Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ryder
“I’m ready.”
“Ryder.” Ellie dropped to the end of the bed in the room.
“I mean it, Ellie. I’m ready. I understand you aren’t. That’s why I said we could go as slow or as fast as you want. But the situation has changed.”
When we talked the other day, none of this shit had come up. We didn’t know her brother was here and a patched member of the club. I didn’t know she was hiding from her parents. Or the reason she felt she had to hide.
“Ryder, you can’t—”
“Do you love me?” I interrupted before she could say more.
“You know I do.”
“Can you see yourself married to me someday?”
She hesitated again. I took her hands in mine.
“Yes. Some day.”
“Someday can be tomorrow,” I said softly.
She opened her mouth to object, and I placed my finger in front of her mouth.
“Tomorrow is a technicality, a marriage of convenience. Have you written one of those?”
She shook her head no, but didn’t say anything.
“Think of this as research. I love you, Ellie. Let me protect you. If you don’t want to stay married, we can get it annulled after your parents leave. Or we can stay married and have a real wedding at a later date. The point is, if your parents show up here and you are single, you’re at risk. This guy, St. Matthews, is dangerous. He doesn’t sound like the kind of guy who would hesitate to kidnap a woman.”
“Ryder, I don’t want you to resent me.”
I placed my hands on either side of her face.
“Why would I resent you? Ellie, I never thought I would meet someone I would ever want to take that risk with again. And I promise you, it is a risk. I am risking my heart with you. But more, I’m risking my babies’ hearts. For the last two years, I convinced myself that my life would only ever be about my girls. I didn’t need someone for me. They were enough. I let my pain and anger at Tammi leaving consume me. I forgot what it felt like to see the sun after so much rain. You are the sun, Ellie. You’ve taught me what love really is. What Tammi and I had wasn’t love. The ending was inevitable. But you. You are my ending. You are my happy ever after. I want to marry you, Ellie. I want to stay married to you for the rest of my life. If that isn’t what you want, I understand, but let me do this now. Let me protect you the best way I can.”
I wasn’t ashamed to beg. I would get down on my knees for her if it meant she would say yes.
Then it hit me.
Kneeling before her, I put myself in the most vulnerable position I could. I took her hand in mine and kissed her knuckles.
“Tell me you’ll marry me, Ellie. Tell me you’ll love me for the rest of your life. Tell me you’ll be a mother to my girls. Tell me you’ll give me more babies. Babies that look like you. Say yes, Ellie.”
I watched as the tears streamed down her face. Were they happy tears that would have her saying yes, or was she trying to work out a way to let me down? I didn’t give her a chance to say anything before I continued.
“You promised me, Ellie. You promised you wouldn’t break my heart. You promised me you wouldn’t leave.”
“Ryder—”
“Ellie, I know I’m not playing fair. But I can’t. I have to do anything I can to get you to say yes.”
“Ryder—”
“Ellie, say yes. Say yes to me; say yes to our girls.”
“Ryder, shut up!” she shouted.
I sat back on my heels, defeated. My head fell, my chin hitting my chest. I waited for the words that would destroy me.
Ellie slid off the bed and kneeled on the floor in front of me. She took a deep breath and held my hands in her lap.
“If you won’t stop talking for two seconds, how are you going to hear me say yes?”
My head snapped up to look at her. “Yes?”
“Yes,” she confirmed with a nod.
I gathered her in my arms and crushed her to me. I was never letting her go. Taking her mouth in a searing kiss, I meant to show her the truth of everything I said. Despite her telling me yes, I needed her to know that I wanted this. Not just to protect her, but I wanted her tied to me in a way she couldn’t undo easily.
Before the kiss could go further, there was a knock at the door.
A growl tore from my throat. If that was Jingles trying to cockblock me, I was gonna knock him the fuck out.
I didn’t move.
I held Ellie to me and whispered, “If we’re quiet, they’ll go away.”
“Ellie?”
“It’s Jessie,” Ellie said, causing another growl to make its way up from my chest.
Standing from our place on the floor, Ellie walked over and opened the door.
“Hi, Jessie,” Ellie greeted.
“Um, am I interrupting?” Jessie said with a smirk.
“No.”
“Yes.”
The single word we both spoke out loud contradicted the other. I hefted myself off the floor and sat on the end of the bed.
“Well, the girls downstairs sent me up to get you.”
“Why?” Ellie asked.
“Well, Rachel believed Ryder wouldn’t have any trouble convincing you to go through with the wedding, so they wanted to throw an impromptu bachelorette party.”
I smiled to myself. Rachel knew me the best. She knew I would do anything to get what I wanted.
“Um, how is that going to work?” Ellie asked.
“Beck lives across the road and said we could all go—”
“No,” I said, standing from the bed. “You aren’t leaving the clubhouse until tomorrow morning when we go get the license.”
“But, Ryder, it’s right across the road,” Ellie argued.
“Yea, and a few months back, Beck was attacked in that home while the guys were all here in the clubhouse. No, you stay inside the gates. Come on, I’ll tell ‘em.”
I grabbed her hand and walked down the hall toward the stairs. I knew Jessie would follow. We entered the common room, and Sam, Beck, and Rachel were waiting.
“She’s not leaving the clubhouse,” I said.
“Ry, come on. We’ll be right across the road. If anything happens, you are all seconds away,” Rachel urged.
“Seconds away, like when Beck was attacked?” I reminded them.
“Ryder’s right. You can hang out here and have your party,” Blade said, backing me up.
He knew I was right, given Beck was home alone when Grant Nicholson attacked her, and again when her mother attacked her. Both times, the guys were all at the clubhouse, but no one knew what was happening in the house.
“We can’t have a bachelorette party with you guys around,” Beck whined.
“I’m not taking the chance that someone will show up without us knowing,” I reiterated.
Beck crossed her arms and glared at me. “You can station the prospects outside the house. No one will get past them.”
“I said no, Beck.”
“Well, she doesn’t have a ring on her hand or a cut on her back. Maybe we should ask Jingles, since he is her older brother.”
“Beck,” I warned.
“Ask Jingles what?”
I dropped my chin to my chest when I heard his voice. Beck was right. I hadn’t officially claimed Ellie yet, and Jingles was an officer. I turned to look at him, and behind him stood King, Cash, and Gunner.
“We want to have a little bachelorette for Ellie over at my house, and Ryder said she couldn’t leave. But since she doesn’t yet have a ring or a cut, you have more pull. So, Jingles, what do you say?”
“No,” King answered before Jingles had a chance.
“King—”
“I said no. Ryder’s right. She shouldn’t leave the clubhouse.”
“Beck.” Brandy one of the club girls walked out from behind the bar. “I have an idea.”
She looked at King, hitching one eyebrow up in question.
King looked over at Brandy. “No”
“Why not?”
“Because that’s not what it’s for,” he said.
I watched the two of them. I didn’t know what Brandy’s idea was, but if it kept Ellie safe, I was all for it.
“We’ve done it before,” she argued.
“That was different,” King said.
“Why?”
“Am I late?” The front door slammed open, and Grace crashed into the room.
“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be working.” King turned his attention from Brandy to Grace.
“I had MaryAnn come in and cover for me.”
“So, you just left work?” King questioned.
Grace put her hands on her hips.
“You are not my father, my old man, or my boss. I do not have to answer to you!” She turned toward Ellie. “Now, what’s the plan?”
“Well, the guys won’t let us go across the road to Beck’s, but Brandy had an idea she was just going to tell us about,” Sam informed her.
“I said no,” King reiterated.
“Why are you such an asshole all the time?” Grace yelled, throwing her hands in the air.
King glared at Grace. He looked like he might lose his shit.
“King, we can’t have a bachelorette here in the main room. Unless you all want to be the entertainment,” Brandy said, her eye trailing up and down King’s body in an exaggerated manner.
“It’s not big enough,” King answered.
“Bullshit, there are twenty of you that fit in there around that table. There are only half as many women,” Brandy pointed out. “What are you afraid of? All we’re going to do is eat, drink, and talk about who has the biggest dick. We won’t hurt your precious sanctuary.”
In that moment, it clicked. She was talking about church.
“Yes, that’s perfect!” Beck said. “But the cameras go off!”
“Fine, but I want it clean when you’re done,” King relented, pointing his finger at Brandy.
“We cleaned it last time, didn’t we?”
Brandy hooked her arm through Ellie’s and Beck’s, pulling them through the double doors.
“Amber, purge the bar. Crystal and Jade, hit the kitchen. Rachel, order some takeout. And, Tiffany, run to my room and grab Cards against Humanity and Drunk Desires . Grace and Sam, grab anything I might have forgotten.”
Jessie and Lily followed behind the girls into the kitchen. I figured the girls would scavenge around to see what they could find to make my girl’s night a fun time.
When the women had all left the room, I asked King, “Are you gonna kill the cameras?”
Grinning, the asshole smirked. “Fuck no.”
He walked over to the bar and sat down, his eyes never leaving the hall that led to the kitchen.
“Well, if the girls are having a bachelorette, it’s only fair we have some fun of our own,” Blade said, clapping his hands together.
“Um, how much fun you think we’re gonna have with the girls locked up in church and…” Jack tilted his head in the direction of his four-year-old daughter, Charlie.
“Already took care of that,” Blade said, smiling.
The front door opened, and my father walked in.
“Dad, what are you doing here?”
My dad looked at me, his eyes on the new cut I wore. I hadn’t told my parents about my conversation with Blade, or the one I had with Ellie that both led to my decision to join.
A slow smile crept across his face. “Looks good on you, Son.”
I released the breath I was holding.
“Thanks.”
My parents knew I was getting married tomorrow. I had called them when I left the clubhouse earlier, certain Ellie would say yes.
“Micah called, and we thought maybe Charlie would like to have a sleepover with the girls.”
I looked at Jack, but before he could answer, Sam walked in.
“I think that’s a great idea,” she said, walking over and whispering something in Jack’s ear. Judging by the size of the grin on his face, he wouldn’t be turning down my dad’s offer.
“I’ll run up and pack her a bag,” Jack offered, sprinting from the room like his ass was on fire.
“Jackass,” Sam mumbled.
“Alright, boys, it’s poker night! Get your wallets out!” Blade declared.
I shook my head at my best friend. When he went to walk by me, I grabbed his arm.
“Hey, got a question for you,” I asked.
“Yea? What’s up?”
“Will you stand up with me tomorrow?”
Blade looked at me, then closed his eyes. “Fuck yea,” he said, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me in for a hug. “Damn right I will!”
“Alright, girls. Let’s get this party started. My old lady bought pizza for the clubhouse and fucking Chinese food for them, so I need to recoup my losses,” Cash said, and everyone groaned.
I looked around at the men in the room. Everyone had been called in tonight. Guys were laughing and cutting jokes as tables were set up for multiple games.
This was why I wanted to join the club.
The camaraderie.
The family.
The brotherhood.
“Don’t think because you’re the groom, we’ll go easy on you,” Cash said, pointing at me.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I replied with a smile.