Tears prick my eyes, threatening to fall, and when she takes a step backward, her eyes meet mine, and I see that her eyes are wet as well. That’s when my tears fall. I try to wipe away the wetness, but more tears follow in their place.
“Don’t be sorry,” she rasps. “I understood. You know if anyone would understand, it’s me.”
“I never wanted to leave you,” I say.
I know I probably sound ridiculous, like I was in love with Lainey or something, but it’s not like that. She was my best friend, one of my only true friends, and I walked away without a backward glance. It killed me.
“You’re back now?” she says, but it’s a question rather than a statement.
“I’m back now.”
“You’re going to finally be my sister?”
I almost choke on my own saliva. I wish I could answer that for sure. But I’ve got two years to figure it out, I guess, since I can’t go anywhere else. I can’t run, and I certainly can’t hide. My lips curve up into a smile as I try to think of how to explain the relationship to Lainey.
“I’m Axton’s old lady. We’re together, but I don’t know if that is going to lead to marriage.”
She nods once, then smirks before she speaks.
“You’ll get married,” she states as if it’s a fact.
She’s so sure, and I wish I could be that way, but I can’t. I don’t know if I can be certain of anything right now. With everything that’s happened, I can honestly say I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
But I assume Lainey doesn’t know anything that’s gone on. I can’t imagine Axton would tell her any of the details, especially the part about a mobster coming after me and then him shooting the guy in the head. Lainey is gentle and sensitive. He’s never told her the whole truth about anything.
I love her confidence, though. It’s pretty great, and maybe I’ll think the same way soon. I just can’t yet.
“I want you to meet the girls,” Lainey announces. Then she begins to introduce a whole plethora of women to me. Womenwho are with men who I would never think would ever settle down.
Bullet’s old lady, Dakota, is the first. Then there’s Ivy’s cousin, Cidney, whom I also remember, but the last time I saw her, she was only eleven years old. She’s actually with Goose now, which is cute. He and his twin brother were prospects the last time I was here, and now they’re important officers of the club, one being the treasurer and the other secretary.
Posey is introduced as Ivy’s woman and Dakota’s aunt, and then there’s Zadie, who is with Maverick. Finally, Briana is introduced to me. She’s Lightning’s woman. I’m never going to remember any of these people’s names. But one thing I do notice about all of them is that they’re each stunningly beautiful in their own way.
That shouldn’t surprise me, that members of the Vicious Reapers would choose gorgeous women to be at their sides and share their lives, to make babies with. Lots and lots of babies.
“I’m probably not going to remember all your names,” I confess. Then I hear someone walking up behind me, and I turn my head to see it’s Heidi. “But I’m Millie, and this is my friend Heidi.”
Introductions are made again to Heidi. I look around this room, this seedy bar, where I know there are clubwhores somewhere, but I don’t see them right now. Instead, I see a family. And something shifts inside me, because ten years ago, that was not the case.
Family was what the men were to one another. There were a few old ladies. Ivy’s dad was married, and so were a couple of the guys, but those old ladies didn’t just show up to the clubhouse with a gaggle of babies. They were either kept away or stayed away, I’m not sure. But they were not here.
This feels like a whole new vibe. These men are family. They’ll always be family, but they’re also allowing their womento be part of it, and there is something really beautiful about that.
I can’t help but wonder if things would have been different had the culture been more like this instead of being compartmentalized the way it was back then. We all sit down and get to know one another a little. Lainey tells them all that I moved to Vegas, but I’m back.
I wonder offhandedly if I should tell them I am a stripper. But then I decide against it, at least unless there’s a way to slip it into the conversation. All the other women tell me about their work as virtual assistants and working with Lainey at the bakery. Cidney isn’t working because Ivy closed his law office and now works out of his home. Zadie has twin babies, which is a full-time job.
None of them are strippers, though.
It feels wrong to announce that out loud.
But then something happens, and it comes out, not by me, but by Briana. She’s been fairly quiet this whole time. When there is a lull in the robust conversation, her eyes meet mine, and her lips twitch into a smirk.
“We all know you’re working down at the Gilded Room.”
Heidi clears her throat but otherwise doesn’t say anything, at least not immediately. I open my mouth, then snap it shut, because I don’t know how to respond to that. Thankfully, Dakota speaks, so I don’t have to say anything.
“And if you think we’re going to judge you for it, you’ll be wrong,” she states.
