Page 64 of King
“So, after spending months tracking down the perfect, one-of-a-kind ruby red gown for her, getting it tailored to fit her like a glove, finding the perfect shoes, bag, and jewelry, I thought the job was finally done. Then, that empty-headed trophy wife had the nerve to call me atfour in the morningthe day of the gala to tell me that her psychic advisor told her that she should wear stark white that night instead, so that she could emotionally connect to the new white Persian cat she’d justgotten the day before. I wanted to reach through the phone and slap the bitch and then ask her psychic if she saw that coming.” Kim savagely speared a piece of her filet and popped it into her mouth, chewing angrily as she recounted the story of dealing with one of her top clients.
“What did you do?” Mia asked, completely enthralled by Kim’s stories of how the rich and glamorous live.
Kim shrugged. “I told her that I’d heard her husband’s ex-wife might be wearing white, and casually mentioned that I usually avoid stark white because it isn’t slimming, and that the red would really make her stand out, especially in photos. She took about two seconds to decide to stick with the red dress.”
She picked up her glass of wine and drained the last of it, then set the empty glass down with a huff. “Can you imagine taking fashion advice from a psychic who dresses like the love child of Janis Joplin and Captain Jack Sparrow? She would have better luck getting advice from her cat.”
One of the catering staff immediately stepped forward to refill her wine glass, then offered to top mine off.
“No, thank you. I’m driving tonight,” I replied. I could have had a second glass, then had Hunter drive us home, but I didn’t want him driving on unfamiliar roads at night, especially with orange safety barrels blocking half of the roadway for miles on end.
The dessert bar was announced moments later, and Hunter and Mia both stood and hurried over to check out the selections. My phone chimed several times, and I pulled it from my purse to see a string of texts from Dante. I smiled as I looked at the photos he’d sent. The one of Rome and Abby kissing, with a beaming Pop standing behind them brought a tear to my eye. I was so happy that they’d worked things out.
There was a group photo of the happy couple, their kids, Dante, and an older couple I assumed to be Abby’s parents, followed by a photo of the Morgan men on their own. Rome stood in the middle, flanked by Pop and Dante, with Jagger at Dante’s side, and Lucky standing next to Pop. Ethan stood in front of his dad, with Rome’s hands on his shoulders. They all looked so handsome, and Ethan looked so grown up. I wasn’t used to seeing the men dressed in anything other than jeans, T-shirts, and their ever-present leather cuts. Looking at them in their wedding finery, I wasn’t sure which look I preferred.
There was another photo with Abby, a woman I recognized as her sister Amelia, and Molly, who was holding Everly. The little one looked adorable in a frilly pale green dress the same color as the one Amelia was wearing.
The final photo was a candid photo of Rome with his arms around Abby, who was looking at something off-camera. She was radiant, and I could almost feel the happiness emanating from her. What really captured my attention, though, was the expression on Rome’s face as he looked down at his wife as if she were the other half of his soul, and he couldn’t believe he was lucky enough to have her in his arms. Knowing the struggle and heartbreak they’d been through to get back to this point, I knew that was probably exactly what he’d been thinking in that moment. I surreptitiously wiped away another tear, then jumped in surprise as Kim suddenly leaned over my shoulder to peer at my phone’s screen.
“Aw, they make a beautiful couple, El. Do you have any pics of your biker hottie on there?” I glanced over at the dessert bar to see that Hunter and Mia were still occupied, then swiped back to the selfie Dante had sent.
“Hot damn, woman. How could you look at this man and say no to his dick?” I rolled my eyes, then snatched myphone back from her and tucked it back in my purse. I flushed slightly as I caught the judgmental stare of the woman passing by our table, and remembered she was married to one of Uncle Neil’s former colleagues. By the pinched look on her face, she often said no to her husband’s dick, if she even remembered he had one at all. I waited until she was out of earshot before responding.
“I didn’t say no to his dick last night. He didn’t offer it, remember? He wants to take things slow.” I wasn’t proud of the whine I could hear in my tone. I sounded like a seven-year-old girl being deprived of her favorite ice cream cone.
“Because he wants to prove he’s serious about you, right?” At my nod, Kim nudged my shoulder and gave me a reproving look. “And does he still need to prove that, or do you believe him?”
“Yes, I believe him,” I told her in exasperation. I’d told her that earlier today when we discussed our date last night.
“So, why didn’t you tell him that, dumbass?”
I didn’t really have an answer for that. In truth, I’d been caught off guard by his statement last night. The idea that he would do something so out of character was sweet and endearing, and I’d liked the feeling of being romanced. That was until I found myself alone in my bed last night, my body hungry for his touch to the point that I’d had to pull out my handy-dandy silicone friend to get some relief.
By the time I pulled into my driveway hours later, I’d made up my mind. I was going to be riding more than just Dante’s bike tomorrow.
