“It’s about time you guys got here. I’ve already got a stack of dresses I want to try on, and half of them are not appropriate for a mother of five.” Jackie winked at me, and I knew this was going to be one hell of an afternoon.
________
Lo
“Yo, King!” I glanced over my shoulder as I walked into the clubhouse and saw Hammer headed towards me with the club phone in his hand. “Leo needs to talk to you.”
I grabbed the phone from him and put it to my ear. “Leo.”
“King. How are things in Rockton today?”
“Quiet for the time being.” Quiet that was making me uneasy. The last time there was silence from the Assassins, Meg’s porch got blown up.
“Good, good. I’m keeping my men in town, making sure nothing happens before I know about it. That is also the reason I’m calling right now. All my men are busy, and I need some help.”
“Shoot.” Leo had already helped us, so I had no problem helping him with whatever he needed.
“It’s my sister, Fayth. My damn nephew is giving her a run for her money right now, and I’m not there to help. I had to head back to Chicago for a couple of days, and he’s taken this opportunity of my absence to wreak havoc.”
It was times like these I was thankful Meg had raised such a good kid. I didn’t have to worry about Remy doing stupid shit. “So what exactly do you need us to do?”
“Fayth said she heard Marco on the phone this morning making plans to meet with some of the drug runners from down here. I don’t know what the hell this kid is thinking.” I could hear the annoyance in his voice, and I knew annoying Leo Banachi was not a wise thing to do.
“You want us to run them out of town?”
“No. I’m meeting with the leader of these little rats and plan on getting Marco out of this fucking mess. What I need from you is to send a couple of guys over to my sister’s house and keep an eye on the fucker until I get there tomorrow.”
I scrubbed my hand down my face and tried to figure out who the hell I was willing to give up for a day. “Slider and Hammer could stay over there until you get back. I’m sure they won’t be happy to be babysitting a seventeen-year-old, but they’ll do it.”
“I’ll owe you one, King. I know babysitting isn’t what you guys want to be doing right now. I’ll let Fayth know that they’ll be over.” I shoved the phone back in my pocket and ran my fingers through my hair. Babysitting a seventeen-year-old, great.
“You want me to grab Slider so you can tell us both about your phone call?” Hammer asked.
“I’m right here.” I looked to my right and saw Slider walking into the common room. “What’s up?”
“Leo just called. He had to go out of town for a couple of days, and he’s having some problems with his nephew. I want you two to head over there and keep an eye on the little fucker until Leo gets back in town.”
“How the hell long is that going to be? I had plans tonight.” Slider crossed his arms over his chest, already pissed off.
“Fucking cancel them. Get your shit packed and head over there. Call Demon and let him know what’s going on once you get settled. I’m heading over to Ma’s to see what the hell has been up with Gravel lately.”
“Fucking bullshit,” Slider mumbled under his breath as he walked back to his room with Hammer following.
I shot off a text to Demon, letting him know what the hell was going on and letting him know Slider would be calling him, and I would be over at Gravel’s.
I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. I would be fucking happy when all this bullshit with the Assassins was over, and shit could go back to the way it was. I was getting too old for this shit.
________
Chapter 8
Meg
“Twirl.”
“Twirling isn’t going to make that dress look any better,” Gwen called from the racks of dresses behind me.
“It looked so good on the hanger.” Jackie stood in front of me, her hands propped on her hips.
“Ugh!” I tossed my hands up in the air and stomped my foot. “This is beyond hopeless! There isn’t one single dress in this store that looks good on me.”
“Calm down, we have four more dresses in the fitting room to try on, and Gwen is out searching for more. Your dress is here; we just have to find it. We need to find it today in case you need any alterations done.” Jackie shooed me with her hand, and I headed back to the dressing room.
“She didn’t like that one either?” Cyn asked. She was sprawled out on the mini couch they had in the dressing room, fanning herself with her hand. A half-eaten bag of Funyuns cradled in her arm and a can of soda next to her.
“Eh, I didn’t like it either. I look like a God damn cupcake. The pouf of this dress clashes with the pouf of my ass and thighs.”
“Not this one either?” The saleslady asked, sweeping into the room, closing the door behind her.
“No, Barb, I’m 0 and 12 at this point.” Yes, that’s right. I had tried on twelve dresses, and none of them were right. I wasn't even picky. They all just looked like shit on me.
“Don’t give up just yet, my dear. I know we have something that will sweep your man off his feet.” Oh Barb, so optimistic.
“Shouldn’t King be swiping you of your feet, not the other way around?” Cyn mumbled.
“What was that, dear?”
I glared at Cyn, daring her to repeat what she said. Barb was well past sixty and sweet to a fault. “Oh nothing,” Cyn chirped, throwing a chip at me.
“Well, let’s get you in something you haven’t tried yet, shall we? I found this in the back, and I hope it’ll be just what you’re looking for.”
“Alright, Barb, hit me with it.”
“First, we need to put this on,” she reached out the door and grabbed a different bustier. “We need to get those girls up where they belong.”
Cyn burst out into giggles, and my jaw dropped. I thought my girls were in a pretty good position, thank you very much. Hell, Lo never complained about them. “Uh, are you sure that’s the right size?” I asked as she held it up and stepped towards me. I scurried backward, afraid of the damn thing. It was going to squeeze the hell out of me, that is if we could even get the thing on.
“Oh, trust me, dear. It laces up, we’ll be able to make it as tight as we need it to be.”
Cyn stood up, wiping the chip crumbs off on her jeans and unzipped the back of the dress I had on. “The cupcake dress is no more,” she laughed, helping me step out and draped it over the couch.
“All right, young lady. I’m going to need you to take this side, and I’ll take the other, and we’ll hopefully meet in the middle.” The way Barb talked half the time, I felt that I should possibly be offended, but then she would say something nice. She was giving me whiplash. “Take off your other bra, dear.”
I reached the back clasped, unhooking it and tossed it over my shoulder as I held my boobs in my arms. Wedding dress shopping sure wasn’t turning out to be as fun as I thought it would be.
Barb and Cyn grabbed a side of the new torture device and moved behind me. “Are your breasts in the cups, dear?” I lifted the ol’ girls up, resting them in the cups, and I felt like I was going to suffocate.
“Um, they’re kind of high, Barb.”
“That’s where they’re supposed to be, dear.” There she goes again, possibly insulting me, but I’m not really sure. “Now suck in, and don’t breathe until I say so.”
“Wait-” Barb yanked on the laces, and my breath whooshed out. “Can’t breathe,” I wheezed.
“Just a little bit more, dear, and we’ll have you in that dress lickety split.” She tugged one more time, and I was pretty sure she broke a couple of ribs. “There, I’ll grab the dress.” She flitted out of the dressing room, and I fought for breath.
“Holy fuck, Meg. You have like a serious hourglass figure.”
I didn’t care if I looked like a goddamn su
permodel, I couldn’t breathe. I waved my hand behind me, trying to get Cyn’s attention, letting her know I was about to pass out. “I… my ribs… tell Lo… I love… him.” I collapsed to my knees, clutching at my stomach. Barb had managed to shove and squish me into this bodice that was three sizes too small, but it was going to kill me.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Cyn chanted. “Don’t die on me!” I could feel her clawing at my back, frantically trying to untie the ties. “Jesus Christ, it’s like Fort Knox back here. It’s like she triple knot tied the fucker.”
I closed my eyes and saw spots as my lungs fought to suck air back into them. This was it, this was how I was going to die. Death by wedding dress.
“I’ve got it, I’ve got- Ah, fuck. Hold on. My fingers are too fat to get this last knot untied.” I reached behind me, frantically clawing at my back, grasping for anything to tug on. I needed to get this fucking thing off.
“Stop, you keep knocking the damn laces out of my hand, bitch.” Cyn knocked my hands away and more panic set in.
“Well, here it is,” Barb swept into the room with a huge dress draped over her arm and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Cyn and me on the floor. “What on earth are you two doing?”
“You’re killing her, Barb.”
“Oh, posh. She just needs to get used to it.”
“Barb, I swear to God, if you don’t help me get my best friend out of this torture device, I will shove that fucking wedding dress down your throat. Get your ass over here, now!”
Barb scurried over, kneeling behind me. “I didn’t even make it as tight as it should be,” she mumbled under her breath. I was going to kill Barb if she didn’t get me out of this fucking contraption.
“I got it, I got it!” Cyn yelled. I felt the ties loosen, and I was able to suck a little bit of air into my lungs. “Just fucking pull, Barb, who cares if the fucking laces are even or not.” I felt the laces tug all the way off, and I fell forward, my chest heaving with the deep breaths I was dragging into my lungs. The corset fell off, and I was laying on the floor, topless. I had reached an all new level of classy.
“What in the hell is going on here?” I looked up and saw Gwen, Marley and Jackie standing in the door of the dressing room, all looking horrified. I glanced behind me, seeing Cyn flat on her ass, holding her stomach while Barb was on all fours, her skirt hitched up her legs.
“Why the hell are your boobs out?” I glared at Jackie and wrapped my arms around my boobs, trying to contain them.
“Barb tried to kill me. Cyn saved my life. I think we’re done for the day, ladies. I didn’t try on anything I liked.” I laid my head down on the floor, light-headed from the loss of air, and a bit disappointed I didn’t find my dress.
“Not so fast. While you were in here dying, I was out there scouring the racks for the perfect dress.” Gwen ducked out of the room while Jackie and Marley plopped down on the mini couch.
“Can I have some chips?” Jackie asked, picking up the bag that Cyn had dropped on the floor. “I didn’t know we were bringing snacks. I totally would have brought my amazing spinach dip that I make.”
“Hmm, I love spinach dip. You should totally make some for the wedding.” Marley reached into the bag and popped a chip in her mouth. “Although that might be a lot seeing as I know all the guys from the club are coming and they can eat a ton.”
“Around sixty people are coming. Lo and I don’t want anything huge. Although he gave an open invitation to his old chapter, so who knows how many guys will show up from there.” My breathing had finally returned to normal, and I didn’t feel like I was going to pass out anymore.
“Here it is!” Gwen swept into the room, holding up the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. It was an A-line, strapless, white dress, and get this, it had gorgeous, small dark purple flowers. All. Over. It.
Everyone gasped when they saw it, and I knew that was going to be the dress I walked down the aisle to Lo in. “You didn’t tell me you wanted color,” Barb snapped, standing up. “I would have brought that dress in right away if I knew you were looking for purple.
But that was the thing, I didn’t know I was looking for purple. I knew that I wanted the bridesmaids to be in purple, but never really thought about what I wanted my dress to look like. “Oh put a sock in it, Barb,” Cyn snarled. “You and your backhanded comments can take a hike. I’ll get her in the dress.” I looked over my shoulder and watched Cyn stumble up off the floor. Barb stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut.
“You do realize I need to buy this dress from her. Pissing her off might not be the best idea.” Cyn shrugged her shoulders and picked up the bra I had been wearing before. It was also a corset, but it was nowhere near the torture device that Barb had managed to squeeze me into. “Stand up. Let’s get this show on the road.”
I awkwardly stood up, keeping my hand over my chest and grabbed the bra out of Cyn’s hand and wrapped it around my front while Cyn fastened it in the back. “Open the dress, Gwen.” Gwen eagerly ripped off the plastic bag, taking the dress off the hanger and unzipped the back. She held it open, and I gingerly stepped into it.
“Holy shit,” Jackie gasped, her hand covering her mouth, “You look fucking amazing.” Cyn and Gwen shimmied it up my body and zipped up the back.
I clamped my eyes shut, afraid to look in the mirror. The dress looked amazing on the hanger, and it felt perfect on my body, but I was so scared that I would look in the mirror, and it would look like a potato sack on me.
“King is going to shit when he sees you in that.”
“Shit, Cyn? Really, that was the best word you could come up with?” Gwen asked, propping her hands on her hips.
“More like pop a wood and have her right then and there.” Jackie stood up and walked around me, studying the dress. “I’m happy I finally get to see you get married this time, plus I’m even more happy it’s not to a jackass like Hunter again.”
Hunter and I had married at the courthouse with only our parents as witnesses. Shall we say the family wasn’t exactly ecstatic with the fact I was nineteen and pregnant? By the time Remy was born, everything was fine in my family, but it was a tense few months when I had told them I was pregnant. “I’m afraid to turn around and look,” I whined, running my hands up and down the dress.
“Turn your ass around and look at it. I swear to God you look gorgeous.” Gwen put her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. “Do it.” She slowly spun me around, and I gasped as my reflection came into view.
“Christ on a cracker, I look amazing.” Cyn jumped up and down, clapping like a seal while Marley and Jackie cackled on the couch. “I can’t believe that’s me.” I really did look beautiful. The dress hugged my curves perfectly, and the strapless bodice kept the girls under wraps and helped slim my typically boxy shoulders.
“Now to figure out the shoes. Are you doing heels or flats?” Jackie asked.
I only wore heels when I was going out, and that was few and far between. I think that last time I had worn them was when Lo and the guys from the club had crashed Cyn’s ‘Thank God I didn’t marry that asshat’ party. “Flats, but not the kind you are thinking of.” I bent over and grabbed my purse off of the floor by the small couch. I fished out the picture I had found in a magazine a week ago and held it to my chest. “No matter what any of you say, I am wearing these shoes, and I will not be swayed.”
“Come on, come on. Show us the picture, Marley goaded, holding her hand out. I stuck it in Marley’s hand and closed my eyes when she screeched.
“Holy shit she’s wearing purple Chucks,” she wailed. I was pretty sure the whole bridal shop knew what shoes I was wearing.
“No, you’re not. Not with that dress!” Gwen cried, outraged. Here I thought she would be the one who was down with my shoe choice.
“Yup. I totally am. Besides, no one is going to see them unless I lift my dress up, and that isn’t happening until after the party,” I winked.
“Mom is going to flip when she sees those.”
“Mom is going to love them because she loves Lo. And, she doesn’t have to pay for anything for the wedding so I can wear whatever I want.” I stuck my tongue out at Jackie, and she threw her head back, giggling. I had forgotten how much fun I had when I was with my sister. We still lived in the same town, but we never managed to see each other enough. She had a huge family. She was always running around, doing things, and I was, well, I was Meg, living my screwed up but always fun life.
“When did King meet your parents? How come I wasn’t invited?” Cyn asked.
“Probably because they wanted to meet King, not Meg’s friend,” Marley laughed.
“I’ve met Meg’s parents before,” Cyn pouted. “I was just wondering why I didn’t know he had met Karla and Mike.”
“He met them when you and Rigid were just starting to get it on. I figured you would rather be with Rigid then go hang out with my parents.” I stared at myself in the mirror, not believing what I was seeing. I was finally going to be that girl who got to walk down the aisle to the man of her dreams.
“OK!” Marley said, standing up. “Now it’s time for the bridesmaids! Now, you go sit out there, and we are going to give you a bit of a fashion show.” Marley opened the door, reaching for the hangers full of colorful dresses that were hanging on a hook outside the door and pulled them in.
“Yes! This was just what I was waiting for.” Jackie stood up and took her jacket off, tossing it on the couch. “Shoo, bridey, we’ll be out in a jiff.” She pushed me out the door and slammed it shut.
“Hey!” I protested, “You could at least hand me the chips!” The door opened and a hand, I’m assuming it was Jackie’s, held the bag out and I snatched it up. “Thank you, I think,” I grumbled to myself.
Keeping Meg (Devil's Knights #6) Page 4