He kissed me hard.
It was the kind of kiss I felt all the way to my toes. The kind that blazed through my bloodstream. Left me hot and needy and breathless.
Finally, he dropped his forehead to mine and exhaled a shaky breath. “Be careful. I won’t survive if something happens to you.”
I let him breathe me in. Suck me down. Let him feel my whispered words. “Nothing is going to happen to me. We’ve waited too long for this. We can’t lose it now.”
So yeah.
They were all gaping.
Mouths unhinged, watching Richard claim me right out in the open.
Different than yesterday.
Because today?
Today we were standing in our new beginning.
“Go,” I coaxed him.
He ripped himself away and walked to the SUV. He slipped into the front seat, watching me with that raw potency through the windshield. Rhys and Lincoln climbed into the back on either side, and Royce hopped into the driver’s seat.
I didn’t say a word, didn’t move a muscle while I remained planted, held in the grips of his unrelenting gaze.
Royce whipped the SUV around and rambled down the drive, the powerful engine accelerating as they hit the main road.
“Oh my god.” Melanie’s voice yanked me from the trance.
My attention whipped that way. “What?”
“Don’t what me, young lady.” Her eyes took me in from head to toe, and then her face was splitting into a wry grin. “Look at you. All freshly fucked. I should have known something was different.”
A blush rushed to my face.
Not because I was embarrassed.
But because I was assaulted with the distinct images of Richard doing just that.
My hands gripping the bedframe while he’d owned me from behind.
Sweat drenching our skin.
Our bodies freed.
No boundaries we wouldn’t breach.
I bit down on my bottom lip and squeezed my thighs together.
“Ahh…I see someone is still reelin’ from the effects of that giant dick.”
“Melanie,” Emily hissed, smacking Mel’s upper arm with the back of her hand.
Mel shrugged. “I don’t know how she’s walkin’, honestly.”
I cleared my throat. “Not walkin’. Flyin’.”
Mel cracked up.
Emily’s smile was full of affection.
Of relief.
Maggie reached out and took my hand. “See. Your future. You’re brave to step into it.”
My brow curled. “I’m not sure I’d call myself brave.”
Honestly, I was barely rising above the debilitating fear.
She shook her head. “No, Violet. It’s brave. Because some of us are too fearful to step out of our pasts. We remain prisoners to them. Chained. No way to move forward.”
Emily took her opposite hand since Maggie was still holding mine. My gaze flicked between them, and I squeezed her hand tight. “I don’t know your story, Maggie. I don’t know what you’ve been through. But I see a brave girl.”
A tear slipped from her eye, and she choked it back. “I’m not feeling so brave right now.”
I wished I understood.
Emily cleared the roughness from her throat. “Maggie and I are supposed to testify against the man who violated both of us, three weeks from now.”
A tremor rolled through Maggie.
Violent in its path.
I clung to her tighter. Of course, I knew Emily was involved, but I hadn’t realized Maggie had been, too.
Melanie moved forward so she could take my free hand as well as Emily’s.
It brought the four of us into an unbroken circle.
Emily’s throat quivered, and I saw the fear there, as well, saw how deep it went, normally covered by her natural joy.
But right then, she pulled the veil back.
“It was supposed to be in the bag. No question of these men seeing justice.”
She met my eye. “Two of the women who were supposed to testify with us? Two women who’d been forced into a life of sex slavery? They disappeared last week.”
Horror spiraled through my being. A blade cutting directly into my soul.
Because I knew what was in their eyes.
True terror.
The fate of those women unknown but unfortunately obvious.
“Oh my god,” I whimpered, hardly able to stand when it finally became clear what the two of them had been through.
What Richard had implied.
“You mean…like what happened to Emily? I saw, Richard, on the news. That somethin’ bad happened to her. It’s horrible. I can’t…”
“Like that. Even worse.”
His words suddenly made full, complete, horrible sense.
Melanie squeezed our hands so tight that it sent a pulse of commitment running through the circuit. “Nothin’s happening to any of you. You hear me? It ends now. Here.”
I nodded frantically like my doing it would cause the threat to pass. “We’re behind you.”
And I didn’t know why I got the sudden, sinking feeling that I was right there with them.
One Week Later
Twilight teased at the dwindling day, the bright, endless blue giving way to swashes of pink, cool air riding on the breeze and twisting through the quieted, peaceful mood.
The four of us were in the workshop, where we’d basically been for the last week, getting everything finalized for the wedding. Emily was singing low, perfectly in key without a lick of music to guide her, Maggie humming along.
I swayed to the beat of it, stuffing twinkle lights into mason jars and wrapping brown twine around their necks. They would be filled with fresh flowers on the day of the wedding and used as centerpieces for the tables.
We worked together.
Our hearts and our minds lulled.
Leaving our fears at the door in a hope that Emily and Royce could have a normal wedding. We’d made the conscious choice to focus on only this rather than the fear that lingered at the outskirts of our minds, choosing to shut out the stress and worry so we could focus on their special day.
On her beautiful day that I was determined to give her.
In a few days, the wedding guests would begin arriving.
A few distant relatives.
The last member of their band, Leif, his wife, Mia, and their children.
The members of Sunder and their families.
Plus, the members of Royce’s band that he’d recently been reunited with, A Riot of Roses.
The invitation list wasn’t huge. The number of guests was small enough so that everyone could truly feel a part of it, which was what Emily had wanted most.
Most were staying at the same hotel in Dalton where the engagement party had been held.
We had these last few days left to put together the finishing touches.
And truth be told, I was in my element.
Decorating.
Putting pieces together that would mark her special night.
Plotting out the flowers that would amplify the beauty and joy.
“Last one,” she said as she started to wind the twine around the jar.
“It’s gonna be beautiful,” I told her.
“Perfect,” she agreed.
It was.
I believed it.
Held onto the hope and the faith I could feel burning inside me.
It only intensified when I felt it.
That rush of energy that stirred through the air right before the sound of voices and footsteps reached out to touch my ears.
The guys were all suddenly there. Standing in the sliding doorway to the workshop we’d left wide open.
Royce moved directly for Emily. Wrapping her up, his tatted hands spread out to cover her tiny baby bump. “Hey, you.”
“Hi,” she whispered, leaning back into his touch. “Are you nervous?” she asked, tipping her head back on his shoulder so she could take in his expre
ssion.
His daughter, Anna, was flying in tonight. The child who I’d learned he’d been unjustifiably separated from since she was only a baby. The man sent to prison for attacking his sister’s attacker, his rights stripped away while he’d been there. The atrocious actions so unfair.
Thank God, they’d been reunited.
He’d gotten to see her a handful of times before they’d come to South Carolina to plan the wedding, and tonight they would be picking her up and she would be staying with them for the next week.
Maggie would be there to help considering there was still so much to do for the wedding.
“Nervous. Excited. Just…ready to have my family together,” he said.
“I can’t wait to have this time with her,” Emily said, love riding through her features. “I love her already, and I hardly know her.”
She almost blushed at that, turning self-conscious as she peeked at her fiancé.
God.
She was amazing.
So good.
So kind.
So real.
“I imagine it’s natural to immediately love a child you know you’re going to be responsible for. That you’re going to care for. A child who’s going to look to you to teach her. To protect her. To love her. It doesn’t matter if she was born of your body or not.”
There was Maggie again.
The empath.
So insightful that it stole the words from everyone’s tongues.
But Richard was looking at me.
Understanding the stark, instant impact of what Maggie had said.
The crash of devotion.
The truth that I would do whatever was required for Daisy.
Live and die and fight and pray.
She was the core of who I was.
The focus.
The reason.
Our gazes danced. Twirling and twirling as the silence hovered around us.
The truth that by stepping up, she’d become his, too.
He reached for my hand. “Almost finished?”
With shaky hands, I set down the last of the jars I’d been working on. “I think so. It’s all coming together.”
Emily came for me, hugged me tight. “Thank you.”
Why I suddenly felt like crying, I didn’t know. But I felt awash in it. In the emotion. In the love. In the true meaning of family.
I hugged Melanie something fierce, Maggie the same, Lincoln and Rhys.
Royce, too, his voice a murmured, “Thank you,” at my ear.
I swiped the tear that got free. “It is my honor.”
Thirty-Three
Violet
“You look stunning.” I smiled softly at my sister-in-law where she stood at the full-length mirror in my bedroom.
Wearing her wedding dress.
Twenty minutes from walking down the aisle.
Waves of blonde were twisted in a loose side braid, and tons of wisps fell out, fresh flowers from the field pinned into the plaits.
“Um. Stunning might be an understatement. Royce is gonna lose his shit.” Mel grinned.
Emily released a shaky exhale, and she spread her hand over her belly, emotion cresting in her eyes that were the same color as her brother’s.
Her mama stepped up to her and took her by the hand. “You are so incredibly beautiful, sweet girl. Look at you. Mel is right. Royce is gonna lose his shit.”
I choked out a laugh, and Maggie took Emily’s other hand. “I agree. You walk in the room, and my brother can’t look anywhere else. Come in looking like this? You’re going to be lucky if you make it all the way through dinner before he’s hauling you to privacy to get you out of this dress.”
Mabel tossed her a grin. “That’s what weddin’ dresses are—a gift for the groom. A present to be unwrapped.”
“Torn to shreds, more like it,” Mel said. “It might as well be five-thousand-dollar tissue paper.”
“Um, if he destroys this dress, he’s in trouble.” Mia sent a playful smile to Emily.
Mia Godwin was dressed in the same bridesmaids dress I’d modeled just a couple weeks before. The clingy, gorgeous fabric hugged her shape flawlessly.
I’d met the wife of Carolina George’s drummer two days ago. Emily had been right.
I loved her.
Instantly.
So honest and open. Direct but soft.
This striking beauty who undoubtedly stopped traffic when she walked on the street.
Melanie hadn’t been exaggerating—there were gonna be some epic pictures from the event. The way the photographer was currently scurrying around and clicking a gazillion shots and groaning in pleasure as she did was proof of that.
“Mommy!” The door banged open to Daisy running in with Anna in tow.
The two little black-haired angels had been inseparable from the second they’d met.
“Me and my’s bestest new cousin friend are all ready. We didn’t even get no dirt on our dresses when we went down the slide.”
Lord help me.
“Daisy. You were supposed to be reading books in your room. Not playing on the swing set.”
“Well, I was telling her a story when we played. That counts, right?”
“This kid’s gonna be an attorney.” Mel sent me one of those looks that prayed for my sanity. “Pretty sure she can talk herself out of any bit of trouble. Hell, all she needs to do is smile.”
Daisy beamed the evidence.
Exhibit one.
Emily giggled at poor Anna standing looking like she’d been cornered.
“I think my daughter is a bad influence,” I said, twisting my face up in a hapless apology.
“That’s what cousins are for,” Daisy informed me. “We gotta learn from each other. And have all the fun together. Right, Anna?”
Anna nodded in her shy way.
The child was quiet and timid and probably feeling a bit out of sorts, but we were doin’ our absolute best to show her this was where she belonged.
That she fit right in.
Cousins.
I doubted either Daisy or Anna had expected that. Rhys had brought it up like a tease during the dress rehearsal last night. Afterward, the two hadn’t been able to stop claiming it.
It was crazy how a few short weeks ago, I’d felt as if I were shouldering so much alone. Loving for so many. Trying to hold up my mama and daddy. To provide for my daughter. To be everything.
And now we were surrounded.
Lifted.
Elevated.
Loved.
Mabel sent me a tender smile as if she’d had a direct connection to my thoughts, her mouth moving in a silent whisper, I am so thankful to have you back in our lives.
Maybe I never should have rejected their support in the first place. Never should have let the choices Richard had made steal them away.
Truth was, most of the time it felt easier to close yourself off than to admit your need.
“Auntie Emily, you look smokins’ hot. Just like my mommy.”
A disbelieving laugh scraped from my throat.
This kid.
“True story,” Melanie told her, giving Daisy a high-five.
“You do, too, Mells Bells,” she added with a resolute nod of her head, child nothing but happy chaos.
Oh, she got that from Rhys. Apparently, my little troublemaker wasn’t the only bad influence around here.
There was a knock at the door, and it swung open to the minister poking his head in. “Everyone ready? I’m about to head to the meadow.”
Emily sucked in a flurried breath. “I’m ready.”
We all filed out, carrying our heels in our hands and wearing flip-flops on our feet so we could make it down the pathway in one piece.
The day was beginning to set so perfectly. That gorgeous fusion of color gathering at the horizon and painting the sky in a portrait of beauty.
Picture perfect.
We made it all the way down to the bottom of the hill where I’d had a small stand built with
storage and a cooler for the bouquets. Stopping there, we quickly changed into our heels, all of us giggling like crazy as we shoved our flip-flops into the slots and figured out which bouquet belonged to who.
Excitement billowing.
Nerves rippling.
Daisy went running along to check on the guest book that was set up on the other side of the meadow where the guests came in from the parking lot. Funny how the job she’d been so desperate for had all but been forgotten once she’d gained her new best friend.
Luckily, Shea Stone had been happy to stand in and assist.
We resituated Emily’s dress, made sure her hair was just right, and adjusted her bouquet.
Emily heaved out a sigh of skittering nerves. “Goodness. I just might pass out. If I do, you better carry me to the altar. I don’t wanna miss this no matter the circumstance. Let it be known I give permission for the weddin’ to go on even if I’m not conscious for it.” She forced out the flustered joke.
“You’re doin’ great,” I promised her. “Everything is perfect. Just like I said. Don’t worry. Just enjoy your day.”
“I love you,” she said, her chin tremoring. “This just feels right. You takin’ up your spot in the family. Where you’ve always belonged.”
My heart pushed against my ribs, and that emotion climbed higher. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
I stepped back so her mama could press a kiss to her cheek, and then Mabel walked over to me and drew me in for a long hug that caught me by surprise, her mouth at my ear when she said, “It’s the most beautiful thing to get to watch both of my daughters get married in this sacred spot.”
Her words were packed with meaning.
With love.
With unending support.
Stepping back, she squeezed both my hands, and I did my best not to weep right there. The stunning highs and the gutting lows I’d been riding the last weeks.
But I knew…right then. This was where I wanted to be.
“I am so thankful for that, too.”
She touched my cheek. “Precious girl.”
Then she turned and walked over to Lincoln who held out his arm to escort her to her seat. The woman was wearing this pretty sequined gown with a swooping left shoulder.
A beauty aged through the years. Stoic and real and true.
When she disappeared up the hill, Lenny Ramsey came down it.
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