Caged: The Underground

“What happened to Butcher?” I asked, fearful that he would come after us.

“He’s dead,” Cason answered, his gaze darkening. “I shot his face off. And I would do it again.”

I didn’t care that Butcher was dead but I didn’t want Cason going to prison for the crime.

“What are we going to do?” I asked weakly. “We need a good attorney…”

“Stop,” he said gently. “Everything is fine. Or, it will be. I gave the black book to the Feds. Told them that it was self-defense, which it was. They were so happy to have the book, they didn’t care about the details.”

“The Feds are willing to look the other way?” I asked, shocked. “Does that even happen for real?”

“All I know is that it’s happening for me. I don’t give a shit about how it happens for other people.”

Relief cascaded through me and I broke down in happy tears this time. Butcher wouldn’t be coming after us. We could actually start over, plan a real future together.

Cason tenderly wiped away the moisture, his gaze so loving I nearly started weeping all over again.

“Am I dreaming?” I asked, suddenly doubting that any of this was real. “Or am I…dead?”

“Neither,” he answered, smiling. “But looking at you right now, I have to wonder the same thing on my end. I never want to go through that again, Holly. Ever.”

I nodded, agreeing. Being shot was not fun.

“Whatever you want, Holly…all you have to do is ask. You’ve changed my life. You’re everything I never realized I wanted and I’m never going back to the way it was before.”

There were so many questions to ask, so many hurdles to jump but I was willing to do whatever it took to make it work because the man in front of me was my other half.

Together we would figure it out.

Cason held my gaze and stroked my cheek lightly as I leaned into his touch. I knew what I wanted and I was going to ask for it.

No more pining for a life that wasn’t destined to be mine.

No more half-lives for me.

“I want another baby,” I whispered, knowing in my heart that this was right.

“Are you sure?” Cason asked but a smile had begun playing on his lips as hope sprang into his eyes. “You really want a baby with me?”

“Like nothing I’ve ever wanted in my life.”

Cason welled up and he jerked a nod. “Whatever you want, baby. Whatever you want.”

Cason held me as tightly as he could without injuring me and I lost myself in the security of his arms.

I may not have snagged the quarterback but that was okay, I caught the ultimate, untamable bad boy.

And now, I realized, that’s all I ever wanted.

I’d never been into football much anyway.

Epilogue

Cason

Life was funny.

Holly recovered from her injury and we spent some quality time getting to truly know each other.

I shared what Johnny had told about her mother and after we did some digging, we discovered that Johnny had been truthful.

Gidget Sommers was, indeed, Holly’s mother and she’d disappeared when Holly was around four years old, which was exactly when Butcher had taken over Holly’s care.

The Feds had taken the black book and run with it. So far, several high-ranking officials, including a few police captains, had been collared for accepting bribes, and the Ice Town Rebels were in a state of complete chaos since their leader had been taken down.

In an ironic twist, Butcher had listed Holly as his only heir and beneficiary, clearly planning for Holly to play along, and after the Feds had sifted through the cash flow, determining which was legit and which was illegal, Holly had inherited a tidy sum of cash.

Which was good, because I was no longer an active member of the Cold Heart Crew. Tito remained and I didn’t blame him. Some things were hard to quit.

I didn’t have to be jumped out or anything like that, my crew were decent people, just a little on the shady side of the law.

And I was okay with that.

They’d been my family when I’d had none.

But now, that was all about to change.

“Ready?” the nurse asked as I donned the blue gown and tied a mask around my face.

“Hell yes,” I said, anxious to get in that room with my girl.

Her screams had echoed off the hospital walls but Holly was tougher than nails.

I was about to meet our child.

Holly whimpered as I entered, the doctor crouched between my woman’s thighs. I suffered a low growl at the familiarity but as Holly had repeatedly told me, doctors didn’t count like that. To them, one vagina was the same as the other.

All that mattered was a healthy baby.

I pressed a kiss to her damp forehead and she swatted at me. “Don’t touch me,” she snarled and I smiled at the ferocity in her voice. She was like a wolverine. And damn, the girl had teeth, too. She screeched, “I hate you!”

The nurse was quick to assure me that, “All birthing mothers say that at some point” and I nodded, a little scared of my wife.

“Bear down,” the doctor instructed and Holly grunted like a bear. There was a huge gush and a tiny head popped out.

I never thought I’d find myself watching my child come out of a woman but I knew without a doubt I was the luckiest son-of-a-bitch in the world.

I blinked back tears as I urged her to push. “One more time, baby,” I encouraged. “Almost there.”

Holly’s face turned florid with the effort and suddenly the baby slithered free in a whoosh of fluids, landing in the doctor’s arms, fists waving and squalling like a banshee.

I held my breath as the doctor wiped away the goo and said, “Congratulations, Dad, it’s a girl,” and I nearly passed out from sheer joy.

“It’s a girl, baby,” I said through my unmanly tears. “She’s beautiful. Or I’m sure she’s beautiful, I can’t really tell because she’s covered in snot or something, I don’t know but I love you so much!”

I was babbling but I didn’t care. The doctor handed me the scissors to cut the cord and I did it without hesitation, separating my daughter from her mother.

Holly was weak but smiling. “Is she okay?”

“She’s perfect,” I told her and that was the truth. “With a lot of reddish hair. She’s going to look just like her beautiful mama.”

The doctor wrapped the baby and handed her to me so I could show Holly. I trembled as I stared at the perfection in my arms.

“She’s…she’s…oh God, Holly, she’s amazing,” I said, unable to stop crying. To my screaming daughter, I vowed, “I swear to you I’ll be the best father. But I don’t actually know what I’m doing yet so cut me some slack,” I begged, causing Holly to laugh and hold out her arms. I placed the baby in Holly’s arms and I had to choke back the flood of emotion threatening to swamp me.

“She’s so perfect,” Holly murmured, wiping at her sudden tears. She looked at me with love. “We made this little person. You and I.”