Page 88 of Diary of a Biker Queen

27

NYAH

Dear Diary,

Bullets flying through my tiramisu would have been preferable.

“What do I have to do to get the two of you to change your minds about this?” Lynx tugged at the tuxedo he’d rented and stared helplessly in the mirror at his reflection, a bow tie dangling from his fingers. “If for no other reason, we shouldn’t go because I have no fucking idea how the hell you tie one of these things.”

Luca rolled his eyes and took it from him. “Give it to me. I’ll do it for you. It’s not hard.”

Seemed pretty hard from where I was sitting perched on the edge of my mattress, trying to put on the sparkly heels I’d bought at a Goodwill store the day before. Unfortunately, my belly got in the way, and the too-tight dress didn’t help matters either. It clung to the curves of my pregnant body, plastering itself to my tits and hips and ass and belly in a way that had Luca and Lynx drooling at the mouth, even though I would have been a lot more comfortable in a pair of sweats.

But sweats weren’t going to get me into a Guerra party unnoticed.

And not going to the party wasn’t an option.

Because none of us had heard from Dax in two weeks. His phone went straight to voicemail. I called the shop every day, and both King and Roarke tiredly told me to stop bothering, that he’d come back when he was ready, just like he had last time. I even thought about calling his father, but I hadn’t wanted to worry him with my theories that Dax hadn’t left of his own free will. The man was still thick in the grief of losing his wife, and if I was wrong, and Dax had just needed some space…I didn’t want to cause his family any more trouble than I already had. Though I had loved Virginia, and she had never been anything but kind to me, I felt the chill from Dax’s brothers. I knew I deserved their anger. That whatever was going on with Dax was my fault, and that if he’d never met me, they’d probably still have both their brother and their mom.

It was a guilt I walked around with daily, one I couldn’t shake. The closer I got to my due date, the more I worried about bringing this baby into the world without his father at my side.

And that broke my heart every time I thought about it.

So I had vowed to do whatever needed doing in order to find Dax and bring him home.

If that meant shoving my very pregnant body into some secondhand lace and satin that was at least a size too small, then so be it.

I was going to that Guerra party tonight. Whether Carlos wanted me there or not.

The hotel in the city was the nicest one I’d ever been to. I was grateful we had Luca’s car to drive there, because the Slayers’ club van would have been wholly out of place amongst the flashy sports cars and deluxe limousines.

We pulled up in the circular driveway, and a valet waited to take the car.

Luca handed over the keys, and Lynx tucked my hand into the crook of his arm.

He breathed out unsteadily. “This is such a bad idea.”

“I know. Trust me, I would much rather be at home soaking in a bathtub. If I could still fit into one.” I stared up at the hotel with its mixture of chrome metal and glass so tinted it appeared black. “But what’s the worst that can happen in such a public place?”

Luca picked the spot on my other side, his fingers finding mine and linking through them. “Oh, I don’t know. My father realizes we’re here, and bullets fly over the dessert table? He notices I haven’t just sunk off into the abyss and decides to spit roast me with an apple in my mouth?”

None of us laughed. Because unfortunately, we knew it was a very real possibility.

I tightened my grip on both of them. “That’s not going to happen. Not with a hotel full of witnesses. But I need to hear your father say he’s not keeping Dax in that basement of his.”

A shiver ran down my spine at the very thought of the cages I’d been kept in. The scar where Carlos had branded me with the Guerra name throbbed, as if to remind me to be careful or I risked being back there myself.

The baby inside me gave a solid kick, and it felt like yet another warning I had a lot to lose.

And yet I couldn’t stay away. If there was any chance to find out more information on where Dax was and whether he was okay, I had to be here.

He’d done the same for me once. Searched high and low, and even though in the end he hadn’t been able to help me, I’d never forget that Dax was a man who showed up when it counted.

I refused to give him anything less.

So I lifted my head and strode through the doors of the hotel, both Luca and Lynx dressed to the nines either side of me.

A crowd of people, all in formal wear like we were, made their way to a ballroom, and we followed along, swept up in the sea of people. Security at the door asked for our names, and Luca confidently gave his.