Blue’s Downfall (Saint’s Outlaws MC: Las Cruces NM Chapter #2)

PROLOGUE

Three months ago

Blue—

A long white wedding dress hangs from the drapery rod, the sunlight filtering through the rows of lace flounces. The train goes all the way to the floor and pools on the carpet.

My sister sits at Mama’s dressing table, doing her makeup.

Our eyes meet in the mirror. She sees me peeking through the door and smiles.

“Just think, Luisa,” she says. “Soon it will be your gown hanging there. Perhaps next summer.”

Her proclamation fills me with dread. Marriage is the last thing I want.

“Hush, Consuela,” my mother says, brushing her oldest daughter’s long hair. “Today is your day, not your sister’s.” Mama turns to me. “Run down and make sure the wedding consultant has things well in hand. Tell me if she needs anything.”

I roll my eyes, but close the door and go to my room where my friends, Carmen, Marcela, and Ramona wait. Mama let me invite them since they’re here so often that they’re practically family. My two cousins are also here. Alba, the older, and Estrella, the younger one.

Alba sits in a chair by the window, fanning her face. “Why is it so hot in here?”

Alba is a complainer. She’s also always up in my business.

“There are too many people in this room. Can’t we go outside?” Carmen asks.

“We’ll dirty our gowns,” Alba snaps back.

My two cousins and I are bridesmaids, and my sister’s best friend is her maid of honor. Along with her groom’s two sisters, that makes six of us standing up for Consuela.

“Marcela and Ramona and I aren’t part of the wedding. Why do we have to wait up here?” Carmen asks.

Alba rolls her eyes. “Fine. Go. You’re not important, anyway.”

“Alba,” I snap. “What a thing to say. They’re important to me.” I turn to Carmen and lift my chin. “Mama wants me to check that the wedding planner doesn’t need anything. Come with me.”

My friends follow me down the stairs.

“Is your cousin always this bitchy?” Ramona asks in a whisper.

“Usually. She’s just like her mother. My Tia Maria is the same way. She always has something to say, and it’s never nice.”

“Good thing your mother isn’t like her. Are they sisters?” Marcela asks, following me out the front door and across the porch.

“No. Tia Maria is my father’s sister. She and my uncle Tony are twins, but he doesn’t live here. He’s only in town for the wedding.”

We cross the grounds of my father’s land. Sanchez Pecans has been in our family for over a hundred years. My father is very proud of that fact, and our family is very prominent in Las Cruces.

My great grandfather even helped build the Catholic church almost a hundred years ago.

Carmen throws her arm around me. “You okay?”

Carmen and I are closest in our group. “I’m fine. Why?”

“I heard what your sister said. Her voice carried across the hall.”

“Oh.”

“So, I know you are not fine.”

I shrug. “It’s not like I can avoid it. I know what’s expected of me. My sister is right. Sooner than I wish, it will be me getting ready to marry.”

“You’re not dead yet,” Carmen teases, squeezing my shoulders. “We’ve still got the summer. They won’t push things until after you turn eighteen, right?”

“Yes. I have the summer.” I stare at the rows and rows of pecan trees growing tall in our groves. They’re in full bloom with white blossoms that go perfectly with the wedding décor.

The altar is set up on the wide dirt road that leads between them on our property, with rows of white folding chairs and lanterns lining the aisle. Twinkling lights hang all around.

The florist and her assistants are putting the finishing touches on the altar and tying white bows on each row of chairs.

“Wow,” Ramona whispers. “It’s really pretty.”

I nod. “Daddy spared no expense. Mama and Consuela got pretty much anything they asked for.”

“Let’s peek in the reception tent. Come on.” Marcela tugs on my arm, and we head that way.

Crossing the tiled patio, we pass several men in white shirts and black pants and vests setting up a bar and high cocktail rounds.

Stepping inside the tent, we stop in our tracks at the beauty.

Chandeliers glitter from the ceiling, and rows of tables extend, covered in fine linens and sparkling crystal. Flowers are everywhere. A DJ is set up near a dance floor that’s been installed.

“Oh, Luisa. Look how beautiful it is,” Carmen breathes. “Everything is the same color as your dress.”

My bridesmaid dress is a strapless gown in deep burgundy, fitted to the knee and then flaring out in silk ruffles like a flamenco dancer’s dress.

The color is repeated in the florals, linens, and crystal beads that splay out from the center of the tent. Dim lighting shines along the edges of the silk that drapes the walls, creating a romantic and sexy mood.

I spot the wedding planner walking the tables and adjusting out-of-place silverware. Attendants start to light candles, and she turns.

“It’s too soon for that. Not until the ceremony starts,” she snaps, shooing them away. She makes her way to us and smiles. “Miss Luisa, you look beautiful. Well, how does it look? Do you think it will meet with your mother’s approval?”

“It’s stunning.”

“I’m glad you approve. Perhaps next year I’ll be back to style your wedding. Your mother said as much. You did like the quinceanera I decorated for you, didn’t you? I promise I’ll make your wedding just as beautiful as your sister's.”

“I’m sure you will.” Even the thought of my wedding sends a chill through my blood. “I’ll tell her everything looks wonderful. She sent me to see if you needed anything.”

“No, dear. Everything is in hand. Tell her everything will be perfect for Consuela tonight.”

“Thank you.” I turn and walk out, my girl squad following behind me. Carmen catches up to my long stride.

“Don’t fly off the handle, Luisa. She’s just a wedding planner, after all. She doesn’t know how you feel.”

“I’m not upset with her, Carmen.”

“If you don’t want to marry Mateo, just tell your father,” Ramona advises.

“Right. Like it’s that easy.”

“Of course she doesn’t want to marry him,” Marcela hisses. “She barely knows him.”

“But you have met, right?” Ramona asks.

“They met last Christmas. At the candlelight service,” Carmen replies for me, then catches my eye. “He looked very handsome in his suit.”

I know her words are meant to comfort me, but they don’t. Yes, Mateo is attractive, and tall, and comes from a prominent family just like mine. On paper, he’s the perfect man. I should be thrilled. Then why aren’t I?

“So, what’s the problem?” Ramona asks.

“They had no spark,” Carmen says.

“Spark? The boy is cute, and you felt no spark?” Ramona asks.

I shrug.

“Can I have him? I think he’s very handsome,” she replies.

“Good idea,” Carmen says sarcastically. “I’m sure her father would love that. Why don’t you steal him away?”

“Well, if she did, it would solve my problems,” I mutter.

“I doubt it. Your father would find you someone else. Someone he deems suitable. And his second choice probably wouldn’t be as good as Mateo. You got lucky, girl,” Marcela says.

I don’t feel lucky. I feel as far from lucky as I can get.

“So, what’s not to like about Mateo?” Ramona asks.

“He’s fine. I just don’t want to marry. I’ve barely lived. My father has been so strict, I feel like I haven’t had any fun. I didn’t even get to go to homecoming or prom.”

“But you did get a fantastic quinceanera. I was so jealous. Mine wasn’t nearly as good as yours,” Marcela says.

Carmen stops me, tugging me around. “Look, Luisa, why don’t you sign up for art school? You loved it in high school.”

“That’s not what my father wants me to do.”

“And you’re the perfect daughter. We know,” she replies.

“It’s what’s expected.”

“And you always do what they expect you to do,” she says. “Maybe you need to change that. I mean, if you really want more than this life they’ve arranged for you, you’re going to have to be brave and rebel.”

Rebel? Everything inside me wants to rebel. Don’t they get that? “I don’t know if I’m brave enough to rebel.”

“What happens if you do? What’s the worst? You’re your father’s favorite. You think he’s going to disown you for fighting for what you want?”

“Carmen, it’s not that easy,” I say.

“Yes, it is. You just need to decide how badly you want what you say you want.”

She’s telling me everything I already know in my heart—I need to suck it up and be brave.

“Carmen’s right, Luisa. You need to act like you did when you were away from your family. You weren’t afraid of anything.”

“My father is different.”

“He loves you, kiddo,” Carmen adds.

“I know he loves me. But he’s very strict. You know that.”

She folds her arms and gives me the look.

“I get it. Okay. I’ll try.”

“You should start tonight. You said Mateo won’t be here, so maybe you should dance with a boy.”

“My father would flip.”

“I doubt that. Not if it’s your sister’s wedding. He’s not going to make a scene. Is he?” Marcela asks.

“Maybe we can run blocker for you. Distract him,” Ramona suggests.

“That’s a good idea.” Carmen jumps on board.

“I love you all for this. I hope you know that,” I say, grabbing them in a group hug.

“One for all and all for one, I say,” Ramona chimes.

*****

Blue—

My Harley rumbles beneath me as I roar down the highway, the desert stretching on both sides. Saguaro cacti stand like soldiers, their arms raised to the sky.

The wind picks up, and a dust devil swirls. I swerve to avoid a rolling tumbleweed bouncing across the road.

The blue haze of the Organ Mountains sits on the horizon.

I slow and make the turn onto our clubhouse property.

The acreage the club purchased is miles outside of the city limits and surrounded by scrubland, with a large wooden fence at the roadside.

Las Cruces Salvage is painted in faded blue letters on the gray wooden fence planks from a previous business.