More Than Miles (A Lost Kings MC Novel) (66 page)

“Fuck me,” Z says letting out a low whistle.

“I’m sorry you got caught up in it,” Sway says to me. “From what we were able to tell, the morning after the fight, he went in to meet with his handler, so that’s how they knew about you.”

“It’s all good,” I answer. Because fuck, what the hell else am I going to say? Our club’s been airtight for years.
Years.
Bull had less time in the club than me, but he’d still been in long enough that finding out he was a rat is a huge blow.

I imagine it’s killing Sway to admit this.

“What can we do?” Rock asks.

One corner of Sway’s mouth lifts. “It’s handled. Your boy Loco helped us with Bull. We had one other brother who was compromised. That’s being taken care of tonight.”

Jesus Christ. Sway’s telling us he let one of Loco’s guys take Bull out? A snitch? Someone who betrayed the entire brotherhood? That shit’s usually handled by the club, not passed to an outsider.

This whole situation is pretty fucked up.

“Besides you four, only my VP and SAA know about Bull, so I’d like to keep it that way. I don’t need brothers turning on each other.”

“Yeah. Okay,” Rock says, sounding preoccupied.

Sway slaps his hand on the table. “Go. Enjoy yourselves.”

The four of us hit the bar and just stare at each other. Z mouths a “what the fuck?” at me and I shake my head.

“That is beyond fucked,” Wrath mumbles. “Bull was an asshole, but a snitch?”

Rock’s still quiet.

“What’s wrong, prez?”

He shakes his head. “Later.”

Sway slaps my back and pulls me in for a side-hug. “Serena’s supposed to be stopping by later.”

“Uh. Not interested. I’m with someone.”

“So?”

Z snorts into his glass.

Sway eyes Wrath, Rock, and me with a teasing look of disgust. “Seriously? Your gals make you wear like metal cages on your dicks or something?”

Wrath moves to unbuckle his belt. “Yeah, wanna see?”

It’s such a funny, unexpected thing for Wrath to do, it breaks all the tension of the night.

The front door slams open. A bunch of Sway’s guys and a small army of club girls spill inside.

The only thing I feel is how much I miss Heidi.

“Rock, you need me?” I ask.

“Nah. Go ahead.” He finishes his drink. “Actually, I’ll go with you,” he says, eyeing the growing crowd.

“I want to call Heidi before she goes to sleep,” I explain on the way down the hall.

Rock’s mouth turns up in a smile. “Figured.”

Wrath catches up to us, almost knocking me over. “Fuck this,” he grumbles. “I’m fuckin’ out of here after church.”

“Right behind you, brother.”

We have to do the whole breakfast thing the next morning before we can get down to business.

Sway wands everyone for bugs again as we enter the chapel.

“So, let’s start with the reason I dragged you guys down here,” Sway shouts after slamming his gavel down. “The whole barn arson thing from last time y’all were down here has been closed. Permanently.”

Rock sits forward. “How?”

“You really don’t want to know,” Sway answers. “Moving on. Remember the deal I told you we were working on with Stella?”

Sway’s guys make a bunch of lewd noises, but the four of us are blank.

“The porn star?” Sway prompts.

Rock nods and gives an exasperated, “Yeah.”

“She’s scheduling some film dates in your area next year. Would you or your guys be up for providing security?”

“Fuck yeah,” Z offers.

Rock glares at him.

“What? Dex and I will do it.”

“I need at least four guys on it,” Sway says.

“Four guys for one girl?” Rock asks not bothering to keep the irritation out of his voice.

Sway shrugs. “Can’t be too careful.”

“We’ll work something out,” Rock says. “Just give me a head’s up.”

“No problem.”

They move on to club matters specific to their own charter that don’t have a lot to do with us.

Couple hours later, I’m back on the road, headed home to my girls.

The hardest roads lead to the most beautiful destinations.

“G
uys are home!” Trinity yells.

When they’ve all parked and shut the bikes down, I grab Alexa and head outside. My eyes lock on Blake, and I can’t get to him fast enough. He meets me halfway, crushing us in a big hug. Alexa squeals and puts her hands on his chest, pushing him away.

“Uh oh. You mad at me, baby?” he asks her.

She ducks her head against my neck, hiding. Blake looks so upset. I shouldn’t laugh, but can’t help it. “Give her a minute.”

He leans down and gives me a quick kiss. “Missed you.”

“We missed you, too.”

“Did you miss me, baby?” he asks Alexa. A few belly tickles finally convince her to turn his way and giggle. She holds out her arms and he takes her.

“How was it?” I ask.

“Nothing exciting.”

With one arm carrying Alexa and the other around my shoulders, we follow everyone inside for dinner.

“How was your trip?” Hope asks after we’re all seated.

The guys give the predictable vague answers.

Wrath takes Trinity’s hand, whispering in her ear.

“You two ready for the wedding?” Z asks.

“Fuck yeah. Christ, it’s taken forever,” Wrath says with a grin. “First, we’re taking a pre-wedding trip.”

“Who the fuck goes on a pre-wedding vacation?” Teller asks.

“
We
do. Shut the fuck up,” Wrath answers. He closes his hand over Trinity’s. “She’s been doing a lot of planning and shit, and I want to take her away for a few days.” He lifts his chin at Blake. “I gave Dylan some extra hours so you’re not shorthanded at the gym. You should be all set.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Do you have a final guest list?” Hope asks.

Trinity whips out her ever-present pink wedding binder. “Lilly’s invite got returned. Do you have a current address for her?”

Z’s head snaps up. “You invited Lilly?”

Blake leans over. “Wanna go on a date tonight?”

The minute his shoulder brushes against mine, I lose track of the conversation going on around me. “Where?”

“You’ll see.”

“What about Alexa?”

“She’s invited, too.”

“Oh. Then, yes.”

He pushes his chair out. “Later. We’re headed out,” he announces.

Sparky grins at us and flashes Blake a thumbs up.

We say goodnight. Blake takes Alexa from me and carries her back to the house.

“You don’t want to hang out at the clubhouse a little longer?”

“Nope. Want to be alone with my girls,” he says, taking my hand.

We stop at Rock and Hope’s. I watch with a mix of curiosity and amusement as Blake packs a backpack for us and a bag for Alexa.

“What are you up to?” I ask.

“You’ll see.”

Outside, we pop Alexa in her stroller and Blake leads us into the woods.

We reach the building site for our house, and I gasp. “What is this?”

It takes me a second to take everything in. There’s a large tent, fire pit, chairs, a cooler, and sleeping bags set up outside.

“Oh my God. How did you…? You were away.”

Blake grins, clearly pleased that he managed to surprise me. “Sparky set it up for me.”

Intrigued, I unzip the tent and stick my head inside. “Roomy.” I wiggle my eyebrows at him and he laughs.

Later that night, after Alexa’s safely tucked into her little travel crib inside the tent, Heidi and I are lying back on the sleeping bags, staring up at the stars.

“This is so beautiful. Maybe we don’t even need to build a house,” Heidi whispers.

I tuck her against my side by wrapping my arm around her. “I’ll put skylights in the bedroom.”

“Okay.”

A buzz of adrenaline zips through me from what I’m about to do. I shift so I can see her better. She’s still stargazing. “Heidi?”

Her curious eyes meet mine. “Yes.”

“You gonna marry me?”

She sits up and stares at me. Between the light from the moon and the fire, I can make out all her beautiful features. “Are you asking for real?”

I can’t keep the grin off my face, and I shouldn’t tease her. I sit up and take her hand. “I’m asking for real.”

Slipping my hand inside my cut, I pull out the tiny box I’ve been hiding all night.

“Heidi, will you marry me? Will you and Alexa always be my girls?”

She doesn’t even look at the ring I slip on her finger. “Yes, yes, yes!” Her words come out in a rush and she knocks me backward, peppering my face with kisses.

After a few more kisses, she scrambles closer to the fire to look at the ring. “It’s so beautiful. When did you buy this?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“I love you, Blake,” she says, returning to me. This time, I sit in one of the chairs and pull her into my lap.

“No more hard roads, beautiful. You and me. Together. I want to make you happy for the rest of our lives.”

Her mouth curves into a sweet smile, and she places her hand on the side of my face. “But, those hard roads take us to the most beautiful places. Isn’t that what you’ve always told me?”

Staring up at the stars, then back at her, I answer. “It’s true.”