I’d grown up around them, my whole family are integral parts of the club, but we lived away from the compound. Mom is happy with the work my brother and I are doing for the club, but she likes that we have our own identities too.
Looking at Waverley as she soothes Lana while giving the hairstylist a wink and a smile, I have to marvel at her ability to settle people. I hadn’t known her all that well when we were younger as I’m six years older than her and her twin, Warren. I’d been out of high school when they started, and I headed off to New York to attend Columbia College.
It was only after Waverley was brought back to the club, kicking and screaming, if anything mom had to say about it was true, that we started hanging out more.
She isn’t like the other women in the club. Sure, it’s sickening the way she is with Hudson, if they are in the same room, they are always touching one another. Not in a pervy way, just little hand touches, or Hudson resting his palm on her hip or her back. That shit would drive me crazy.
This girl is no pushover. She’d been through some serious shit and come out of it stronger. I like a woman who is assertive, strong, intelligent and independent. Waverley has that in spades.
She is an excellent peacekeeper too. Case in point, Lana has shut the hell up with her complaints and is now fighting tears as her mom stands behind her with her hands clasped, cooing about how beautiful she looks.
It’s gag-inducing. Using the reflection of the window to make sure my hair remains in place, I turn and tell them I’ll see them later. The photographer has arrived to take some candid pre-wedding shots.
“Can you tell your mom we’re almost ready?” Wave asks as I pass her, finishing off the champagne. “And put that in the dishwasher.”
“You’re such a housewife,” I tell her. She glares at me, but I say nothing to defend myself.
After putting the damn glass in the dishwasher and avoiding the rest of the manic chaos going on around me, I go outside and walk down the steps to the driveway.
The heat hits me like a slap in the face. This is going to be unbearable. I don’t know Felix at all and barely spent any time with his bride-to-be, but I am a part of the club, and this is a club celebration, so everyone is expected to come.
Everyone, including the Stroudsburg club, will be here. They have a weird attachment to the Sussex chapter that isn’t like the other chapters of the Devil’s Chaos. It has something to do with some of them originally being Kingsmen.
It means Mace will be here. If I weren’t melting already, I’d be in a puddle on the floor thinking of that man.
I adjust my skirt and look around for someone to take me back up to the club. The dress is halter style, with a gold necklace collar threaded through the top and a peephole opening that shows a hint of cleavage.
LBD is my go-to for events, but given this is a summer wedding, I bought a dress that is more appropriate. It will stop my mother giving me shit too. I’ve paired it with nude, strappy sandals that are too high for the walk up to the compound where the wedding is being held.
Fortunately, a few relatives of the bride are heading up that way, so I hitch a ride with them.
No one can miss the sound of my mother shouting out instructions, even from the front of the clubhouse. Mom taught me great values growing up, she encouraged me, nurtured me and loved both me and my brother the best that any child could hope for.
Dad, not so much. He loves us, but the club comes above us. As the enforcer for Devil’s Chaos, he holds a frightening role here. Sometimes, he came home in dark moods, Ransom and I learned early on it was best to avoid him at those times.
As the club lawyer, I avoid any and all chat about what goes on in the club beyond the scope of what I need to know. To keep me safe, King says. What I don’t know can’t hurt me. If I did, then I’d be compromised.
Getting out of the car, I fix my dress and shove my purse under my arm, preparing to head into the clubhouse. I should have brought a date. Having someone at my side now, even if it is one of the guys from work, would be better than walking in alone.
It is the first time I’ve been to a party since the one welcoming the new chapter into the club. I didn’t miss the way Eli watched me that night, or the way his eyes narrowed, and his jaw tightened when I was talking to Mace.
There is nothing going on between Eli and me, the one night we spent together was because we were drunk and horny.Yeah, that was what happened.
Like I don’t find my eyes drawn to him every time I am in his vicinity. Or don’t think about how hot his skin was when it was brushing against mine.
Or the way he’d made me see the stars, the planets and the Milky Way, when I came. Numerous times.
Shit, stop. I brush my hair back over my shoulders. No men today. Or for the foreseeable future. They take up too much of my time, always wanting something from me. I am better off alone.
It’s dim inside the bar after the brightness of the sun outside. I need a drink and some peace and quiet and to be anonymous for a little while.
“Cassie!” My mom’s voice screeches across the room.
It is like a record needle scratching across vinyl. All focus goes to where I stand in the doorway.
Eli, known by his road name, Handlebar, stands at the bar with a couple of other guys. He’s wearing dress pants, a white button-up shirt, open at the throat, with the sleeves rolled up. Looking like fucking sin incarnate as he stares right at me.
My cheeks flush, and I turn away, but land on Mace by the window. He is wearing jeans, but they’re smart and dark, with a black Henley beneath his cut. He stands alone, as he always seems to. Here, but set apart. He has a glass in his hand, leaning against the wall. And he is staring right at me.
