Broken but Breathing (Jinx Tattoos 2)

“How can I not? I should’ve followed her. What was I thinking? God. I don’t want to be responsible for losing another child.”

“You didn’t lose the first one. That was a freak incident. You know this.”

“That’s not how it felt when I realized she was gone.”

“Oh my sweet girl,” he whispered pulling her up into his lap. “You love so hard. This is exactly why you’re the perfect mother for my daughter, and wife for me. You are a part of this family and I think it’s time we make it official.” Reaching inside his pocket, he pulled out a black case. “Estelle Poppy Knoll, will you marry me and be Jocelyn’s mother?” He opened the case to reveal the flower-shaped platinum ring with diamonds around the two karat square in the center.

“You still want me?”

“Sweet girl, I will want you until my last breath. You owe me a yes.”

She sniffed. “Yes.”

He grinned like an idiot. “I’m holding you to this. I’m not doing that long engagement bullshit. I’m giving you a month to pull something together.”

“Yeah?” she asked, giggling.

“Yeah, and that’s me being generous.”

She held out her hand, and he slipped the ring onto her finger, feeling complete.

§

The rest of the month was a blur of insanity as Es made plans with Kali and Jolene. He did his best to stay out of their way as they poured over magazines, ohh-ed, ahh-ed, and teared up. He’d taken to spending as much time at the Clubhouse as possible. They’d avoided a war, presenting a strong front as they visited their sister chapters during their run. The incident with the I.R.A. coming in under their noses had people wondering if they had gone soft. He hadn’t understood why Mike had chewed him out until he came clean about the rumors going around. Now they were in a good place, and he was back on track as Vice President.

It took a lot of different gears to keep the machine that was the Wild Ones running smoothly.

“You been spending a lot of time at the Clubhouse, brother, you sure you want to get married?” Mike asked as they dressed for the wedding they’d decided to have in the backyard. The girls had masterminded and he foot the bill, happy to be excluded from the tedious planning.

“Yeah, brother, my house became wedding planning central. That’s what I’m avoiding. Kali and Es’s sister-in-law, Jolene, were attached at the hip. Not to mention the fact that my in-laws have been here for over a week to help get things settled and get to know me.”

“So her pops grilled you?” Mike said.

Snake laughed. “Yeah, turned out he used to be in the streets himself. I like him.”

“You’re luckier than most. How was he about you marrying his daughter?” Mike asked.

“He said he’d kill me if I hurt her, but gave me props for bringing her back to life. I told him it was mutual, and we made our peace,” he said, shrugging.

“That’s not bad, brother.”

“Nah, they love Jocelyn, too. They spent a good chunk of their time bonding, taking her to the zoo and stuff like that. She needs as many people in her corner as possible.”

“She’s adjusting to life here pretty fast. I saw her at the barbeque last week running around with the kids like she’d always been there.”

“We’re progressing,” Snake said.

“Look at you, cool as cucumber. I never thought I’d see the day you got married. I’m still pinching myself to make sure this ain’t a dream.”

“When you meet that one person who completes you, everything you thought you’d never do becomes feasible.”

“Not for me,” Mike stated, shaking his head.

“You say that now. Wait ’til some girl turns your head. I’m going to sit back and laugh.”

“It’ll never happen. I don’t want that type of responsibility.”

Snake looked at his best man and thought about the life he lived. Raising a baby sister on his own while running an MC couldn’t have been easy. And he did it right because Kali was a good girl. Sure she could drink like a fish, swear like a sailor, and gamble her ass off, but that was her environment.