“Speaking of badges… what about Texas stars?”
Destiny rolled her eyes. “Cousin Jerrica?”
“She’s our cousin as much as Fabio is.”
“You say that to feel better about screwing her last time you saw her.”
“That is true.”
“She didn’t go back to the rangers after her sabbatical. She’s in Illinois somewhere being a Deputy or some shit living on a tiny farm with that wolf of hers. Uncle Alec talked to Henry last week, he sends his regards, Jerrica got herself shot to shit but, she’s okay. I ain’t got the details though.”
“When she blows back into town and you get to catch up with her, please let me know how that happened. The girls a damn bullet magnet.”
“Tell me about it. But she’s tough as hell. Glad we never had to come up against her. Not sure we would have come out in the clear.”
Destiny disappeared back upstairs when we heard Alec’s bike and saw the lights of Kristy’s SUV pull into the driveway. I made myself as comfortable as I could on the couch and wished I would have stayed upstairs. I could still get up, slip into my old bedroom as it was likely that Amelia was still awake, crawl in bed next to her and hold her in my arms but I didn’t.
I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep like a child when my Aunt and Uncle came in. I could hear Kristy fussing, wondering why I had slept on the couch.
“Leave it be Kristy,” Alec warned her.
“Do you think they are fighting? Maybe he’s being honorable?”
“After the way he looked at the girl?” Alec chuckled, and I heard the familiar thump of Kristy playfully slapping her husband. “He looked at her the way I look at you. Like dinner.”
The two married lovebirds crept very loudly up the stairs and into their bedroom with Kristy giggling like she was fifteen.
Chapter Twenty-One
Amelia
I had slept better than I expected to, all alone in Houston’s old bedroom. I woke and showered in the in-suite bathroom. With damp hair and warped in nothing but the plush, over-sized towel that had been in the cabinet that had been stocked by the Better Home and Gardens biker matriarch, I walked back into the bedroom that I had presumed it would be empty. I yelped when I found it wasn’t.
“Shss.. I’m hiding in here for just a few minutes for peace. Aunt Kristy won’t be bold enough to come in here looking for me. Well, for a little longer at least,” Destiny said. The Bastard princess was still in what she appeared to have slept in. Her ink travelled up and down her arms and across her chest and up her thigh. She probably had a whole bunch more that I couldn’t see. Destiny’s hair was still tied up in a ponytail and she looked strained.
“I get married in five hours. Five. There are a nightmare of beauticians starting to file in downstairs. Do I look like someone who gets her hair and makeup done by professionals? Look at this,” she held up her hands, “nails. Fake nails! I’m not ready for this.”
“You’re a princess, it’s what princess’ do,” I answered, tightening my towel around me unconsciously.
“Good Lord you are modest. You are aware that we own a strip club, right? But I’m a princess of leather!” Destiny was rambling, which I found sort of cute quirk to her invincible personality. “I killed a man at eighteen! Don’t look shocked, self-defense, it’s a matter of public record. My convoy was attacked in the damn desert! I’ve laid bikes, gotten shot, stabbed, been in fist fights with men twice my size. I have never blinked an eye. Not once. But walking into the church wearing white? Do I look like the woman who deserves to wear white?”
I glanced down at my towel and rolled my eyes. Modest wasn’t something I would have called myself until running with the likes of the Bastards. Next to them I was preacher wife prude. I plopped down on the bed next to Destiny.
“I watched you two up there yesterday. You weren’t that cut, you weren’t president and vice – president. Stephan, Fabio, whatever you call him, he looks at you like any woman, any person in the world would be lucky to see in their lover’s eyes. He’s your best friend and so much more and I know that having known you for about, fourteen hours.”
“You know. I like you. I don’t say that a hell of a whole lot to anyone, especially women in the same generation as myself. You were at the clubhouse, you seen what I have to work with,” Destiny stood up and looked at me with a tilted head as if she were thinking. “Anastasia will be here in a few, maid of honor and all. Fabio has Houston and the rest of the boys, my boys, to get him to the church. You should come down, do your hair and makeup with us. It will be, fun or more tolerable at least.”
“I’m not really the girly type myself and I don’t want to intrude on your day,” I started knowing damn good and well no one told a Callaghan no.
“I invited you, besides, I get to share the torment! Torture is one of my favorite things,” Destiny stopped at the doorway. “How do you feel about breakfast whiskey?”
“Pour my starter in my coffee?”
“Girl after my own heart!”
“Double D?” I heard Houston’s voice in the hall.
“Hey big brother! Go in, I’m done with her for the moment,” Destiny said waltzing out of the room.
Houston stepped into the room and I felt his eyes burn on my skin. He shut the door behind him as his eyes went dark and he crossed the room in one stride. His body slammed into mine and his trimmed beard scrapped my skin as his lips parted mine, his tongue invading my mouth.
“Do not drop that towel,” he murmured between kisses.
“You’re not making that very easy,” I answered and sucked at his lower lip one last time before he pulled himself away.
“I came to check on you, wanted to know if you wanted to follow me around until the wedding started? I’m heading to Fabio’s in a few.”
“I think I’m staying here. Bridal prep, hair, makeup the works,” I said with a smile. “I didn’t get the Bastard/Callaghan family handbook when I arrived, but I’m pretty positive no one tells Destiny no on regular days. Are you changing into your tux here?”
“No, and I’m going without my bike. Tux’s can’t be stuffed in saddlebags, so we’re stuck in the cage. Uncle Alec has a truck he keeps in the garage. It’s going to be quite a change.”
“No cut?”
“We’re bringing them, for pictures later, but other than that we are under strict instructions. Besides, I have my name and my ink, everyone knows who I am.”
I grinned looking at Houston’s massive arms and the beautiful intricate artwork that wrapped up and into his t-shirt sleeves. “Weddings. Add that to the list of things you take it off for.”
“Have fun today,” Houston said tracing the top of the towel with an index finger.
“I will. I like your sister, she says she likes me as well. I hope I’ll get to see her again someday,” I stopped short. “Sorry it’s just they’re all acting like…”
“Like it’s going to be us in that church next. I know, I’m sorry.”
“I’ve tried telling Destiny, that it’s not serious or real but apparently this role I’m playing is making her think I’m telling lies. It will be hard to forget it all when it’s over. I don’t want to intrude on her day because it’s likely the last time I’ll see her, but she doesn’t take no for an answer.”
“Not at all. Much like someone else I know,” he chuckled then looked at me sort of regretfully. “It doesn’t have to be goodbye. To Destiny and them I mean, when I leave Homeland there’s no reason you can’t stay in touch.”
“There’s every reason and you know that. I could never come back without hoping to see you again. Eventually you will move on. I’ll hear about it from them or from some club whore who will rub it in my face. Maybe someday you will even find your biker queen. As much as I would like to know it happened for you, that you found your perfect woman and fell hopelessly in love and finally had something real… I don’t think I could actually hear it…”
Houston gripped my hands and held them tightly bet
ween our chests. “It’s real. Us. More real at least than what I have ever had before. I never planned on telling you that, but I just, thought you should know. Just because it can’t last doesn’t mean it isn’t real. My offer yesterday still stands. I can get you a car, send you back to the ranch now. We can stop the whole pretending…”
“The pretending it’s real or that it could last?”
“The pretending we don’t know the end mark. I told you I tried to keep my distance Amelia I did. I didn’t want to hurt you,” I felt the tears sting, but I wouldn’t let them fall. I could never cry in front of him. Would never prove he was right, that we should have kept our distance from each other.
“The only way you could ever hurt me Houston, is when you leave. I know what I signed on for when I climbed on the back of that bike. I knew what I was doing when I allowed you to stay at Homeland. Just let it be real, for today and tomorrow until we reach the ranch gates. We will figure it out then.”
Houston kissed me one last time and my heart lurched, “Have fun darling,” he turned to leave only to have Destiny throw open the door.
“Are you hoping to interrupt something?” he barked.
“The hairstylist is here!” she said looking pained, she was holding two coffee cups. Houston grabbed one and took a drink. “Hey, that’s Amelia’s!”
I smiled. Like it had ever mattered. “Try to make it to the church before you pass out ladies,” he handed me the coffee and kissed my cheek.
“I did interrupt something, didn’t I? And not just sex.”
I took a long drink of my coffee and whiskey. “Double D you don’t want me taking any part in today besides being the girl in the background. I’m not going to be afterwards.”
“Did you two break up?”
“For the millionth time. We are not together. Not really. Whatever this shit is, it has an expiration date. We’ve agreed to it. There’s no saving us. If I had any self-restraint I would be on the ranch right now. He’s the Bastard, I’m the cowgirl. We don’t exactly co-exist for more than a one-night rodeo.”
“But if they could?”
“If they could, something tells me Houston would have rode off long ago. It’s his safety, his logical reason out. No one is supposed to be able to get hurt when you know there’s and ending and just how fast it’s coming.”
“Tomorrow?”
“When the rustlers are taken care of. Which I’m hundreds of miles away and not taking care of like I should be,” I sighed and sank back into the bed.
“Get some clothes on, or don’t but either way come downstairs. Just because you and my idiot brother have signed off on your joint ending doesn’t mean I agreed to put you out with the trash. I need your help. I’m using you as a shield with Kristy and Stella. All else fails after this weekend maybe you’ll be a little more excited about seeing the Callaghan clan’s taillights.”
I doubted it as the bride disappeared, likely it would make me miss them even more, but it was nice knowing Destiny had no intention of writing me off like her brother would.
***
The hoopla of getting ready for the wedding went by rather quickly. The hair, the makeup, the pre-game drinking. Soon enough the photographer had arrived to get a few before pictures and then we all loaded up in Kristy and Stella’s SUV’s and headed for the church.
There had been no time for me to sneak off and look for Houston, although I had been tempted to place a call to him when I was left to slip into my dress for the wedding. Light blue with thin straps and a breezy material that fell knee length. I hoped it was classy enough for what Houston had called a “casual affair”.
Casual affair my ass.
I stood in the back of the church after most all the other guests had settled in. I helped Anastasia lie out Destiny’s dress the same as I had helped sneak her out for a cigarette ten-minutes before. I spritzed her with perfume from a Neiman Marcus glass bottle I was given and finally handed Destiny her bouquet.
“Wedding’s getting ready to start. I have to go in and get a seat if I want to actually see you get married,” I told my new friend, although new was a rather bland word as I had felt I knew the woman all my life.
“Bryant,” Destiny barked and then took a deep breath and corrected herself. Smoothing into a much softer tone. “Wedding voice, not business voice. Bryant, could you please escort Amelia up front? Aunt Kristy’s pew?”
“Destiny,” I protested, uselessly of course.
“Don’t start with me,” Destiny said, Bryant linked his arm in mine.
“Ready Ms. Lorbosh?” Bryant was dressed in a tuxedo as well and was maybe ten years older than Houston and carried himself like a soldier would. He was attractive with sharp, yet aging features. His hair was short, but his beard was full and there was the slightest of scars under his left eye. The ring on his finger said he had a wife and I wondered if I had met her.
Two bikers, in full cuts, opened the church door and Bryant led me through to the front of the church and helped guide me into the front pew where Kristy and then Alec would take their seats shorty.
Destiny’s groom was already in his spot, his shoulder length hair pulled back and his tuxedo sharp. The few rings he had worn the day before were missing from his hands, leaving room for Destiny to place his wedding band.
He was nervous, and it made me smile to know that he felt the same as his bride.
Bryant lead Kristy up the aisle and she knelt and crossed herself before the alter as she took her spot next to me. Stella and Eric took their places on the opposite side of the church. Then Anastasia waltzed down the aisle. The woman who had grown up in this world and who had carried and was raising a son utterly without the support of man, a woman who jokingly talked about being a stripper, though it was a reality, carried herself with a floating grace.
Before leaving Kristy’s once we were a few shots in, the make-up complete, after we finished lacing up the back of Destiny’s dress the bride pulled both Anastasia and I in close and with a tipsy breath, kissed our cheeks. “I’ve had a lot of brother’s all my life, but you two are the closest things I probably ever get to sisters.”
Destiny had released her grip on us, turned to the door and I caught Anastasia wiping a tear from her eye. “You loved him, Austin, didn’t you?”
“Very much, but it’s not their cross to bear,” the woman whispered and turned away.
The deep red dress Anastasia wore with a one shoulder strap and a lengthy hemline was attractive on her and it was the color scheme anyone would expect a brood that named themselves the Devil’s Bastards to wear.
At last, the church doors opened, and everyone stood. As much as I was itching to see Houston in his tux, walking his sister proudly down the aisle, I had seen Destiny. Had laced her in to the simple sweetheart dress with the corset waist that flowed freely from her hips down. I had slid a brand-new pair black Laredo’s on Destiny’s feet just hours before, Kristy’s concession to the wedding as no one could see them anyhow.
I had watched Stella pin the veil in her hair upon arriving at the church. Destiny’s dark curls were groomed and pinned in a Southern Bell type updo, just enough class with just enough freedom.
I had held the box that that Destiny had directed me to bring as the biker princess opened it and withdrew a long-sleeved bridal wrap that never had a prayer crossing her chest but only covering her arms and back.
Destiny had held it out to the Aunt who raised her, and Kristy’s eyes teared up as she helped her daughter into it. “My ink has a place at my wedding but not in the church,” Destiny had conceded.
I knew what Destiny looked like. So instead of watching the bride, I turned to watch the groom. Fabio gasped silently, then bit his lip as he fought back the glistening in his eyes before smiling wide. He looked down at the ground for a moment and then back up at her.
Tears fought in my own eyes at his emotional reaction and I turned my head as the bride and her escorts approached the front.
Alec was cl
osest to Kristy and me with Houston on the other side. It had taken a long moment for them to figure out the bustle so that Destiny could walk and hold both arms, especially since she pulled them tight to her, so she could still carry her bouquet of yellow Texas roses. When they reached the front of the church Alec and Houston both kissed her cheeks and two handedly passed her over to Fabio with a chuckle.
Alec sat next to his wife and Houston took his place behind the groom. His eyes travelled through the crowd and came to settle on mine. He offered a smirk and I blushed. Good Lord it was a terrible idea to have this wedding in a church. I hadn’t been raised Catholic, but I was sure it was frowned upon to be having the kind of thoughts I was having since I laid eyes on Houston Callaghan in a tux. The biker in him could have easily been mistaken for bad boy billionaire.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Houston
I had never had a prouder moment than when I gave my sister away. I had worried on and off all day about her mental state of mind. Fabio hadn’t been kidding about the amount of effort it took to convince Destiny to come home to him and stay, or to agree to a wedding. It’s not that Destiny didn’t want to, it was more because she was a big scaredy cat.
Alec teared up when he saw Destiny in the back of the church, she had went out all on her own, to a dress store nonetheless and purchased a shawl to coverup her tattoos that matched her wedding dress. I didn’t cry. That’s all that mattered.
“Buying favors with Kristy or Father Scott?” I teased when I kissed her cheek and hugged her tightly.
“Neither. Just for once, it might be nice to see the lady I could have pretended to be if I had given you all the finger and ran off for good,” she laughed as we settled in to escort her up.
I smiled when I saw my best friend starring down the aisle at his bride. Pussy. Once upon a time Fabio had been just as wild as I was, but then he decided he was going to convince Destiny Dallas to marry him. The stubborn ass had gotten his way but not without excessively mushy shit that I heard him whisper to Destiny all the time. Oh, yeah, and that one time he almost died from a bullet wound saving her life.
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