Chapter 53
Tyler
The doors opened and we all stood. At the end of the church, Everly stepped inside, Riot at her side, the late afternoon light from outside catching in the soft fabric of her dress.
It flowed around her, but the curve of her stomach wasn’t hidden.
It was part of her. Part of the man she was marrying.
Dixie tightened her grip on my arm. “Aw, she’s so beautiful. Look at her. Pretty dress, baby bump. My makeup isn’t going to last a minute.”
“It isn’t waterproof?”
She sniffed. “I believed in myself.”
“Doll, ye cry at greeting cards.”
She elbowed me, but her eyes were already glassy again, locked on Everly as she made her slow walk down the aisle.
I turned back to check on Shade, his smart suit worn only for her and not hiding the tattoos at his throat or on his hands. Most of them had been inked in her honour.
He wasn’t breathing.
Arran stood beside him, equally sharp, but cool as a cucumber where Shade was a mess. He nudged Shade not so subtly.
“Breathe,” the best man muttered.
Shade took a shuddering inhale, half the audience doing the same.
His focus never left Everly. Not once. Not when she faltered at the sight of him. Not when Riot said something low to her that made her smile. Not when the entire room shifted to watch.
I’d seen him in worse situations. Knife to his chest. Blood on his hands. My friend thrived in chaos. He was unshakeable. But this? Shade’s wedding day wrecked him.
Dixie leaned closer. “Oh my God. Look at him. That man is gone. Fully gone.”
She was right.
Pressure tightened my chest. Men like us didn’t get this. Didn’t deserve it. We burned things. Broke them. Left damage in our wake and moved on before it could catch us.
We didn’t stand at the front of a church and wait for something good.
Or so I’d thought.
Everly reached him. Her brother passed her over, clasping Shade’s shoulder for a second, something unspoken between them. Then he stepped back, taking his seat next to a barely contained Cassie, the lass practically hopping on the pew.
The room settled.
The officiant began, words I didn’t fully hear. My mind had gone elsewhere, to a day when this could be me and Dixie.
Everly slipped her hand into Shade’s. He pressed his lips together, strong emotion plain.
Dixie squeezed my arm again. “If you don’t cry, I’m leaving you.”
“Don’t. I’m barely holding it together.”
She peeked up at me and hugged me harder.
I didn’t expect this, to feel so moved by their wedding. Arran and Genevieve’s had been different. Still emotional, but not overwhelming. Maybe because I hadn’t any insight into what they felt.
Now, I did.
The ceremony continued with words about commitment, about choosing each other. About standing together through whatever came. I’d heard it all before. Never listened to a word of it. I clung to every word.
Fucking hell, this was messing me up.
I took Dixie’s hand in mine. Gripped it.
“Connor,” the officiant said gently. “Your vows.”
Shade dragged a hand over the back of his neck, exhaling in the way he would before stepping into a fight. He centred himself on Everly. His voice came out rough. “I’m naw good with words. Never needed to be with my trade.”
A quiet ripple of amusement moved through the room.
He ignored it. “I’ve done things I’m not proud of. Things I can’t take back.” His gaze didn’t waver. “I thought that meant I didn’t get this. Wouldn’t be allowed someone so perfect as ye.”
Everly’s eyes filled.
Dixie made a strangled sound beside me. I tried to be her rock, but Christ, I was slipping.
“But ye didn’t care,” Shade went on. “Ye saw it all. Every part of me. And ye stayed.”
His voice broke, just a fraction.
“Ye didn’t fix me. Ye pinned me down and made me listen to sense. Ye made me want to try to be a better man. Someone who deserved ye.”
Silence held the church.
“Ye were the first thing in my life that ever made sense. The first I’d fight to keep. Ye and our bairn.” He brushed back her hair, revealing a tattooed word behind her ear. “I choose ye. Every day. I’ll be everything ye need me to be.”
Everly let out a quiet sob but didn’t break eye contact with him.
“Be mine forever,” he finished, rushed and choked.
Dixie’s nails dug into my arm. “That’s not fair,” she whispered. “He’s not allowed to be that good.”
I couldn’t answer. Something in my head had gone quiet. The noise. The fear. All of it, gone.
“Everly,” the officiant prompted.
She smiled through her tears. “I had a whole speech planned but he ruined it. I can’t top that.”
A soft laugh flowed through the room.
“So I’ll keep it simple.” She lifted their joined hands. “You were never supposed to be mine. Not in any version of the world that made sense.”
Shade’s mouth twitched.
“But you are. And I’m not letting you go. You don’t scare me. Your past doesn’t scare me. The life we’ve chosen doesn’t scare me.”
She brought him in closer. Shade swallowed hard.
“The only thing that scares me is a world where I don’t get to stand next to you. I choose you too. Every day. Even the hard ones. Especially those.”
Dixie broke into a quiet sob, quickly muffled, but I felt it through me. I stole a glance at her.
She wiped her eyes. “Don’t say a word.”
“Wouldn’t dare.”
But my hand had already found hers once more. She laced our fingers together without looking.
The officiant spoke again, having them exchange rings. “Do you, Connor—”
“I do,” Shade cut in.
Everyone smiled.
The same question went to Everly, and she answered with the happiest grin. “I do.”
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Shade didn’t wait. He pulled her in, kissed her without any concern for the rest of the room. As if his world had narrowed to that single moment.
Applause broke around us. Cheers and whistles for the happy couple.
Dixie clapped, beaming. “That was perfect.”
I hadn’t expected to agree so much. But my focus wasn’t on them anymore. It was on her.
On the way she believed in them. On the way she’d walked into danger for me without hesitation. On the way she said we like it was already decided.
She’d chosen me.
That only meant one thing.
The reception took us back to our club, music, laughter, and drinks flowing.
Ash leaned on a crutch, stubborn as hell and determined to be back to work, despite still being on pain meds. His brother hovered, ready to catch him if he so much as breathed wrong.
“Sit down before you make that worse,” Heretic snapped.
“I’m fine.” Ash rolled his eyes, his gaze on one of the bartenders serving drinks in a cut-off shirt.
“You’re acting like an idiot.”
“Accurate, but irrelevant.”
Dixie leaned in to me. “Everyone’s happy. I love this.”
I did, too.
Kane had Lovelyn tucked at his side, his expression softer than I’d ever seen it. Mila and Convict weren’t far off, her head on his shoulder, something calm and settled between them. With Dixie, this was my family. The one I chose.
A little while later, Shade caught my eye across the room
He followed me to a quiet corner. “Ye okay?”
I shrugged.
He studied me. “Sure about that enigmatic gesture? I don’t want to mistake ye for actually happy.”
I glanced back through the crowd. At Dixie. Laughing. Alive and mine.
He followed my gaze, a faint smile tugging at his mouth. “Are we going to get another wedding soon?”
“Can I ask my woman first before telling ye?”
Fucker beamed, punched my shoulder, and left me to gather my thoughts.
I went back to her.
Dixie gazed at me. “Where’d you go?”
“Needed to clear my head.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re thinking dangerous thoughts again.”
“What does that mean?”
She pointed a finger. “I can tell. Your face does a thing. A ‘this man is about to ruin my life in the best way’ thing.”
I huffed a laugh. “You’re crazy.”
“Correct. But you love my fine grade delulu.”
I pulled her into me, her body fitting against mine.
“Holy shit,” she breathed. “This wedding really did something to you.”
“Maybe.”
She slipped her arms around my neck anyway, smiling up at me with trust I’d never break. That feeling in my chest tightened again. Something to hold on to forever.
I leaned in to her ear. Paused so my wild heartbeat didn’t trip me up. Then asked what had been gathering inside me for a long while. Probably from the first time I saw her and my soul decided she was mine.
“I have one final rule. Well, a request.”
She giggled. “Lay it on me.”
“Marry me.”
Dixie gasped and pulled back. She studied my face, her eyes instantly wet. “Are you for real?”
At whatever was in my expression, she laughed. “Of course I will.”
I hugged her. Held her close.
Mine, forever.
This rule, we’d never break.