"I bet it's gonna be in the glass room," Summer said, smiling. "Don't look at me like that," she said to me, smiling wider. "We've all thought about getting it on in there, admit it."
She wasn't wrong.
But she was wrong at the same time.
Because the first people to break in the glass room wasn't Repo and Maze. It was me and Duke about three days later.
Now if you told me even five minutes before it happened that it would, I would have laughed in your face. But Duke dragged me up there with the promise of a surprise.
The surprise ended up being a very familiar blanket on the floor.
At my brow raise, Duke gave me a wicked smile. "Yeah, it's the one from the fallout shelter. Don't worry, I washed it."
"You don't mean..." I started, shaking my head as he closed the door in the floor and cut the lights.
"Oh, but I do," he told me, hands going to my hips and pulling me against his body where I felt his hard cock already pressing against my belly. "See, Cash was right. This room isn't exactly soundproof. But it is pretty damn close considering how thick this glass is and how thick the roof is underneath it. I can make you scream as loud as I want and everyone will just keep sleeping like babies."
"Duke..." I tried to keep objecting, though the idea of not having to hold back was definitely making my insides turn to mush.
"Plus, look up," he demanded and I tilted my head to look up as his head ducked and his lips pressed into my neck, making my belly flutter, my sex clench, and a low whimper to escape my mouth as I looked at the dark sky above us, moonless, but littered with a thousand tiny stars.
Then all reservations were gone.
We undressed slowly and he made love to me just as slowly, wrapping us up in the blanket afterward.
He took my hand, interlocking our fingers, then bringing my hand to his mouth to kiss it.
"Tell me," he said quietly.
"Tell you what?" I asked, body post-orgasm sated, my mind a little sleepy.
"You know what," he demanded.
And I did.
So I did.
"I love you," I said, never once in my life finding those words easier to say.
"I love you too," he admitted, easy, no fuss.
The words settled down deep, filling me until I felt bursting.
He loved me too.
Was there a better feeling in the world?
"Don't fall asleep," I warned him, snuggling into his chest. "We can't sleep here."
But we did.
And when we came down the next morning and went out into the main room, yeah, Cash was there again, Cheshire cat grin in place.
I looked over at Duke who squeezed my hand as he threw his head back to laugh.
And I found myself joining.TWENTYPennyThe next morning, we were in the SUV on the way to the care center to see my grandmother.
Duke and Renny were in the front seat.
Duke, because he never let me go anywhere alone despite the fact that there hadn't been anything violent or even suspicious since the massacre at the clubhouse.
Renny, because he was 'backup'.
At least that was what he insisted when he jumped in the front seat and declared, "Shotgun!"
So there we were, on the way to see my grandma, everything in the world feeling right.
And I saw them.
I saw them.
"Duke!" I shrieked. "That's them! Those are the guys!" I said, ripping off my belt so I could move between their seats and jab a finger out the windshield. "Them. Those are them!"
"Penny, no," Duke said, shaking his head as we went to move past the small group of men. "That's not possible."
"Don't tell me that that's not possible. I saw them. I saw them every time they punched or kicked or put a knife to me. That was them!"
"Baby, it couldn't have been them," Duke reasoned.
"Why not? Who are they?"
In front of me, Duke and Renny shared a hard look, communicating something silently as my heart slammed so hard, I was sure I was going to throw up.
Renny was the one to turn back to me, eyes intense.
"Those were the Grassis."EPILOGUEPenny - 6 monthsA lot happened following the ride to my grandmother's that morning. But I don't want to talk about that right now.
I want to talk about other things.
Like Maze's delivery.
See, three months before, Summer brought in a healthy little boy named Finn first thing in the morning with Reign beside her. After her short stay at the hospital, he finally brought her home to his house that was almost as secure as the compound.
And three nights before Maze's delivery, all the men save for Renny went on some big 'run'. I didn't ask, but I knew that it was the arms-trading kind of thing.
That left me at the compound with Maze.