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I run my hands through his hair, and he hums in pleasure, fisting his hands in the material of my dress. “I need you, baby.”
“I’m right here, Rock.”
“Don’t know what I’d do without you.”
I skim my hand along the side of his face. “You won’t ever have to find out.”
Finally, he looks up at me. “I hope not.”
That sounds ominous, and I wonder what exactly went on today.
But he obviously doesn’t want to talk about it, so I drop it for now.
His hands are busy working my belt loose. It drops to the floor with a muted clink. Then he tugs up my dress until I pull it up over my head and toss it next to the belt. Underneath, I’m wearing my blue garter skirt and stockings. Not for sexy reasons, just because it was all I had here that would work with the dress. My stockpile of tights seems to have diminished.
I settle my hands on his shoulders for balance, enjoying the feel of his solid muscles beneath my fingers.
“Fuck,” Rock breathes out. “You were wearing this all day and I had no idea?”
“I guess.”
He runs a finger under one of the garter straps, tickling my thigh. “That’s unacceptable, Hope. I need to pay better attention to you.” The words themselves are teasing, but his voice is so serious, as if he’s upset with himself.
“I’m fine, Rock. What happened today? Why was Sway really here?”
Neither of us says anything—or even breathes—for a moment. It’s the most direct question I’ve asked him about “club business” in a long time.
He tips his head up at me, but his dark eyes and expression are unreadable. “Stupid bullshit, Hope,” he finally answers.
It’s not much information, but he did answer me, so I push for more. “Did something happen on our trip?”
“Yes.”
“They don’t have a grow house, do they?”
“No.”
My mind is spinning. “Brother charter, though. You have to help them out when they ask, don’t you?”
His mouth turns down, and his hands tighten where they’re holding on to my upper thighs. “I don’t have to do anything, Hope. It’s a brotherhood. We’re loyal to each other.”
He’s explained that before. And when he says it about his clubhouse—the ones I consider his brothers: Wrath, Z, Teller, Murphy and the rest of them—I believe him. The sincerity in his voice at those times is clear.
Now, the words come out like he’s reciting a script. “They help us when I need it. Whenever we’ve had shit with the Vipers, I only had to pick up the phone for Sway and his guys to be here.”
“Okay. I understand.”
He pins me with one of his presidential stares. “Do you?”
“I’m trying.”
He sighs and loosens his hold on me. “I know you are, baby. I appreciate it. How did things go with Tawny? She behave?”
“I caught her giving Trinity a hard time, but I distracted her.”
Rock makes a low, growly sound of irritation.
“Can I ask you something?”
The corner of his mouth lifts, but I ask anyway. “Is her dislike for Trinity a general club girl thing or more specific?”
He snorts. “Who knows with her?” His hands slide from my hips down my thighs, tickling behind my knees, and back up, stopping just under my breasts. “Can we talk about something else now?”
It’s my turn to smirk. “Somehow I don’t think talking is what you have in mind.”
“You’re absolutely right, baby doll.”
I should never take Trinity’s planning skills for granted. She’s been after me about organizing some sort of an engagement party for weeks. Now that the downstate trip is over and things have settled down with Heidi, she’s right back in party-planning mode.
Since I have a bit of an aversion to this sort of thing, it’s honestly a relief to have her help. Rock surprises me by being game for anything. I don’t suspect there’s a lot of gruff bikers into wedding stuff, but he seems charmed by every idea Trinity presents.
The contradiction between the scary biker and loving fiancé make me love him even more.
Trinity has a folder of magazine clippings and menus in front of her. “I know usually the parents of the bride are supposed to—”
I have to stop her. “Trinity, it’s fine. Trust me. You don’t want my mother involved.”
Her smile falters. “I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
“Don’t apologize. It’s not like I need my mom to pay for it. Rock and I—”
“I’ll take care of whatever comes up, Trinny,” Rock interrupts.
“Some of them will be my guests, Rock.”
He makes that face I always suspect means he’s counting to ten in his head before saying anything. Instead of answering me, he addresses Trinity. “Whatever you need, let me know.”
“Rock, I have my own money.”
“Making it worse, Hope,” Trinity mumbles under her breath with a sly smile.
Exasperated, I give Rock a small shove. “This is women’s work. Don’t you have scary biker business to attend to?”
He bursts out laughing. “Fuck, I love you,” he says, planting a kiss on my cheek as he stands.
Trinity nods at him in a way that suggests they just had some sort of silent conversation over my head.
Once he leaves, she turns her attention to me. “So where do you want to have it?”
“We can do it at my house. Just low key.”
“Not Rock’s?”
I think it over. The last time I hosted anyone else at my house, it was after Clay’s funeral. I like the idea of something a little happier being held there. It helps cement my feeling that I’m moving forward. The guilt I expected doesn’t come either, which is a relief. Of course, the next logical thing is getting rid of the damn house, but I can’t think about that right now.
“Yeah, it’s a little closer for some of my friends.”
“Okay.” Trinity’s busy making notes. She stops and taps her pen against her chin. “Low key. Not too simple, though. Something more than a backyard cookout. But we don’t want to scare the guys away with anything too fancy either.” She seems to be thinking out loud more than looking for any actual input from me.
“Oh! How about some sort of chicken wing tasting thing? There’s the restaurant downtown that does like twenty different kinds of wings. You could have little tasting stations.”
“That sounds like fun. Messy, though.”
“They can do boneless. And then, so it’s not too much man food, we can have like really girly gourmet ice cream sandwiches for desert. I just read this whole article and have a bunch of recipes—” She grabs her folder and starts scattering pages all over the coffee table again.
“Okay. I trust you, Trinity. That actually sounds kind of awesome.”
She flashes me a bright grin and jots down more notes. “Open bar of course.”
“Can you hire a bartender, though? I don’t want you serving drinks. I’ll need you to help me survive my psycho mother.”
She glances up, surprise clearly written on her face. “Of course, Hope.”
“I mean. You’re a guest. I want you to enjoy the party too.” Hell, I don’t know what I mean.
Since Trinity isn’t an overly affectionate person, she shocks me by throwing her arms around me and squeezing tight. “I’m so happy for you two.”
For some reason, I’m sniffling. “Thanks.”
She jumps up off the couch, yanking me along. “Let’s go down to Wing Fling and see what they can do.”
“Right now?”
“Sure, why not?” she says over her shoulder as she walks over and taps on Rock’s office door. Inside, Rock, Wrath, and Z seem to be conducting a meeting of their own. Trinity leans on the door frame. “Hope and I are going to run downtown and check out a restaurant.”
She gives the guys a rundown of her chicken wing idea, and they all seem to approve. Rock catches my eye,
and I smile and shrug back at him.
“You need one of us to go with?” Wrath asks.
“Nah, we’ll be fine.”
“Making any other stops?” he persists.
“We’re not going to the pinup store,” she answers with a giggle.
Wrath feigns outrage, but he’s laughing too hard to be convincing.
Z has no idea what’s so funny.
The restaurant is smack in the middle of Empire, so of course it’s impossible to find parking. We end up walking quite a way.
“Are any of your friends vegetarians?” She’s chattering and firing so many questions at me that the walk doesn’t seem so long.
Once we’re inside, I feel good about the selection. The owners are friendly and more than willing to sit down with us without an appointment.
I end up having to text Rock with a few dates, and we agree on one two months out. Trinity says it’s more than enough time to put this together, and I trust her.
We’re standing at the register as the owner puts the information into his computer. “Kendall-North. Engagement party.”
“Hope?” someone shrieks behind me.
I recognize that voice and stand stock-still, praying the ground will swallow me whole.
“Hope?” Trinity questions.
“Can you finish up here?” I ask her softly.
“Sure.”
Pasting on my patient lawyer smile, I turn and greet my former sister-in-law.
“Think the girls are okay?” Wrath asks maybe an hour after they left.
“Yeah. Already got a text from Hope looking for a date for the party.”
“That’s good, right? You said she’s been hard to nail down.”
I nod, not completely comfortable discussing this with him at the moment.
“Will Lilly come to the party?” Z asks.
“I assume she will. Why?”
Z shrugs.
“What’s wrong, brother? She still dodging you?” Wrath asks with a dickish smile.
“You’re one to talk.”
That’s an effective way to shut Wrath up. I’ll have to remember it. “Can we focus and get this shit done?” I ask.
There’s a bunch of new security stuff Wrath wants added to our compound. Since this crosses into all of our job functions, it makes sense for the three of us to sit down together to order the hardware and work out some of the other details. So far, it’s been fine, but I’m well aware these two can only sit down and concentrate on something other than bikes or sex for so long.
Before we clear out of the office, I try to get an update on Wrath’s cast. Something he’s intensely pissed off about, according to Trinity.
“Another fuckin’ week at least.”
“You gonna do the physical therapy the doc suggested?” Z asks.
Wrath snorts. “I’ll go and get the exercises, then do them myself.”
“Good. Well, when you’re up to it, I’d like you to take Hope out to the gun range and give her some training.”
Wrath’s eyebrows lift. “Yeah? You don’t want to teach your girl yourself?”
“I’ll join you, but no, you can do the training. That’s your area.”
“Okay. Cool. I got no problem doin’ it now. Someone’s just gotta drive me out in the side-by-side.”
“It’s not urgent. I’d just like her to be more comfortable. You remember what happened when we got run off the road.”
The corner of Wrath’s mouth lifts. “Yeah, but she did okay.”
Z and I both cock our heads at him.
“What?”
“Nothing. What kind of gun you thinkin’ of having her start with?” I ask Wrath.
He shrugs. “Glock three-eighty? Your little pussy-ass nine mil might be fine too.”
“We’ll see how pussy it is when I put a few holes through your obnoxious ass,” I grumble.
Not at all threatened, Wrath grins. “She can’t handle my Glock twenty, but maybe a revolver if she’s uncomfortable loading the magazine in an emergency. I dunno. I’ll let her test out what we got and see what she likes.”
Z shakes his head. “Carrying that cannon around just makes everyone think you have a small dick.”
Wrath snorts.
Z turns to me. “Should be real easy for her to get a permit.”
“Yeah, I don’t need to get involved in that.” I agree. I have a connection at the sheriff’s office for those of us with less-than-clean records. But being a lawyer should make it easy for Hope to get a pistol permit, so no need for me to call in any favors. The less connection she has to me the better. “Weather is supposed to be nice this week, so let me know when you’re feelin’ up to it.”
“Anytime, brother.” Wrath gives me a fist-bump as I walk out of the office.
“You’re getting married again? Already?” Lynn asks in an extremely loud voice, sending shame spiraling through my body. My cheeks heat up. “How could you? My brother’s barely cold in his grave. What’s wrong—”
“Stop talking before I slap the shit out of you, lady,” Trinity snarls as she steps up beside me.
My entire body trembles. I’m hot all over. Mortified doesn’t begin to cover it. Thankfully, Lynn’s mouth snaps shut and she takes a step back as she gets a good look at Trinity. While I find Trinity to be sweet and almost shy at times, I’m reminded she can be pretty damn fierce when she needs to be.
Trinity grabs my arm. “We’re all set here, Hope.”
Lynn’s like a cobra I can’t take my eyes off in case she strikes again. “Okay.”
“Let’s go.” She steers me around Lynn. As Trinity’s hand brushes the door, Lynn grumbles something under her breath at me.
“Hang on, Trin.” Feeling a little more in charge of myself, I whirl around. “What did I ever do to you, Lynn?”
“You trapped my brother into marrying—”
Something inside me breaks when it registers what she’s about to accuse me of. Before I know what’s happening, my palm connects with her cheek. A satisfying pop fills the air, and Lynn’s head snaps back.
Through clenched teeth, I manage to get out a few final words. “I loved Clay. You, not so much. Don’t ever speak to me again, Lynn.”
Trinity’s mouth is hanging open, but she takes my hand and pulls me out onto the street. “Holy shit, Hope. Nice job.”
My lips twitch into an uncertain smile. “I can’t believe I did that. Oh my God.”
Now that the moment is over, I’m absolutely shaking with rage. Hurt and humiliation are also present in my mind. I can’t believe Trinity witnessed me so out of control. I can’t believe the lovely couple I spent an hour going over my engagement party menu with heard the awful things Lynn said to me. I can’t believe Lynn had the nerve to suggest—
“Hope? Are you okay?”
We’re standing in front of the Jeep. Somehow we walked all the way here and I didn’t notice.
Trinity opens my door and I slide in. All I can do is stare out the window.
Next to me, she taps out a text, then sets her phone down on the console. “Buckle up, Hope. We’re going straight to the clubhouse. We’ve had enough fun for one day.”
Are you at the clubhouse?
The text from Trinity surprises me.
Yes.
I answer back.
Bringing Hope back now. Something happened. She needs you.
What the fuck?
“What’s wrong?” Wrath asks.
“Yo, I’m heading down to CB,” Z announces, coming out of the office. He stops when he spots us. “What’s wrong, prez?”
“Got a weird text from Trinity.” I answer without looking up.
“They okay?”
“I think so. She says they’re on their way back now.”
“Okay. Let me know if you need anything.”
Wrath pulls my phone out of my hand to review the texts. “Wanna call her?”
“Nah, if she’s driving, I don’t want to distract her.”
“I
meant Hope.”
I shake my head. “They’ll be here soon.”
When they get here, everything seems fine at first. Trinity laughs and jokes around with Hope. But I’ve known Trinity a long time; her laughter is forced.
The girls give me a rundown of their meeting with the restaurant before Trinity takes off.
“Everything okay?” I ask Hope.
She glances at me with watery eyes. “Yeah. Can we go upstairs?”
“Sure.”
In our room, she moves like a robot while she changes into a pair of sweatpants and an old T-shirt of mine.
Finally, she comes and sits next to me on the bed. Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I hug her tight to me. “What’s wrong, baby?”
“We ran into Lynn at the restaurant.”
It takes me a second to remember who the hell that is. “Aw, shit, baby. I remember what a selfish bitch she was.”
“Yeah, she overheard we were planning an engagement party and flipped out in front of the entire place. It was so embarrassing.”
I’d love to find that bitch and fucking choke the life out of her. “What’d she say?”
“Just that she couldn’t believe I was getting married again so soon. Stuff like that.”
Shit. “I’m sorry.”
“I slapped her, Rock. She got me so mad I actually slapped her across the face.” Hope whispers the last words while she stares down at her hand.
I’m not at all sorry about the feeling of pride that surges through me.
“Good. Sounds like she fucking deserved it.”
Her mouth finally turns up a bit. “Yeah. I can’t tell you how many times over the years I wanted to smack her. Guess it was pent-up aggression.”
“I can imagine.”
She giggles a little and leans against me. “It was just so awful. Why’d she…? Ugh.”
“I don’t know why. Sounds like she’s been a miserable person for years. Probably just wanted someone to take it out on.”
She’s silent for a while.
“Baby, you can tell me the truth. Do you feel like it’s too soon?”
Hope sucks in a deep breath before answering. “No, Rock.”
Thank fuck. I don’t know what I’d do if she said yes. “It’s done. I’m glad you stood up to her.”
“Me too. I think I shocked the hell out of Trinity too.”
