I couldn’t grab Shepard’s attention as I walked past him, he was too busy laughing at something CueBall was saying.
Apollo closes the door behind us, and I smile at him as he takes a seat on the edge of his massive desk in this smart looking office.
Apollo is an intimidating man. He’s incredibly tall, well-built, and strong. He looks the typical biker with his super long hair that he braids down his back, the scars he bears on his face and hands, and the usual biker clothing with the chains hanging all over the place. He always carries his gun in his holster at his waist, and he’s as dangerous as they come. He looks so scary upon first meeting him, but he’s a pussycat underneath all that aggression.
“Do you know why I called you in here?” I nod my head, and he folds his arms across his big body. I’m not afraid of him, he’s my man’s father above the biker, the man my little girl calls papaw, and I know that he wants nothing more than to see his son happy. Not that I’m cocky, but Shepard could do much worse than a girl like me. “You and my son,”
“Can I just say something?” He raises his eyebrow at my audacity to interrupt him. Apollo isn’t the kind of man who likes to be interrupted, its beyond rude in his opinion. However, I need to get this out. I need him to understand that both Shepard and Tate mean the world to me.
I smile at the rough and tough man in front of me and take his hands in mine. “I love your son more than I have ever loved anyone in my life except for my daughter. I love your grandson as if he were my own.” He’ll never know just how much I love that boy.
“I know this is probably not what you want for Vince and Tate. I’m not what you want for them, but I swear to you that no one else could love them the way I do. I will always be there for both of them, I will never leave them, and I won’t stop until we find Nova and bring her home to us. I will love her just as much as I love Willow and Tate.”
I swallow hard.
“Shepard, Tate, you and Myra, even this club, you are the only family Willow, and I have, the only family my daughter knows. Please don’t get me wrong, that’s not the reason I’m with your son, but for the fact, he is the most amazing man I have ever known.”
I smile at him. “Your son is a wonderful man, and that’s thanks to you and Myra. He’s kind, compassionate, smart, funny, strong...” I look up at the ceiling for a second and smile so wide. I’m so overcome with happy emotions right now.
I look at Apollo and tell him, “There are so many words I could use to describe your son, but they wouldn’t do him justice, Apollo. He’s amazing, and you did that. You raised him to know right from wrong, and to protect those he loves. I know the things he has to do for his club, I know what you expect of him, and I will never stand in the way of club business. You have my word on that, Apollo. However, he is my man, and I don’t want to lose him now that I have found him. You might be a scary old man to most,” He laughs, which cuts me off for a second because I have to smile. “But my daughter thinks the world of you, so do I.”
Apollo smiles at me and tells me, “Sweet girl. I didn’t call you in here to tell you that I didn’t want you with my son, nor in my grandson’s life.”
“You didn’t?”
“No, you silly girl, I called you in here to thank you.” Thank me? “I knew you were the woman for my son. I’ve been telling him for years to claim you.”
He has? I never once thought Apollo would have done any such thing. He wanted his son with me? I'm so touched, I could kiss him!
“Both my son and my grandson are lucky to have you. Little Willow is just as lucky to have them both in her life.” That I agree with, Shepard is fantastic with her. We’re all lucky. “You never have to explain yourself to me, Lynette, not to anyone. One day, you’ll be this club’s, First Lady. However, before that day comes, you’ll be my son’s wife.”
“I will?” Fuck yes, I will. I have dreamed of being Shepard’s wife since the day I met him. No joke, nor exaggeration. “
He’d be stupid to let a woman like you go, Lynette. A man makes a woman like you his wife, the mother of his children. I’d be damn proud to call you my daughter-in-law.”
I giggle and wrap my arms around his neck. He hesitates for a second before hugging me close to him. I don’t care what people say about this man. Sure he’s mean and rough, tough and aggressive, but he loves fiercely, just like his son.
“Thank you,” I tell him with a kiss to his cheek, which draws a smile from his lips, and a kiss to my head.
I’ve never really had the love of a father. Not the conventional kind of love, at least, and I’m not saying Apollo is the kind of father I would have wished for as a child. However, for all his faults, all the wrong doing’s he does as President of this club, he’s a wonderful father to Vince. A fantastic grandfather to Tate, to Willow also because he’s never treated her any differently than Tate. I know he’ll be a tremendous father-in-law.
Now all I have to do is wait for Shepard to propose to me. Because I know if Apollo is telling me this stuff, then Shepard has told him that he wants me as his wife.
God, I’m so excited I could scream!
Chapter Five
Shepard
I’m nervous as fuck. Nothing in my life has ever made me nervous like this before. I asked Lynette to marry me a month ago. We’d been together a few weeks by that point. I’d wanted to make the proposal perfect for her. I was going to take her to Lovers Lake, and ask her to marry me by moonlight. Things don’t always work out the way we plan them though, and I ended up asking her to marry me after making love one evening. Lynette smiled at me, then she kissed me, and mumbled yes against my lips.
The clubhouse looks amazing. Everyone looks amazing. Tate in his young man's suit and tie of gray, Willow in her little bridesmaid dress of blue, her favorite color, so she told my mother, who took her out to buy the dress.
I watched her earlier twirling around and around, giggling happily. Willow is always happy. I swear she used to smile in the womb. I watched her holding Hammer’s hand, swinging their joined hands back and forth. She adores Hammer, Titus’ eldest kid. She's the same with Haiden, but with Haiden and Tate, she sees them as her brother’s. Hammer, I’m not sure what she sees him as. I’m wondering if she has a little crush on him.
I’m not going to worry about it; she’s twelve, Hammer’s nineteen, almost twenty, he loves her like a sister. That’s all it will ever be.
My dad is officiating my wedding today. He was ordained a while ago, he likes to be the one to marry anyone belonging to the club. Some weird obsession he has because he's the man in charge.
My mom looks beautiful in her cream dress and matching wedding hat. Willow is now sitting in her lap, my mom’s arms around Willow’s waist, and baby girl is smiling. She’s so excited to see her mother and I get married.
My boy is standing up with me today. I could have asked either of my best friend’s to stand with me, but last week, Tate sat with me and asked if I thought of him as more than just his son. I looked at him curiously; he seemed a little nervous. Then it hit me just what he meant. My boy wanted to know if I saw him as a friend as well as my son.
We were sitting on our porch watching the sun go down. Willow was asleep in her newly decorated room. Her room at my house because I want them both living with me. Willow has a nice sized room now, and she loves it. Lynette was asleep in our room because she was exhausted from the move.
‘We’re buds, right?’ I told my boy.
‘Yeah,’ He wrung his hands together nervously. I couldn’t help but smile. ‘Have you decided who’s going to be your best man?’
‘I have,’ I nodded.
'BlackJack or Titus?'
‘Tate Jackson,’ I said with a shrug, acting like it was nothing. I watched Tate from the corner of my eye with a smirk on my face; his mouth was hanging open. I turned to look at him. ‘That all right with you?’ He nodded. ‘Think you can handle it?’
‘Why me?’
I clasped his shoulder and g
ave it a gentle squeeze. ‘Because you're my son, and I like to think we're friends.’
‘The best,’ He told me with a huge smile before throwing his arms around my neck. It seems he wasn't too old just yet to hug his old man. I hugged him tight and kissed his head. ‘I love you, Dad.’
‘Love you, too, my boy.’ Always fucking will.
Tate did a damn good job showing everyone to their seats today, making sure everybody was ready for when Lynette walked down the makeshift aisle. God, she looks more beautiful than I have ever seen her. Lace white dress that covers her arms but sits on her knees, white heels on her feet, hair in a thick braid with daisy's looped through. I’ve never seen anything so perfect in my life than Lynette.
I’m not going to lie; I had a tear in my eye as she walked towards me. My heart was pounding so hard I thought I was about to have a heart attack. I still feel like that, holding her hands in mine, smiling at the beautiful woman who is about to become my wife. She’s smiling at me with such love in her eyes.
I never knew I could love and be loved like this.
“Right!” Apollo yells loudly enough to get everyone’s attention, even though everyone is already silent and watching Lynette and me. I can’t take my eyes off of her. Can’t believe she’s mine. “It’s my pleasure and my honor to be standing here in front of my son, your VP, and his beautiful bride today.” Lynette looks at Apollo and giggles, and he winks at her.
I squeeze her hands, and she turns her head to look at me again.
The mumbles finally die down when Apollo yells for everyone to shut their holes. He’s as charming as ever.
“Looks like my boy has a few words he’d like to say to Lynette.”
Lynette and I decided to write our own vows. It didn’t take me too long to write mine; I knew what I wanted to say to her.
Apollo nods at me, and I bow back, take a deep breath, and smile at Lynette. She’s looking at me with her big green eyes sparkling as she smiles. “Lynette, it’s never really been a secret that I had a thing for you long before I finally grew a set and claimed you.” That gets me a laugh. “It’s true that you were just a little girl when I met you. A little girl, pregnant with her own little girl.” I look over at Willow, still sitting on my mother’s lap, and she giggles at me. I wink at her, and she blows me a kiss. I fuckin’ love that kid.
I turn back to Lynette. I notice she was watching the exchange between Willow and me, and she’s smiling so widely because of it. “I watched you through the years grow into the beautiful woman I see before me. The woman who took my kids into her heart and loved them like her own.” This time, Lynette is smiling at Tate, who’s standing to my right a little behind me. “When Nova disappeared, you were the one who held me up, took care of my son, made sure he knew that he was loved. That you love him.”
“More than anything,” She smiles. I will never doubt a day in my life how much she loves Tate.
“I told myself plenty that I wasn’t good enough for you, hell, no man could ever be good enough for you, but I couldn’t fight this any longer. I fell in love with you, and I was done fighting it. You’re my best friend, my soulmate,” I stroke the tear from her cheek with my thumb. “I love you like I ain’t never, and will never love another woman. In a few minutes, you’ll be my wife, and I’m never letting you go.”
I want to kiss her right now, but my dad would smack me upside the head if I kissed Lynette before it was official.
“You are the love of my life, and so, I make you these promises. I promise to be by your side for the rest of our lives, no matter where we are. I promise to cherish you, to support your hopes and dreams. I promise to be the best father to our kids, and the best husband to you that I can be. Nothing in this world will ever come before you, Lynette, and I promise, I will love you for all eternity.” She smiles wide. I see the sweet emotion in her eyes.
“Now, Lynette has a few words to say to Shepard. Go ahead beautiful girl.” Apollo winks at my girl. He has a soft spot for Lynette, always has. He knows she hasn’t had an easy life, and I don’t know if he knows why, I know I don’t, no one does. However, I do know he tried to find her family. If he ever found them, he never said anything. He just told me one day, that it was better for Lynette to be here with us, with the Snakes so that we could take care of her and her child.
“I’m a little lost for words after what you just said. However, Vince,” Lynette swallows hard; she has nothing to be worried about, she can call me whatever the fuck she wants. Even in front of all these people. This is our wedding day; she wants these vows to be as real as they can be. I don’t blame her for that. “You are my world. You always have been. From the moment I came to town, you have been my best friend. You took me into your family, treated my little girl like your own, and you never asked me for anything in return. You’ve protected Willow and me since before she was born. No amount of thanks could ever cover it. I was there for you and Tate when you both needed me the most because there was nowhere else I’d rather have been. The two of you, along with Willow, make my life complete.”
She has tears in her eyes, and I have a smile on my face. Any minute now this beautiful woman with the purest soul will be my wife. I’m fucking anxious for it to get to the I do’s.
“I make you these promises, Vince. I promise to be by your side every day for the rest of our lives, through the good times and the bad. I promise to be true to you, to listen and understand when you need a friend the most. I promise to be the best mother and wife that I can be, and I promise to love you for all eternity.”
Fuck, I love her!
“Without further ado, because I can see my boy is itching to kiss the hell out of his woman,” Bastard! But I can’t help laughing along with everyone else. “By the power vested in me by God and the state of Tennessee, I now pronounce you man and wife! You may kiss your bride, son.”
Kiss her, I do.
I grab her waist and pull her against me, our lips crashing together, her hands sliding around my neck. I don’t give a shit about the cat calling going on behind us; this woman is my wife!
Shit, she’s my wife.
Lynette moans against my lips before pulling out of the kiss and resting her forehead against mine. She laughs at how loud the cheers are coming from behind us. “I love you, Vince.”
“I love you, too, beautiful. Think we can sneak away soon?”
“No, this is our wedding day.” She laughs. “We can be alone tonight, just you and me and a huge bed.”
I growl while rocking her from side to side. “I'm gonna fuck you like you’ve never been fucked before.”
“You always do.” True. “Let’s go enjoy the rest of our day, and then we can go home and spend the night making love as man and wife.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
And we do just that. We dance our first dance as man and wife. I dance with Willow while Lynette dances with Tate. I dance with my mother, and Lynette dances with my father. We eat till we can eat no more, we drink, we laugh, and the day couldn’t have gone any better.
Once we’ve said goodbye to the kids for the night, knowing they’ll be safe with my parents, I ride my wife home on the back of my Harley. I take her home and make love to her for the first time as Mrs. Vincent Jackson, and it’s the most perfect moment of my whole life.
I know life can’t always be this perfect, but this right here is perfect. Ain’t nothing can take this away from us, and there won't be a day that goes by for as long as I live will I forget this feeling.
As I pull my wife onto my chest after hours of making love as man and wife, I kiss her head and let the smile stay on my face.
“I love you, husband.”
“I love you, wife.” As her breathing evens out, letting me know she's fallen asleep, I tell myself everything will always be this perfect.
I can dream, right?
Chapter Six
Lynette
We've been together six months already, Vincent and I, married for the past
four months. Things have been amazing between us, and the kids couldn't be happier. It seems they'd wanted us to get together for a while. They had a blast at our wedding. I hadn't seen Tate smile that much in months. Willow and I moved in with the boys a short while before the wedding. Shepard said it made more sense that we live together, we were getting married, after all.
Yes, Apollo was right, the man I love asked me to marry him, after spending a while trying to organize the perfect proposal. It may not have worked out the way he planned, but it was perfect to me. I'd already said yes, but Shepard made a good point; we love each other, we're soulmates, neither of us doubts that fact. Why shouldn't we get married? I mumbled yes against his lips, and told him how much I loved him. He then kissed me hard and made love to me all over again.
My handsome man surprised me with the wedding of my dreams. Sure, we weren't married in a church, but the clubhouse and the people in it, are home to me. I love them all and having them there for my wedding to the man I love meant everything to me.
I will never forget how perfect it was. How beautiful my little girl looked in her dress, nor how handsome Tate looked in his suit, standing right by his father's side, watching me walk down the makeshift aisle, Apollo had set up for us smack in the middle of the clubhouse, hand.
The whole day was perfect, and the evening was even better. Shepard made love to me in ways no one else ever could or will again. Not that any other man will ever be touching me the way my man does, hell no, I am his for all eternity. I am his wife, and he is my husband, and I honestly never thought that would happen. But it did, and I couldn't be happier.
I wear my leather jacket with the words: Property Of Shepard written across the back in white stitching with more pride than I could tell you. I'm also branded with his mark, a tattoo that shows everyone I belong to him. I had Property Of Shepard written between my shoulder blades with the club's banner below the words. Two snakes wrapped around two pistols.
The President's Wife: Prequel (Snakes Henchmen MC) Page 4