Saving Dallas Forever (Saving Dallas 3)

The ceremony would be dedicated to, and in honor and memory of, War, a fallen brother who had lost his life on the night I was attacked. His service not only to me, but to the club, would forever be remembered and a shadow box filled with a replica of his cut and a single precious item, would be hung in the clubhouse as a reminder of his sacrifices. The body of War had never been recovered and Luke refused to hold a funeral, in the hope that he was still alive. But Jeff (my ex-boyfriend, who dumped me for a one-night stand with a chick who worked at Arby’s, compliments of Regg, and was a key factor in the takedown of Charlie) was not the useless piece of shit I remembered, and had informed Luke that Crazy and Dennis had confirmed War’s life was taken from him the same night he went missing. Jeff did not partake in the killing nor was he informed of it at the time. Luke still wasn’t convinced that he was gone, but Ronnie was going to talk to him, or so he said. Jeff was told to disappear, and he did just that. He was last seen driving a Honda.

I finally got my trip to the beach. Luke and I left the morning after ‘operation take down Charlie’, after the news confirmed his death. Two eye witnesses claimed to have seen two men who had been staying at the hotel drag Charlie from an SUV and force him into their room. Less than ten minutes later, they heard gunshots and called the police, who ruled it as a fatal shootout between three men, resulting in all of their deaths. Charlie had a whole twenty seconds of fame before a cute kitten dancing for a treat stole his spotlight. Fiji was beautiful. We were there a total of two days before I got stomach flu. It took Luke a whole day to convince me that no one was trying to kill me. He said everyone who had any issues with me, or with anyone I was close to, was dead. This brought up the subject of what had really happened in that hotel room after he left. Our silence seemed to tell one another that we didn’t want to talk about it, but he finally asked, so I told him. I never uttered the words “I killed Charlie”, because that would make him an accessory; he had taught me that. So, instead of actually telling him, I simply said ‘Plan B.’ After my forty-eight hour stomach flu, I actually got to enjoy myself. We walked on the beach, snorkeled, rode jet skis, swam, fucked, and ate, and Luke bought me a ridiculous solitaire, princess-cut diamond. All of this happened in one day. After I received my ring, I suddenly felt homesick. I asked Luke if he would be mad if we went home early. Of course he wasn’t and we left the next morning. We flew into New Orleans, and when we stepped off the plane, I was miraculously cured of my homesickness, so we spent the remainder of the week in Lake Charles. I thought I’d played it really well, but Luke was on to me. When I burst through the door of the clubhouse, I did not greet my sisters nor did they greet me. The first words spoken were “let me see.” Yeah, I probably should have thought that one through. Luke wasn’t mad, though; I made it up to him.

The Red Strip is now a successful strip mall located on highway ninety-eight and it was named after my favorite stripper. I’d meant it as a joke, but the way Red’s face lit up when I informed her of the name I planned to use forced me to make it official. The mayor signed a deal regarding the pipeline, and it is now being laid a mile south of Hattiesburg, instead of through the heart of it; the result of an idea from my brilliant assistant, who I plan to let replace me as CEO in the very near future. The mayor was rolling in the money, but the big picture was that many businesses were saved from sacrifice, and now Red could see her name every time she went home, which wouldn’t be often considering she still spent the majority of her time at Luke’s; which would soon be known as Luke and Dallas’.

I looked around the extravagant room, closing my eyes as I inhaled the scent of the flowers that reminded me spring was here. The only thing I would miss about the cold weather was the sight of Luke in leather chaps. We had a long weekend ahead of us. The ceremony was formal, and the reception, consisting of hors d’oeuvres, champagne, and dancing would take place here, immediately following ‘I do.’ Tomorrow would be the biker reception, where attire was optional and catering would consist of grilled food, liquor, and beer, as well as strip poles covered with Lindas’, or so I hoped. Then after that, it was off to spend a week in the city of love, unless of course I got homesick.