Between Embers (Lost Kings MC 5.5)

We all find our seats or a place to stand. It’s a full room because we have a lot of brothers from other charters here for the wedding.

Someone, probably Sway, slams his fist on the table and everyone follows, shouting congratulations at Rock.

The corners of his mouth turn up as he sits back in his seat and looks over each one of us. “Thank you. Thanks for being here.” He nods at our guests. “I’m handing out assignments to my guys. And wanted to make our out-of-town brothers aware that we’ll have members from two other clubs here as well. They’re clubs we have solid business relationships with, so I don’t expect any trouble.” That’s Rock’s diplomatic way of warning some of the punks in the group not to shoot at the sight of another club’s colors on our property.

Murmurs of agreement go around the table.

Rock’s phone buzzes and he slips it out of his cut. Flipping it open, he stares at it. His mouth twists in disgust and he flicks his gaze up. “Loco wants to meet.”

“Now?” Wrath asks.

From the back, Sway laughs. “That fuck has the worst timing.”

Z raises his hand. “I’ll handle it, prez.”

“Thanks.”

“Now?”

“After we’re done here.” He points at Wrath and then Murphy. “Whisper and Merlin asked for a sit-down. I want you two to handle it.”

Wrath’s all seriousness this morning. “No problem, prez.”

Next, Rock points to Z and Wrath. “Need you to talk to Stump and Chaser.”

“Prez!” Sparky shouts even though he’s only halfway down the table. “I got a package together for Stump. Something to ease him through this weird transition phase.”

Rock’s the only one who seems to be able to interpret that. “Thank you, brother. Work it out with them,” he says, pointing to Wrath and Z again.

Even though Rock hasn’t mentioned me yet, I know what my assignment’s going to be. I asked him for it last night.

“Teller. I need you collecting any envelopes, keep the prospects in line, and watch out for Mariella, please.”

“No problem.” I’m sure some of our brothers think Rock’s punishing me by making me babysit a chick today. But since she’s taking over Trinity’s household stuff, Mariella’s one of our most important assets. Since I’m still the only one she’s comfortable around, it makes sense and I’m not insulted in the least.

“Hope’s got civilian friends in the wedding. I expect everyone to behave.” Rock says it like he’s telling us, but that announcement’s for our guests.

“She got any hot lawyer friends?” Shadow asks. He’s a member of Sway’s crew and hasn’t met a pair of tits yet he didn’t want to slip his dick between. His words, not mine. I’d describe him as a perverted fuckwad. Don’t want him anywhere near my sister or Mariella.

“They’re all married or involved,” Z growls.

“So?” Shadow asks and cracks up at his own non-joke. Idiot.

Z catches my eye and shakes his head.

With a slap of his palm against the table, Rock ends church. “Let’s do this.”

On my way out, I stop by Rock’s chair. “I need to pick Heidi up. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Rock stands and gives me a once over. “You look more stressed than I am. Simmer down, brother.”

Wrath steps up behind Rock. “I’ll be down here until you get back. Mariella will be fine,” he says as if he knew exactly what was bothering me.

“Thank fuck, I thought you were going to hover over me all morning,” Rock grumbles.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be up to babysit you later, prez.”

Rock glares at him, and I can’t help laughing.

Sway and Ghost, a president from one of our out-of-state charters, approach Rock. Wrath takes up a position behind our president, and I take the opportunity to hustle out of there.

“Heidi! You ready?”

Giggling drifts out of her bedroom. I know Axel’s at the property, so she’s not in there with him. Heidi finally pokes her head out of her room, and in the background, I spot her friend Penny. Great. Just what I need.

“Hey.”

“I sent you a text before I left the clubhouse. Why aren’t you ready?”

“Oh.” She ducks back into her room and comes out with her cell phone in her hand. “Sorry, I didn’t see it.”

“Are you kidding? You usually have it glued to your face.”

She sticks her tongue out at me, and I crack a smile. “Come on. We need to go.”

“Let me grab my dress and shoes.”

In the two minutes Heidi’s in her room, Penny approaches and runs her hand over my arm. “How do I get an invite to this wedding?” she asks in a low, I’m-sure-she-thinks-is-sexy, voice.

“You don’t.”

“Don’t you need a date?”

“No,” I growl in my best fuck-off voice. Christ, I’ve known Penny since she was a kid. I barely tolerate her hanging around my sister because I think she’s a bad influence. I sure as fuck don’t want to get involved with her—no matter how many times she tries.

“Ready!” Heidi announces, bursting into the living room. Her eyes narrow as she takes in how close Penny’s standing to me and I take a step back.

Penny turns and rushes over to Heidi. They hug and screech as if they’re not going to see each other for twenty years instead of a few hours.

“Heidi. Let’s go.”

“I’m coming. Calm yourself, bro.” She smirks as she passes me, then stops and gives me a hug.

“You get your work done?” I ask, letting her go.

A more serious expression settles over her face. “I did. Now I have the whole weekend free.”

Pride swells in my chest. Heidi drives me up the wall, but she’s a good kid. Smart too.

The girls hug again outside and then I’m finally able to get Heidi on the road.

“Are you hanging with Mariella today?” she asks.

“Yeah, why?”

“She’ll probably be freaked out with so many people up at the property.”

My sister can be as sweet as she is smart. “She said she was looking forward to the wedding. But yeah, I’ll stick with her.”

“Who sticks with me?” she asks.

“I’ll make sure Axel gets off prospect duty.”

She bounces in her seat, clapping her hands. “Thank you.”

Our drive goes by way too fast. Between her starting college and spending all her free time with her boyfriend, and my club duties, I don’t feel like I spend enough time with Heidi.

“Are you feeling wistful today?” she asks as I turn onto the road that leads to the clubhouse’s driveway.

“Wistful? About what?”

“You know. Rock’s getting married. Ever think about it yourself?”

I’m quiet for so long, she taps my arm. “Marcel?”

“I don’t know.” What’s the point? Women leave or disappoint you eventually. But there’s part of me that wonders what if… “Maybe.”

“Yeah? You want to settle down?”

“One day.”

“Have a few rugrats?”

“I already have a little rugrat.”

She lets out an indignant snort. “You better not mean me.”

I poke her side and she slaps my hand away. “Who else would I be talking about?”

“Grr. I’m trying to be serious.” She’s quiet for a few seconds. “You’d be a good dad. You’ve always taken good care of me,” she says softly.

For a minute, I’m too choked up to respond. “Love you, Heidi.” I glance over at her. “Why you worried about this stuff?”

“I want you to be happy.”

“I’m happy.” Before she says anything else, it occurs to me why I’m uneasy about this conversation. “The wedding isn’t making you wistful, is it? You’re too young to be worried about marriage.”

She snorts. “No, big brother.”

“Good. That’s what I want to hear.”

>

“I want to finish school. Find a good job, so I can afford to take lots and lots of vacations.”

Her plans fill me with happiness. I want all of that for her. “Yeah? Where you plannin’ on going?”

“Everywhere.”

“That’s my girl.”

As soon as I stop the truck she flings the door open and jumps down. “Ugh, you need running boards on this beast,” she grumbles.

“If you’d wait, I’d help you down.”

She makes a wrinkled-nose growly face at me that’s more cute than menacing.

I swat her toward the clubhouse. “Go get ready.”

Leaving Heidi in Murphy’s care isn’t ideal. He won’t let anything happen to her. It’s not that. No, it’s the way he stared at her when she walked into the clubhouse that unnerved me. My sister had the biggest crush on him growing up and he hurt her more times than I can count by pushing her away. Now that she’s almost eighteen, I don’t want him getting any ideas. I love the club. I love my brothers. The more I think about it though, I don’t want my sister caught up in the life. I saw how much Hope suffered this summer when Rock was in jail, and I don’t ever want that for my sister.

Of course, if she’s completely outside the club, that could leave her vulnerable to anyone looking to get at me.

It’s a dilemma for another day. The current object of my sister’s affection, one of our prospects, Axel, is busting his hump cleaning off all the stone benches where the wedding will take place. Ravage is busy supervising them and grins when he sees me.

“Prospect!” All three prospects snap their heads my way, and I fight back a grin. Pointing at Axel, I motion him closer.

He gives me the chance to speak first. “Finish helping out here. Once the wedding starts, you’re off duty.”

The corners of his mouth turn up slowly, like he’s waiting for the punchline. “Actually, that’s not true.” I have to stop myself from laughing when his face falls. This kid needs a lot of work before he patches in to the club. “Your assignment is looking out for my sister.”

“Oh. Yeah. Of course, I will. Is she here yet?”

“She’s at the clubhouse doing her bridesmaid stuff.”

His gaze darts to the woods, in the direction of the clubhouse.

“At ease, prospect. You’ll see her soon enough.”

“What’s up, bro?” Ravage asks as he approaches. “You’re hogging up my best worker.”

“Hey,” Hoot yells.

“Shut it, prospect,” Ravage shouts back. When he faces me, he’s laughing.

“After the wedding, his job is being my sister’s date at the reception.”

“Lucky fuck,” Birch grumbles, just loud enough for me to hear.

My foot snaps out, catching him in the calf. “Watch your mouth.”

“What? He gets to hang out with a hot chick all night while we’re doing garbage duty?”

I glance at Ravage to see if he’s as shocked as I am at Birch’s disrespect. Ravage—the fucker—is laughing.

Getting up in Birch’s space, I jab a finger in his chest. “My sister is not some hot chick. Stay the fuck away from her.”

Ravage smacks the back of Axel’s head. “Ain’t you gonna stick up for your girl?”

Poor Axel looks confused as he glances at Ravage, me, and then Birch.

Birch glares at Ravage, and I realize what’s going on. “Get back to work.”

When they’re busy, I throw a punch at Rav. “Think you’re funny, dick?”

“What?” he asks with false innocence.

“What if I’d kicked his ass for that?”

“Oh, my money definitely would have been on you.”

“Asshole.”

“Lighten up.”

“Where’s Dex?”

“‘Round here somewhere.”

As if he has some sixth sense, Dex strolls into the amphitheater. “‘Sup, brother?”

“Can you sit with Mariella during the wedding?”

“Yeah. No problem. Swan’s up at the house with her now.”

I slap Ravage’s chest a little harder than necessary and bump fists with Dex before leaving.

Mariella’s not in the living room, but I know where to find her. The kitchen.

The clubhouse dining room’s packed with visiting brothers being rowdy as fuck, and the women who joined them. I stop to say hello to brothers I haven’t seen in a while, but I’m not in the mood to shoot the shit right now, so I keep moving toward the kitchen.

Swan and Mariella are working side-by-side, cracking eggs, whipping them up and tossing food onto plates. The two of them seem to have a system down.

“Everything good down at the site?” Wrath asks from the table by the window.

“Yeah. Why ain’t you out there?” I ask, jerking my thumb over my shoulder toward the dining room.

He waves his hand in the air. “Told you I’d look out for her,” he says, nodding at Mariella. “Besides, not in the mood for socializing.”

“Are you ever?”

“No.”

Tawny, Sway’s ol’ lady, slams open the kitchen door and enters the room in her typical I-own-everything-in-my-path style. A few other ol’ ladies follow behind her. “Where can we help?” she asks.

Mariella seems absolutely terrified of Tawny. Swan glances up and then back to what she was working on. Swan’s rarely ruffled by anyone.

Wrath stands and points to the trays the girls set aside. “I think that stuff was going out next,” he says.

“We’re on it.” Tawny directs the girls. “How’s Rock? Nervous?” she asks Wrath.

He lifts his shoulders. “Gonna go check on him now.” He leaves without making it too obvious he wants to get away from Tawny.

I hold out my hand. “Mariella, I need your help.” She throws a look of relief at me. Tawny doesn’t know what Mariella’s role is here. I’m sure she thinks she’s another clubwhore for Tawny to boss around, and I want her to understand I won’t tolerate that bullshit.

“My girls and I can take over if you want, Teller.”

“Sure. Swan, Dex is looking for you.”

“Oh.” She wipes her hands down the front of her apron, then tosses it in the laundry bin.

“I got it, sweetheart,” Tawny says, shooing us out of the kitchen.

Swan skirts the crowd in the dining room and disappears into the hallway. Mariella and I take the slow route, while I make sure every brother here knows she’s with me.

Okay, not with me in the sense they’re thinking. But no one needs to know that.

“How you doing, sweetheart?” I ask once we’re in the hallway. She peers up at me and a small smile tugs the corners of her mouth up. “Good.”

Together, we walk up the stairs and I drop her off at her room. “I’ll be back in fifteen.”

“I’ll be ready.”

I jog down to my room, clean up and change, then head back to Mariella.

She opens the door before I knock and I freeze. Normally, she hides behind her long curtain of dark hair and baggy sweats. For the wedding, she’s twisted her hair up into a sexy-messy pile. She’s wearing some sort of loose, flowy dress in earthy colors with short bell sleeves. The dress stops a few inches above her knees, showing off her bare legs.

“You look beautiful.”

She tilts her head down and runs her hands over the dress. “Thank you. Trinity helped me pick it out.”

“It’s nice.”

She takes my hand, and I lead her downstairs. “Dex and Swan are gonna hang with you while I’m doing my wedding stuff, okay?”

“Teller. I’m sorry. You don’t have to keep watch over me. I’m sure you’d rather…socialize…”

“Hey.” I stop and tug her hand, spinning her to face me. “The only ‘socializing’ I want to do is with you.”

“You must want to spend time with other girls—”

“Stop. Not today.”

“All right. I don’t want you to be mad at me later, thoug

h.”

I reach out and rub my thumb over her cheek. “Stop worrying about stuff that’s never gonna happen.”

Not that I give a lot of thought to these things, but the wedding’s damn near perfect. I’m happy Rock’s found someone to care about. Hopefully, they last.

My sister’s beautiful. So damn grown up I can barely look at her. After the wedding, I keep her close. It annoys her at first, but she’s used to my hovering.

As the sun sets, and the crowd gets rowdier, I lean over to Heidi. “I want you to head back to the clubhouse.”

“Let me say good night to Rock and Hope? Please?”

“Yeah. Of course.” When she’s gone, I pin Axel with my I’ll-murder-you-if-anything-happens-to-my-sister face. “Watch her.”

“Always,” he answers.

Across the room, I spot Murphy and give him a nod.

“Ready to go?” I ask Mariella.

She all but jumps out of her chair. “Yes.”

On the way back to the clubhouse, she doesn’t have a lot to say, but she stops me in the front yard. “It’s such a pretty night, can we stay out here a little longer?”

“Sure.” I nod at one of the stone benches and she perches on the edge, then tips her head back to stare at the sky.

“You want to go for a ride?”

“No.”

One of these days, I’ll get her to say yes.

People drift in and out of the clubhouse. Some stop and talk to us.

“Hi, Marcel,” my sister shouts. Next to me, Mariella laughs softly.

Heidi excitedly explains that Axel’s taking her for a moonlit ride. I’m less than thrilled, but Axel promises to be careful.

After they leave, Mariella sighs. “She’s so sweet. You’re lucky to have each other.”

“I didn’t always think so.” I wish I’d chosen better words. As I finish the sentence, I remember Mariella’s brother was a dirtbag who sold her off to the Vipers MC to pay off a debt. Reaching over, I take her hand and squeeze.

“Don’t feel bad for me, Teller.”

“I don’t.” I glance over at her. “I’m happy you’re here.”

“So am I.” She lets out a soft yawn.

“You want to head upstairs?”