Preacher (The Untouchables MC 5)

Basically, I was marrying a beautiful lunatic.

I grinned, knowing it wasn’t true. My lady had her head on straight. She had shown me parts of myself I hadn’t known were there anymore. She had shown me that all I had to do was let go of my anger at the world and I could start to shine. Not as brightly as she did, but enough.

Her spit and polish job was of the spiritual nature. Basically, she’d loved me back into being myself. Still a badass, certainly. But she’d also helped me become the man I was meant to be before my sister died—a spiritual man, a strong leader, and someone who cared about his community.

Both of them.

I hadn’t realized ‘normals’ could be so fucking amazing, I thought as I looked out at the crowd. The church was bursting at the seams. Folks from the neighborhood had turned out in droves. But that was nothing compared to the amount of leather in here.

All the couples I’d married had shown up. I couldn’t lie. I was a little nervous that I’d be getting some payback for my past indiscretions today. Cynthia didn’t deserve to pay the price for my twisted sense of humor. But Cain was performing the ceremony, and he was more than happily married, so I knew he wouldn’t even think about kissing the bride.

The single guys, on the other hand . . . well, they made me more than a little worried.

Especially since Handsome Nick was back. That was his new nickname, apparently. It hadn’t started with the bikers, though.

It had started with Clarice.

Once Hunter, Vice, and Drake had heard it, though, all bets were off. I even heard Devlin call him that as Nick showed him and Kaylee to their seats. Yeah, all of my groomsmen were bikers, and somehow, they’d all gotten the spit and polish routine from Clarice as well.

Handsome Nick. I chuckled to myself. Clarice had a way with words. I guess I should be glad she didn’t call me ‘Big-Dicked Preacher’.

It felt like Marcus and I were standing there forever, waiting. But then everything happened very fast. The music started. The crowd got very quiet. And then an angel appeared.

Not my angel.

A literal angel.

Clarice was wearing a silver dress with wings. I cracked a smile. I couldn’t help it. The woman was always a visual dynamo. I didn’t care that she hadn’t started out as a woman. I didn’t know anyone who liked being a woman more. She embraced it, having more fun with clothes and shoes and fashion that anyone, well, ever.

And her big heart and sassy ways were beyond compare.

Yeah, Clarice was 100% woman, in my book. And 100% family.

A couple of girls from the dance crew came next, sprinkling rose petals as they went. The petals were not from a fancy florist. They were collected from our very own neighborhood just this morning. It wasn’t the kind of thing I would normally give two shits about, but right now, it fucking made me tear up.

And then I stopped thinking completely.

Cynthia stood at the back of the church, entirely dressed in white. Her gown was ivory in color, the softness complementing her skin so that it glowed. It was also vintage—I knew because Clarice had told me—with lace sleeves, a wide skirt, and a nipped-in waist. Her beautiful hair was down but pinned back at the temples with pearl encrusted combs. A veil floated over her bouncy waves, and her beautiful face was serene and so pretty it almost hurt to look at her.

Just like that, all of my fears disappeared.

She loved me. Her face said it all. She wasn’t nervous at all.

A feeling of euphoria filled me. It washed everything else away, all the years of loneliness and hard living. I was as fresh and clean as the day I was born.

I barely even noticed the hulking biker who handed Cynthia off to me. Hunter had a bow in his beard, I noticed in a daze. I almost giggled. Clarice strikes again!

I squeezed her hand and faced the pulpit. Cain was doing the service, which was ridiculous because the man hardly ever said two words. Still, I was an Untouchable first, and he was my club’s President. If anyone deserved the honor, it was him.

Plus, I knew he would keep his hands off my woman. I looked at her profile, in shock at my good fortune. Her beauty was only the icing on the cake. My woman was pure and good and kind and so smart it was hard to believe she had fallen for me.

But thank the good Lord, she had.

I tore my eyes away from my bride long enough to look skyward and say thank you. It was a big thank you. My eyes were full of tears by the time I clued into what Cain was saying.