“No! Vike, that’s a bad idea; he should hear it from me.”
“Not a chance.” He shakes his head firmly. “I know you trust him, but I don’t. That angry, rotten part of him never left. He’s been lying to you, manipulating you, and when he finds out he’s lost you…he’s gonna retaliate. I’m not putting you in danger. You’re gonna stay here with the girls, and I’m gonna talk to him man-to-man. We’ll air out our grievances, and then I’m coming home.” He smiles, and remembering how angry Greaser got a few nights ago and how scared I felt, has me nodding my head in agreement. “Now, I’m gonna kiss you one last time, that okay?” he checks and smiles with pure joy as he leans in and takes my lips again. “I’ll leave you to explain everything to the audience out there.” He presses his lips to my forehead before tearing himself away and heading out the bedroom door. I follow after him, still in shock and doubting if I did hit my head.
“Vike?” Lettie looks as confused as the rest of the girls in the room when he passes her and Rory, coming through the front door. “What are you doing here?” Rory reaches out his arms, pleased to see him, too.
“I’m heading off to tell Greaseball that he ain’t gettin’ married today.” He grins as he ruffles Rory’s hair and quicklymoves on past them. All eyes turn to me, waiting for an explanation, and Iris scrunches her forehead while her brain attempts to catch up with what she just heard.
“Oh... this is awkward.” Eden cringes as the penny drops and the old woman's mouth drops open in shock.
“Vike?” Sasquatch looks shocked to see me when I pass him in the yard. He’s dressed pretty sharp in the black jeans and black shirt that he’s wearing under his cut. It’s a damn shame he’s got himself all dressed up for nothing.
“Greaser inside?” I check as I head for the door.
“Yep.” He flicks his half-finished cigarette at the floor and follows me inside like he’s expecting a show. I throw open the door and see Greaser at the bar, surrounded by the rest of our club brothers, who are all dressed the same as Sasquatch. The smug bastard looks like he’s got the whole world in the palm of his hand. I can't wait to fuckin’ crush it.
“Vike...” He smiles that confident smile when he notices me, and as all my brothers turn their heads, Dev is wearing a pleased grin of his own. “Pleased you could join us.” Greaser adjusts the tie he’s wearing. “You must have missed the memo about the dress code.” His eyes glance up and down at the jeans and shirt I’m wearing with my cut.
I smile back at him, keeping my cool by reminding myself that he won’t besmugfor very long.
“Perhaps now you're here, you could give Alicia away; it’d be a nice touch.” He chuckles, and Dev shakes his head like he wants to decapitate the fucker, too.
“I don’t think that's gonna be necessary,” I tell him, stepping closer so my face is right in his. “Alicia’s changed her mind; she ain’t gonna be showing up today.” I break the news with pleasure and watch all the cockiness fall from his face.
“What the fuck ya talkin’ bout, Vike?” he growls at me.
“I’m talkin’ bout the fact Alicia came to her senses.” I smile.
“What thefuckdid ya say to her?” He grabs my throat, and I slam both my hands hard into his chest, forcing him to release me and stumble backwards.
“What I should have said to her a long time ago, before I let you get inside her head.” I close the space I made between us, and Wrath quickly gets in my way.
“Brothers don’t turn on brothers, you know the rules,” he reminds me.”
“You seriously expect me not to beat the fuck outta this asshole when he shows up to ruin my wedding?” Greaser argues, and when he comes for me, both Ruckus and Dev step in to hold him back.
“Rules don’t apply in the pit,” I point out. “Where’s Raze? I wanna request a challenge.” I look around the room, noticing he ain’t here.
“Raze is AWOL; has been since last night,” Wrath informs me, looking a little uneasy. “This is gonna have to wait until he gets back.”
“This ain’t waiting, Wrath. I’ve waited long enough; you’re VP, make the call.” I stare at Greaser over his shoulder, hoping he doesn’t let me down.
“Fuck.” Wrath shakes his head, “Damn fuckin’ Raze.” His hand scrubs over his face in frustration.
“I say we put it to a vote. All those in favor of seeing these guys beat the crap outta each other, raise ya hand,” Sinner suggests, raising his own, and Dev grins at me when he raises histoo. He’s followed by everyone else in the room, and I feel a rush of adrenaline kick in.
“Guess that's fuckin’ settled.” I turn around and slam the door open, shrugging out of my cut and handing it to Wrath, before dragging my t-shirt up over my head and lowering myself into the pool pit.
“Can you not drive any faster?” I beg Millie as we make our way toward the club. I left the girls back at home to deal with Iris and her hysteria because I need to speak to Greaser myself. I know he’ll be angry, but he deserves an explanation. I want him to know how grateful I am, even though I changed my mind.
“I’m sorry, but that was hot as hell, the way Vike stormed in and–”
“Millie, they’re gonna kill each other!” I interrupt her, hoping it will make her focus on getting us to the club faster.
“Maybe Vike was right; you being there could make things worse.” She looks unsure.
“I need to talk to Greaser.” I won’t have anyone tell me differently; what I’ve done to him over the past few months hasn’t been fair.
“And don’t you think, showing up to talk to him in the dress you were supposed to marry him in is gonna make him feel worse?” She takes her eyes from the road and glances at me.
