Chapter One #4
Dom looks calmer than most of the men. At least on the surface.
But Kya knows him too well now. She sees the tension in his shoulders the second she steps in front of him.
Sees the way his eyes keep moving over her face like he’s trying to memorize every detail.
Remy is asleep against Ana’s shoulder nearby, completely unaware his parents are getting surprise married in front of half the club.
Gio stands beside Cain pretending he’s too old to care while still very obviously emotional about the entire thing.
Kya smiles softly at Dom. “You look stressed.”
“You people coordinated a secret wedding,” he replies. “That feels like a reasonable reaction.”
Kya laughs quietly.
Dom takes her hands, thumbs brushing over her knuckles automatically.
The noise around them fades. “When I met you,” he says, “you were already carrying the weight of the world.” Kya’s expression softens immediately.
“You had Gio depending on you. Bills. Fear. Pressure.” His jaw tightens slightly.
“And you still kept going every damn day.” Emotion roughens his voice more with every word.
“I don’t think you understand how much I admire that.
” Kya’s eyes fill instantly. Dom shakes his head once.
“You survived things that should’ve broken you.
And somehow you still stayed soft with the people you love. ”
Kya laughs shakily through tears. “Dom…”
He steps closer. “I swear to you,” he says quietly, “I’ll protect you, Gio, and Remy with everything I have.”
The seriousness in his voice lands heavy. Absolute. Permanent.
“You will never have to wonder if somebody’s standing between you and the world again,” he continues. “Because I will. Every fucking time.” Kya fully breaks into tears at that point. Dom immediately looks alarmed. “Why are you crying?”
She laughs harder through the tears. “Because you’re emotional and it’s weird.”
The yard laughs softly around them.
Dom mutters, “I regret speaking.”
“You absolutely do not.” He exhales hard through his nose but doesn’t deny it.
Kya wipes under her eyes before speaking.
“When I met you, I didn’t trust easy anymore,” she says softly.
“Not with myself. Definitely not with Gio.” Her gaze flicks briefly toward her son before returning to Dom.
“But you never made me feel like we were baggage.” Dom’s expression changes immediately at that.
“You loved my son before you had any reason to,” she whispers.
“You stepped into our lives like you were always supposed to be there.” Emotion thickens her voice.
“You gave Gio stability. You gave Remy a father who would burn the world down for him.” She smiles shakily. “And you gave me peace.”
Dom’s throat works hard.
Kya squeezes his hands tighter. “You already protect us with everything you have,” she says softly through tears.
That one destroys him quietly. No dramatic reaction.
Just visible emotion crashing straight through the composure.
“You love us so fiercely,” she continues.
“And somehow even with all your chaos and overprotective bullshit” the yard laughs again, “you still make me feel safer than anyone ever has.”
Dom huffs a quiet laugh. “The overprotective part is never changing.”
“I know.” Kya smiles through tears. “I don’t want it to.” His eyes shut briefly. “And I promise,” she whispers, “that no matter what comes for this club, this family, or our life… you’ll never fight through it alone.”
Dom opens his eyes and immediately pulls her into him. Hard. Like he physically needs her closer. “I love you,” he says roughly against her hair.
Kya laughs softly. “You’re squeezing me to death.”
“Wrong answer.”
She grins up at him. “I love you too, psycho.”
“Good.”
Then he kisses her while Gio loudly groans, “Oh my God.”
The entire yard bursts out laughing.
Shadow looks like he wants to crawl out of his own skin being the center of attention.
Which makes sense. The man barely speaks on a normal day.
Now he’s standing in front of half the club while Shaina stares at him in a wedding dress like he personally hung every star in the sky.
He looks at her like she’s the only thing keeping him tethered to earth.
Twisted watches from the side with crossed arms and an expression caught somewhere between emotional and ready to threaten somebody if this goes wrong.
Not that it would. Shadow’s been gone for his daughter since the beginning.
Shaina steps closer first, smiling softly when he immediately reaches for her waist like instinct. “You okay?” she asks quietly.
Shadow grunts once. “Too many people.”
The yard laughs.
Joker calls out, “Use your big boy words.”
Shadow flips him off without looking away from Shaina.
That makes her laugh softly. Then the laughter fades because Shadow’s expression shifts.
Still hard. Still dangerous. But raw underneath it.
He stares at her for a long moment before speaking.
“You found me when I had nothing left worth giving.” The yard goes completely quiet. Shaina’s face softens instantly.
Shadow’s thumb brushes slowly against her hip.
“I didn’t know how to want this,” he says roughly.
“Didn’t know how to stand still long enough for somebody to love me.
” Emotion tightens his jaw hard enough everyone can see it.
“But you stayed anyway.” Shaina’s eyes fill immediately. Shadow swallows once.
“You’re giving me a daughter.” His voice roughens further on the words. “You’re giving me a family. You gave me a reason to think past tomorrow.”
Twisted visibly looks away for a second at that. Because he remembers exactly what kind of man Shadow was when he first came to the club. A weapon. Nothing else.
Shadow steps closer until their foreheads almost touch. “You’re mine,” he tells her roughly. Simple. Possessive. Absolute.
Shaina starts crying immediately. Not delicate tears either. Full emotional collapse. Because everyone here understands what those two words actually mean coming from him. Not ownership. Belonging. Permanent devotion from a man who trusted nobody. “I know,” she whispers back shakily.
Shadow closes his eyes briefly like hearing that physically hurts him in the best possible way.
Shaina reaches up, both hands framing his face gently. “You know what I love most about you?” she asks softly.
Shadow’s brows pull together slightly. “Question feels dangerous.” The yard laughs quietly.
Shaina smiles through tears. “Everybody sees how scary you are first.”
“Smart people.”
“Shadow.” One corner of his mouth twitches.
Then her expression softens again. “But I see the man who watches every room before I walk into it.” Her fingers brush along his jaw.
“The man who would rather bleed himself dry than let the people he loves hurt.” Shadow’s hand tightens at her waist. “You love so quietly,” she whispers.
“But God, when you do… it’s everything.”
The words land like a punch.
Shaina smiles shakily through tears. “And I promise,” she says, “that no matter how dark life gets, you’ll never walk through it alone again.”
Shadow exhales hard through his nose and pulls her flush against him immediately. Like he physically cannot keep distance between them anymore. “Love you,” he mutters roughly into her hair.
The yard goes dead silent again. Because that might be the longest sentence anyone’s ever heard him say publicly.
Shaina laughs softly against his chest. “I love you too.”
Then Shadow kisses her hard enough to shut the entire yard up for a second before Blaze yells, “Okay, damn, save some aggression for later.”
Shadow doesn’t even break the kiss to flip him off.
Joker looks uncomfortable the second Raven stops in front of him.
Not because of the wedding. Because of emotion.
The man can handle blood, violence, chaos, and murder without blinking.
But genuine feelings? Apparently those are where he draws the line.
Raven knows it too. Which is exactly why she looks so entertained standing there in her dress while Lexi clings to Lucy’s hand nearby, grinning like this is the best day of her life.
Joker stares at Raven for a long second before speaking. “You’re fucking insane for picking me.” The entire yard bursts out laughing immediately.
Raven smirks. “Probably.”
Joker shakes his head slowly like he still can’t process it. “No, seriously. You watched me stab a guy.”
“You’ve stabbed multiple guys.”
“Exactly.”
Raven lifts one shoulder. “You were very committed to the experience.”
Blaze wheezes laughing somewhere behind them.
Joker points at him. “I hate all of you.”
“No you don’t,” Jimmy says.
Joker ignores him and looks back at Raven, expression shifting quieter the longer he holds her gaze. “But you stayed,” he says roughly.
The teasing softens out of Raven’s face immediately. “I did.”
Something changes in Joker’s expression at that.
Not dramatic. Not big. Just painfully real.
Like those two words reached somewhere deep enough to crack him open.
“Then I’m yours until I die.” Silence crashes over the yard.
Because everyone hears what he actually means.
Joker doesn’t give pieces of himself. Doesn’t trust easy. Doesn’t belong anywhere naturally.
But Raven?
She has all of him. Raven’s eyes immediately fill. “Oh,” she whispers softly.
Joker huffs out a laugh like he regrets speaking already. “Yeah, don’t make that face. Feels emotionally dangerous.”
Raven laughs through her tears. Then she steps closer, both hands sliding into his. “When I met you,” she says quietly, “I thought you were the most chaotic man I’d ever seen.”
Joker snorts. “That’s accurate.”
“You were loud and inappropriate and genuinely concerning.”
“Still accurate.”