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My feelings for the guy were night and day from the time I first met him, which just so happened to be when he was strapped to a table in the basement of our club’s safe house. All I knew at the time was that he was a Reaper, or so we assumed, based on the picture Ryder found in the guy’s wallet. Turned out his ol’ man was Vex, the person responsible for torturing Sully for years before she came to be with us.
I was hell-bent on killing Tag back then, but when his story checked out that he barely knew the fucker, and that his mother had sent him to live with her parents in Boston when he was a kid, we let him live. Or rather, Prez let him live, but only because Sully interfered.
Now I viewed Tag as a fellow brother, someone I’d take a bullet for. I knew he'd do the same for me. He’d proven himself worthy of wearing the Knights Corruption patch time and again.
After helping them unload the rest of the items, I walked back toward the clubhouse in search of Edana. Even though this errand took me longer than expected, I didn’t think I’d be done for the day so early. I tried her cell on my way back, but it went right to voicemail, and if I had to guess, her phone had died. But that didn’t shock me, as she was notorious for never charging the damn thing.
The first person I saw when I walked through the door was Stone. He strolled toward me with a grin on his face.
“She left about ten minutes ago,” he said, giving me the answer to my unspoken question.
“What are you smilin’ for?”
“Just a good day, brother” was his only response, but when I looked past him and saw his woman adjusting her blonde hair into those messy updo hairstyles women wore, half her shirt tucked inside the waistband of her jeans and the button popped open, I found the true reason for his expression. He’d just gotten some. Good for him.
I jerked my chin to the woman strolling up behind him, and he turned to look, his smugness deepening when he caught my eye once more.
“Good day indeed.” I laughed, patting him on the arm before directing my attention to Addy. “Thanks for putting a smile on his ornery ass.”
“I do what I can.” She leaned up on her tiptoes and whispered something in his ear, his eyes widening fractionally before closing. She chuckled at his reaction before her gaze landed on me. She took a step toward me and tugged on the bottom of my beard. “You in competition with this guy?” She tilted her head toward Stone.
I toyed with my beard. I’d been growing it out, but the length was nothing compared to his. He could braid his if he wanted, it was that long, although that would be a weird look on him.
“No,” I answered, a touch of irritation in my voice. But I think I was just on edge in general.
Stone arched a brow at my tone before turning his attention back to his wife. “Must you touch everyone?” Our club VP was a jealous guy when it came to his ol’ lady. He was a lot worse years back, but his protectiveness, as he liked to call it, toward her showed often enough.
“Everyone? Or just the guys?” The smile she sported deepened as she riled him. Before he could answer, she looked around the room. “Speaking of, where’s Tripp?”
Addy and my brother had a special bond. Nothing sexual, of course, but she was the one who’d nursed him back to health when he’d been shot and left for dead outside our club’s gates over two decades ago. They were more like brother and sister, and while Stone was grateful she managed to help save his life, he didn’t care much for their relationship. And because of this, both she and Tripp liked to get Stone going from time to time, for their own amusement.
Stone snatched his wife’s hand and pulled her into him. “Don’t worry about where he is.” Irritation was written in the lines of his forehead and in the downturn of his mouth.
She chuckled, but he wasn’t amused, as was apparent when his gaze swiveled toward me, and his scowl deepened. As if I’d done something wrong.
“Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t do shit.”
He grunted before pulling her toward the other side of the room. Her laughter trailed behind her, but before they were out of earshot, she shouted over her shoulder at me, “Thank Edana again for helping today.”
I nodded before taking in the space. In just a short amount of time, they’d assembled and decorated a ten-foot tree in the corner closest to the door to Chambers, strung lights around the entire room, and hung wreaths on every wall. As if that wasn’t festive enough, garland draped around the entire bar, as well as every doorway. I didn’t get into the holiday spirit like some people, but even I felt a sense of festivity looking at all the decorations.
Now I just needed a Christmas miracle to happen.
6
Every breath I expelled was laden with a sense of unease. Uncertainty as to what my immediate future held with Edana. If I did decide to pull the trigger and ask her to marry me for the third time and she rejected me yet again, what would happen between us? I wasn’t gonna give her an ultimatum or anything as extreme as that, but I feared a wedge would start to form.
As the worry took hold, I washed it away with a roll of my shoulders and a subtle shake of my head.
If we could survive all we had during our relationship, I’d get past having my ego bruised if she indeed refused to become my wife yet again.
I hadn’t realized Edana was behind me as I closed the fridge, choking on my breath when I turned around.
“I’m gonna get you a bell, woman. You gotta stop sneakin’ up on me.”
“It’s not my problem your hearing is going,” she teased, lightly tapping my cheek. “But I guess that’s what happens when you get older.”
“I’m still in my prime.” I believed my statement only half of the time, the ache that accompanied most days the result from a hard life and not purely from age. Because fifty-one wasn’t old, right? “Besides, you’re not far behind me.”
