Page 49 of Life Or Death

Hell, he might even be the best man.

My stomach twists.

“I can’t,” I say.

Amelia’s face falls. “Oh, come on. It will be fun. You can’t stay in the house twenty-four seven, Jess.”

“No, really. I can’t drive⁠—”

“I’ll have Maddox pick you up.”

“It’s his sister’s wedding, Amelia.”

“Okay, well, I’ll ask Wyatt or Jude. I’m sure one of them won’t mind.”

“Who?”

She waves a hand dismissively. “They’re both extremely nice. You’re probably a lot safer with Jude though. Wyatt . . . well, let’s just say he’s a child parading around in a man’s body.” She squeezes my hand. “Come on. Say yes.”

Every rational part of my brain is screaming at me to say no, but my mind wanders back to all the days Lucifer showed up at the hospital with takeout. The times when I woke in the middle of the night and found him in the chair just watching and waiting to console me through the night terrors.

I don’t want to admit it, but I think there’s a part of me that misses him.

So I say yes.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

LUCIFER

“I hate weddings,” Nightmare grunts. He lifts his beer to his lips and takes a long gulp, keeping his eyes pinned to where Shadow’s dancing with his new bride on a makeshift dance floor behind the clubhouse.

“Yeah,” Dread drawls, shaking his head. “I’m not a fan of them either.”

Something tells me their disdain of weddings stems from the fucking shitshow surrounding this one. Shadow and Della planned to marry at the ranch, under some fucking oak tree with the sprawling acres of land acting as the backdrop for their nuptials. But three days ago, the contractors we hired to build the dude ranch upended those plans.

Ground wasn’t supposed to break for another month because they had another job. That job got canceled, and the contractors came to Maddox, informing him they needed to move things around and start construction immediately, or the entire project would be delayed another two months. No one, not Maddox, or the club, could afford that.

Maddox made the call, giving the contractors the green light, and twenty-four hours later the ranch was flooded with construction workers and heavy-duty equipment. That grand old oak tree became a stump as an excavation team cleared the trees for the site, annihilating any chance for a wedding.

Della was devastated, and Shadow turned into a basket case. That’s when he decided the show must go and they were going to have the wedding here at the fucking compound. He declared it an all hands on deck situation, and every man with a patch became his fucking bitch.

Tormentor built an arch that Maddox’s wife decorated with flowers she got from the farmers’ market, and a couple hours ago, Shadow stood in front of it as Della walked down a bootleg aisle the prospects made from a pallet of paving stones they robbed from a garden center two towns over.

Now, we’re all standing here like a bunch of schmucks, watching him spin his bride around.

“What about you, Prez.?” Dread questions, ramming his elbow into my gut. “What’s your take on weddings?”

My jaw clenches, and I glare at him. I wonder if Maddox will mind if I bury a body on his land.

“I fucking love them,” I growl.

Dread grins, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah? Do you prefer shindigs like this or are you more of a City Hall kinda groom?”

Better yet, I can dump his ass in the cement mixer. He can be an everlasting part of Della’s dude ranch when they pour the foundation.

Before I can wrap my hands around Dread’s throat, Homeboy walks up to the table and kills the moment. “Hey, can I ask your honest opinion about something?”

“This should be good,” Dread says.