“Yes, don’t ruin her makeup!”Lola chimed in, blazing over with Ruby’s bouquet and handing it to her.She handed Alana hers and she clutched it tightly, taking a deep breath.
“Places, everyone, places!”Susan boomed, in a voice so loud Alana didn’t know how it came out of her.
Ruby’s mom gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek, and then hurried off to find her seat.Lola took her place at the head of the queue.Alana was glad to have someone to follow down the aisle, with Ruby and her dad waiting behind them all, arm in arm.The music was lovely, lilting, and she glided down the aisle quicker than she thought.Her eyes immediately fell on the men at the end of it.There was Josh, in the middle with the vicar, and on one side his brother Pete and on the other side ...Drew, whose gaze was locked on her.Drew, the first member of her club.She could remember the first time she saw him like it was yesterday, with his wavy red hair tamed into submission, a twinkle in his eyes, and a grin on his face.He was handsome.Distractingly so, with a thin silver scar on his left cheek, marring his perfection.Her eyes had settled on it.It was one of her first events flying solo, trying to find clients for a nonexistent club.
“Hey, my eyes are up here, love,” he’d teased.
She smiled at the memory, as she continued her move down the aisle.Drew’s answering smile was devastating, like he knew she was smiling at him, just for him.He stood tall in a black tuxedo, with a red rose tucked into his pocket.
She dipped her gaze as she went to join him, and Lola went to join Pete.
Her gaze met his own.“Beautiful,” he murmured under his breath, stealing hers for a moment.
They were friends.He was a client.A member of her club.
“Not so bad yourself,” she whispered back, attempting to wrangle back her usual demeanor.
Then the guests were rising again, smiles on their faces, as Ruby and her dad began the trek down the aisle.Her eyes pulled to the groom, as they always did at weddings, and the look on Josh’s face shone with light and joy, almost as if it were catching.She smiled so hard through the whole ceremony, through their vows, the ring exchange, and their first kiss.Maybe she was smiling so hard that it hurt, for a tear slipped from her right eye and slid down her cheek.
Pressure was on her back, a warm hand.Drew’s hand.He didn’t look at her.It was like he was trying to reassure her that he was there.And he was.Ever since he had come into her life, whether she liked it or not, he had been a warm, solid presence.
The guests began their clapping as Ruby and Josh headed down the aisle, as husband and wife.Her back felt empty, bereft, once Drew’s hand left it to join in the clapping.
She pushed that thought away.Time to celebrate the happy couple.Besides, she had bridesmaid duties to uphold.This was going to be a long day, but it was one of the happiest that she could remember being privy to in a long, long time.
Chapter Two
Drew
Drew hated weddings, even more so when he was in them, but he’d make an exception for Josh and Ruby.Their obvious love for each other was enough to melt even the coldest hearts.He would’ve counted himself in that camp ten years ago, but not now.It wasn’t quite as frozen since making a life for himself here and finding his people.His true people.Because people will lie to you, tell you they are your family, that you can trust them, spin pretty lies on pretty tongues that taste like honey, until the rot sets in and the truth falls in one dramatic sweep of the curtain.
He’d fallen in with the wrong crowd.Crowdwas a polite word for it.Gang.The Lion Crew.At the tender age of fifteen, when he was still living in Atlanta with his family, he’d served as a loyal mule and dealer for them.He’d worked his way up their ranks, supervising deals, and doling out punishments for late payers or the ones who ran.There was no outrunning the Lion Crew, they always caught up with you in the end.It’s how he got his scar.Their leader, Max, had heard whispers of his wanting to leave not two months after he’d joined, after he’d witnessed the beating and stabbing of a man, a junkie, who didn’t have the funds to pay up.Max had decided to teach him a lesson, to mark him as theirs.He could still feel the cool steel of the knife as it marked him, ruined him.That’s when he knew he had to run.Not from them.No, they were to be his new family ...he ran from his parents, to protect them, and served Max loyally from then on.
Soon, the ice around his heart had frozen, locked in place, until the day came six years later when he watched Max mark a kid no older than thirteen, and he knew he needed out before he was asked to do the same.It felt cowardly, running, but he did.And he knew, even if you cut the head off the snake that a new one would form in its place, and he wouldn’t wait around for the retribution.The gang had made him rich, and he made use of the money, faking his death and moving to New York, but not before changing his name.He used the rest of the money to invest in his business, his line of luxury gyms, which then turned into sportswear.It was one of the only things he’d asked of Alana.No photos, no videos.Keeping his identity private.Her contacts did just that; any photo of him that made it onto the internet, CCTV, anything and everything, got wiped.Not cheap, but worth it.So worth it.It was then that he decided he liked Alana.That first day.She didn’t ask him any questions, just provided him with solutions.Since that day, he’d helped her fill her books with a range of billionaire clientele.
The meal finished, the speeches done, meant that the dance floor opened.As well as the bar.He headed straight for the latter, pulling out his card ready to splash all his money on a decent cider.He took his drink back to the table and placed one in front of Josh.
