Blake hoists Alexa into his arms, and I take Chance’s hand to walk through the crowded restaurant.
Outside, the thin, partition-style doors separating our room from the rest of the place, Blake stops me. He leans over and kisses my cheek. “I love you. I’m so proud of you.”
“For what?”
“For finishing school.”
I beam up at him. “Me too. So glad it’s over, so I can focus on us and our wedding.”
“Yeah,” he says softly. “You did it, though, and I’m proud as hell.”
“Thank you.”
“So, forgive me for this.”
I don’t have a chance to ask, “What?” before he flings open the door and everyone yells, “Congratulations!”
Chance drops my hand and jumps around in a circle. “Su-pwise!”
My jaw drops, and I stand there staring at everyone, including Dawn—I knew that was her car out there.
I turn to Blake. “I thought this was our pre-wedding party?”
“Forgive me?” Hope says, coming up and giving me a quick hug. “I may have told a tiny white lie because I was worried you didn’t want to celebrate your graduation.”
Tears fill my eyes, and I hug her tight. “Thank you.”
She pulls back and cups my cheek. “I know it’s been rough, and things haven’t always gone the way you wanted them to, but you did it, and we’re all so proud of you.”
Blake holds up one hand. “I didn’t know until earlier in the week what they’d been planning.”
“Hope and I have been meeting up here, since it’s halfway,” Lilly says, leaning in to give me a hug. “I know it’s not the fanciest place, but the food’s good, I promise.” She gestures to the room around us. “Once we saw you could rent this out for private parties, we thought it would be perfect.”
“It is. The bull was a great distraction, too.”
Lilly grins at me. “It was, right?”
Once I get over the shock, I glance around the room again. Everyone from the upstate and downstate clubs came with their families.
“I almost feel bad we’re making everyone do this again in another week,” I say to Blake once we’re alone again.
“Yeah, another chance to eat, drink, and celebrate. We won’t hear any complaints.” He juts his chin at Jigsaw who’s busy talking to Dawn. “It’s like a test run in case you want to kick anyone off our wedding guest list.”
“Shit, I can’t remember if I ever gave Dawn an invitation,” I whisper. The end of the semester had been such a whirlwind, I barely knew what day it was.
“I was talking about Jiggy.”
“Heidi.” Tawny struts over with open arms. “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart.”
“Thank you.” I try not to choke on her cloying perfume and will myself not to cringe when Sway also envelopes me in a hug.
“You look beautiful,” Tawny says. “So grown up. Oh my God, I remember when you were their age.” She nods to Chance and Alexa. “So proud of you.”
“Thanks, Tawny.” While I don’t have a lot of memories of Tawny from when I was little, the ones I do have certainly stand out.
Blake leads me around the room, stopping to talk to brothers from both charters. A few call me “little hammer” with a wink, so I guess that story has spread.
Just as effortlessly, Blake stops to talk to Dawn.
And it hits me. Two versions of my man exist in our world.
Murphy belongs to the club.
Blake is mine.
Somehow, he always makes it clear that I reign as his queen in both parts of his life. The deeper I immerse myself into the club, hell, the time I spent at our downstate charter alone, helped me understand this behavior isn’t common among most outlaw clubs. The Lost Kings MC is much different from how most motorcycle clubs are run.
The fear and scorn I received when I was younger make more sense now that I have a different perspective. I’ve always been proud of my big brother for belonging to something bigger than himself. We were dealt a shitty family, but he found another to accept us, bonding us to the club for our whole lives.
Blake is my king. The ruler of my heart. I have no problem fighting anyone or anything who threatens him.
There’s nothing I won’t do to protect Blake, Marcel, or the club. I may not be a patch-holding member, but the Lost Kings have my heart and loyalty.
Always.
My hands shake as I think over the words I plan to say later tonight.
Thirty-Three
Heidi
After dinner, Tawny stops by and touches my shoulder. Leaning down, she whispers in my ear. “Sway’s not feeling so well, honey. I need to get him home.”
I jump up and thank her for coming. Hope and Rock end up walking them out to the parking lot.
“She says he’s not doing well, but the fact he’s moving around at all is impressive as hell,” I say as I sit back down next to Blake.
“Fuck yeah, it is.”
“May we all be so lucky.” Rooster lifts his glass, and the guys cheer in return.
Dawn’s the next one to leave. “I’m so sorry, my mom’s watching Jet.”
“You could’ve brought him.”
“Nah, I need to get out on my own once in a while.” She hugs me again before darting out the door.
Rock and Hope return.
Show time.
I nudge Blake with my elbow, and he nods.
Since I was told this was a pre-wedding dinner, I sat down last night and prepared a few things I wanted to say to the family who means everything to me.
I stand and tug at my dress.
My mouth opens, but no sound comes out. A few of the guys give me a curious look, but the room’s still loud.
Blake slams his fist against the table, rattling everything. “Quiet down. My ol’ lady wants to say something.”
He nods at me once I have everyone’s attention.
I clear my throat. “You’ll have to forgive me, I was told this was a pre-wedding party, so I thought of a few things I wanted to say. I know you’re all supposed to toast us at the wedding. But I hope you don’t mind me saying a few words a little early.” My eyes tear up, and I’m not even sure I can go through with this. Maybe I should’ve put it in a letter and mailed it from our honeymoon destination.
I take a deep breath before continuing. “Even though you won’t let me be a member—”
“That’s not true, Heidi! You never asked,” Z calls out.
The moment gives me a chance to duck my head and laugh. It also helps force my tears away.
“You’re Murphy’s old lady, that makes you a member!” Rooster shouts.
A few of the other guys grumble and throw him questioning looks.
My brother winks at me.
“I’ve thought of the club as my family for as long as I can remember.” My gaze lands on Rock. “When you brought my brother into the club, you accepted me, too.” I shrug and try to smile. “Even if I was a little bratty sometimes.”
Everyone chuckles. Rock, stoic as ever, tightens his jaw and nods at me.
“Thank you isn’t a strong enough sentiment for everything you’ve done for us, Uncle Rock.” I swallow over my nerves and take another deep breath. “From an ‘outsider’s’ perspective, when you met Hope and brought her into the fold, it changed so many things about the club. In a good way.” I look around the room at brothers I’ve known almost my whole life, and some I’ve gotten to know more recently. “She seemed to be the spark that changed LOKI from a brotherhood into a true family. You’ve both set a beautiful example of what love and a relationship should be, and I thank you for letting me be part of your world.”
Hope’s eyes shine, and it wasn’t my intention to make her cry. Rock wraps both arms around her and hugs her to his chest. “We both love you, Heidi,” she says after dabbing her eyes. “So much.”
“We need her!” Sparky shouts. “Hope’s our mama bear!”
Trinity giggles and leans over to ki
ss Hope’s cheek. “Mama bear is right.”
My gaze lands on Trinity, and her smile fades. I speak quickly before I lose the courage. “Thank you for your infinite patience in putting up with the brattiest little sister anyone could be cursed with.”
Her lower lip trembles like she’s about to cry, and I hurry to add a joke. “And thank you for giving this broke college kid a job.”
“You’ll be hard to replace,” she says.
“Uncle Wrath, I know you enjoy being feared, but my favorite memories of you are how invincible you made me feel every time you’d pick me up and put me on your shoulders. And buy me ice cream cones, of course.”
He actually chuckles.
“Uncle Z, you’ve always been my fun uncle. You always made me laugh and cheered me up.” I nod to Lilly. “Z has the biggest heart, and I always knew it would take an exceptional woman to fill it up.”
Did I render Uncle Z speechless? He opens his mouth, closes it, shakes his head and lifts his glass instead.
“Thank you, Heidi,” Lilly whispers.
I turn to Charlotte, and she’s already shaking her head. “Don’t you dare make me cry.” She sniffles.
“Everyone here probably knows how much I idolize my big brother. But I don’t think anyone understands how much I always wanted him to find the right woman to make him happy. Not just so he’d get his nose out of my business—”
Everyone roars with laughter. Blake squeezes my hand.