Exquisite Karma (Iron Horse MC Book 4) (26 page)

Speculation about who Chief was burned like wildfire through the club, and right now the popular moron vote was Hustler. He suspected Vance, still—despite the fact that Vance saved the girls
and
shot the man about to kill Smoke and Swan after they’d jumped from the barn.

I mean, yeah, the guy was an asshole, but it didn’t make sense for him to do those things if he was the traitor. Hustler had his theories, but he’d kept them to himself, not trusting anyone.

Unfortunately, that feeling was becoming mutual with some of the brothers. There were whispers about Hustler, rumors that Veronica had found out he was the traitor and he’d killed her before she could blab. Not to sound like a psycho, but Hustler would have done a much better job of killing her in a way no one would know than leaving her body on his porch in clear view of the early-morning dog walkers.

A dead blonde wearing a sparkling neon orange dress and only one shoe, with a hole in her head, tended to draw attention.

Plus, the lack of blood indicated she’d been killed somewhere else and dumped there.

A headache threatened and I rubbed my face, glancing at the new diamond-encrusted women’s Rolex Beach had gotten for me. Birdie would be here soon to sit with Smoke and Sarah. We never left them alone—well, in addition to one of our Enforcers standing constant guard outside the room. I’d learned early on that in this world, money could buy you a lot of things, and Iron Horse had a lot of it, so when they wanted a private room with a big-ass biker standing outside and scaring the fuck out of the nursing staff, they got it.

I picked up the huge baby bible I was reading and sat back in the surprisingly comfortable reclining chair. It flattened out into a small bed and I knew it was cozy enough to sleep in because I’d conked out myself a time or two. While I no longer wanted to puke, I was sleeping at least twelve hours a day and my stomach was expanding so fast, I sometimes swore if I stared at it enough, it would grow before my eyes. My baby was now the size of a Banana, but I still called her peanut. Beach had started referring to her as that as well, and I wondered what we would name her. Of course, everyone had an opinion, but I’d already told Beach her middle name would be Mimi, and he’d readily agreed.

Right now he’d agree to pretty much everything I said. Like the fact that once my sister was out of the hospital and safe back at Birdie and Venom’s ranch, where she and Smoke would be cared for by both professional nurses and the terrible twosome of Birdie and Mouse, we were on the next plane out to Las Vegas so we could get married, just the two of us, at my favorite spot outside of Las Vegas. I know a lot of people think a quickie Vegas wedding is the ultimate in tacky, but having lived in the city and been to a handful of weddings, I knew there were some venues that were beyond amazing. 

But we weren’t getting married in the city. No, we were taking a 45-minute helicopter flight out to the Grand Canyon and getting married alone. Just the two of us, a justice of the peace, and a wedding photographer on the rim of the Grand Canyon. That’s it.

We’d made the decision after I’d been bombarded with all these elaborate wedding plans from everyone. Even the men had opinions about how we should get married, and when one of them had mentioned having the reception at the clubhouse after we’d gotten hitched at a bar, I put my foot down. This was about me and Carlos, and we’d earned the right to focus only on each other on our special day. That didn’t mean we weren’t going to throw a massive party and have a huge reception after we got back from Las Vegas, but while we were out there, it was just me and Carlos.

I reclined my chair and pulled the green and grey afghan Mouse had made for Smoke over me. Swan had a matching one done in shades of pale pink and grey folded over her feet. Well, her foot. A giant cast encased her broken leg. They’d done surgery on, putting a steel rod, pins, and all kinds of hardware in to try to mitigate the damage the bullet had done. My throat burned as tears filled my eyes, but I blinked them back on the off chance either Smoke or Swan would wake up. I didn’t want them to worry about me because I was the world’s worst leaky faucet when I was pregnant.

The dim hum and beep of the machines monitoring Smoke and Swan’s health soothed me, and as I lay back in the chair, I picked up my phone and began to scroll through wedding websites, back to planning the ultimate wedding reception with the man I loved beyond all reason.

Carlos “Beach” Rodriquez

One Year Later

I sat beneath a gigantic white silk tent, which rippled in the warm Texas evening breeze as the crystal chandeliers, festooned with wisteria and lilacs, swayed and threw rainbows of light which fascinated my daughter. Though right now, she was conked out in my mom’s arms as she chatted with her friends. Mouse cradled my daughter close as she laughed and I couldn’t help but smile at how obviously happy my mom was.

My sweet baby girl, Kylie Mimi Rodriquez, pursed her little rose-colored lips, breaking my heart for the millionth time today. Voices rose around us, joy filling the air as our friends and family had a hell of a good time. Sarah had spent months planning this party, wanting it to be the perfect reception for both herself and Swan. While Smoke and Swan had just tied the knot only a few hours ago, Sarah and I had been married long enough for me to feel like I couldn’t remember a time when she wasn’t a part of my life. When I turned to look at her, I found her smiling at me, her pale blue eyes sparkling like snow in the moonlight.

Unable to help myself, I carefully slipped my fingers beneath her hair, not wanting to risk her wrath as I gave her a light kiss on the lips. I would have loved to tongue-fuck her in front of God and country, but it wasn’t a fear of her mafia cousins shooting me that stopped me. No, I’d watched my woman freak out about this fucking party until I feared for her sanity, so there was no way I was messing up her makeup that had taken two hours to apply by her theater friends flown in from Las Vegas. Normally Mike would balk at having this many strangers on his homestead, but he’d do anything for his daughters and had enough of a reputation to ensure no one fucked with his land or property.

When I pulled back, she gave me an odd look and tilted her head to the side. “Why are you kissing me like a scared fourteen-year-old on his first date?”

Lyric, who was sitting next to Sarah, giggled loudly, the sound musical enough to draw the attention of everyone around her. She flushed when she noticed people staring at her and grabbed her glass of champagne, sipping at it like a nervous hummingbird. I made a mental note to have my guys keep an eye on her tonight. She was like a fluffy little sheep among hungry wolves. Already I’d noticed more than one man giving the curvy brunette an interested look, but so far they’d kept their distance. Might have to do with the fact that Sarah had announced, back in Austin, that she’d gut any man who laid a finger on her.

Unfortunately for Sarah, that’d only made Lyric even more interesting to my boys, and that’s not counting the looks the Stefano men were giving the shy young woman.

“Beach?” She glanced over her shoulder at Lyric, who was now talking to a tattooed Asian woman named Indigo who was more than a little crazy.

The pretty, tattooed, young woman attracted her own share of attention, but I wasn’t worried about her. Indigo Yazuki struck me as the kind of chick who broke men’s balls for breakfast and she was keeping a close eye on Lyric. One of the Stefano boys—Sarah had at least one hundred male cousins—kept giving Lyric these creepy fuckin’ eyes that I think was his attempt to woo her. He was young, early twenties, and obviously hadn’t learned how to attract a woman. It sure as hell wasn’t with that goofy-as-fuck pout. I was waiting for him to make a move on Lyric, but so far Indigo’s glares had kept him at bay.

Placing her hand against my face, Sarah turned my gaze back to her. Her bright blue eyes were highlighted by some kind of sparkling pink eyeshadow that perfectly matched the flowing, lacy, pale pink gown that she wore for the reception. I liked the latter because it was a halter top and showed a good deal of her beautiful, tanned cleavage. And since she was breastfeeding, her already big tits were enormous. Just looking at them made my dick hard and I tried to force away images of her nude, tanning on the beach. We’d spent the last week down at the Iron Horse island in the Caribbean. Mouse, Mimi, and Mike had come along, but I didn’t mind. I had a family now, and I’d never deny my daughter the attention of the people who loved her.

Plus, having grandmas and grandpas around had allowed me to steal Sarah away to a private lagoon, where I’d fucked her with the sun burning down on our naked bodies.

“Honey, don’t worry about Lyric, she’ll be okay.” Her full, pink-frosted lips, curved into a big smile. “You’re such a good daddy.”

If I wasn’t sure Mimi would throw a dagger at my dick, I’d bend Sarah over right here and spank her pert ass.

Her smile grew until her teeth gleamed against her tan. “Hold that thought, it’s time for our first dance.”

We’d had our actual first dance on the edge of the Grand Canyon while the sun had burned purple, orange, and blazing red, framing my woman in God’s fire.

The memory grew stronger as we walked out onto the dance floor, Smoke and Swan on the other side.

Our women had wanted to share their first dance, and we were more than happy to accommodate them.

When the first haunting strains of “The Sound of Silence” cover by Disturbed filled the tent, people stopped talking and the tent dimmed until we were bathed in warm golden light while surrounded by darkness, spotted here and there by candles.

Sarah slipped her hand into mine and I placed my arm around her, the smooth rasp of the singer’s voice serenading us as I swept her around the dance floor. We kept clear of Smoke and Swan, who were more swaying than dancing due to Swan’s bum leg. My friend wore a custom-made tux, which he wore well, while Swan had changed into a knee-length, sparkling white dress that flared around her as Smoke picked her up and spun her around.

Sarah watched them as well and when she looked up at me, she smiled so brightly it stunned me.

Never in a million years would I have imagined that night back in Sturgis would not only start a chain of events that led to Iron Horse almost being wiped off the map, but that it would also be the night I was fated to meet my future wife.

Singing along quietly with the song, Sarah gazed into my eyes as we slowed down, our bodies moving together in perfect rhythm as the music wound down.

By the time the last notes ended, I couldn’t keep myself from kissing her, hard and wet, while everyone around us lost their minds.

I was forced to come up for air when Mike Anderson tapped me on my shoulder. “Mind if I cut in?”

The light strains of “What a Wonderful World” began and I grinned, bowing out. “Be my guest.”

I’d promised this song to another lady.

Turning, I found my mom waiting with a now-awake Kylie. As always, my daughter smiled when she saw me and reached for me. She had barely any hair, but Sarah had put a cute, frilly white baby headband on her with little pink silk flowers that matched Sarah’s dress. Kylie squealed happily as I took her in my arms and began to sway across the floor with her. Swan had taken a seat on the edge of the dance floor, draped over Smoke’s lap while he kissed her, much to her nearby cousin Vinnie’s disgust.

I hadn’t seen him much since the events in Colorado that had led to him losing his leg, but Sarah said he was dealing with it.

Right now he was making disgusted faces while Mimi laughed and smacked his arm.

Kylie, mad that she didn’t have my attention, whacked me on the mouth with her little fist, laughing when I smiled at her. Not gonna lie, she’s a daddy’s girl through and through. Oh, she loves her mommy, but no matter how cranky she is, I can get her to calm down. I grab her little fist before she can hit me again, kissing the tiny fingers that hold me with all their strength. Her eyes are still a bright, light blue, and I hope they stay that way. Love having Sarah’s stunning eyes looking back at me out of Kylie’s chubby little face.

The song ended and when the next began, Sarah joined us, Kylie diving from my arms and into hers. Holding our daughter between us, we danced together and I was happier than I ever knew was possible. Kylie rested her head on my shoulder and I held them both close to me, willing to destroy anyone and anything to keep them safe.

Keep reading for a sneak peek at
Exquisite Innocence
(Iron Horse MC, #5)