White Heat (Lost Kings MC #5) (32 page)

Upstairs, I tear through my dresser drawers searching for the right undergarments to bring to the dress shop. My hand brushes over an envelope.

Oh, no.

It’s the card Lilly handed to me at my engagement party. From Sophie. With all the craziness that followed, I never opened it. I don’t even remember stuffing it in this drawer.

Even though Trinity must be waiting downstairs for me, I can’t put this off any longer. Dropping onto my chaise, I rip open the envelope and pull out a fairly generic note card filled with Sophie’s small, elegant handwriting.

Dear Hope,

Sorry is so inadequate. But I am sorry. I’m not excusing what I did, but I’ve been ignoring this problem for a long time. Destroying our friendship feels like my rock bottom.

You’re one of the few friends who’ve always been there for me. You’ve seen me at some of my lowest moments and yet you’ve never judged me. I thought setting you up with Rock was a small way to repay you for everything you’ve done for me over the years. I never wanted to screw that up. I was so flustered and tipsy the night of our fight, none of my words came out right. When you were in the hospital, I saw how much he loves you, how unbreakable your bond is. It made me feel so much worse about what I’d done and I couldn’t figure out how to tell you, even though I know I should have.

I’ve decided to get help. My firm has to pay for it—boy, were they thrilled. I’m sure as soon as they can legally fire me, they will. But hopefully I’ll be better by then. I hope you can find a way to forgive me. My brother will have my contact information, but if you don’t want to see me, I understand.

Love,

Sophie

Crap.

I’ve had this for weeks. By not responding, Sophie must have figured I’d written her off. If Rock hadn’t gotten arrested and I’d read this sooner, would I have called her? After reading it a few more times, I know the answer.

Yes.

If I’d been a better friend and not so self-absorbed all the time, maybe I would have noticed that Sophie’s drinking crossed the social line a long time ago.

Before I can figure out what to do about it, Trinity’s knocking at the door.

“You ready?” she calls out.

“Yup.” I stuff the envelope between two books on my shelf. Maybe I’ll talk to Lilly about it later at the dress shop.

Trinity’s quiet on our way to the spa. Her silence makes me wonder. “Are you mad? I was only joking around since the guys—”

“I’m not mad at all, Hope.”

“Okay.”

Murphy seems uncomfortable as he walks us inside. A small pang of guilt hits me. Z should have been the one forced to take us since he couldn’t leave me alone this morning.

A couple hours later, I find Murphy in the waiting area chatting up one of the receptionists. I guess he’s not annoyed any more. Trinity’s glances up from the magazine she’s flipping through and rolls her eyes when she sees me.

“Come on, Murphy, time to hit the dress shop,” I call out.

Trinity bursts into laughter and Murphy looks like he wants to choke me.

“Is there anywhere you don’t pick up chicks, Murphy?” I ask when we’re back in the car.

“I wasn’t
picking her up
. If anything, she was trying to pick
me
up.”

Trinity snickers. “It’s true. She tried to talk him into all sorts of very unmanly things.”

Murphy fake-shivers. “A little grooming’s one thing.” He swipes his hand over his neatly trimmed little beard. “What she was talking about…no.”

The silly conversation takes my mind off the fact that I still haven’t gotten a call or any information from Glassman. I send Wrath a text and deflate even more when he responds he hasn’t heard anything either.

“Nothing?” Murphy asks.

“No.”

“You said the judge was an asshole. Could he be stalling things, Hope?” Trinity asks.

Good question. “I’m not sure. Maybe. It’s the DA’s choice to drop the charges. Technically, the judge shouldn’t, but who knows.” Nothing about this whole messed-up nightmare has made any sense.

Heidi and Teller are waiting in the parking lot at the boutique. Surprise, surprise, Murphy’s a little less grumbly about hanging out with us now.

Heidi almost knocks me over with her enthusiastic greeting. “Marcel told me Uncle Rock might get out soon?”

I glance up at Teller and he shrugs. “I hope so, honey. I’m waiting for news,” I answer, tapping my cell phone.

“You don’t have to buy me a dress, Hope. I really don’t mind wearing the dress you bought me for my prom. It’s still my favorite thing ever.”

“It’s up to you. I’m not going to be picky about what you wear and the colors of that dress match. But if you see something you like better today, don’t hesitate.”

“Okay.”

While everyone goes inside, Teller holds me back. “I need to take off. Will you be okay?”

“Sure. Murphy’s been a good little bodyguard.”

Teller smirks. “Hey, don’t buy Heidi’s dress. I’ll pay for it. You’ve done enough for her.”

“I really don’t mind.”

“Thanks for including her. She can’t stop talking about it.”

I’m happy to hear that and I tell him so.

“Call me if you need something or hear anything about Rock.”

“I will. Promise.”

He gives me a quick hug and takes off. The insolent rumble of his bike intensifies my anxiety about Rock’s release. I miss Rock. Miss riding with him. The cool, confident way he commands such a big machine always relaxes me for some reason. Excites me too. But I can’t think about that right now.

Soon. Soon. Soon.
I chant in my head, while I open the dress shop door. He’ll be out soon. And I need to find the perfect green dress to marry him in.

Inside, the owner of the shop looks a little stressed at having three people hanging out in her store.

“I’m sorry, Gloria, right? Hope Kendall, we—”

“Oh, hello,” she finally greets me with a pleasant smile. I called her a couple weeks ago, explaining what I wanted. It took some time, but she ordered a bunch of dresses for me to try out. She also ordered dresses for Trinity and Heidi.

Heidi’s ecstatic about being in the wedding. Mara and Lilly also graciously accepted invitations to be bridesmaids. God bless them, they haven’t abandoned me or once made me feel bad about Rock’s situation.

Since I don’t want a traditional wedding dress, this isn’t a traditional bridal shop. It’s more of an exclusive store which specializes in fashion that is more easily found in more cosmopolitan places than Empire. Of course that means the prices are higher too. I almost gag at the price of the first dress she hands me. It’s floor length and made of very fine silk with intricate layers of lace on top. Beautiful. But not suited for an outdoor wedding in the woods.

Gloria glances at Murphy as she presents the next dress. “Is this the lucky groom?”

We all have a good chuckle over that.

“No, this is my bodyguard for the day.” What? Might as well go with the truth. What else am I supposed to say?

Deciding I must be joking, she turns to Trinity. “Your young man, then?”

“No,” Trinity answers with a straight face.

Gloria gives up trying to figure out what Murphy’s doing here, while Heidi glares at Trinity. God help me.

After hours and a lot of fancy green dresses, I’ve narrowed it down to two. By this time Lilly and Mara have joined our little party and Murphy seems on the verge of climbing up to the roof and jumping off.

One dress is knee length emerald green lace with long sleeves and an open back. “Modest, yet sexy. Just like you,” Mara says while bobbing her head up and down.

The other one is also emerald green lace, the top is a sleeveless tank style with wide shoulder straps, nipped in the waist, flaring out into a pleated circle skirt that ends right above my knees. It has a nude lining to give it the illusion of being more daring than it is. Very me.

I hold up the second one. “This feels less fussy and it’s comfortable.”

“It looked really pretty on you,” Trinity says.

“And I wanted to have this special corset thing made.” I lower my voice since Murphy’s still here. “You know, for later, and I wouldn’t be able to wear it under this one.” I hold up the backless one. “I love it. But it also feels too dressy for what we’re doing?”

I look to the girls for their thoughts.

“Definitely no corset. You’ll need a special bra for it too,” Lilly points out.

Gloria explains the boobie contraption I need to find to work with the dress, because not only is it backless, the lace at the shoulders is sheer. It seems like more of a pain in the ass than I’m willing to deal with. “I don’t know. I don’t think that would be enough to hold my girls up,” I mumble while cupping my breasts and staring at them.

Gloria eyes me critically. “Well, you are larger than a C cup—”

“I’m out of here,” Murphy snaps. “I’ll be out front. Yell if you need me,” he says before storming outside.

Trinity, Mara, Lilly and I burst into giggles.

“What happened? Where’s Murphy?” Heidi asks. She was trying on a dress in the back and missed the fun.

“Oh, Heidi, that looks so pretty on you,” Mara gushes. Heidi grins and stands up straighter. She found a one-shoulder dress with pleated chiffon in a lovely bright plum color.

“Are you sure purple’s okay, Hope?” she asks.

“Yes. I think we’ll go for jewel tones.”

Mara’s dress is also one-shouldered, pleated a little different and in a peacock-teal color that looks so pretty with her reddish-gold hair.

“What do you think?” Trinity asks. Lilly and I chuckle at her choice. It’s also one-shouldered, but sapphire blue. 

“I feel like odd-girl out,” Lilly jokes. Her dress has a high halter neck with a key hole cut out in the front, in crimson.

“It’s beautiful, Trinity,” I assure her. Lilly and Mara agree. Heidi’s nowhere to be found.

“Did she go back and change?” I ask Lilly who shrugs.

Gloria points to the window. “She’s outside with the young man. Still in the dress, so I hope that’s the one she’s buying.”

Oh jeez.

Mara and Lilly don’t need to have the situation spelled out. “They’re so cute,” Mara whispers. “Older brother’s best friend. So romantic.” She giggles.

“She has a boyfriend,” I answer dryly.

Lilly snorts but keeps her thoughts to herself.

“What are you thinking for shoes?” Trinity asks, saving me from being dragged into a conversation about Heidi’s love life.

“Flats? I don’t want to break an ankle on my wedding day. The ground’s pretty uneven up there.”

Trinity nods thoughtfully.

“Cowboy boots would be super-cute with that dress, Hope,” Lilly says while eyeing me up and down. “Fancy ones.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea,” Trinity chimes in. “Rock loves country music. Would probably surprise the hell out of him.”

“He does?”

Trinity nods. Interesting. How come I don’t know this about my man?

Lilly wiggles her eyebrows at me. “Then after the wedding you can ride him like a rodeo girl.”

“Must you always—”

“Yes,” she cuts me off as she follows me back into the dressing rooms. Now that I finally have Lilly alone, I have to explain.

“I finally read Sophie’s letter.”

Lilly raises an eyebrow.

“With everything that happened that night, I never—”

“I assumed that’s what happened.”

“Is she okay?”

Lilly’s gaze darts away.

“Lilly?” I prompt.

“No. It’s been rough.”

She must notice the guilty expression that slides over my face because she rushes to explain. “Not because of anything you did. I told her what happened. She understands why you haven’t contacted her.”

A relieved breath wooshes out of me. Although part of me is a little embarrassed.

“She can’t have visitors and only limited phone calls right now anyway. If you send mail, they’ll read it first.”

“I’ll send her something.”

Lilly nods and digs around in her purse for a notebook. She scribbles out the information and hands it over.

“You’ve got a lot on your plate, Hope. Worry about getting Rock home and the wedding. She’s…she’ll be there a while.”

I don’t get a chance to ask any follow-up questions. Trinity, throws the curtain open. “What’re you two doing? Hurry up.”

She’s already back in her street clothes and has been conducting cowgirl boot research. “Check these out. They’d be perfect with the dress.”

It’s hard to tell from the tiny photo on her cell phone, but the colors pop. “Those are cute.”

“Double M off exit twelve carries them. Wanna hit them up next?”

“Okay.”

“Will you hate me if I can’t go?” Lilly asks.

“Of course not.”

Trinity snickers. “At least it’s a manlier store for Murphy.”

We all have a much needed laugh.

“Find a dress?” I ask as Murphy stomps into the clubhouse.

“I hope you picked a blue one. It’s my favorite color on you,” Z adds. “Makes your eyes pop.”

“I hate both of you,” Murphy bitches as he throws himself down next to me.

Hope and Trinity walk in laughing.

“Where’s Heidi?” Teller asks.