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Lana’s eyes softened when they landed on me, and she gave me a one-armed hug. “Hey, sweetie.”
I bent to kiss her cheek before shaking Drake’s hand. “Good to see you, sir.”
“You look so much better than I did the night before my wedding,” the rocker said with a laugh. “I was scared out of my mind Angel was going to realize she could do so much better and run off.”
“Never,” Lana said reverently. “You can’t get rid of me, babe.”
“Thank fuck,” he muttered, pulling her closer. Turning his gaze back to me, he nodded toward where his eldest daughter was standing with a group. One of them was my cousin Braxton. “You boys aren’t going to be getting into trouble tonight are you?”
“Hadn’t planned on it, sir,” I told him. “Mia would kill me if I showed up hungover.”
“Mia?” Drake laughed, then quickly sobered as he gave me a hard glare. “No, son. You won’t have to worry about Mia killing you. Don’t be doing anything either my niece or my daughter will get upset over. I might not be at full strength yet, but I won’t hesitate to cut off your balls if you do anything to make my girls cry.”
“Yes, sir,” I promised without hesitation.
“Actually,” Emmie interrupted, touching her hand to my back reassuringly. “Nik has plans with the guys. He’s taking Barrick, Braxton, and Howler back to our house while I take Mia, Nevaeh, Lyla, and Josie to the hotel for the night. A little innocent girl fun while the guys have some very innocent fun at my place.”
“Great idea,” Lana agreed and pulled Emmie’s dad into the conversation since he’d been standing quietly beside his daughter. “Eddie, will you be joining them?”
“Jagger and I are going to cruise around for babes,” Eddie said with a grin, causing Lana to laugh. “Just kidding. Jags and I will be hanging out with Nik and the boys. Drake, you’re welcome to join us, son.”
“Sorry to spoil the fun,” Lana said. “But my husband isn’t allowed to sleep anywhere without me. And I plan on going home and getting plenty of beauty sleep before tomorrow’s wedding.”
“Sorry, Eddie,” Drake murmured, staring adoringly down at his wife. “My angel doesn’t need the beauty sleep when she’s already the most breathtaking woman in the room, but I can’t sleep without her and don’t plan on trying.”
Chapter 6
Mia
We arrived at the restaurant much later than I’d anticipated, but Dad and I were all smiles as we walked into the beautiful chaos of our family’s happy chatter. My eyes still felt a little swollen from all the tears we’d cried together, but it had been cathartic for both of us.
The moment we crossed the threshold into the building, we were swarmed by family members. I laughingly accepted hugs and well-wishes for the next day, but the entire time, my gaze was scanning farther into the interior, trying to find my groom. He wasn’t usually hard to spot. He was one of only a few men who stood well above the others, his shoulders twice as wide as the majority of everyone else’s. But it was his beard that made him stand out the most.
I had a love-hate relationship with that beard. It was sexy as fuck, but it hid his dimples, and I loved those damned things so much.
Finally, I caught sight of him. He dwarfed my mom and even my grandfather. Uncle Drake and Aunt Lana stood with the group…along with Seller and Meredith.
I grimaced at the sight of the woman who would be my mother-in-law in less than twenty-four hours’ time. It wasn’t that I hated the woman; I simply disliked her attitude. Toward my parents, my family, and especially toward Barrick. With my family, she seemed to think she was better than them, which was laughable, because no matter the differences in their backgrounds, my family was miles away from Meredith. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she knew it deep down, and it ate at her.
But the way she treated Barrick made me want to scratch up her pretty face. Perhaps I’d been spoiled by watching my mom and aunts with their own sons. The way they showed their affection. How my brother and male cousins never doubted their mothers’ love.
Barrick had told me that things were different when he was younger, before the death of his dad. She’d been around more. Then Charles Barrick Sr. had passed, and almost overnight, Charles Seller took his place. As Barrick’s father figure. As the head of the security company the two best friends had started together. And then, in Meredith’s bed. In a matter of months, Seller’s ring was on her finger and they were married, but before that, they had been sleeping together.
After getting to know them a little, I saw that there was true love between the two, even if they had an unnatural obsession mixed into their relationship. Obsession, I got. It struck me the moment I set eyes on Barrick. And I’d witnessed it plenty of times with not only my parents but my uncles as well—especially Uncle Drake and Aunt Lana. But whatever Meredith and Seller had bordered on unhealthy, maybe even crossed the line into something darker.
“You’re late,” Uncle Jesse accused with a grin as he swung me up into a hug. “I hope this doesn’t set the vibe for tomorrow.”
“Nah, man,” Dad told his best friend. “My baby girl and I had a little father-daughter time.”
Understanding filled my uncle’s ever-changing brown eyes. “Good. I’m glad you two had your moment. Now maybe things will get back to normal around here.”
I released a laugh. “When have things ever been normal?”
“Normal is boring,” Dad said with a smirk. “I learned that a long time ago.”
We made slow progress through the crowd to where Barrick and Momma still stood. A few times, he’d lifted his head and caught my gaze, his dark eyes asking questions. But I didn’t let him see what I was thinking, taking my time to say hello to my family members as Dad and I inched our way toward him and Momma. Each new time I glanced Barrick’s way, I could almost feel his frustration, his anticipation.
His need to touch me.
