“We’re always going to be needed.” Devil cleared his throat.
Lash snorted. “You didn’t want to come, did you?”
“I, er, I wanted to thank you, actually.”
This made Lash turn to Devil. It was rare for the man to say anything like that. Thanking him, being happy to be at Fort Wills. They were two strong, independent clubs that had been thrown together through all of their troubles. They were family, but it was a complicated family. One full of love but also with the knowledge that there was a hell of a lot of shit under the bridge.
“Why?”
“Lexie, she wanted a full family get-together, and after all the treatments and stuff…”
“She’s still clear, right?” Angel hadn’t told him if Lexie had gotten cancer again. She beat it once.
“Yeah, she is all clear. We keep up-to-date with all of her check-ups and stuff, but I worry. It is so easy for her to just do everything for everyone else.” Devil stopped and cleared his throat. “You know what it is like to have a woman who is better than you. Lexie is better than me. I know deep down she deserved a lot better than me.”
Lash watched him and saw him looking at Simon.
Simon wasn’t Lexie’s son. The whole of Simon’s life, up until he was eighteen, he had thought Lexie was his mother. Devil had been with Lexie’s half-sister first, Kayla. Trying to escape Chaos Bleeds, Kayla had stolen a bunch of money and had given the child she’d been carrying that was Devil’s to Lexie. From what Lash knew, Lexie ended up stripping to try to keep him to be able to survive.
“She could have sent him to care. Put him up for adoption. Fuck me, she could have sold him, but she didn’t. She loved that boy like he was her own. She loves me, and she gave me more kids. I know I’m a lucky son of a bitch, which is why I’m not going to take my eye off the ball again. Lexie loves being around family. She loves you guys, and if I’m honest, I do as well. We’re two clubs, but we’re one and the same. Always will be.”
“It’s good to have you here, but I should tell you, I was against it. I had this crazy idea that Angel and I would enjoy a Christmas alone, but that’s never going to happen. I love being around my kids.”
Devil chuckled. “Strange, huh?”
“Yeah, strange. I have to wonder if—” He stopped.
“What is it?” Devil asked.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” He slapped Devil on the back.
All of this talk about not deserving women was hitting too close to home for him.
“I’m going to make sure the women aren’t taking over from the men and pulling each other’s hair out.”
Lash knew they were not in the kitchen, but had taken up residence in the gym. Angel had told him they were working on something.
The guys had been kicked out of their own gym, but his wife had prepared for everything, so she had made sure there were a gazillion cookies waiting. The kind that had all the men thinking about their stomachs rather than their peckers.
He made his way toward the gym and stopped in the doorway.
Angel stood and gave a twirl, and he just stopped and stared. His wife was fucking beautiful.
There were a couple of times over the years when she had asked him if he would love her when she was old, where parts of her would head south, and she would have wrinkles. She didn’t seem to understand that he loved her more and more every single fucking day.
He never got tired of her. The love he felt for her was absolute, consuming, and one he never wanted to forget.
His wife, his soul mate, stood in the center of the room, surrounded by the clubhouse women. The dress was beautiful, molded to her tits, and then it seemed to flare out as it hit the ground. Natalie was kneeling beside her with a couple of pins in her mouth, and then she stepped back after she did something to the bottom.
Angel spun around, and Lash’s heart fucking soared.
It was her Christmas dress.
A deep, festive red.
Lexie clapped her hands.
“This is exactly what I wanted,” Angel said.