Between Embers (Lost Kings MC 5.5)

God help me, but she bounces up and down on her toes. It physically hurts to tear my gaze away.

“What is it? What is it?” she yelps. My Heidi has always loved presents of any kind.

I set the container on the counter and pop the lid off, revealing a batch of plump chocolate covered strawberries.

“Oh my God!” she squeals. “They’re so pretty!”

“Trinity made them for their sleepover last night. I asked her to set some aside for you.”

Her pretty brown eyes blink a few times. “Thank you.” She hesitates. “Maybe I should eat some real food first.”

“Good call.” I end up making us sandwiches while she watches and critiques my sandwich-making skills. We take our plates to the small table by the window. That way I can keep an eye out for anyone who’s going to intrude on our time.

She only ends up eating half of her sandwich, pushing her plate toward me. “Berry time!”

I nudge the container to her side and finish her sandwich.

“Hmm…they all look good. I don’t know where to start.”

I chuckle while she makes her decision as if it’s life or death.

I’m not laughing a few second later when strawberry juice lands in her cleavage.

No, I’m biting my tongue so I don’t lick the drop from her skin.

“Oh. Crap.” She wipes it away, sucking her finger and seriously testing my control.

“Better be careful. Don’t wanna ruin your dress.” I grind the words out and hand her a paper towel.

“Yeah, I’m not used to so much skin showing.” She waves her hand over her boobs, as if I need the reminder. “Good thing, though or I totally would have stained my dress.”

I’ve never felt the meaning of “no good deed goes unpunished” as acutely as I do in the next fifteen minutes while I watch her carefully work through half the berries.

“Don’t you want any?” she asks.

“Sure.”

She ends up handing me one and having me eat it out of her hand. Isn’t that appropriate?

“I can’t believe Trin made these. They must take forever. They’re soooo good though.”

“She seemed to have a system down. Mariella helped her.”

She nods and stands, carrying the rest of the berries back to the refrigerator. I wait and watch her at the sink, washing her hands. Hell, I’ll pretty much sit and watch Heidi do anything.

When she’s finished, she turns and flashes a sweet smile. “Thank you.”

“You know I’m always thinking of you.”

Her smile fades. “I know.”

Time to lighten things back up. “Can I steal you away from the bridal party a little longer?” I ask, holding out my hand.

“Sure.”

I have one final thing to give her, waiting in the living room behind the bar.

“Is Axel still helping to get things ready?” she asks, waving her hand toward the woods.

My stomach twists at the sound of her boyfriend’s name. “Yeah.” Axel wouldn’t be getting off prospect duty any time soon if I had any say.

What I’d stupidly forgotten was, a couple weeks ago, I’d invited Serena to the wedding. A fact that’s bound to bite me in the ass soon. As I’m about to grab Heidi’s present, I glance out the window and spot Serena walking toward the front door. She notices me and waves.

Fuck.

“Hi, Murphy,” Serena calls out as she walks inside.

“Hey.” I motion for her to stay where she is. But it’s too late. Heidi turns and figures it out immediately. Her face crumples with disappointment.

“I should go see if Hope needs anything,” she says softly.

Serena approaches me slow. A dress slung over her arm. “Do you mind if I change in your room?”

My gaze returns to Heidi, who hasn’t looked up or moved or anything. Her reddened cheeks signal she’s either about cry or blow up.

“Yeah, sure,” I finally answer Serena’s question.

“Later,” Heidi says, moving past me without another word.

“Is everything okay?” Serena asks.

I rip my attention away from Heidi, hurrying away from us.

“Yeah. Same old shit.”

* * *

YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND. It doesn’t matter.

I keep repeating those two sentences to myself as I sprint down the hallway to Trinity’s room.

It’s not like I haven’t seen Murphy with girls over the years. Each one had been a tiny knife jammed in my heart. But this one spoke to him in such a familiar way. Like they spend a lot of time together.

So why was he busy saving strawberries for me? Being so sweet to me? If he had a girl coming?

Not a girl. A woman. Probably closer to his age. I barely looked at her. Only long enough to note she was tall and pretty, with her blonde hair all elegantly pulled up into some complicated updo. Poised my grandmother would have called her. Not a messy teenager stuffed into a dress that’s too fancy for her.

I hesitate before knocking on Trinity’s door again.

Someone shouts for me to come in and I poke my head inside the room. Hope’s finally in her dress instead of the bathrobe she was in earlier. “Am I allowed to hang out in here?”

“Of course, sweetheart.” Hope waves her hands in welcome, and I close the door behind me.

Lilly’s back and Hope’s friend, Mara is also here. I murmur hellos to both of them and put my back against the wall, so I’m out of the way.

“Everything okay?” Mara asks.

“Yeah.” I finally glance up and smile. I don’t want to do anything to ruin Hope’s day. “You look so pretty, Hope.”

“Thank you.” She grabs a bag and starts tearing through it. “Hold on.”

Trinity swipes two boxes off her desk and taps Hope’s shoulder.

Hope hands one box to me and one to Mara. “Thank-you presents for being such wonderful bridesmaids.”

I feel a little guilty taking anything, since technically I don’t think I’ve done much to help Hope with the wedding.

Inside, I find a pair of long, amethyst earrings. They dangle and sparkle. “They’re so pretty. I don’t have dangly ones like this. Grams never let me wear them.”

Hope flashes a relieved smile. “Good.”

I stand in front of the mirror to put them in, but my hair hides them, unless I brush it off my shoulders. “I wish I was wearing my hair up now.”

Trinity moves behind me, picking up my hair in one hand. “I can help you put it up if you want,” she offers.

“I’d love it. Thanks,” I finally answer.

While Trinity tugs, yanks, and—ouch—pins my hair into submission, I watch Hope laughing with her friends.

“What’s wrong, honey?” she asks, meeting my eyes in the mirror.

“Nothing. Did you know Murphy was bringing a date?”

Her mouth twists down and her gaze slips to the side. “He mentioned it when I was doing the invitations.”

“Oh. Do you know her?”

“I’ve met her. She’s a nice girl.”

Nice girl. She’s met her before? This girl’s in Murphy’s life enough that he took the time to introduce her to Hope?

“Is your boyfriend in the wedding?” Mara asks me.

Boyfriend. Yup. Remember him? “Yes. Sort of,” I answer just as Trinity slides the one last bobby pin home.

“All done. What do you think?”

“It’s so pretty! Thank you, Trinity.”

Trinity spends an eternity taking photos of all of us while Hope and her friends goof around. It’s funny seeing this side of them.

Uncle Z knocks on the door when it’s time for the wedding to start.

I follow everyone out front, hanging back because I don’t want to see Murphy again. I can’t stand the thought of holding his arm while we walk down the aisle.

For Hope I’ll do it. If it was anyone else, I think I would have locked myself in the bathroom by now.

Trini

ty hands us mini bouquets of jewel-toned flowers wrapped in ribbon and accented with crystals on the handles. “These are so pretty.”

“Thanks, I finished them up early this morning.”

“Is there anything you can’t do, Trinity?” Lilly asks.

Embarrassed, Trinity shrugs.

My brother strides over and pulls me away from the girls for a hug. “Look at you. You’re so pretty, baby sis.”

“Thank you.” I squeeze him back hard. My emotions are flipping out so I end up clinging to him longer than the situation requires. While we’re hugging, one of the UTVs starts up. Z has the bigger vehicle, so he takes Hope, Lilly, and Trinity out to the site. Teller steps back and says hello to Mara. “Your husband’s out there with the groom, so I’m your ride.” He flashes a bright smile and Mara laughs.

“Lucky me.” It really sounds more like she’s humoring my brother than flirting with him. Thank God. Because watching women fawn over my brother is just…ew.

“You okay, Heidi?” my brother asks after escorting Mara to his vehicle.

“I’ll be fine.”

He glances at Murphy and the two share some unspoken message, because Murphy nods.

After my brother takes off, Murphy swaggers over. “We don’t have a lot of time. I wanted to give you this, though.”

He holds out a box with a flower and some feathers in it. “A wrist corsage?”

He shrugs, almost looking embarrassed. “I thought you’d like it.”

The peacock feathers are dyed purple to match my dress and accent a blue and purple orchid. He obviously put a lot of thought into it. “It’s beautiful.” My voice comes out barely above a whisper.

He takes it out of the box and slips it over my hand.

“Perfect.”

My fingers stroke the silky feathers. “You remembered the color of my dress?”

“How could I forget?”

I finally raise my gaze to meet his eyes. “Thank you.”

He doesn’t say anything, just nods and escorts me to our UTV.

“Is your girlfriend already out there?”

His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t answer my question.

Guess it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

* * *

HEIDI’S KNOCKED me on my ass twice today. When I first saw her in that dress and again when she came out with the girls.

When she asks about Serena, I want to crawl in a hole. If she were any other girl, I’d give her a slick answer and a smirk. But this is Heidi. She’s more than the girl I’m in love with but can’t have. She’s also my friend.

“Don’t worry about it,” I finally answer.

She snorts and turns her head, watching the woods. I wish we had more time together, but we arrive at the wedding spot quick. Everyone else is assembled and waiting for us.

“What took so long, dick?” Wrath growls at me. “Go get in line before Trinity rips your head off.”

Rock walks Hope up front, and we take our places next to them.

“Welcome, everyone,” Damon begins. “I’m honored to be here to celebrate the beginning of what we know will be an extraordinary marriage. Rochlan and Hope, to choose marriage is to accept a challenge.” Rock grins at Hope and she playfully swats him. “Things won’t always be easy, but you both share a commitment to putting each other first in both difficult times and wonderful times, growing stronger with each shared experience. Marriage is a journey, not a destination and although neither of you will always be perfect, you are perfect for one another.”

There’s so much in there that hits me in the chest. For Rock, who I love like a surrogate father. For Hope, who I’ve grown to care for and would die to protect. The reminder that life itself is a journey and finding the right person to spend it with makes all the difference.

Across the way, Heidi’s watching me, and the corners of my mouth turn up. She returns the smile, then glances away.

I spend the rest of the ceremony staring at her and wondering if one day this will be us.

* * *

I HAVE A BELLY full of honey bees as I watch Rock marry Hope. My head’s spinning with so many thoughts.

“…you both share a commitment to putting each other first in both difficult times and wonderful times, growing stronger with each shared experience.” Damon’s words hit me in the deepest parts of my soul.

Every now and then, I flick my gaze a few feet to the right and catch Murphy watching me. There was a time in my life where I used to dream of marrying him in a ceremony very much like this one.

Childish daydreaming.

Another few feet to the right and my gaze lands on my boyfriend, Axel. His mouth curves into a quick smile. Behind him, in the crowd, I spot Murphy’s date. Jealousy squeezes my heart, and my gaze moves back to Axel.

Before I know it, we’re setting boxes of pretty orange and black butterflies free, and then the ceremony’s over. Hope promised it would be quick, and it was. I’m pulled into a bunch of group photos. Many of them where I have to stand next to Murphy.

When we’re finally set free, Axel meets me at the edge of the group. “You were the prettiest one up there,” he says before leaning down to kiss my cheek.

“Thank you,” I murmur.

His gaze strays to my wrist corsage. “Where’d that come from?”

Even though I know I’m risking pissing Axel off, I won’t lie to him. “Murphy gave it to me.”

“What’d you do, complain to him that I never got you one for prom?”

“Jeez, no.”

Because he knows that was a dick thing to say, he cracks a quick smile and plays it off like he was only kidding. It’s too beautiful a day, too happy an occasion, to waste it arguing, so I let it go. Axel takes my hand and leads me into the tent. Trinity didn’t bother with seating arrangements. The only table that’s off-limits is the one set up in front for the bride and groom.

“Heidi!” Someone calls out, and I turn to find Tawny coming at me. Arms open wide for a hug. “How are you, baby? I haven’t seen you since—” She stops abruptly, her smile fading as she remembers she hasn’t seen me since my grandmother’s funeral.

“I’m okay. How are you?” I’m pulled in for a hug, pressed tight to her squishy chest and forced to inhale her smoky-perfume scent for what feels like a really long time. Finally, I shake free and force a big smile. “Wasn’t the wedding beautiful?”

“Yes. It’s so good she’s an official part of the family now. She’s good for Rock,” Tawny says. I sort of doubt Uncle Rock was overly worried about Tawny’s seal of approval.

Tawny’s gaze rakes over my boyfriend, and next to me, I feel him quiver. I take his hand, pulling him a little closer. “I was planning to sneak my boyfriend away before someone puts him to work,” I say which makes Tawny laugh.

“You’re still with the club, Axel. That’s good,” she says. She spends a few too many seconds eye-fondling him before turning to talk to someone else. I’m not jealous. More grossed-out. She’s old enough to be his mom. In fact, I’m pretty sure both her children are older than Axel.

Axel leans over and whispers in my ear. “She freaks me the fuck out.”

I burst out laughing, and we continue over to the drink station. My brother’s camped out there, making it impossible for me to sneak any alcohol—not that I would anyway, but jeez. He gives both of us a stern look and points to the table closest to him. “We’re sitting there, little sister.”

He ignores my eye-roll and keeps staring me down, letting me know it’s not up for discussion. Axel shrugs, I don’t think he cares where we sit as long as he’s not fetching things for anyone. Marcel and Mariella join us, so at least I don’t feel like my brother tried to sit us at the kiddy table or something. Mara and Damon sit with us too. Strangely, the conversation flows easily. My brother seems to know Damon well, and respect him—and it’s not easy to earn my brother’s respect, so that’s interesting.

Leaning over, I catch Damon’s eye. “I really liked what you

said at the wedding. About marriage being a journey and being imperfectly perfect for each other.”

He tilts his head to the side, as if he’s surprised I was paying attention during the ceremony.

But, I captured each and every word, locking them in my memory.

“I try to tailor my opening words to each couple, and that theme seemed appropriate,” he says.

“It was.”

Everyone talks about the ceremony, the butterflies, what a perfect autumn day it is for a wedding.

The food is arranged so we can grab whatever we want from the buffet whenever we want, which makes the party feel relaxed and easy. People mingle and chat. If I had to guess, I’d say a number of business deals were going on between the different LOKI charters attending the wedding. I also recognize patches from other MCs that I know have had a long history with the club.

That’s not stuff I’m supposed to notice, so I concentrate on my plate and absorb the happiness of being surrounded by family.

* * *

THE WEDDING’S a happy occasion for our prez. For the rest of us, there’s business to conduct. We’re leaving Rock out of it, but no doubt he’ll press us for details tomorrow.

Wrath and I are up first to meet with the Wolf Knights. They seriously fucked us over by being sloppy. Rock spent the summer in jail because of their fuck-up. Our meeting will cover how they plan to compensate us.

In our world, the payment will be in either blood or money.

If we feel what their offering is in any way disrespectful, then it will be a bloody conversation.

“Ready?” Wrath asks.

Serena’s busy talking to some girls she knows from Sway’s charter. Rock’s wrapped up in his new bride. Heidi’s, well she’s with her boyfriend, so I’m trying not to pay attention to Heidi.

I need to focus.

“Let’s do this.” I pat the Glock 27 at my hip and follow Wrath. We meet Whisper, the SAA for the Wolf Knights, and Wrath’s business partner right outside the tent.

“Merlin’s coming too,” Whisper says after shaking both our hands.