Page 7 of The Devil's Ice

Although itdidhave to be said that Zoe was saddened for her fiancé that his parents couldn’t attend. They’d died in a horrible car accident when Scars was just nineteen, and it was him desperately trying to free them from the burning vehicle that had put the scars on his body: his face, his hands, his forearms, his chest. She barely saw them anymore, but they were there. They would always be.

Wolf had entered the cabin, seen Zoe standing there in all of her bridal glory, and he’d stopped dead in his tracks. She’d looked right back at him, shocked at just how much hotter the man could look in a suit.

From time to time it occurred to her how odd and insane it was thatthisman was her oldest friend. They’d met when Zoe was ten and Wolf was thirteen, over twenty-five years ago now, and they’d grown up in the same shit neighborhood, they’d both dealt with alcoholics fathers, they’d both hidden out under Wolf’s back porch when things got especially bad in their homes. They’d survived the drive-by shootings on their street every other week, they’d survived their parents, they’d survived the gangs and drugs. They’d made it through, and they’d done it together. He was her brother, her savior and protector. He was a good man – despite actively being very good at being a verybadman – and she trusted him with her life, and with Keira’s. He was the reason that she’d moved back to Denver… he was the reason that she’d met Scars.

Another amazing thing was that Zoe and Wolf had never hooked up. Not once. God, they’d never evenkissed, and seeing as they’d gotten drunk together countless times, it still kind of stunned them both that a bit of fooling around had never happened.

It’s not like Wolf wasn’t attractive to her. She was a woman, after all, and he was probably the sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on – at least until she’d met Scars. But Wolf was tall and muscled, broad and strong, with wolf-gray eyes and dark hair that always seemed to need flattening. He moved with a lithe, rangy grace that could turn menacing with a single step, and his voice was smoldering and sexy. Zoe suspected that if it was possible for any man to raise the dead from their graves with a single sentence, Wolf Connor could do it with that his dark-honey growl. She’d seen women literally throw themselves at him when he’d given them that slow grin and muttered a few hot words. He was irresistible and she wasn’t at all sure how she’d actually resisted; her only working theory was that their friendship was so important to them, neither wanted to risk it for a few quick fucks. Not even for a temporary boyfriend/girlfriend thing – the man didn’tdocommitment, and he’d never made that a secret.

But if she’d thought that Wolf was sex-on-legs whilst wearing jeans and a t-shirt and his MC cut, she was notat allprepared for how he looked in a dark suit, the crisp white dress shirt unbuttoned a bit to show off the tattoos and hair on his chest. His eyes were their usual stormy gray, his hair begged for someone to run a comb through it, his model-perfect face was all sharp angles and full lips. It was weird, but the conservative restraints of the suit only highlighted his feral, untamed nature – and made him all the sexier for it.

“Wow,” he’d said, still staring at her, those wolf eyes raking over her, from the top of her golden head to the tips of her high heels spun with golden thread. “You look fuckin’amazin’, baby girl.”

Right away, Zoe blushed. “You think?”

“Hellyeah, I think.” He examined her dress more closely now, took in the tiny details, nodding at the simple, classic cut and the sleek satin. “Seems a shame to cover this up at all, but we don’t want you freezin’ to death out there when you say ‘I do’.”

“Right?” she said, warm and snug in her wrap. “I’m happy to do this outside, though. I know it’s what Scars really wanted.”

“Me too.” Wolf smiled at her, extended his hand. “So. You think I can I have the honor of escortin’ you to your future husband?”

“Hell,yeah, I think,” Zoe said, putting her hand in his. “I can’t wait, actually.”

So here they stood, waiting for Keira to reach the front of the marquee, where Scars and Willa were waiting, along with Scars’ best man, Silver Bennett. Wolf would normally have been his first choice, of course, but Scars had wanted Zoe to be walked down the aisle by the man who was the closest thing to a male family member that she had anymore.

In the four years that she’d been back in Denver, The Road Devils had become her family, of course, the family that she'd never had, not even before Hailey had died. These hard, rough, dangerous men had become her brothers, become Keira’s uncles, and had loved both of them fiercely. They’d surprised Zoe over and over again with their open and generous spirits, with their eagerness to make her feel happy and safe and wanted. Zoestillgot teary when she remembered how Jinx, Kansas and Ice had gone to Ikea to get Keira’s crib and changing table – and had turned up with a surprise mobile too, to hang over the crib and play music.

“OK,” Wolf said now, catching the minister’s nod. “It’s show time, baby girl.”

“Oh, my God.” Zoe was suddenly breathless. “It’s actually happening… I’m actually getting married!”

“You’re goddamn right it’s happenin’,” Wolf said, tucking her hand into the crook of his arm, a surprisingly gallant move that almost knocked her over backwards with its sweetness. “Let’s get goin’, Zee. The best man that either of us haveeverknown is waitin’ to make you his wife. Let’s not give him a chance to come to his senses and go runnin’ off into the Rockies, never to return.”

She laughed, and just like that, all of her nerves were gone, replaced by the sense of utterrightnessof what was going on here. She was walking down the aisle to Scars Innis, the man who’d claimed her body and heart and soul, right from the very first night that they’d met. He’d withstood her bullshit and moronic back-and-forth with patience and fortitude; he’d put her in her place and set firm boundaries when she’d gone too far and been an utter bitch. When she’d finally seen his good, pure heart and she’d gone to him to explain and apologize for her behavior, he’d listened, and he’d forgiven her.

He wasit, for her. He waseverything.

The harpist started to play The Wedding March, and as one, the guests stood and turned to look at Zoe and Wolf as they emerged from behind the arch. There were gasps and murmurs, and she felt tears burning her eyes again as she saw The Road Devils in their best suits, standing shoulder to shoulder to witness the happiest day of her life.God, Cowboy had even swept his cowboy hat off his blond head as he’d stood up, though she suspected that as soon as the ceremony was over, it’d be firmly returned back to its usual place.

She walked down the petal-strewn aisle, smiling at the hulking, gorgeous MC boys, at Jo and Elle, both looking radiant with happiness for her, at Willa’s own fiancé Jimmy, at Scars’ younger brother Sam, and his wife Annie and daughter Cindy. Almost every single person who had come to mean so much to her over the past few years was here, and she was humbled and delighted in equal measure. The only people missing were Dux and Drake Keeler and Briley Cross: she’d had the babies four days before, so travel was out for them.

And then Scars turned around to look at her too, and suddenly all of her attention was on him: everyone else just disappeared as she met his gaze.

Those eyes blazed out of his hard, scarred face and they held her whole and complete; they always had. For about the millionth time, she mused at those little patches of perfect blue in a heart-achingly damaged face, and she realized that his eyes were the exact color of the horizon over the mountains. It was like a piece of sky had just fallen to earth, and landed on Scars’ face, as bright and beautiful as the view in front of her. The man was a miracle in so many ways, and the way that he looked at her was just one of them, maybe her favorite.

She reached Scars, and turned to Wolf briefly. He kissed her on her cheek, then shook Scars’ hand and handed her over to his best friend, his closest confidant. His Acting-President.

As the minister started the ceremony, Zoe smiled up at Scars, loving the fact that in less than half an hour, she was going to be his. His alone and forever.

In this perfect glowing moment, standing there with the only man that she’d ever loved, feeling so blessed and lucky, Zoe had no idea about the approaching nightmare, nor how close she was to almost losing her happily-ever-after, to losing everything.

How close theyallwere.

Chapter Three

Vixen glanced around Satan’s Bar and sighed heavily.

She’d been on her feet for seven hours straight, and she hadn’t even had time to sit and have a quick coffee. With Elle and Cole at the wedding, and Scars not around as bar manager for obvious reasons, Vixen was in charge… and she was finding it all pretty overwhelming. If she wasn’t trying to handle her usual table-waiting duties, then she was watching the other waitresses who seemed to lose any sense of work ethic when the MC guys weren’t around to impress. If she wasn’t doing all ofthat,then she was helping the temp kitchen staff get the food out, or rushing behind the bar to pour a few drinks when the backlog of orders got too much.

---