Chapter One
“Are you sure about this?” Lash asked, wrapping his arm around Angel as he stared up at The Skulls MC clubhouse.
Angel giggled and spun around in the snow, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing a kiss to his lips. “Yes, hell, yes, and totally yes. I’m completely one hundred percent sure about this.”
From the look on Lash’s face, he clearly doubted it.
“Come on, Lash. This is going to be fun. You’re going to love it.”
He pressed his lips together and shook his head. “Nah, I don’t see it. We could have a sweet and quiet Christmas. Away from everyone and everything. I could take you away.”
Angel shook her head. “No, no, and even bigger no. Come on, Lash. I think this will be good for us all. Our family. The club. All of it.”
“Why?”
“Because a lot has changed over the years. We’ve lost so many. Tabitha’s in Piston County now, and I think it would be good if we invited Chaos Bleeds over, to you know, help.”
“This is about Anthony, right?”
She sighed. “Yes, okay. This is about our son and the fact that something is clearly going on with him and with Daisy, and I just want to make it right.”
“Why not just invite Simon and Tabitha?” Lash asked.
“I don’t want to just invite Tabitha. I’d like Lexie and Natalie, and Paris, and Judi, Mia, Sasha—”
Lash held his hand up, stopping her. “You know it’s a lot of work.”
“Yes, I know it’s a lot of work.”
“We’ll have to arrange for hotels, beds, the works.”
“Yes. I know all of this, and I still want to do it. Come on, please, please.” She could have easily started the arrangements, but seeing as Lash, her husband, was Prez of The Skulls MC, it was only polite to ask.
Lash always gave her what she wanted. Never did she have to argue or fight to get what she wanted. Pressing her lips together, she waited.
He rolled his eyes. “You do know a lot of the guys are going to be pissed about this. We don’t always want the Chaos Bleeds crew breathing down our necks.”
“Lash,” she said, cupping his face. “Chaos Bleeds is like family. We always take care of family, and besides, it has been a rough year, you can’t deny that.”
Tabitha had given birth to baby Skye, and then there had been the adoption of Jade, which had occurred before they’d been able to save the little girl’s mother.
She knew the deal The Skulls and Chaos Bleeds had with the Billionaire Bikers MC wasn’t an easy one. The legal path Lash had taken the club down had been the right choice, but now, she saw more violence and hatred in other people. In women, children, and sometimes men.
Abused, used, tired, hurting people who just wanted a chance at a safe and happy life. Seeing young children flinch away from an extended hand was heartbreaking. Not to mention the nightmares they experienced. She knew from experience after listening to them at night, when they stayed at the clubhouse.
Pulling out of her morbid thoughts, she looked at the clubhouse, and she’d been toying with the idea for some time. So long as she made the necessary arrangements and handled the food and decorations, she didn’t see a reason that this couldn’t go by without a hitch.
“What about the beach? We can find somewhere sunny where it is just us.”
Angel shook her head. “I don’t want the beach. I want a family and extended-family Christmas.”
Lash sighed. “Fine. I’ll bring it up in church, and so long as the guys agree, I don’t see a reason why not.”
“Can I ask the girls?” Angel asked.
He stared at her, and she tried to keep a straight face. “Angel, baby, why do I get the feeling that you’ve already gotten the girls to agree?”
“Well, I might have suggested it to Tate, who then spoke to Eva, and then it kind of just took off on its own. I have no idea how it happened. It just did.”