She glances at Charlie.
“Don’t worry, we’re bringing Charlie. I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to do this with the three of us. We’re going to Connecticut this summer. Seeing the ocean. Maybe even taking a trip up to Maine.”
“You’re taking us to the East Coast?” Her smile grows.
“You said you hadn’t been.”
“And Steel is okay with it? He doesn’t need you here?”
“The guys can cover for me for a few weeks.”
“How did I get so lucky?” She wraps her arms around my shoulders, capturing Charlie between us as she lifts onto her toes for a kiss.
Until Charlie grabs her earlobe and tugs.
“Ah!” Emery pulls back, and I reach for Charlie’s hand, replacing Emery’s ear with my fingers. “This is why I don’t wear earrings.”
“Smart.” I tickle Charlie’s belly, and she giggles. “Be nice to Mommy.”
She collapses against me, giggling. I rub her dark hair, which is already starting to get longer.
“Emery.” Tempe pops her head through the back slider. “Aimee wants to get a picture.”
“I’ll be right out.” She reaches for Charlie, and I hand her over.
“You too, Soul.” Tempe smiles, making it clear it’s not optional.
“He’ll be there in a second, wildfire.” Steel slips past Tempe, kissing her on the top of the head as he walks past. “I need him for a second.”
“You’re not working before the wedding.” Tempe crosses her arms over her chest, glaring at him.
“I’ll be right back,” he tells her.
She rolls her eyes. “Mm-hmm.”
I kiss Emery and Charlie, watching them disappear out the back door with Tempe as Steel approaches.
“You’re going to get in trouble,” I say to him, turning to follow him toward church.
“I’ll make it up to her later.” He grins.
Chaos laughs, coming up behind us. “No one needs to hear about that shit.”
Legacy, Havoc, Ghost, and Venom are right behind him. I thought Tempe was joking about Steel working, but something must be up if everyone is here.
“Well, shit, what went wrong?” I ask as we filter inside, but no one takes their seats.
“Sorry to do this on your wedding day.” Steel sighs, frowning. “I just got a call from the guys in Texas. Seems we’ve got a problem at Ironside Ridge.”
“What the fuck happened?” Chaos steps forward. “Kincaid didn’t call me.”
“I just heard. It happened last night. The guys have managed to keep it under wraps for now, so Kincaid likely doesn’t even know, but word is spreading as we speak.” Steel scratches his jaw. “Someone ran Jackson off the road last night. He’s in the hospital. We think he’llpush through, but it’s getting messy. Cops said it was an accident, but the guys think someone targeted him.”
Jackson has been leading the guys in Texas, and while it’s not an official Twisted Kings chapter, he’s the one they report to, and he answers to Steel.
“You think the ranchers did it?” I guess.
“They’ve been giving us nothing but trouble,” Steel says. “We need that clubhouse up and running. This sets us back even more. The guys there say they’ve got it under control—”
