Ride To Vengeance (A Rough Riders MC Novel #3): A Rough Riders MC Novel #3 (The Rough Riders MC Series) (17 page)

I shook my head.

“Good. Let’s go to bed. I’m tired and your questions and deep thoughts are doin’ my fuckin’ head in.”

I laughed out loud. “Come on, caveman, up the stairs we go.”

“Caveman, huh?” He picked me up as if I weighed nothing and carried me up the stairs to our bedroom.

As soon as we were both snuggled in bed, his naked body spooning mine, he kissed my neck softly.

“Baby?”

“Yes, sweetie?”

“I wanna be with you in every way. I mean . . . you bein’ my fiancée isn’t good enough anymore. I want us to get married.”

“We’re going to as soon as—”

“I don’t wanna wait until the babies are born,” Ronan interrupted before he turned me around to face him. “It doesn’t matter what you decide to wear, babe. Hell, I don’t care how round your belly is—I just want you to be my wife . . . my old lady. I want you to well and truly belong to me. Not because of what Fernando did but despite what he did to you. He thought he could own you but you’ll never belong to anyone but yourself . . . even if I know your heart belongs to me.”

I kissed his lips softly, my eyes closed. “And yours to me.”

“Always and forever.”

“Then yes, we can get married as soon as possible.”

Ronan kissed me again before we fell asleep in one another’s arms.

Chapter Thirteen

Ronan

A
s much as Ronan looked forward to the day he married, Naomi, they both decided a break from tradition was in order.

Usually biker weddings were pretty predictable. They usually took place at the compound with Harleys lined up side-by-side as the bride was walked down the
isle
by her father.

Neither Ronan nor Naomi wanted any of that crap. Not because he wasn’t a proud biker who was in complete awe of the traditions they created and his heritage. They both wanted a semblance of normality established in their lives and a traditional wedding seemed like the perfect place to start.

Yes, they would still be a badass biker couple and Ronan would continue his position as Vice President of the Vegas charter but Naomi was a provincial woman at heart and she wanted a traditional wedding—Vegas-style.

Their special day was held at Vogue Casino, Hotel and Spa in a gorgeous area of the property reserved for weddings. Although it was outside, the temperature in Vegas was warm enough for the guests to enjoy the ceremony in comfort. In that aspect, it was biker all the way with members from charters all around the world showing up.

Over eighty percent of the guests were bikers with the rest being rock stars and the elite from the criminal underworld, including Angelo Abandonato and his family, Raymond Jackson, his wife, son and their daughter-in-law. Talia Viaro and the rest of Winter’s Regret showed up along with all the members from Scarlet Fever.

Ronan couldn’t disguise his anger at his brother, Jaden, for bringing his cheap skank he’d proposed to but nothing could be done without causing a scene. Therefore, Faith was there by his side whether he wanted her to be there or not.

As her bridesmaids, Naomi had chosen Kyra, Chantal and Talia with Gisela as her matron of honor. Ronan had chosen Trey, Cricket and Cillian with Hardy as his best man. It was a definite break from tradition but he couldn’t deny he was closer to Hardy—his uncle and club president—than he was to his brother.

Cillian would always hold a special place in his heart and they would always be blood brothers but he wasn’t the one he went to when times were tough. They hadn’t battled side-by-side together like he and Hardy had. Furthermore, his brother hadn’t taken several bullets for his woman but Hardy had and wore his injuries with pride. He would have done anything to make Naomi happy.

Hardy and Naomi had a genuine close relationship where she loved Hardy and he loved her. He’d been just as torn up about her abduction as Ronan was and it had been Hardy who’d been there for him, not Cillian. It was no disrespect against his brother any more than Naomi was purposely disrespecting Talia when she chose Gisela as her matron of honor. She and Gisela were still close—despite their distance—and the woman had personally come to see Naomi when she’d been in the hospital recovering from her ordeal.

Ronan was not allowed to see his bride the whole morning and afternoon before their wedding. It was definitely shotgun though most people would have never known about all the hard work that had gone into the wedding in such a short amount of time. It was taking place just two short weeks after the delivery of women from Eastern Europe. Despite the quick pace of the occasion and it being only a week before Thanksgiving, everyone managed to show up to the festive occasion without any issues or problems what so ever.

Ronan was nervous of course. How could be not be but he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Naomi? It was true—their children had been conceived out of wedlock, but he, too, was a traditionalist whether he freely admitted it or not. He desperately wanted the twins to be born to
married
parents.

Besides, how could he deny how much he loved his bride-to-be? She’d stuck by him through thick and thin, in sickness and in health. If they could successfully survive what Fernando had put them through knowing he would escape his heinous crimes with impunity, he knew they would be able to survive anything life threw their way.

This was the final transition they needed to get over everything Naomi had gone through. She’d suffered so horribly yet she’d been so strong and managed to move forward with her life. She wouldn’t allow Fernando to ruin her and Ronan had nothing but respect for this woman who had shown so much strength and courage in the face of such overwhelming adversity.

“You ready to get hitched, my brother?” Cricket snuck up behind him as Ronan adjusted the monkey suit he wore.

Naomi had refused him the option of wearing something casual. Since her wedding dress was a Christian Dior empire waist gown, she insisted he wear a suit by a reputable designer.

As far as suits went, the men were as casual as possible in upscale Dolce and Gabbana black suits, which matched the colors of the club. Their cuts were worn instead of suit coats.

The bridesmaids wore black and cream fitted, designer cocktail dresses, which corresponded to the overall theme created in haste by Gisela and Kyra. He had to admit they had done a terrific job under such short notice.

“I’ve been ready to marry Naomi for months but it was only after she came back to us safe and sound I realized I didn’t wanna wait. So what? She’s pregnant. And the babies should have come after the wedding but to be honest, I wanted to make sure we wouldn’t have any issues. I don’t want another ‘Trey and Kyra’ situation,” Ronan explained as he slid on his cut.

“Yeah . . . it’s been tough for Trey but what he can he do? The specialists they’ve been to insist she’s fine and can get preggers naturally if she can learn to relax. That apparently is the problem, not anything physical,” Cricket murmured in a low voice.

“It’s probably ’cause she’s a Hughes,” Cillian spoke up jokingly after he looked around to make sure Trey wasn’t in the room. “The two clubs were never supposed to mix in the first place. Her poor body can’t handle all that strong Cox sperm.”

The three men laughed until Trey walked in with a scowl on his face.

“Thanks, brothers. It’s so nice to know what my old lady and I are going through is nothing more than an ice-breaker punch line to all of you.”

Ronan immediately felt guilty. “Sorry, brother. We’re all on edge, especially me. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll confess right here and now my old lady didn’t even
want
our twins. She thought they were Fernando’s and she refused to give birth to his children. We fought for almost two months because she wanted to have an abortion.”

Trey straightened his cut as he glanced at Ronan with bright hazel-green eyes. “I know. I’m the one who reassured her we knew she was pregnant when she entered into her perilous situation. The DEA took some blood from her a day before the second meeting with Fernando when he abducted her. Pregnancy hormones show up immediately. We knew she couldn’t have been more than ten days pregnant—max—but we couldn’t tell you guys about it either. At least Dizzy didn’t want you knowing just in case she miscarried . . .”

“Brother, I had no idea.” Ronan walked over to him and placed his hand on Trey’s shoulder. “I hope nothing is wrong with Kyra, really, I pray she’s fine. What the bros and I were joking about earlier—that shit ain’t funny.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Worst case scenario, we can always adopt. There are always options. Gisela insists being our surrogate if Kyra can’t have a baby but I don’t want another woman having our child. I would rather just take in some poor bastard whose parents don’t want him or her.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Dizzy strolled inside the room and glared at his son. “What the
fook
is takin’ youse so long? Naomi is ready to bolt! She thinks she’s making the worst mistake of her life.”

Ronan’s heart skipped a beat before he realized his father had a sick sense of humor. “You are
jokin
’ around, old man, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am, you
eejit
, but I did try to talk her outta marrying youse. Told her you were the biggest fuck up I produced other than that worthless git,
Kaelan
. She just laughed and said you couldn’t ever be as bad as
Kaelan
. I like her already. How the hell did I get so lucky with all these wonderful daughter-in-laws? Now, if you could only find someone for Quinn . . . I’m just gonna convince
meself
that boy is gay and secretly in love with Bookie,” Dizzy explained with a pained expression on his face.

Ronan, Cillian, Trey and Cricket all the sudden looked at each other, as if the truth finally dawned on them. Could it be true? The two men were awfully close and neither could keep a girlfriend—at least not a steady one.

“Dad, you really think . . . Quinn’s gay?”

“Course the boy is camp as a row of tents. Are you tellin’ me you haven’t guessed it before and you’re his
twin
, Ronan?”

“I just assumed he wouldn’t have wanted to be in this life . . . I mean, being gay. I don’t have an issue with it but this isn’t the friendliest culture when it comes to that kind of thing—”

“It was bound to happen.” Dizzy shrugged apathetic shoulders. “I didn’t think I could produce as many sons as I have and not at least one of them be queer. Think about it . . . there’s six of youse. All of you are straight; Kasper and
Kaelan
are bi and have been with both men and women and then you’ve got Quinn. Maybe he considers himself bisexual but I have a feeling he won’t be having a traditional wedding. At least not like this.”

“Shit. Now I feel bad about not having be part of the wedding—”

“Why?” Cricket interrupted. “You two aren’t that close and haven’t been since you left for Glendale.”

“Enough talk, lads. Let’s get this wedding over and done with.”

Ronan took a deep breath and followed his father along with Cillian, Cricket and Trey out of the room. They walked down a long hallway that led to a gorgeous garden where he would shortly be saying vows of love and devotion to the woman who would soon be his wife.

T
he actual ceremony was beautiful.

Naomi looked gorgeous in a vintage cream dress that had an empire waist, which hid her growing bump. Her hair was up in an elaborate chignon with pearls and roses weaved throughout. Her makeup was minimal yet she’d never glowed more than she did that day.