Chapter 16
Scarlett was just pulling into the club house parking lot when her father caught her eye. It’d been a couple of days since she’d been there, since she’d seen him. It was Friday, the day of Rayna and Fury’s wedding, and Scarlett had agreed to meet her father at the clubhouse so they could ride together.
He looked handsome in a fancy button down and dark jeans paired with his cut. His long hair was down around his shoulders and he had on a pair of dressy cowboy boots that surprised her. Snake skin, and obviously real, she didn’t know another man on the planet that could make the look work in their favor.
As she parked her mustang she adjusted her burgundy dress and checked out her reflection in her rearview mirror. Perfectly applied makeup, rose gold earrings that sparkled in the sun, a shade of lipstick that matched her dress exquisitely…Even though Scarlett knew she looked perfect, she was still nervous.
After Limit had left the morning before, she felt like she was in some form of love-struck-limbo that only made her more confused about what she wanted from him.
Scarlett took one deep breath and kicked the door open, her rose gold designer heels making a solid clicking sound against the pavement as she made her way to Ox.
His lips lifted in a grin that made him look ten years younger as she neared him, and he surprised her when he brought her in for a hug.
“You look beautiful, Scarlett.”
She blushed as she thanked him.
“Thank you.”
Ox pulled away, his eyes misty, as he pushed her hair over her bare shoulder.
“I hate to think about all the dances I missed. Your prom, too...,” He trailed off when she took his hand into hers.
“You didn’t miss the most important day a woman wears a dress. I still have to convince a man to marry me,” Scarlett joked.
Ox took her arm and tucked it under his as he led her towards his own car.
“Trust me, you won’t have to do much convincin’. You’re a vision just like your mama.”
Scarlett could hear the tiniest hint of pain in his voice as he said that, so she patted his arm gently.
“You have a special woman to walk down the aisle today. Tomorrow we can talk about Maddie, and I’ll see if she can send some pictures of me out here. Tonight? Well, tonight let’s just focus on how damn happy Fury and Rayna are going to be,” She said.
Ox stopped walking when they reached the passenger side door and kissed her forehead.
“Your mama raised you right. You’re a fine woman, Scarlett.”
Her lower lip trembled when he cupped her cheek and nodded his head, like Ox truly believed that.
Like he truly believed her to be great. Like he was proud of her.
“Thank you,” She whispered again.
Ox opened her door for her and waited for her slip into the car before he closed her door and walked around the mustang to his own side.
As he sat down next to her, she wondered briefly if he was mad at her for what had happened with Limit. The last thing she wanted to do was cause trouble with his club, and if Limit was his enforcer, that meant that he was a very important member.
“Ox?”
He glanced at her as they pulled out onto the road that would lead them to the Dixon venue.
“I’m really sorry about what happened with Limit. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble or drama with the club,” She said.
Ox waved her worries away.
“Don’t apologize for his jackass behavior. That was his fault, not yours. I will never interfere with my men’s love lives, but you? You’re special. You’re my daughter. I can’t have anyone in my club hurting you.”
It was a simple declaration, really.
One sentence that didn’t hold any miraculous arrangement of words that would make anyone particularly happy.
Yet, to Scarlett, Ox’s words were everything.
Sure, she’d grown up with Carter. He was an excellent provider, but it was no secret he wasn’t a nurturer by nature. He was brash and harsh and at times unrelenting, but she loved him in her own way. He worshipped her mother, and that was really all Scarlett could ask for. But, hearing Ox claim her as his family, as his daughter…well, that made her feel complete in a way she never knew she’d needed. Apparently, there was a void inside her that only Ox could fill and the fact that he was obviously more than willing to do so resonated so deeply within Scarlett that she was sure she’d spend the whole evening crying.
As Ox turned into the parking lot of an obviously very expensive local venue in Bryson City, Scarlett was readily impressed.
“Fancy digs,” She commented.
Ox chuckled as he threw the car into park and slanted her a glance.
“Rayna ain’t much for fancy, but when it came to planning her wedding, Fury let her do whatever she wanted.”
That made sense. Every wedding Scarlett had ever been too had been over the top. Expensive, ostentatious, and most of the time far too stuffy for anyone to truly enjoy themselves.
For some reason though, Scarlett thought a big wedding suited Rayna.
She deserved it.
Ox took her hand and led Scarlett into the big brick building, his long stride almost twice as wide as hers. Scarlett tugged on his hand just a little to grab his attention.
“I know you have somewhere to be, so why don’t you go ahead and find Rayna? I’ll go inside and find a seat,” Scarlett offered.
Ox almost looked relieved.
“I’m sorry to abdanon you, but I’m running a few minutes late.”
This time Scarlett kissed his cheek before sending him on his way.
“Go on ahead, I’ll find you later.”
As Ox turned to walk away, she heard a deep voice behind her.
“My my, you the Prez’s new woman?”
Scarlett stiffened at the man’s words as she turned to face him.
Big as a brick house, and looking just as sturdy, a pair of mismatched eyes met hers.
One green and one brown, they were both trained on her.
Whomever the stranger was, his stare was intense.
She held out her hand in his direction.
“I’m Scarlett. Ox’s daughter.”
His eyebrows hit his dark hairline as he shook her hand. His calloused palm engulfed hers completely as he nodded.
“Rebel. Part of Axel’s crew. My apologies for the assumption, Scarlett.”
Scarlett slowly smiled as she shook his hand.
“Apology accepted, Rebel. May I ask how you earned that name?”
He released her hand as he laughed, the rough sound enticing. He scratched at his bare chin, and she caught sight of a grim reaper tattooed across his forearm, bright and covered in flames.
“Let’s just say I don’t like to follow the rules.”
As people milled in through the doors behind them, Scarlett caught Esme’s eye through the crowd and smiled when Esme practically fell into Prettyboy’s lap in an effort to get her attention.
Rebel followed her gaze and smiled kindly at her.
“Well, Scarlett, it looks like you’re being summoned. I hope I ain’t bein’ too forward if I ask you to save me a dance later?”
Scarlett smiled easily at him, her hazel eyes taking in every detail of his face. She had no idea who Axel was, but the Lone Rangers patch on his cut told her her he was a part of Esme’s old club, and a close ally to Ox.
“I would love to,” She said softly.
He nodded in her direction and motioned for her to step into the lavishly decorated hall.
Scarlett followed Esme’s still waving hands and Prettyboy’s exasperated grin all the way across the room.
“Beautiful, if you wave those hands any harder, you’re gonna take flight,” Prettyboy grunted.
Scarlett choked out a laugh as she threw her purse onto the seat where her name card rested. She was wearing a shawl around her shoulders and as she took a look around the large room, she took note of just how many men there were. Never in her life had she imagined she would see a room full of bikers dressed to the nines, but here she was, seeing exactly that.
“What did Rebel say to you?,” Esme asked.
Scarlett glanced at her.
“He introduced himself and asked if I would save him a dance.”
Esme’s eyes widened.
“That little flirt! Did you tell him you were with Limit?,” Esme asked.
Scarlett laughed again.
“Limit and I have no strings. He doesn’t want them,” She said almost sadly.
True, they’d spent a lot of time together, and true they’d made considerable progress since the other night, but Scarlett wasn’t going to get her hopes up.
Two days wasn’t long enough to really get to know someone, especially someone as complicated as Limit.
Prettyboy started to smile.
“You honestly don’t see it?,” He asked.
Scarlett smiled at him as she began to untie her shawl.
Underneath the shawl she was wearing a burgundy dress that was skin tight and strapless, complete with an elegant plunging neckline.
“See what?”
Scarlett asked this as she dropped the shawl onto the chair beside her and frowned when Esme whistled at her.
“Damn, Scarlett! What my ol’ man is trying to say, is that Limit’s crazy ass is crazy about you!”
Scarlett rolled her eyes.
“Mind blowing sex does not a relationship make, Esme. Limit’s good at a lot of things, but something tells me relationships aren’t one of them.”
Prettyboy drummed his fingers on the tabletop as he watched her for a moment, his bright green eyes narrowed.
“Ya know, that man took an ass beating for your sake.”
Scarlett planted one hand on her hip before she turned to face Prettyboy completely.
“That man deserved a beating after what he said to me. I didn’t ask Ox or Fury to do that. So don’t you snap at me, mister!”
For a moment she thought he would snap back at her, but he started to laugh and so did Esme.
“You’re right. I’m sorry for being rude,” Prettyboy said through a wide grin.
Scarlett started to laugh then too, only to be interrupted by Esme.
“Seriously, that dress is killer! Ox let you walk into the lion’s den like that?”
Scarlett’s brows drew together.
“He was in a bit of a hurry, but what’s wrong with my dress?”
She looked down at the velvet material, her hazel eyes finding nothing wrong with it.
Esme waved her hands in the direction of the hall, her fingers almost stabbing Prettyboy directly in the eye. He glared at her from behind her dark hair, his eyes rolling.
“Hello! Look at all these bachelors, babe! If you don’t have a man, you’re fair game to all of these men.”
Scarlett bit her bottom lip as she looked around the room again; candle sconces, roses, tulle and pretty twinkling lights met her eyes.
She also began to notice how many men wearing cuts were looking at her table now, and she suddenly felt the urge to put her shawl back on.
That would be too obvious, wouldn’t it?
…Wouldn’t it?
As Scarlett eased into her chair she set her purse and shawl under the table.
“I see your point,” She whispered as she sat back in her chair.
There was an aisle way separating the room in half, and at the far end of the aisle rested a beautiful archway covered in lights and roses and underneath it stood a man wearing a cut that she didn’t recognize. She supposed it was only fitting to have someone from an MC marry them, so who was she to judge?
“Don’t worry, as soon as Limit gets here he’ll protect you,” Esme said confidently.
Scarlett didn’t bother to tell her that she didn’t want nor need his protection, and instead focused on the change of lighting and the music that was playing.
“Shit, that’s my cue! Gotta run, guys!”
Esme was up and out of her seat in no time, her happy smile contagious.
It wasn’t more than a few minutes later that Scarlett saw the men enter the room.
Out the corner of her eye Scarlett finally saw men she recognized.
Rider, Slayer and Limit came into the room, and Scarlett had a hard time not looking at Limit. They were obviously the groomsmen, and Scarlett gasped when she saw them.
They all looked so handsome.
“Is Esme the maid of honor?,” Scarlett turned to ask Prettyboy.
He laughed as he shook his head.
“Nah, Green is.”
Scarlett thought he might be joking but the serious expression on his face told her he wasn’t.
“He’s her maid of honor?”
Prettyboy shrugged as he rubbed a hand over the scarred half of face, his ringed fingers tugging the thick skin downwards for a second.
“Green, as I’m sure you’ve discovered, is a strange man.”
Scarlett’s tinkling laugh filled the air as she nodded, her fingers circling the bottom of her wine glass that rested beside her name card.
Prettyboy nodded towards the other side of the room.
“It ain’t the other lion’s in this room you need to be worried about, Scarlett. It’s the lion watching you right this second.”
As Scarlett lifted her glass, she could almost feel his gaze raking over her skin as she slowly turned around, her hazel eyes meeting Limit’s immediately.
Her tongue darted out to taste the wine as it dripped into her mouth, her other hand clenched in her lap.
Limit looked hot.
He was wearing a tux, and some small part of Scarlett thought he looked like a hero from a romance novel. She’d experienced many a man in a tuxedo up close and personally before, but he took the cake.
Tall dark and handsome was an understatement, and it didn’t even bother her that he wore his cut over the lavish suit. She liked the way he looked, and if the way he was watching her was any indication, she’d get to tell him so soon enough.
His grey eyes were working their way from the top of her head all the way to her stilettos and no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn’t look away.
Limit was trapping her in a web she wasn’t so sure she’d ever escape from, and he didn’t even know it.
As she stared into his eyes from across the room, Scarlett knew that Prettyboy was right.
No other man in the room mattered; none but Limit.
And, as she’d already figured out, the bite of a lion like him was deadly.