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The ceremony is over quickly. We have Tag to thank for that because he didn’t want to get married in a church. His original plan was to whisk Lucy away to the Caribbean, but she said her mother would never forgive her. The one thing we all agreed on was that the party was just as important as the ceremony. Lucy asked if we could host it at the clubhouse, much to Sylvia’s disgust, and as we walk round the back of the clubhouse, I know I made the right decision to hire the large white marquee.
A waiter stands at the entrance, a tray of full Champagne glasses balanced carefully. I went all out on this, despite Lucy wanting to organise it herself. She is a wedding planner after all. But I didn’t want Sylvia to think I couldn’t afford to pay for my daughter’s wedding, and I knew Lucy would go cheap, worrying about the cost. In the end, Sylvia paid for the church, and I took care of the party.
The marquee fills up with guests and I overhear the occasional comment about the flower centrepieces on each table and the twinkling fairy lights placed around the tent. I don’t know what they expected from a biker wedding, but class was the only way I was gonna go with Sylvia and her husband looking down their noses at me.
A Rolls Royce slows to a stop outside the tent, and I stay by the entrance to welcome the newly married couple. Sylvia appears at my side, and I stiffen. “Max.”
“Sylvia.”
“The marquee is lovely.”
“Thank you. I wanted the best for Lucy.”
“Well, the best isn’t a marquee, but I understand that Lucy wanted to include you. It was important to her.”
“I told her she could have a castle if she wanted. She asked to have it here.” I feel annoyed by her judgemental tone, but before we can get into a full-blown argument, Lucy throws her arms around me and kisses my cheek. “I love it, Dad. It’s exactly what I pictured,” she gushes, and I give Sylvia an ‘I told you so’ look.
MAE
Relaxing back into my chair, I’ve eaten far too much, and I feel sick and sluggish. A good nap is needed to recover from this. My dress is not the kind of forgiving material required for a wedding, but it is perfect for the endless pictures we’ve had taken, as it holds everything in and enhances my curves. Piper hands me a glass of Champagne, which I place straight on the table. I hate the stuff and only ever drink it to be polite or when a toast is raised.
“Ace did good,” says Piper, and I agree. For a badass scary biker, the guy sure did pull off this party.
I stare at him across the dance floor. His broad shoulders, bulging biceps, tattoos, speckles of grey in his hair, and the bright blue of his eyes all give me thoughts that I definitely shouldn’t be thinking about the club’s President. “Earth to Mae,” says Piper, waving her hand in front of my dazed face. “Are you dreaming about Scar?” she asks, screwing up her face.
“No.” I sigh, realising that Ace is chatting with Scar, so he would be the obvious guess.
“Good, because I hear bad things about that man.”
“Just like I hear bad things about Hulk, yet you still dream about him.” I smirk, my tone teasing.
Piper scowls at me. She’s fancied Lucy’s brother since she was a teenager, way before Lucy came into our lives. Hulk uses her over and over, but she can never seem to tell him no. “I use him purely for sex,” she snaps.
“He usesyoupurely for sex. You love him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Number one rule, never . . .” she begins, and we both laugh and complete the sentence together, “fall in love with a biker.”
A shadow falls over our table and I look up into the eyes of Ace. My insides do a flip, and I subconsciously suck in my stomach. It’s not that I’m fat, but I’m not the super slim size of Piper or Lucy. Ace holds out a whiskey on the rocks to me, and I take it gratefully. “Thanks, Pres.” I smile at how he knows me too well.
“You girls enjoying the night?”
“It’s been amazing from start to finish,” gushes Piper. “Oh, there’s Nova, I’ll be back.” And then she rushes off, leaving me alone with Ace.
He lowers his huge body into the vacated seat and his eyes pierce me. “You look amazing today, Mae,” he says, and those damn butterflies in my stomach take flight again.
“You don’t look too bad yahself, Ace.” I smile, adding a wink. “How was it seeing Lucy’s mum?” I know he was nervous about seeing her again. “I thought she was going to combust when Lucy moved you up front in the church.”
He laughs, and his whole face smiles when he does that. “It was okay, just as I expected. She made some comment about Lucy choosing the club over something fancy, but yah know what, Lucy’s had a great day and that’s all I wanted.”
“Lucy isn’t like her mum. She didn’t want a big fancy wedding. If her own mother doesn’t know that, it doesn’t say much about their relationship,” I point out.
“Why doesn’t Sylvia see it like we do? Lucy was blown away with the marquee, but Sylvia made some comment about Lucy only agreeing to it to include me. Her comments are so condescending.” He sighs.
“Seeing her again was the hardest part, but you got through it. Did you catch up with Angel’s boyfriend?” I ask, keeping my tone light. The problem with me and Ace is we talk. He comes to me if he’s worried or stressed because he says he finds me easy to talk to, and honestly, I like our secret chats. But then, when he gets jealous or he meets a new woman, he tells me all about that too, and that’s not so much fun.
“He met the boot.” He smirks. “Piece of shit.”
“Speak of the devil,” I mutter as Angel spots us and saunters over. If her skirt was any shorter, I’d get a view of her vagina for sure. I hate to admit it, but even with bruises, she’s beautiful. Angel’s boyfriend likes to get handy with his fists when he’s had a drink, last night was one time too many for Ace, who’s been sleeping with Angel for a few months. He finally stepped in, but I don’t know what this kind of declaration means. Maybe he’ll claim Angel and break my heart.
