Page 68 of Thunder

I grin at his parting words before walking out of the room I’m apparently going to be staying in tonight because my house has been stripped.

Bradley mentioned the club bought it and will rent it to families in need. I have to admit, I melted at that because I loved that house. I made it a home, so the fact Bradley understood my love for it and had the Untamed buy it to help people in need makes me love him even more.

That is the thing with my soon-to-be husband, while he makes decisions without my okay because he refuses to live without me and to choose between me and his club, he does something like that to help sweeten the blow.

“Where’s Rachel?” Lo asks curtly, and Mama sniffles.

“Searching for a way to try and dismiss the papers she signed giving your sister full custody of Sammie. It is legally binding, and your dad recorded her willingly signing it, showing her only concern was to make sure her own sister couldn’t be near the boy,” Mama says as she gently lays the dress on the bed, then cups my cheek and looks me over with concern.

“She doesn’t even want Sammie,” Lo grunts and Mama rasps, “No, she doesn’t, she just doesn’t want her sister to have him,” not once looking away from me, her eyes taking in the bump on my head.

“Why does she hate me so much?” I ask quietly, and she sniffles.

“Because I basically put her against you without meaning to,” Mama admits, and I furrow my brows but wince at the sharp shooting pain.

“I-I don’t understand,” I choke, and Lo quickly rubs my forehead for me and scolds, “Be more careful with your facial expressions!”

Mama looks between us and her bottom lip wobbles at the love and care my brother is showing for me, then takes a deep breath. “From an early age, you had shown that healing was your passion. I knew you wouldn’t follow in my footsteps, so to assure your sister would, I pushed her to not be like Scottie. Those are the words I’d say, along with don’t disappoint me like Scottie, be better than Scottie, and I-I, I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” Mama whispers, and I swallow the lump forming.

Wow, all because I wanted to be a doctor, something that most parents would be proud of.

“But that doesn’t explain the extreme hate she has,” I rasp, confusion still filling me.

Lo sighs and explains, “It does if that is all she heard, fuck, even I heard it a few times, but I just blocked it out until Mama stopped saying that shit to me. I’m guessing Rachel heard it several times a fucking day,” he looks at her, “You royally fucked her up Mama, and it isn’t okay that you pushed Scottie out all because she didn’t follow in your footsteps. Fuck, in my eyes, she went further than you, than all of us and because Rachel made claims, we all believed her. We all missed the jealousy in her eyes because Scottie was brave enough to fall off your plans for us.”

“She did go further than me and I am so goddamn proud of her,” Mama quickly says and she looks my way, “I messed up, I really did, I know this, and I just hope that you can forgive me, that when you move, you’ll keep in contact because the woman I’ve begun to get to know, she’s amazing.”

I twitch my nose hoping to stop the stinging in my eyes as I look at the wedding dress my sister refused to wear for her wedding.

“I’m trying,” I admit, and she nods before kissing my cheek, then whispers, “Let's see if this dress fits, that’s uh, um, you know, if you want to wear it,” not pushing anymore on the subject, knowing I just need a little bit of time.

Her eyes race between mine with hope, and even though she doesn’t deserve it, I nod, causing a few of her tears to fall before she quickly grabs the dress and Lo sighs, “I’m not leaving the room, but I will turn around,” making me smile slightly.

He may have been distant growing up, especially since he thought I broke his guitar, but he’s trying to make amends now, and I’m grateful for that.

“Okay,” I whisper before I look at the off-white sweetheart neckline princess-style dress and butterflies swim as everything hits me at once. My life in the past five months smacks me hard in the head, so hard, I feel like Kavan is knocking me out again and I squeeze my eyes tight for a moment.

I fell in love.

He got custody of the child my sister never wanted.

My ex-boyfriend turned brother-in-law wanted to kill me, he wanted me to suffer because I refused to return to him after he created a family with my sister while we were still together.

I open my eyes and look at the dress again. I’m about to get married while concussed.

Damn.

***

Bradley gently runs his fingers along my wet arms three hours later, and I tilt my head up and press my nose into his throat, my body settling despite the throbbing in my head that pain killers can’t seem to budge.

“I do.”

Married, we actually got married with Doc officiating, the whole of the Untamed present, along with my parents, brother and Bradley’s sister on FaceTime. She was there as a phone being held up by her dad who looked ready to cry when his son repeated his vows to me. He also added to always keep me on my toes, something that the brothers found hilarious while I threatened to ensure Felix sleeps with us making him pale and the women cheer.

It was intimate. Mama’s dress fit perfectly, flowers covered the floor in the yard that led up to an arch, and Sammie walked me down the little makeshift aisle with my dad. Not once did I have the jitters, like marrying him then and there was the wrong thing to do. Nope, it felt right, perfect, even with the concussion and now, with Sammie spending tonight with my parents and brother – who apparently is dating someone from the office despite his divorce not being finalized yet. Meanwhile, I’m in a tub with my husband who is behind me, his arms wrapped around me. Everything feels perfect, except for one little detail.

Apparently, we can’t consummate our marriage, something I am not agreeing with.