Page 78 of Ruthless Reign

It was too late to do anything about it. The wheels were already turning and this fucking train was barreling toward the cliffside. Pumping the brakes would do nothing. When I came deep inside her with whispers of love and adoration on my lips, I memorized everything about the moment—the way her hair smelled like flowers and sunshine, the way her dark eyes got impossibly darker when she climaxed, the way her body gripped me like she was trying to pull my soul into hers.

We lay in that bed worshipping each other until we had to get up or risk being late to our own shindig. Worry lines creased her forehead, and even though she tried to hide it, her swollen, puffy eyes told the tale of how much she’d been crying.

“It’ll be okay, my love,” I said, brushing the hair behind her ear.

She attempted a smile but didn’t commit, and that should have forced me to pull her back into my bed, perhaps keep her there all day. Fuck the wedding.

Then, she got up and ran to the bathroom to vomit, and I tried not to take it personally. She said it was wedding-day jitters, and I took her at her word, even as I held her hair and rubbed her back. When she felt better, I helped her gather her things and loaded them into the truck.

By the time we made it to the farm, all of my groomsmen had already shown up, even Hollywood, and that motherfucker would be late to his funeral.

“Well, look at what the dirty, rotten alley cat dragged in,” he said, clapping from his spot at the far end of the groom’s dressing room. He wore a white T-shirt, his boxers, and nothing else, clearly in the middle of changing into his suit.

“It’s about time,” Thor said, already dressed. He’d probably been ready to go since five this morning. “I was about to send the cavalry after you.”

“It was difficult to leave her,” I said, glancing toward the door leading to the bride’s suite on the other side of the hall. It wasn’t anything fancy, just an old farmhouse that had been converted into a venue for conferences and weddings. The club had owned it for longer than I’d been alive and paid a company to maintain it. I didn’t know how to feel about marrying the princess of the Caputi family when a lot of her family members had disappeared in the back forty.

“No kidding,” KC said, buttoning up his black shirt. “They’re only two rooms away and I’m twitchy as fuck.”

I looked to the other side of the room, finding both Castor and Pollux ready to go.

“What do we know?” I asked the computer genius.

He shook his head. “Hard to say. The ones I’ve got tabs on are moving this way. But I can’t get a read on Gabriella.”

“She’s coming,” said a deep voice from the doorway. Leo rubbed his hands together and walked inside, glancing at me and my brothers in various states of undress. “Trust me. She wouldn’t miss this opportunity.”

“She must know she’s walking into a trap.” KC finished with his buttons and moved on to the cuffs. “She can’t think this ends well for her.”

“After the raid earlier this year, she’s unhinged,” Leo said. “She wants my head so badly, she’ll be too overzealous to resist.”

“Not to mention the body count,” Hollywood added, finally putting on his pants. “She’s got two clubs and most of the Caputi army with her.”

Leo smirked. “Only until the bosses turn on her.”

I took a deep breath and prayed that plan held firm. I’d imagined this ending a thousand different ways, and in most of them, the bosses turned on us at the last minute and killed everyone I loved.

“It’s almost time,” Leo said, patting me on the back. “I’m going to go be with my sister. Try to enjoy yourself, huh? It is your wedding. You’ll only get one.”

I sighed as he walked away because, technically, I was already married to the bride, even if we hadn’t proclaimed our vows in front of an audience yet. I changed into my suit while the rest of my brothers made light of the situation, but an undercurrent of tension boiled between us, all nerves and anticipation of the battle to come. Even though we’d planned forit by wearing Kevlar under our shirts, today would be bloody and violent, and at the end, I prayed we got out of it with everyone we had going into it.

Fifteen minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start, my groomsmen and I walked downstairs and through the kitchen to the backyard. Rows of chairs had been lined up on either side with an archway at the head, just in front of a view of the mountains in the distance. It truly was a beautiful spot to get married, and I lamented that today would not be about me proclaiming my undying love for my new wife.

Sure, that was a piece of it, but like so much about my union with Julia, the ceremony would be fake, a ruse meant only to draw the villain out of hiding so we could take her down once and for all.

“How ya feeling?” KC asked, grabbing my shoulder in a fraternal squeeze.

I swallowed my nausea and forced myself to grin. “All right. How about you?”

He laughed. “You’ve always been a shitty liar.”

“Truthfully?” I grimaced and rubbed my fingers over my tired eyes. “I’m pissed my dad can’t be here.”

KC’s features fell, and he nodded, wrapping an arm over my neck to pull me in for a sideways hug. “He would if he could; you know that.”

“Of course.” But if there ever were a day to regret his being locked up, it would be the day I got married and brought down the bane of our existence. This had been his plan—well, maybe not the whole shooting up my wedding day part, but the rest of it. He’d advocated for peace between our families when Saint spared Leo’s life a year ago. He’d fought like hell to keep me from having to marry Julia, but if he could see how strong she was, how happy we were together, I’d bet he’d be proud to call her his daughter-in-law.

“V said she would take lots of pictures to show him,” Hollywood added, coming to stand on the other side of me.

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