I kept one hand on the wheel and the other wrapped around the back of her neck, thumb moving slow under the fall of her hair. Not enough to trap her. Just enough to remind her she wasn’t alone.
And maybe enough to remind myself she was still here.
Alive.
Breathing.
Mine to protect, if not mine any other way.
The club rode around us in a loose formation, bikes in front, trucks behind, headlights cutting through the dark. Tank had a prospect monitoring police channels. River had been on the phone with some lawyer who sounded expensive enough to scare judges. Edge kept throwing looks at us from the passenger seat of the truck ahead, probably waiting for Sienna to bolt.
Hell, I was waiting for it too.
She was going to back out.
The fear lodged under my ribs like a knife. Every mile closer to Vegas made it sharper. I could see the thought running across her face even when she tried to hide it. Marriage. Wife. Husband. Old lady. My name attached to hers.
Too much, too fast, too insane.
Except there wasn’t another move. Not tonight. Not with the Oakleys already circling. Not with dirty cops and cartel muscle and dead men cooling in the desert dirt. She needed a wall between her and them, and if that wall had to be me, my ring, my patch, my last name?
Fine.
I’d be the damn wall.
Sienna’s hand jerked in her lap again.
I glanced over. “Baby.”
Her head turned slowly. “Do not baby me.”
Good. There she was.
I let my mouth curve. “You know, you’re gonna make one hell of a bride.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”
“Prettiest bride Vegas has ever seen.”
“Mason.”
“I’m serious.” I leaned into it because she needed distraction more than she needed gentle right now. Gentle would make her think. Thinking would make her panic. “Beautiful bride. Sexy bride. Mean little science bride with blood on her sleeve and murder in her eyes.”
Her palm cracked across my bicep hard enough to sting.
From the truck ahead, Edge’s head whipped around. Then he burst out laughing so hard his shoulders shook.
Tank’s voice came through the open window. “She hit him!”
“Good!” River yelled from somewhere behind us. “Man needs it!”
Sienna pointed at me, cheeks finally getting some color back. “This is a marriage in name only.”
I held up one hand. “Noted.”
“You are not getting into my bed.”
The entire convoy lost its mind.
