Carlos didn’t give a fuck.
Their wedding was already an hour behind.
“No, of course not,” he said. Harlow was a pain in the ass. “Is she?”
Harlow burst out laughing. “See that, I got into your head.”
“I want to point out that I was the one who insisted on there being a vegan alternative for you!” Actually, it was Raven who’d requested it, and he’d been for leaving the vegan out of their wedding celebrations.
“Please, I know the truth. You can’t lie to me.”
He glared.
He could have lied to her, but then, that would have been too big of a lie. “Fine, it was on Raven, but … I agreed to it.”
“Please, you’re so pussy-whipped you’d have agreed to anything.” She rolled her eyes. “You don’t fool me.”
That was true.
Whatever Raven wanted, he made sure she got.
“She’s not running away. Raven doesn’t even have cold feet. Your daughter though, she is … going to be big.”
He was aware of that.
The doctors had told him they were going to have a big baby. Might even require a c-section, possibly.
“What is … how is she?”
“That’s what is taking so long. They’re having to let out the wedding dress.” Harlow put her hand in front of her stomach. “Baby is growing big. So big.”
“Oh.”
“Are you sure there ain’t, like, two in there?” Harlow asked.
“Don’t test me. Not today.”
He was there for all the doctor appointments. So far, they’d been able to divide their time between the club and his world. It helped that Raven was only needed for club updates. Whenever there was a church meeting, she took it via call if she was in the city with him.
Carlos wasn’t privy to those meetings, and the truth was, he didn’t want to be. He respected Raven’s world. Knew the club was important to her.
He had fucked up once before by nearly taking her family and club away from her, but he wasn’t going to do it again.
“Will you go and see if she’s okay?” Carlos asked.
“Fine,” Harlow said, getting to her feet.
Raven had insisted on all the bridesmaids wearing pink. This was so out of character for Raven. The wedding was … very feminine. Roses, bright pinks, and whites. Raven hadn’t struck him as the kind of woman who dreamt of the perfect wedding, but she had been present for every little detail, not leaving anything to chance.
It was late one night when she’d told him the truth. She’d never cared about weddings, but her mother, during the loneliness, it was what she planned for. “She had a whole book for the perfect wedding of her little girl. Every single detail mapped out for me. The pinks and whites. The flowers. The vanilla cake, because I loved that flavor growing up. I … she’s not going to be there, but I know if I … do this, then I will feel like she’s there.”
And that was why the bridesmaids had to wear pink. The men were all dressed in white. Even him, which was why it was important no bloodshed was spilled. There was no way to get blood out of white.
He doubted her mother had thought of who Raven would be marrying.
The dress had taken forever. In the end, he’d realized how stressed Raven was becoming, so he’d called upon a seamstress to create the perfect wedding dress. He’d given her a short timeline and had thrown plenty of money at her, and the woman hadn’t disappointed.
Raven had been buzzing when she saw the dress.
The only thing that Raven was keeping for herself was the boots. Even as a kid, Raven had said she always wore boots. Her mother had said it was what she’d accept, so long as the dress was long enough.
Smokey arrived, and Carlos frowned.
“You’ve got to get into position. I’ve been called that they’re ready.”
“About fucking time.”
He went to walk past, and Smokey grabbed the lapel of his jacket.
“If you ever hurt her, the club and I will hunt you down and kill you. There will be no memory of Carlos Santiago.”
“The same goes, Smokey. You ever fuck up again and hurt Raven, you and me, it ends, and I will wipe the fucking planet of the Hell’s Bastards MC.”
They both nodded.
Smokey let go of his jacket and they shook hands.
Carlos made his way toward the front of the church where Drago was waiting as his best man.
“Are you going to tell me I’m making a mistake?” Carlos asked.
“No. I happen to like Raven,” Drago said.
Carlos glared at him. “You didn’t like her before.”
“I always liked Raven. She’s strong, resilient, and won’t put up with your shit. What I didn’t like was the means you were going through. That always ends in heartache. This time, you got lucky. Others won’t always be so.”
The wedding song started to play, and Carlos turned toward the entrance of the church. He couldn’t see Raven yet.