Unbeautifully

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Deuce wasn’t gonna lie. With his hair pulled tightly back, dressed in his leathers, a clean white tee, and his Horsemen cut, standing there in the middle of a motherfucking gazebo decorated with motherfucking flowers, he felt damn uncomfortable. Didn’t help that Mick, Cox, and Ripper were laughing at him, and standing across from them was Kami, Danny, and Dorothy, all dressed in matching black dresses, also laughing at him.

Yeah, real fucking funny. Bet they wouldn’t think it was funny if he pulled out his Glock and took out their knees. Except for Danny. He wouldn’t shoot his baby. Just glare at her until she ran away. Which she wouldn’t because she never did, because she wasn’t scared of him. His feisty little girl, during this past year, had developed her mother’s tough-as-nails personality. Funny that Danny being the way she was didn’t bother him nearly as much as Christine had.

Nostrils flaring, shifting uncomfortably, he glared at the minister, an older woman with long white hair dressed in white and purple robes, smiling serenely back at him.

He caught himself before he growled at her.

Why the fuck was he getting married?

Again?

Because he sure as hell fucked it up the last time. He didn’t know the first thing about how to be a husband. All he knew, all he’d ever known, was how to be a provider. To make sure the people he loved were safe, well fed, and warm, and in Danny’s case and now Eva and Ivy’s, spoiled shitless too. Although, he figured the giant shoe pile of Chucks in his foyer was a pretty good trade-off for the woman he had in his bed.

But a husband…

He didn’t do husband. What the fuck did husbands do, anyway? He sure as hell didn’t do it right with Christine. She had wanted so much more from him than he’d been willing to give. Then he’d known how to give. She’d wanted to bend him to her will, own him even.

Aw, Jesus…he couldn’t pretend to be someone he wasn’t. He couldn’t put a ring on Eva’s finger. He couldn’t fuck her up like he had Christine. Like he did everything.

“Prez,” Mick whispered, leaning over.

His head snapped left. “What?” he snarled.

Mick’s lips twitched. “Nothin’, Prez, just thought maybe you’d wanna watch your bitch walkin’ down the aisle.” Mick’s chin jerked left and Deuce’s gaze followed.

Suddenly he didn’t give two fucks about how he was going to fare as a husband or how many mistakes he was going to make, which was going to be a lot because, well…that was what he was best at.

No, he didn’t care about anything else in the world except for his woman, the sweetest kid he’d ever met, the smartest too, a kid who’d turned into the sexiest woman he’d ever seen. A woman who didn’t just love with her whole heart but with her body and soul. A woman who, time and time again, brought him to his fucking knees, had him praying to a god he didn’t believe in just so he could keep her by his side.

A woman whose motherfucking smile made the world and his life seem somewhat livable. Even worth it sometimes.

On the arm of Preacher was his Eva. Her soft hair hung long in dark brown waves, her makeup was minimal, and her dress was a simple, strapless white cotton sundress that ended at her knees. His gaze traveled down her silky smooth legs to her feet and his chest constricted. Black Chucks. And not just any black Chucks but her oldest pair. Ratty, doodled on, coming apart at the seams, the same ones she’d been wearing the very first time he’d kissed her. Back when she’d been way too young for him and he’d lost complete control of himself and his better judgment.

Eva came to a stop at the bottom step of the gazebo and looked up at him, her big gray eyes shining, her luscious lips twitching something fierce, trying not to smile while Preacher straight up glared at him. Deuce glared back. If her old man wanted a fight, he was going to get one.

“Yo, Prez.” Cox laughed. “You’re gonna wanna go get her, right?”

Oh. Right.

He strode forward, taking all three steps at once, and grabbed Eva away from Preacher and started yanking her back up the stairs. The faster they could get this shit over with, the faster he could get her alone. And set to working on kid number two.

Preacher yanked her back and the two of them spent another good minute glaring at each other.

“You’ll always be my baby girl,” Preacher whispered, giving Eva a kiss on the cheek, shooting eye daggers at him.

Yeah, fucking right, he thought, dragging Eva up the steps. Eva was his. All his. Ain’t no man, not even her father, should be thinking otherwise.

“I have a bra on,” Eva whispered, unable to fight her grin any longer. “It’s my something new.”

He couldn’t help himself and burst out laughing. She was just so damn…perfect.

“Something old,” she continued, pointing at her feet.

“Something borrowed.” She grabbed his gold Horsemen’s tag around her neck. The one that had deuce inscribed on the back.

“Borrowed for fuckin’ ever,” he said gruffly. Ain’t no way she was ever giving that back. Her grin grew.

“My dress is white,” she continued. “And I’m wearing your blue boxers.”

The entire wedding party roared with laughter.

“Oh, Evie.” Kami sighed. “I told you not to do that!”

“Fuckin’ hell,” he muttered, grabbing her arm and turning her toward the minister. “Let’s get this fuckin’ circus over with.”

Still smiling, although regarding Eva strangely, the minister ushered them closer. “Ready?” the minister asked.

“Fuck, yeah,” he said gruffly. “This bitch is mine.”

This time everyone in the entire yard erupted in laughter. Except for Eva. She was staring up at him, her smile wide, her eyes soft. Damn those eyes, drowning him in nothing but Eva.

“I, Eva Fox, take you, Cole West, to be my beloved husband,” Eva softly repeated. “To have and to hold you, to honor you, to treasure you, to be at your side in sorrow and in joy, in the good times and in the bad, and to love and cherish you always. I promise you this, baby, from the bottom of my heart, for all the days of my life.”

Deuce stared down at her, burning with a whole mess of emotions he was helpless to turn off. Burning because he knew he’d never get enough of her. Burning because he wanted to pick her up, take her inside the clubhouse, strip her naked, and knock her up again just to make sure she’d never leave. Burning because after all the shit they’d gone through—the pain, the loss, the heartache, the straight up evil brutality that made them question everything they’d thought to be true and had nearly driven them apart for good—he knew he’d do anything for her. Steal anything, kill anyone, be anyone.

Even a fucking husband.

“Baby,” Eva whispered, grinning. “It’s your turn.”

He glanced over at the waiting minister, then back at Eva. “What she said,” he grunted. Then he turned to their guests.

“This is it,” he bellowed. “This here is me and fuckin’ Eva and this is our fuckin’ road and anyone who doesn’t like it, anyone who’s got somethin’ fucked-up to say, can get the fuck off our road!”

The crowd—his boys, their family and friends, even Preacher—erupted in happy cheers and laughter.

“You may kiss your bride,” the minister said, shaking her head.

He didn’t waste any time. He grabbed his woman, his wife, his Eva and lifted her off her feet and crushed her to him. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms around his neck, and their mouths crashed together.

“’Bout fuckin’ time!” Blue bellowed from his place at the bar just before “Born to be Wild” blasted through the outside speakers and drowned out the cheering.

Eva pulled away laughing, happy tears rolling down her cheeks. He curled his hand into a fist and ran his knuckles down the side of her face.

“There it is,” he whispered.

“What?” she whispered back.

“You, Eva. Just fuckin’ you.”

They both turned to watch as Kami threw herself across the aisle at Cox. Beside them, Dorothy buried her face in her hands, her veil of red hair shielding her from view, and burst into tears.

Mick rolled his eyes. “Idiots,” he muttered. “I’m surrounded by idiots.”

And Danny…he paused to study his oldest daughter.

“Mama!” Ivy cried out, bursting out of the crowd, gunning for Eva. Eva turned away from him to bend down and catch their daughter as she toddled up the stairs and into her mother’s arms.

Deuce looked back to Danny, worried about the strange expression on her face. He followed her line of sight to…

Ripper?

They appeared to be having some kind of staring contest, the rest of the world forgotten, no winner in sight.

What the fuck?

“Yo, Danny!” ZZ said, appearing beside his daughter, startling her. She turned to ZZ.

“You wanna dance?”

Danny shot one last look at Ripper, turned back to ZZ, and nodded. Deuce watched them walk off—already planning on how many different ways he was gonna beat ZZ to death—then got up in his former sergeant at arms’ face.

“What was that?” he growled.

Ripper eyed him boldly. “What was what?”

His nostrils flared. “You. Danny. What. Was. It.”

“Baby,” Eva said, wedging herself in between them. “I wanna dance.”

Of course she did. She always had him doing stupid shit like dancing. And for some reason he was always doing it, even though he fucking hated it.

“Later,” he promised Ripper, and allowed his new wife to drag him off.

“When can we get the fuck outta here?” he asked her.

Laughing, she wrapped her arms around his neck and tucked her beautiful body against his. “I love you, Deuce.” She giggled. “So, so much.”

“Babe,” he said softly, holding her tightly. “Fuckin’ yeah.”

“One more thing,” she said.

“Yeah?”

“You’re mine.”

He grinned. He sure as fuck was.

• • •

With Deuce as far away from Ripper as she could get him, Eva thanked god she’d interrupted the two of them before Ripper said something out of anger and blood was shed. The guy looked strung out, both pain and fury deeply etched in his features, and he hadn’t stopped staring at Danny since breakfast this morning. Glaring, really. He wasn’t even trying to hide it. It was a wonder no one had noticed yet. Although…

She glanced around the crowded lawn, her eyes landing on Cox, who also seemed to be more concerned with Ripper than Kami’s violent attempts at getting him to dance with her.

Danny wasn’t acting any less obvious either. And Deuce wasn’t stupid. Neither was ZZ. If Danny and Ripper weren’t careful, someone was going to put together: one, those hateful, needy looks those two were giving each other; and two, Ripper’s sudden and unexplained disappearing act, and BOOM, the mess that would follow in the wake of that discovery was going to be worse than if an atomic bomb had gone off. Deuce would know instantly why Danny had fallen apart, and his anger wouldn’t just be stemming from the secret affair but Ripper’s fault in Danny’s superseding emotional demise.

Plus the fact that Deuce had been forced to accept ZZ as a part of his daughter’s life. That because of Ripper, Danny wasn’t just hanging around the club, she was ZZ’s old lady now. It was something Deuce had never wanted for her and had only dealt with because he’d known ZZ was the sole reason he’d gotten some semblance of his daughter back.

There had been so many times Eva had wanted to tell Deuce what she knew, or tell Danny she knew why she was hurting, but the timing never seemed right. The family fights had been unending; neither Cage, nor Danny, nor Deuce could be in the same room and not start in on one another. Telling Deuce would have only added fuel to the already blazing fire, and telling Danny…

She had no idea what Danny would have done. She hadn’t wanted to push her any further away, and having had no prior experience with brokenhearted teenage girls, she was at a loss.

So she’d said nothing and though it killed her to do so, kept her distance unless her refereeing interference was needed. Eventually things began to settle. Danny would never be the same spunky, covered head to toe in pink and sparkles, sixteen-year-old girl she’d met a few years before, but the girl had recovered enough to start moving forward again and in turn, so had Cage and Deuce.

For Danny’s sake, it was a very, very good thing Ripper was leaving tomorrow. Although Deuce had convinced him to come back to the club, not that he’d ever been truly out of it, Ripper wasn’t returning to his former sergeant-at-arms status. He was going nomad. Dorothy had already replaced the territorial rocker on the back of his cut with a nomad patch, meaning Ripper would be holding no allegiance to any Horsemen chapter anywhere in the country, but would still be accepted as a full member.

It had taken a whole lot of arguing between the two men and a significant raise in equity but Ripper had eventually agreed, more than likely only out of loyalty to Deuce and the club. And despite Deuce wanting Ripper back one hundred percent of the time, this wasn’t a complete loss.

Deuce had jobs all over the country that needed “taking care of,” and if there was ever anything that Ripper was good it, it was “taking care” of things.

Just not his own things.

Like Danny.

Feeling Deuce’s hands run down her back, stopping on her backside to tightly squeeze, Eva smiled.

“You ready for Belize?” she whispered, holding him tighter.

He grunted. “Babe, I’m ready to take you inside and fuck you ’til you’re fat with another kid.”

“Okay,” she said, grinning. “But after that, aren’t you excited?”

He stopped dancing and pulled away from her. “Are you fuckin’ serious? You wanna go to Belize?”

Fighting her laughter, she nodded. “Kami booked our tickets months ago. We fly out tonight.”

Eyes narrowed, Deuce frowned. “No.”

“Yep.”

“No.”

“Yep.”

“What the fuck am I gonna do in Belize?” he shouted.

She shrugged. “No kids, me in one of the thousands of skimpy bikinis Kami made me buy, lots of drinking, lots of fucking—”

“Babe,” he interrupted. “You coulda shut the fuck up after ‘no kids.’ ”

She burst out laughing. “Deuce,” she breathed out, clutching her stomach. “But you said you wanted more.”

“Eva,” he growled softly. “I fuckin’ do. Just thinkin’ ’bout you knocked up, fat with my kid, is makin’ me hard as fuck. Don’t mean I don’t need a break from Ivy whinin’ and Danny mopin’ and Cage just bein’ a motherfuckin’ dumbass.”

Biting her lip, she stared up at him. How could she have ever thought of leaving him? This, him, them, finally at peace, had been worth waiting for; worth the pain, the tragedy, the seemingly unending heartache. He was worth everything.

Every single thing.

“Babe,” he whispered. “Can’t look at me like that and expect me to be keepin’ it reeled in.”

“Baby, don’t ever keep it reeled in,” she whispered back. “Not with me.”

Eva watched his pupils dilate, his nostrils flare, and couldn’t contain her body’s natural response. His ability to affect her instantaneously and so completely had always been true. From their first meeting, long before the sexual pull between them took root and never let go, she’d always been drawn to him, captivated by him.

She’d always been his.

She always would be his.