Chapter 34
MAX
I was fighting like hell not to pace a hole in the floor two weeks later as I waited for Sal.
“Did you have too much coffee again?” Wren accused, noting my energy.
“Must’ve,” I lied, forcing myself to appear casual. “Wasn’t Liv supposed to be here soon?” I prompted. I needed her out of here in order to pull this off.
After spending the past few weeks only leaving her side for one reason, I was finally ready to share the surprise Sal and I had been working on.
“Yeah,” she replied, looking at me skeptically as she left the room with Frank, Rosie, and both dogs in tow, a now constant sight.
Gunner’s mom had readily agreed to us keeping Rosie. Now, I just needed to get Wren off her wanting a whole farm kick. I’d caught her looking at miniature horses online the night before.
The fact we had a goddamn pig was enough. Though I had to admit, she was cute as hell.
“Liv just texted. She’s pulling up,” she announced as she reappeared, her hair still wet from an earlier shower, looking fucking beautiful in blue jeans and a white tank top. I loved the rare occasions where she dressed up, but I thought she was most beautiful as she was now, dressed casually with little to no makeup marring her gorgeous skin. “Hopefully I can actually pass this test.” She wrinkled her brow.
She’d been able to register late for fall semester. She was playing catch up, but my girl was determined.
“You’ll do great,” I assured her, dipping to kiss her lips and tweaking the engagement ring I’d placed there weeks before. “We went over all your notes last night. You knew them backwards and forwards, don’t sweat it.”
“Okay,” she replied breathlessly, swaying into my kiss. “Maybe I’ll just stay here and we can go to bed.”
I chuckled. “Tempting, but you’d be pissed at me later if I took you up on that.” I swatted her ass as she pouted over her shoulder, headed out the door to meet Liv.
Even now, weeks later, it was hard for me to watch her go, to let her be away from me. But I knew I needed to. The business with Jared was over and done with. She needed to reclaim her life in Hawthorne, and some of that had to be without me.
“I’ll see you tonight.” She smiled coyly over her shoulder at me.
Sooner than that, baby. I thought, as I fought a grin.
It was only a short time after I’d heard Liv’s car pull out of our drive that the rumble of a motor sounded. I bolted for the door, finding Sal cutting the engine on Wren’s Mustang that, unbeknownst to her, we’d finished the upgrades on.
The car looked fucking sweet. We’d kept it as original as possible while finishing up the plans she and Sal had come up with together. As far as she knew, I was still against her driving it. Though I’d still love to see her behind the wheel of something even safer, vintage cars were a passion of Wren’s, and I knew I’d have to meet her in the middle.
I caught the keys midair after he threw them.
“We doin' dinner tonight?” he asked with a lifted brow as Kat pulled up the drive to pick him up. It had become a bit of a tradition that we grilled at Sal’s place on Thursday nights.
“Yep,” I agreed.
Kat leaned out the window with a grin. “She’s gonna be so excited.”
I nodded. “We’ll be by later,” I said in parting, watching as Sal strode toward Kat’s car.
After a brief argument, where he obviously insisted on driving, she moved to the passenger seat, huffing about alpha men the entire time.
I grinned at their antics, watching as they pulled away before I made my way back into the house to grab my jacket.
I grinned as I fired up the Mustang, it’s throaty throttle like music to my ears. The sun was shining with just a hint of the chill of winter starting to creep into the late afternoon as I pulled onto the highway, cranking the stereo. It was a few hours before Wren was done with school, but I was too fired up to sit around and wait.
The club was just as good a place as any to kill time.
“Nice ride,” Mad commented, headed for his bike when I pulled into headquarters a few minutes later.
“It’s Wren’s,” I replied as I cut the engine and climbed out. “You outta here?”
“Yeah.”
It wasn’t lost on me that Mad had seemed troubled the last few weeks. He’d always been on the serious side, but this was something different. I leaned against the side of the car, my arms crossed. “You good?”
His eyes slid to the side.
“You worried about your girl?” I guessed. It was no secret he’d claimed the Rossi girl. Whether or not she claimed him back was something else entirely.
“How could I not be fuckin’ worried?” he shot back. “She risked her life to save Wren’s. Those assholes know she worked with us. And it’s not like she’s getting the warmest reception from our side either,” he scoffed. “She thinks everyone hates her. She’s keepin’ her distance right when I need to keep an eye on her.” He looked at me, his gray eyes blazing. “If those assholes lay a hand on her, they’ll answer to me.”
“We have your back on that, brother,” I assured him firmly. There might be some lingering lack of trust when it came to Francesca and the family she came from, but if she mattered to Mad, then she mattered to all of us.
“Appreciate it.” He nodded, throwing a leg over his bike. “Gonna go see if I can get my stubborn woman to stay with me.”
I bit back a smile, knowing something about stubborn females myself. “Good luck.”
He snorted, firing up his bike. With a final two-fingered salute, he roared off down the road.
The club was quiet when I walked in, the only sound the pool balls clacking together as Gunner and a prospect played in the corner. After a nod in their direction, I headed down the hall, finding Cole in his office scowling at something on his phone.
“What’s good?” I asked, plopping down in the seat across from him.
He heaved a breath, shoving his phone away from him. “Same shit, different day.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Something I can help with?”
“The Rossi’s don’t fall in line, then yes. For now, no.” He shook his head as he sat back in his chair regarding me. “You seem good,” he assessed, his bright blue eyes zeroed in on me with his typical intensity.
“I am.”
“You were always quiet,” he mused. “But sometimes I wondered if it was because you were holdin’ back, holding something in. I don’t get that from you anymore.”
“Still working on it,” I admitted. “Wren’s helping. She pushes me when I need it.”
He nodded. “A good woman will accept who you are. But the best will push you to be even better.”
I couldn’t have agreed more.
“You get word that Janelle left town?”
The question caught me momentarily off guard. I hadn’t been keeping tabs on her, but I wasn’t surprised Cole had been. “I didn’t.” I shook my head. “Not surprised.”
He nodded, his fingers steepled against his chin as he regarded me. “You didn’t go and see her.” It wasn’t a question.
My instinct was to say no and let it lie, to avoid the conversation all together, but then I remembered what I’d told Wren, that I’d promised to try.
“I didn’t see the point.” I shrugged. “Nothing to work out with her, and I have no interest in hearing what she has to say.”
“You didn’t have anything to say to her? She’s lucky I didn’t go have a few words with her myself.” He glowered.
“She doesn’t deserve the time it would take me, and plus, any closure I might need wouldn’t be solved in talking to her. I think it’s more talking it out with Wren—and with you.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Anytime, you know that.”
“I do,” I agreed, rising to stand. “Gotta go pick up Wren.”
“She’s gonna be fucking thrilled.” He grinned. Most of the guys were in on the surprise since Sal and I had worked on it at the club for the past few weeks.
“Hope so,” I replied, tapping his desk once. “I’ll catch you later.”
“Later.”
“Cole.” I paused in the doorway, waiting for his eyes. “Thanks.”
He smiled, his eyes warm. “You’re welcome.”
****
I pulled into the community college a few minutes early, wanting to make sure I beat her to the parking lot. She thought Olivia would be driving her home.
I leaned against the car, searching the students milling around, eager to lay eyes on my girl. It had only been a few hours and still felt like it had been way too long.
Then I saw her, walking toward me, laughing at something Liv was saying as Tatum chuckled along with them. She was so fucking gorgeous, she stole my breath on a daily basis. The minute she caught sight of me, her blue eyes lit with excitement that made me feel ten feet tall.
Then she saw the car and I heard her shriek from across the lot.
I grinned at her exuberance as she ran toward me. “How did you…? When did you…?” she sputtered as I took her in my arms. “You’ve barely left my side.”
I kissed her temple. “Some of those club meetings weren’t for real. Your dad and I worked on it together.”
Her eyes popped wide in surprise. “I thought you didn’t want me to drive it?” she demanded excitedly as she opened the driver’s side door and climbed inside. I sat beside her in the passenger side, smiling with pride as she admired the interior.
“We’ll just leave you to it.” Liv winked, linking arms with Tatum as they strode toward her car.
I shot her a grateful nod. Liv was always looking out for my girl, and for that, I’d always have her back.
“I’d still rather have you in something safer,” I admitted, turning my attention back to Wren. “But I know you love this car. As long as you promise me you’ll drive safely, then if it makes you happy, you know I’d do anything to make that happen.”
She looked at me with tears shining in her eyes. “I do know that.”
“All right, now switch with me, baby,” I told her.
“This is my car, and I just got it back. I’m driving.” She shook her head.
Damn, she was cute when she thought she was about to win an argument.
“Baby, I’m in a car, I’m driving, you know this,” I answered patiently. “But you also know I’d make an exception this time if your leg wasn’t still sore,” I added, looking pointedly at her calf.
“Ugh, if that weren’t true, I wouldn’t back down so easily.” She huffed, climbing out of the car. When she arrived at the passenger’s side, I pulled her gently into my lap, loving her little shriek of delight.
“I’ll make it worth your while,” I promised, sliding my nose along her neck, my cock hardening at her delicious scent and the little whimper that escaped her lips. I shifted, putting her ass in the seat and standing up before I took her right there in the parking lot.
The deep rumble of the engine had Wren bouncing in delight as I put the car in gear. I glanced over at her with a grin before hitting the gas.
“Gotta swing by the store. Then we’re headed to your folk’s house,” I informed her.
“And we’re going to the store because you think Pop didn’t buy the right steak?” she guessed correctly.
Sal was good at a lot of things, but he couldn’t grill for shit.
My lip twitched. “Right.”
Her hand made its way to my thigh, resting comfortably as I drove us through town.
“Have you talked to Caleb?” she asked gently.
She’d been pushing the topic ever since Caleb had let that fucker into his house. Somehow, my girl had forgiven him right away. I wasn’t nearly there. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be.
“No,” I ground out.
“Honey—”
I shook my head, cutting her off. “He could have gotten you killed because he didn’t use his fucking head. I’m not ready to forgive that shit. I don’t know if I ever will be.”
She squeezed my thigh, and I knew she’d let the subject drop, for now. My girl knew me well. She knew when to push and when to let me work things through on my own time.
I turned to glance her way as we idled at a red light. “Your mom’s pretty intense about this wedding shit,” I noted dryly.
She groaned. “Don’t remind me. You’d think I was the queen of England or something. Maybe we should just elope.”
“Tempting.” I chuckled as I hit the gas when the light turned green. “But we can’t do that, and you know it. This is important to your mom, and to your pop. He’s just not as vocal about it. There’s only one time to plan their only daughter’s wedding.”
“Yeah, I know,” she grumbled. “But if I have to look at one more bridal magazine, I’m going to lose it.
“I’ll talk to Sal, get him to talk to her,” I assured her.
Sal and I had developed an even closer bond than we’d had before I claimed Wren. Through my relationship with Wren, I’d gained not only the love of my life but another family I loved nearly as much as my own.
“He listens to you.” She leaned back on the headrest, looking peaceful.
It was a new chapter for us, being able to relax. The shit with the Rossis was by no means dealt with, but my girl was safe. We were finally free to just… be.
“I’ll buy some pineapple since you like it with your steak,” I said, trying not to grimace.
“It’s good!” she protested, swatting my arm, no doubt having caught my expression.
“Whatever you say, baby.” I chuckled. “Can’t wait to see what kind of wedding cake you come up with.”
She rolled her eyes, but the pink tinge to her cheeks told me she already had some weird-ass ideas.
The truth was, I couldn’t care less. All I cared about was that I got to make this woman mine for the rest of our lives.