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“I’m gonna talk about Viper’s absolute favorite topic, hands down. His fucking incredible wife, Mama V.”
Her breath hitched. Was he trying to make her bawl like a baby?
“Not everyone here knows the story of how Viper met Cassie,” he said, his voice stronger than it had been a moment before. “It’s not mine to tell so I’ll leave it up to the lady if she wants you to know. Neither talked about it much. It was hard, personal, and private. But I’ll tell you this much, the moment that man laid eyes on his woman, he was a fucking fish flopping on the line.”
Cassie choked out a laugh at that.
“She hooked him, reeled his ass in, and made him hers. And fuck if he didn’t sing her praises nearly every damn day.” Copper lifted his glass, rubbing his chin as he did so in a move that was classic Copper.
The rest of the men followed, raising their glasses high. “I’m gonna keep this short, but sweet. Never known a better goddammed man than Viper. Pretty sure I never will. Mama V, you’re the heart of this club, and Viper was its fucking soul. We’re all bleeding right now, and the wound may never fully heal, but that man’s a goddammed hero and he will be revered as one for as long as this club lives.”
“Hero is fucking right,” called out Screw as both he and Gumby huddled close to Jazz. Cassie lifted her gaze to the heavens. That’s what Viper had died for right there. He gave his life so those three could have their happy ever after and, in her heart, Cassie knew he’d made the right choice.
“To Viper and Mama V,” Copper said.
“To Viper and Mama V,” the men called out before tossing back their drinks. For a moment, chatter kicked up around the room but when Cassie lifted a hand, immediate silence ensued. All eyes fell to her, sadness reflected behind the flicker of candlelight. Her family waited quietly as she gathered ten days’ worth of swirling thoughts.
Actually, it was thirty years’ worth of love, devotion, and life she tried to pare down into a few words. Not an easy task.
As she stroked her hand over the soft leather of the bike’s seat she smiled. Whatever profound words she’d been planning to say about Viper’s strong character, selfless nature, and loyalty to his club faded away on a small chuckle. “Did Viper ever tell any of you about the time we broke down on this bike?”
One, two, three ticks of the clock passed where her family probably wondered how to play this. Then Shell cleared her throat. “I’ve for sure never heard that story. The way Viper talked about that bike, I thought that bike was impervious to breaking down.”
“Seriously,” Maverick added with a laugh. “He made that baby seem like the Jesus of bikes. Shit, pretty sure he even told me he rode it across water one time.”
As everyone laughed, Shell blew out her candle. Copper gave her a narrow-eyed look but after she nodded at her man, he grabbed her a chair. The rest of her family followed suit and within a few minutes everyone was seated around the clubhouse, fresh drinks in hand.
“All right,” Screw said. “Lay it on us.” Jazz sat on his lap with Gumby in a chair next to them. He had one arm across Screw’s shoulders and the other hand resting on Jazz’s thigh.
Now seated next to Shell, Cassie reached out and captured the younger woman’s hand. “Most of you know we came here from the Pacific Northwest. We being Viper, myself, and Sarge.” She squeezed Shell’s hand. “Shell’s father.”
A few of the guys nodded and grunted their understanding.
“Anyway, we didn’t leave Washington under the best circumstances and needed to stay hidden for a while, so we took a long, roundabout way here to make sure we didn’t have anyone on our tail. Partway through Arkansas, in a tiny, rural town…can’t for the life of me remember the name now.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anyway. We were riding along, and the bike just sputtered and died. Can’t remember what was wrong with it, not that I could tell you even if I did remember.”
She cast a quick glance at Gumby who was working toward opening an automotive shop in town, one that specialized in motorcycles. He winked and she smiled.
“So there we were on the side of the road in this town that…well let’s just say it looked like it needed a bit of TLC. I was nervous.” God, how she’d been anxious. Halfway across the country with two men she’d just met. Leaving her home, her people, her life. They didn’t know who if anyone they could trust, and every mile brought with it more worry over whether or not she’d been insane to leave.
