by A. M. Myers
When he turns back to watch the happy couple, I drop my gaze to my lap and take a deep breath to calm myself before glancing up again. The girls and I spent all morning getting this portion of the parking lot set up for the wedding and honestly, after we were done, it was almost unrecognizable. This is the second Devils wedding I’ve attended and just like Lincoln and Tate’s beach nuptials last year, Fuzz and Piper’s wedding is a perfect contradiction, completely unexpected and one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen in my life. It has all the tradition and class of any other wedding I’ve been to but with the added element of the guys decked out in leather and the Harleys parked on either side of the altar. It’s the perfect mix of Fuzz and Piper and honestly, after the incident at the club a few days ago, I think we’re all a little more appreciative of how special this is.
My thoughts flash back to that night in the club and a shiver runs down my spine as I remember the spotlight coming on and illuminating the man in the mask. I’ve honestly never felt fear like that in my entire life and Warren has haunted my dreams every night since. It’s not even like I’m running from him or he’s chasing me as I sleep but I’ll just be going about my business in the dream when he pops up out of nowhere, staring at me with dark pits of nothingness where his eyes should be and I’ve woken up in a cold sweat more than once. Of course, Travis has been insisting that I sleep in his bed with him and sneak down in the morning before anyone else wakes up but I’m not complaining. The feeling of his arms wrapped around me is the one thing that has kept me from losing my mind.
“By the power granted to me by the internet,” Blaze says, his voice proud as he looks between Fuzz and Piper. “I now pronounce you husband and wife… again.”
Laughing, we all stand, clapping and cheering as Fuzz wraps his arms around his wife and claims her in front of all of us with a possessive kiss that forces my gaze to Travis but he’s already watching me. His intense eyes and signature smirk greets me and he winks before breaking out into a full smile that takes my breath away. God, the boy is too damn attractive for his own good. I shake my head as heat rushes to my cheeks and butterflies flutter around in my belly. Since most of the girls and I got so drunk last night, Travis refused to fuck me no matter how much I begged him and I’m definitely feeling it today. As soon as we get a chance, I’m stealing him away for myself because needy is not a good look on me. Grinning to myself, I remember the lingerie I slipped on underneath the green satin dress I’m wearing and wonder what his reaction will be when he finally gets a chance to see it. I’m going to pray for worshipping my body until the wee hours of the morning but at this point, I might just take anything.
Blaze hollers out over the crowd, telling us to get inside for the after party and we break off into three groups - some of the girls running into the kitchen to check on the food while some of the guys hang back to put decorations away and the rest of us follow the bride and groom into the clubhouse. Streamers are stretched across the entire room and someone moved all of the tables out of the middle of the room so people can dance without bumping into anything. Flutes of champagne are set up on the bar top but I slip behind it, grabbing the whiskey and pouring myself a glass as music begins pumping out of the speakers. As I look around the room and all the happy smiling faces in every direction, it’s hard to believe just four days ago, we were all huddled outside a mob and shaking in fear after being stalked by a faceless man. Maybe that’s the hardest part for me. No one knows what Warren even looks like… the man could walk into this club and we would have no clue and yet, he seems to have his fingers in every aspect of our lives.
Like, how did he know we were going to be at that club that night?
“Enjoying the wedding, Princess?”
I smile as I feel Travis step up behind me and press his front to my back. His breath washes over my skin and I shiver as I raise my glass to my lips and nod.
“I did. You?”
He shrugs. “It was all right.”
“Not a fan of weddings?” I ask, watching as some of the couples begin pairing off and dancing in the middle of the room. Emma’s twin boys, Grady and Corbin, dance with their little sisters, Harper and Charlie, and I can’t wipe the smile off of my face as I watch them gently pulling them around the dance floor. Travis’s hand skates up my side, pulling my attention back to him and I suck in a breath as my nipples tighten.
“It’s just not my thing.”
Arching a brow, I glance back at him over my shoulder. “And why is that?”
“Weddings are kind of the polar opposite of casual, sweetheart,” he answers and I turn, leaning against the bar as I search his face. I suppose I didn’t realize he took this whole “casual” thing so seriously.
“Are you telling me that you only do casual relationships?”
He nods. “Yeah.”
“Have you ever had a relationship?” I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me as something I can’t quite name nags at me, demanding my attention. He sighs and shakes his head.
“Nope.”
“Huh,” I whisper, surprised by his admission as my stomach drops. What the hell is that? “And you never want anything more than casual?”
He shakes his head again, peeking up at me as his tongue darts out and traces along his bottom lip. “No… what’s with all the questions tonight?”
“Just curious,” I answer, turning to look out at the dance floor as I take another sip of my drink. “Trying to get to know you a little better and all that.”
Silence stretches out between us and I shift back and forth as I try to think of something else to say but my mind is blank. What happened and why the hell is this suddenly awkward between us? We’ve always been able to be open with each other and we’ve always been on the same page when it came to our relationship so why do I feel let down right now? God, this wedding is messing with my head - that has to be it. He clears his throat and lightly touches my arm, pulling my gaze back to him as he lifts his chin toward the middle of the room.
“Dance with me.”
I arch a brow. “Are you asking me or demanding?”
“Asking you,” he answers before a devilish grin stretches across his face. “Knowing that you’ll say yes.”
“Oh, you think I’m that easy, do you?”
He laughs, trailing the tips of his fingers up my arm as goose bumps pop up in his wake. “Only for me, Princess. Come dance with me.”
“I thought you couldn’t dance?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I can manage that,” he answers, pointing to Fuzz and Piper as they sway back and forth to the song. Crossing my arms over my chest, I peek up at him.
“Are you sure? People will see.”
“Let ‘em,” he answers, shrugging with that cocky grin on his face that gets me every single fucking time when it comes to him. Unable to say no to him any longer, I set my drink down on the bar and he takes my hand, leading me a little ways into the room as a few people turn to look at us. Lincoln and Tate are on the other side of the room, talking and laughing with each other but as soon as Travis wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me into his body, I swear I can feel my brother’s gaze on us.
“Kodiak is staring daggers at me right now,” he whispers in my ear, confirming my suspicions and I fight back a giggle. “Fuck. I think he’s thinking about killing me.”
I shake my head. “Don’t worry. Tate will run interference.”
“I suppose if there is one person you want on your side in a fight,” he replies, looking down at me with a grin. “It’s Tate.”
Laughing, I nod. “She’ll be happy to hear you think so.”
“Yeah, make sure you tell her. I’ll take all the brownie points I can get with that woman,” he says before giving me a mock shudder of fear and I laugh, feeling us both relax a little from our earlier conversation.
“You do realize that Tate is the kind of person that doesn’t give a shit about brownie points if you hurt someone she cares about, right?”
/> He arches a brow. “Is that a warning?”
“No,” I answer with a laugh, shaking my head. “Just an observation.”
“Mmhmm,” he hums, pulling me closer into his body as we drift across the floor. I smile up at him before narrowing my eyes.
“You claimed you couldn’t dance.”
Laughing, he shakes his head. “I promise you, this is the extent of my abilities. Although, I wouldn’t say no to private lessons, up in my room in oh, ten minutes.”
“Wow… with a proposition like that, I can’t possibly say no. I’m so in the mood that you’re lucky I don’t jump you right here,” I reply dryly and he laughs, leaning in closer as he moves us away from the group.
“Princess, it’s not like I can really do the things I want to do to you in front of everyone. Give a guy a chance.”
I pull back and peek up at him. “What kinds of things would you do if everyone in this room knew about us?”
“Nothing,” he answers, his eyes heating as he stares down at me. “There is no way in hell I want anyone in this room seeing the look on your face when you lose control. That’s mine.”
“Yours?” I breathe, my heart hammering in my chest as I search his face. The possessiveness staring back at me takes my breath away and I lick my lips, trying to force my mind to work when my body is in overdrive. He nods, leaning in like he might just kiss me before his gaze flicks over my shoulder and he pulls back with a sigh.
“Kodiak is really cramping my style.”
I scoff, patting his shoulder as I tell myself to relax. “You poor thing.”
He nods in agreement before pulling me closer and guiding me around the floor as my mind spins. What the hell is happening between us tonight? Every statement seems to be loaded with meaning and I don’t know if it’s just the emotions of the day or something else but our relationship feels different. Then again, we’ve all had a roller coaster of a week but once everything calms down again, things will go back to normal for Travis and me, I’m sure of it.
The door to the clubhouse opens and we all turn to look as a man in a delivery uniform steps inside with a medium-sized package in his hands. Travis releases me as he cocks his head to the side, studying the man. The delivery guy freezes, his gaze flicking over every pair of eyes staring back at him before he clears his throat.
“Uh, I have a package for Wyatt and Piper.”
Fuzz raises his hand. “Over here.”
“Right,” the delivery man says, walking across the room and setting the package down on the closest table before handing Fuzz a clipboard to sign. He scribbles his name then hands it back with a nod of thanks. Clutching his clipboard to his chest, the delivery man practically runs out of the clubhouse as we all turn to the box. The outside is stamped with the labels “perishable” and “open immediately” but those are the only clues available to us.
“Is there a note?” Blaze asks from the back of the room and Piper nods as she plucks a little card off of the top, opening it.
“To Wyatt and Piper, congratulations on your special day.”
Travis scowls, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into his side. “It doesn’t say who it’s from?”
“Nope,” she answers before looking around at all of us. “Did one of you send it?”
Everyone shakes their head and she shrugs before grabbing the pocket knife Fuzz holds out to her and flicking it open. She drags it along the top seam of the box where it’s taped together before handing the knife back to her husband and popping open the top. A horrified scream fills the room and she stumbles backward almost tripping over her dress but Fuzz catches her before she can hit the floor, pulling her into his arms as he whispers something to her but her eyes remain wide in fear and her hands shake. Curiosity getting the best of us, we all surge forward almost like we’re being pulled in by the box itself and when I get close enough to peek inside, I gasp and clamp my hand over my mouth as I stare down at the contents. My breath catches in my throat and tears sting my eyes.
It isn’t real…
This can’t be real. I tell myself to relax as spots dance in my vision and I focus on each breath entering and leaving my lungs, putting all of my attention on the act itself so I don’t have to think about what is in front of me.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
Just fucking breathe, Rowan.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Storm whispers, his voice as haunted as I feel as I stare down at the box’s contents, trying to make my brain form even a single thought but the only thing that registers is the fear pumping through my veins. My hands shake and my body feels on edge as my heart hammers in my chest. Tears streak down the sides of my face as I wrap my arms around my body and shiver.
When in the hell did I start crying?
“Is that Tawny?” Carly asks, horror in her voice. Horror that I feel down to my very core as I try to pull my gaze away from the contents of the box but I can’t.
She just keeps looking at me…
Tawny’s severed head stares back at me as my hands shake and my stomach churns violently. It’s terrifying, hard to look at, and I desperately want to turn away but, no matter how hard I try, I can’t force my eyes from her face, my heart pounding and my entire body rigid. My ribs feel tight and Travis wraps me up in his arms, pulling me firmly against his body as he buries his face in my hair and presses his lips to my head. His body is impossibly tense and he’s shaking, too, pulling on every last one of my heart strings as I turn into him and wrap my arms around his waist. We back away from the group a little, needing a private moment as we both try to wrap our heads around everything that has just happened but as far as I can tell, it’s senseless.
Who could do something like this?
As soon as the thought pops into my head, I want to roll my eyes at my own idiocy. Every person in this room knows who did this. The question is why? But as I run it through it in my mind, it doesn’t take long to come up with an answer. Tawny told us everything she knew so she was no longer of any use to Warren and with her able to identify him, she had to go. It’s as simple and sick as that and as an added bonus, he could send us this part of her to one, ruin what was supposed to be a happy day but two, let us know exactly what he’s capable of.
“This is my fault,” Travis whispers and I jerk back, looking up at him but he won’t meet my eyes, his face contorted into a grimace.
“What are you talking about? This isn’t your fault. This could never be your fault.”
He shakes his head and his eyes finally find mine before he closes them and takes a deep breath. “I went to talk to her about Warren and now she’s dead. How is this not my fault?”
“No,” I whisper, cupping his face as pain floods my chest. His eyes pop open and his pain filled gaze meets mine, stealing the air from my lungs. “This is all Warren and you’re reacting exactly the way he wants you to. You couldn’t have known he would do this.”
“I should have,” he hisses, gritting his teeth as his gaze goes back to Tawny. He blows out a breath again but it doesn’t seem to calm him in the slightest as he drags his eyes back to mine. The pain shining back at me feels like a knife to my chest and my heart cracks wide open as I try to think of anything I can say or do to ease his suffering right now. “I should have fucking known, Rowan. I should have known.”
I lean up on my toes and press a kiss to his lips, feeling every ounce of his pain as he holds me tighter and kisses me like I am the air he breathes. I don’t know if it’s doing any good but any other time he’s been too stressed to function with all this Warren stuff, distracting him with a kiss has helped. And more than anything, I just want to help him release this guilt he feels right now. When we finally part, I meet his eyes again and hope he can see my sincerity. “You’ve done everything you could think of to find this monster and his actions do not reflect on you, do you hear me? He is the only one responsible for th
is and I will not listen to you talk about yourself like that when you are one of the most sincere, genuine men I’ve ever met.”
“Rowan,” he whispers, his voice cracking as he shakes his head.
“Is that another note?” Carly asks before he can say anything else and we turn back to the group as she points inside the box where a little envelope is tucked on the side. Storm takes a deep breath as he reaches in and grabs it. We all stare at him, the air in the room thick with fear, as he pulls out the little card and hisses a curse.
“What does it say?” Tate asks, her expression fierce and her gun in her hand as my brother wraps an arm around her, pulling her into his side. Storm scrubs his hand down his face and shakes his head.
“One down, four to go.”
Chapter Seventeen
Travis
“Mmm,” Rowan groans as she throws her arms above her head in a stretch and I glance down at her. She arches her back, pressing her body against mine before she relaxes and opens her eyes, blinking up at me. Flashing me a sleepy smile, she snuggles closer and shuts her eyes again. “Morning.”
I pull her closer and release a sigh. “Morning.”
She pulls back, scowling up at me as she cups my cheeks and inspects my face. “Did you get any sleep last night, Travis?”
“I’m fine,” I tell her, pulling her back into my body. I’m fucking not fine but I would have been a hell of a lot worse if she hadn’t been here by my side. Fuck. I don’t even want to imagine the spiral I would have fallen into if I didn’t have her grounding me all night long.
“That’s not what I asked you,” she shoots back, arching a brow and I sigh. From the moment Piper opened that box and we all realized what was inside, Rowan has been my fucking rock and she spent hours last night, just lying in bed with me and telling me that what happened to Tawny wasn’t my fault. It was sweet of her to try and take the blame from where it belongs, firmly on my shoulders, but I know the truth and, according to the package we received last night, so does Warren.
