Love Betrayal

Chapter Thirty-Six

River

Feeling confident that no one will ever find enough evidence to incriminate me for Robert’s death, I move on with my life and hope that whoever called the police minds their own business and shuts up about it. Obviously it could be Rosalind, or Granny Dearest making calls from the home she’s in. Either one wouldn’t surprise me. We’ll just have to hope they both find some purpose in their lives that doesn’t include trying to bring us down with their petty ways.

But some people never change.

Romeo tells me to keep a low profile and stay out of trouble, so that’s what I plan to do. I just hope trouble doesn’t come looking for me.

I’d hoped that Bella would never hear me confirm what I did to Robert—doing what I did to my own so-called father is pretty dark, even for me—but I couldn’t go through him hurting my mother again. He needed to be taken care of, to keep everyone safe.

And trust me when I say he wasn’t a good man and is one hundred percent in hell right now.

Maybe I’ll see him there one day.

We have a club meeting, including the Angels as well, since even though we still have our own clubhouses, we are one club. This is the first time I’ve seen Damon in a while, and I wonder what happened with him and Corey. She hasn’t said anything, and I haven’t wanted to ask.

“So as you know, we’ve had a lot of shit going on recently,” Romeo says from the head of the table. “And I want to thank everyone for always being there and doing whatever needs to be done without any fucking complaint. As everyone knows, we had our son, Julian, which is why Julianna isn’t here tonight, but usually she would be. Is there anything anyone would like to bring up or discuss?”

“Prospects,” Damon says. “I know we have Jag, but I’d like to bring in a few more if we can, for the Angels clubhouse.”

“You have anyone in mind?” Romeo asks him.

“No, but I’d like some younger members brought in, if Julianna agrees with that.”

“I’ll ask her about that, but I don’t think it would be an issue,” Romeo says, looking around the table.

A few other men speak up about different concerns, and Romeo talks it out with them. He then surprises me by what he says next.

“I just wanted to tell everyone that we’ve found out that River is my brother—we share the same father. It was a shock to us all, but I’ve always loved him like a brother anyway. This is just me officially letting you all know, so you can all stop fucking gossiping about it.”

There is silence for a few seconds, before everyone cheers.

It’s now all out in the open, no more dirty secrets.

I feel...content.

We all head outside for some beer and music, and the women bring out food while I light the bonfire for us all. It’s nice to have everyone around, even the members from the Angels. We are one. And I need to remember that when I see Damon. I suppose Corey could do worse.

“How good does the grazing platter look?” Bella says, pointing to the table. “It’s a piece of art, I’m telling you.”

“It looks amazing,” I say, my hand wandering down to land on the curve of her ass. “But not as good as you.”

Club members keep coming up to congratulate us, and it feels more like a do-over engagement announcement than a club party. I hope she can feel the love in the room like I can.

“Can I get you a drink?” I ask, nuzzling against her. “Or something to eat?”

“I’m okay,” she replies, wrapping her arms around my neck. I have to lower myself so she can reach. “I’m going to stay sober in case Julianna needs help with Julian. You can enjoy yourself, though. I can see that Corey is.”

I look over and see my sister downing a shot, a separate drink in the other hand. I spoke to my mom about reaching out to her, but all she said was that if Corey wants to speak to her, then she will. She has this old-school mentality where the child should reach out to the parent, which is so ridiculous. Corey deserves better. She shouldn’t be the mature one in the relationship trying to fix things, with my mother acting like she hasn’t stepped a foot wrong.

I hope she realizes this before it’s too late, and she misses out on knowing such a wonderful human.

“At least she’s drinking here where people can watch over her,” I grumble, picking an olive and cracker from the...what did Bella call it? Grazing platter.

Corey wanders over to us and smiles. “That tequila is good tequila.”

And then heads back inside.

Probably to make out with someone in the hallway.

I’m going to mind my own business this time and pretend that she’s not even here.

“So when are the two of you going to get married?” Romeo’s mother comes up to me and asks the second Bella goes inside. I haven’t spoken to Aunty Victoria since last party, and I notice this time she’s not drinking as much.

“Next year,” I tell her. “I know you didn’t mean to tell me what you did last time, but I’m thankful you did. It feels good having everything out in the open.”

She smiles sadly. “I’m sorry it came out that way, but I agree. And I want you to know that I only ever felt love for you. I never held anything against you—you were just a child.”

“I know,” I reply, nodding. She always treated me the same as Romeo, but she never treated him all that great to begin with. “And it is what it is. I just hope we don’t have any other family secrets, because I think that one is more than enough.”

She laughs but doesn’t bother to state that we’re all good for now. Because that would probably be a lie.

I go inside to grab a beer and run into Julianna and Damon. Damon is holding Julian and laughing at something Julianna said. The respect the men show Julianna is impressive—it’s like she’s their queen. And it’s so nice to see a woman in power. Maybe soon they will change the rules so women can be official members, too. I can see why Damon would want more men, and more his own age. The older men are slowly phasing out, and depending on how many cousins he has, the numbers might be dwindling.

“When is our wedding?” I ask Bella as she comes out of the bathroom with Corey. I still don’t understand why women have to go in packs. “I’ve been asked, and I don’t know.”

She laughs. “I don’t know either. We’ll have to sit down and decide on a venue and date. Do you want a church wedding? I think I’d like our wedding to be at the lake where you took me swimming that first time.”

“The lake sounds good,” I say, smiling at the memory, and cupping her face with my palm and bending down to kiss her. “As long as I’m marrying you, I don’t care where we are.”

“Get a room,” Corey comments, and I grin and nod toward our bedroom.

Bella shakes her head, gray eyes dancing with amusement as she gently bats me away from her. “The night is still young. Don’t worry, we will end up there eventually.”

She’s right.

After a few hours, we end up in bed, tearing each other’s clothes off.

Is there any other way to end a party?