She had faced a lot of scrutiny after Sigel’s death. Of course, everyone pitied her as the woman viciously attacked by a felon. The plan that she and Archer had concocted had been bought hook, line, and sinker by the cops. Not once did they doubt that Archer, who had slipped into a janitor’s uniform, had heard Alex’s cries and come running. He had been hailed a hero for taking down Sigel. Of course, no one in the school could remember him working there before. When he disappeared after that night, many wanted to believe he was some kind of guardian angel.
No matter how much blood you have on your hands, you always remember your first kill. Just like the rest of us, Alex struggled with what she had done. She suffered from screaming and kicking nightmares, she couldn’t sleep without drugs from Breakneck, and she’d started losing weight.
It was a dark time for all of us, seeing her suffer. Thankfully, after a few weeks of torment, she started to pull out of it. She started to realize her daily validation for what she did when she looked at Deacon and Willow.
Speaking of Willow … My gaze momentarily left Alexandra to search out my niece. A smile played at my lips at the sight of her. Already a little diva in the making, she had requested her flower girl dress be pink and poufy. And of course she had gotten her way. Her long dark hair cascaded down her back in waves, while a headband of pink roses sat on her head. At her feet was the almost-grown Walter. He looked less than thrilled by the sparkly pink leash and collar that Willow had put on him for the day. When Deacon had seen him, he’d rolled his eyes and said, “I guess I’m going to have to get you a girl dog soon, or you’ll make an absolute sissy out of Walter.” Of course, Willow had been thrilled by the prospect of a dog of her own.
As I scanned the crowd of wedding guests again, an ache burned its way through my chest at the way Alex glanced up into my brother’s face with such intense love in her eyes. In that moment, I wished she had just once looked that way at me. But there had never been more than friendship for us. I’d known that even when Deacon had tried to push the two of us together. I’d known it from the first time I’d seen her look adoringly at him.
Even though I loved him, I couldn’t help feeling jealous of Deacon. I wanted the love of a good woman more than anything in the world. I wanted to be a husband and a father. Yet for some reason, my simple wants went unfulfilled.
When Deacon’s hand swept around Alexandra’s waist to tenderly rest on her abdomen, I had to turn away. It hurt too much to see such happiness. Although he or she was very much unexpected by their parents, I had no doubt how much Deacon and Alex would love their future child. Willow was already beside herself with excitement about being a big sister.
I swallowed the rest of my champagne and went in search of more. After I grabbed another flute from a snooty waiter with a tray, I went back to my spot beside the tree. I was surprised when Bishop walked up to me, a serious expression on his face. I’d expected him to already be banging one of the wedding guests.
“Need to talk to you,” he said in a low voice.
“Can’t it wait?”
He shook his head. “No, brother. It’s bad.”
“Not here, then.”
We started away from the tent and the happy-go-lucky wedding guests. When we got to the parked cars, I leaned against one and nodded.
“Breakneck just called.”
“Why the hell isn’t he here?”
“He needs a favor.”
“Shit,” I muttered as I dug in my pocket for my cigarettes. “He knows we’re going straight, doesn’t he?”
Bishop nodded. “I made that very clear to him.”
One of the stipulations of Alexandra marrying Deacon had been that the direction of the Raiders needed turning around. With Case’s death fresh in our minds, it hadn’t been too hard for Deacon to convince us that things needed to change. Every one of us officers at the table had lost more people than he cared to count due to club violence. If things kept on like they had been, we would have been extinct in a few years.
“Then what’s the deal?”
“His daughter has been kidnapped by the Highway Henchmen.”
I exhaled a cloud of smoke. “Jesus, how the hell did they find her here?”
“They didn’t. She was at Texas A&M. Once they found out who she was, they started making demands to Breakneck.”
I couldn’t even begin to imagine what Breakneck was going through. “He wants us to put out the word or what?”
“This is where shit gets kinda weird.”
My brows shot up in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“He said to tell you specifically that he knew she was being … raped. That you would understand that.”