My face burns. “It’s not about feelings. It’s strategic.”
“Right. Strategic.” He doesn’t sound convinced. “Just…be careful. I know you’ve had a thing for him since you were like fifteen?—”
“Goodbye, Jackal.” I hang up before he can embarrass me further.
Jamie looks up from her inventory. “Everything okay?”
I nod. “Yes. Yes.”
The week passesin a blur of violence and preparation.
Savage Legion hits two more businesses under our protection.
No one’s killed yet, but it’s only a matter of time.
The brothers stretch themselves thin trying to defend everything at once. Patrols run constantly. Guards double up at vulnerable locations. Everyone’s exhausted, running on adrenaline and anger.
Ash barely sleeps. I catch him in his office at three AM, going over maps, planning defensive positions, trying to find a weakness in Marcus’s strategy.
“You need rest,” I tell him one night.
“I’ll rest when this is over.” He doesn’t look up from his papers. “How are your feet?”
“Better. Jamie says I can walk without bandages in a few more days.”
“Good.” He finally meets my eyes. “The wedding’s in two days. Still sure about this?”
Am I? I’ve spent the week convincing myself it’s just a strategy, just a tactical move to protect the club and keep me safe from Marcus. But when Ash looks at me like that—tired andworried and somehow still devastatingly handsome—strategy feels like a lie I’m telling myself.
“I’m sure,” I say.
“You can still back out. We’ll find another way?—”
“There is no other way.” I move closer to his desk. “Unless you’ve changed your mind?”
“No.” The word comes fast and firm. “I want this. Want you safe. Want…” He trails off, shakes his head. “Never mind. Two days. Small ceremony. Just the club.”
“Just the club,” I repeat. “Sounds perfect.”
I standin front of my bedroom mirror for the second time in two weeks, but this time I’m not wearing white silk and terror. Just a simple dress, dark blue, knee-length, nothing fancy. Jamie helped me with my hair and makeup, but kept it natural. I look like myself instead of some packaged bride.
This is better. This is what I want.
I almost believe it.
Titan knocks on my door at noon. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
He offers his arm, and I take it, letting him lead me downstairs to where the ceremony will happen.
The brothers line the walls, dressed in their leather vests and jeans.
Ash stands at the front near the fireplace. He cleaned up—fresh shirt, vest with his new president patch, hair combed back. He looks good. He always looks good, but today there’s something different in the way he watches me walk toward him.
Ghost and Titan flank him. No traditional best man, but these are his brothers, his family.
I reach the front, and Titan releases my arm. I turn to face Ash, and my heart does something complicated in my chest.
