Wrath (Dirty Soul MC: Long Beach #2)

Prologue

Y ou're happy, you're going to have a wonderful life with a great guy.

I tell that to the face in the mirror, though it doesn’t look convinced.

I know that wedding jitters are normal, but are they really supposed to feel as if your stomach is being twisted inside out?

Mark is kind, he’s thoughtful, and, most importantly, he’s reliable. You need that in your life.

I inhale a deep breath and practice my smile. I have a lot of people to convince today, I can’t leave this room and still be one of them.

“Katie.” The door swings open and when Mark's mom, Trisha, and his sister Laura, step inside, they’re both brimming with excitement.

“You look gorgeous.” Trisha steps closer, reaching out her hand and smoothing it over my dress.

“I knew Julio would do an excellent job.” I side-glance my soon-to-be sister-in-law who tries to hide her smirk by lowering her head.

Laura knows how long I spent designing my own dress, she even put her own time into helping me make it. We spent hours at my studio adjusting my sketches and going through swatches of fabric. All for nothing. Apparently, my vision didn’t match the Collard family traditions. My dress was scrapped and Trisha’s designer friend, Julio, saved the day .

“He really has.” I raise that smile I’m going to be wearing all day, a little higher on my cheeks.

“Are you nervous, dear? I remember when I married George I was a mess.” She giggles as she straightens out the back of my veil.

“I guess I’m a little nervous,” I admit, wondering if God is gonna strike me under this chapel roof when another vision of Aaron Adams slips into my head. It doesn’t belong there, especially not today so I focus hard on expelling it.

“It’s getting quite crowded out there. I didn’t want things to look unev…” Trisha clears her throat awkwardly. “I’ve instructed the groomsmen to sit some of our guests over on your side.” She lowers her voice a few decibels and smiles at me out of pity.

“Harriet and Dani are here. Stacey managed to make it too,” Laura assures me doing her best to sound cheery.

“Ahhh, yes, the girls. ” Trisha raises her eyebrows judgingly. I have no idea why she has such a distaste for them, she only met them once at the tea party she threw for my bridal shower, and she was far too busy chatting with her own friends to get to know them.

“Like I said, I’ve evened things up a little. Now, are you sure you don’t want George to walk you down the aisle? It may not have seemed that long a walk in the rehearsal, but believe me when you have the eyes of everyone in the room watching you it feels like it goes on forever.”

Her voice fades to silence as I picture his handsome face in my mind again. Those crystal blue eyes, and his long, wavy hair. I always wondered if he cut it off over the years. but my imagination wouldn’t let me picture it.

“Mom,” Laura interrupts Trisha’s rambling, and it snaps me back to reality. “I think we should leave Katie to get ready. There are people you should be greeting.”

“You're right, I want to be out there when Maureen Talisman arrives. Her daughter got married last year and it was an absolute shambles.” She looks me up and down one last time before smiling contently.

“You look beautiful, and Mark is going to make you a wonderful husband.” Her lips press against my cheek and as Laura guides her mother back toward the door, she looks back over her shoulder and rolls her eyes.

“ Thank you, ” I mouth silently before she disappears down the chapel hall.

It’s my best friend who’s responsible for all of this. Laura and I met at art college and, being the kind-hearted person she is, she never allowed me to spend a single holiday by myself. She’d bring me home with her for the 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. We stayed in touch when college ended and I continued to visit her and her family during the holidays. At first, I was nervous about how close she lived to the club, but I soon came to learn that the Collard family lived in a different stratosphere to the Souls. Becoming an honorary member of their family is how I met Mark. I was struggling for work, when he called three years ago and said he’d heard of an opportunity for me. And from there everything just snowballed.

I turn back around to face myself in the mirror. Trisha is right, my dress is beautiful, but it’s just not me. Nothing about the person I see in my reflection feels like me. Up until last week that didn’t bother me. I wanted to be someone new. I was ready to be Mark Collard’s wife and have everything I never thought would be possible, but then something happened. Something that kicked the girl I’d let die inside me back to life. And suddenly, everything didn’t seem quite enough.

One Week ago

“Are you sure we should be here?” Laura looks around the barroom nervously, her hand rests over the top of her glass to ensure she doesn’t get her mocktail spiked.

“Come on, it's fun here.” Dani bats her lashes at some guy who walks past us.

“I don’t think Mark would like us being here.” Laura leans closer to whispers in my ear and, as much as I love her, I find it hard not to laugh. She couldn’t look more out of place if she tried, wearing her silk blouse tucked into a checked pencil skirt. Anyone who didn’t know her would think she’d just stepped out of the office. But it’s not the way she’s dressed that has me so amused, it’s the two pink dicks that are attached to the headband she’s been forced to wear, and how they wobble on their springs each time she moves her head.

“We’ll just stay for a couple of drinks,” I assure her while Harriet takes my hand and drags me onto the dance floor.

Somehow we manage far more than a couple and Laura seems to loosen up a little after a few shots, enough to take lessons from Dani on how to slut drop.

“You have to admit, this is way better than that English tea party crap your mother-in-law threw for all her friends last week. This is a real bachelorette party.” Harriet knocks back one of the shots from the tray that the two guys at the bar sent over. I hold mine in the air to toast them a thank you, and Laura nearly makes me spill it when she quickly grabs my arm, forcing it back down.

“Katie, don’t encourage them!” she whisper-yells.

“I was just showing my gratitude,” I giggle because I’m starting to feel a little tipsy.

“And just for the record, my mom invited those friends so that Katie would feel more at ease with them all. She’s always tried her best to ensure Katie doesn’t feel out of place.” Laura looks across to Harriet and crosses her arms in defense.

“Why would Katie feel out of place?” Harriet gets a little defensive as she tilts her head and waits for Laura’s response.

“Hey, she didn’t mean anything by it.” I stand her down. I may not have known Harriet that long but she’s loyal and very protective.

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean anything by it.” Laura bites her lip, and I throw a look at Harriet who begs her not to turn this into an issue. Laura is a typical privileged princess, she may not think about what she says, but her heart is in the right place.

“Well, that brother of yours is one lucky guy, he’s got himself the best…” Harriet hiccups and gets back to sucking on the straw she put inside our cocktail pitcher.

“Speaking of my brother, he’s five minutes away, we should probably wait outside.” Laura turns her back on the others so they don’t hear her.

“You called Mark?” I stare back at her in shock.

“I had to, there were two people having sex in one of the cubicles when I went to the bathroom. It’s been a learning curve, but we should get home.” I can see by the look on her face that she’s reached her limit, so I agree and start saying my goodbyes.

I get a shit ton of grief for bailing early, but as soon as the guys from the bar finally make their move and head over, Harriet and Dani don’t seem to notice us slip out the door.

I take Laura's arm as we step out to the parking lot. Looking up at the neon sign over the door, I laugh to myself. I can’t imagine I’ll be seeing the inside of a place like this again, not when I’m Mrs Katie Collard.

“Why are you laughing?” Laura asks and just as I’m about to answer her, I hear that noise that never fails to make my heart stop. A deep rumble that gets louder and more powerful as it nears. The ground beneath me feels like it’s rattling and I brace myself for the disappointment that always always comes with it.

Still, after all these years I get the same yearning for him each time I hear the roar of an engine, but tonight is different. This sounds like something much bigger and when I look up the street and see the motorcycles that are heading toward us riding in formation, the warm, clammy air around me suddenly turns cold. Panic sets in when I realize it must be them. I should never have come here tonight, it’s far too close to Dirty Soul territory to have risked it. Time has passed and spending so much of it around the Collards has made me far too comfortable. Laura starts talking, but none of what she’s saying goes in, my palms turn clammy and I start to shake.

Closing my eyes, I remind myself to breathe, and when I open them back up, I see him riding that same Harley that he worked so hard on when he was younger. His long hair blows out behind him and there’s a determination in his eyes as he focuses them on the road ahead, like he’s heading toward danger. I do a double-take, wondering if my mind is playing tricks on me again. But this time he’s real. Aaron Adams is back in town, and he’s not a prospect anymore. He’s riding front and center.

“Wow.” Laura still looks mesmerized when they’ve passed us. “I’ve heard about them, but I’ve never actually seen one for myself, there must have been at least six, maybe seven.” Her mouth is still open as the noise of their engines fades into the distance. “I wonder where they were headed.

To trouble no doubt. And this is why we shouldn’t be in bars like this, Katie.” She loops her arm back into mine, this time clinging to me tighter. I slowly nod my head; now that I can feel my heart beating again, it seems to be thudding far too fast. I feel that painful twisting in my chest again, the same pain that took so long to be free from.

Maybe I’m drunk and seeing things, maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me because it can’t have been him who just rode past me. After all I’ve been through, life wouldn’t be that cruel.

I feel the heat creep up my neck, and suddenly the dress I’m wearing feels too constricting. Not a single minute, since Aaron rode past us that night, has gone without me thinking about him. It’s unhealthy for me to be looking back at that time of my life when I should be excited about my future.

Getting over him took everything out of me, I had to become a whole new person, a person who forgot what it felt like to love, and one who vowed never to do it again.

I’ve never claimed to love Mark. And luckily, I’ve never had to lie to him either. The people whose lives I’m part of now, expect it of me. I’m the poor, lonely girl who came from nothing. I should be honored that a guy like Mark would even look at someone like me, let alone fall in love enough to marry them. My love for him has never been something they would question.

I’m the lucky one.

So why do I feel so broken?

Everything was ruined in that moment Aaron passed me because I remembered the girl I used to be. For a few split seconds, I remembered how it felt to be her again, how it felt to be free, and excited for my future. And I remembered how it felt to be so helplessly in love that you forgot to look out for danger…