her back. Amy will know this.
    “Your retirement plan is paid in full. The money will always come, brother. Pick up your cut, carry it home. It’s yours. We’ll handle any questions from the club. You are relieved, but not released. You get me?”
    I nod, unable to form words, as the two men who have ridden with me through good times and bad stand to give me one last half-hug, slap on the back before I exit the cave for what I plan to be my very last time.
     
     

    “Ride with me?” I ask Shannon after we finish breakfast silently.
    I barely slept last night. My mind was back on those moments with my daughter, my Serenity, skin to skin, her lifeless body fitting in my hand. Hope was gone and born altogether. There was no hope for her resuscitation, but she got me through the worst moments after leaving the warehouse. She gave me life again … after I died inside.
    “Where are we going? Do you even drive?”
    I give a small laugh. “I don’t like to, but thanks to Frisco, it’s part of the independence he forced me to have.”
    She looks like