Page 109 of Taking Denver

Ranger bristles. He doesn’t know I planned on saying something, and I hope he’s sweating. I stand, and the announcer passes me the microphone.

“As you’ll all know, myhusband,” I say, and the room erupts into cheers, “is a man of few words. He’s more of a… doer, aren’t you, dear?”

A ripple of laughter moves through the crowd. Ranger doesn’t smile.

“So, I thought I’d say something very quickly, and then you can enjoy your free food and overpriced champagne,” I say. “It’s no secret that our lives haven’t been easy recently. There have been a lot of questions about what I’ve done and who I’ve killed. Allegedly.” Uncomfortable laughter this time. “But through everything, Ranger has been by my side, and I want to thank him for that.” I look down at him. “He’s always stepped up. Always been there. Always helped me understand my place. Now, you have me forever. And I have you. And you could say we’re pretty untouchable, aren’t we?”

His smile is small, but it reaches his eyes. A tender look between us. A camera flashes, forever capturing the moment that will likely replace the photographs taken outside a coffee shop three years ago.

“So.” I return my attention to the crowd and raise my glass. “To Ranger Luxe. To me. To everything we are and everything we’ll become. And commiserations to anyone who tries to stand in our way.”

There are confused glances, forced smiles, exactly what I expected, and I sit, satisfied.

“It’s not often you hear the word commiserations in a wedding speech,” Ranger says.

“It’s not often the wife kills someone twelve hours before the wedding. I’m no ordinary bride.”

The night moves on, and when I finally spot Harley, I slide my arm around my friend’s waist and whisper, “I hate these people.”

Harley chuckles. “You hide it well. Also, ‘commiserations’?”

“They all think I’m a killer. Might as well give them something else to chew over,” I say. “Did you check the?—”

“He landed.” Harley lowers her voice, her lips hidden behind a champagne flute. “I’m guessing that me dropping off mysterious packages, booking last-minute flights, and the club burning down all in the same night is just a coincidence?”

“A big one.”

Harley squeezes my hand. “Is this it now? Is this you fully becoming Deluxe?”

My throat is tight because the answer is clear. I stayed not just to protect Axel but also because I want to. If we’d both left, Ranger would never have stopped looking for us, that was true, but we could have kept running. I could have killed Ranger and pinned everything on him, and the police wouldn’t ask a damn thing more about it because that’s all they want, Ranger Luxe dead or behind bars. Instead, I stayed. I married him.

Because yes, this is me fully becoming Deluxe, but I don’t know how to be anybody else.

“We’ll rebuild the club,” I say. “Together.”

Harley’s brows pinch together, eyes wide and sad, but she nods.

I head for the small office the hotel said I could use and close the door behind me, sitting behind the desk.

Axel still thinks I’m coming. He’s landed, and he’s waiting for me, alone. I cover my face with my hands and try not to cry. He’s innocent in all this, and he’d been pulled into this world to save me, and now he has blood on his hands. He might never forgive himself.

I hold my phone to my ear. The international dial tone hums twice before he answers.

“Hey,” I say, trying to sound cheerful. “Did you get there okay?”

“Where are you?”

I close my eyes. “Axel?—”

“Don’t do this to me, Denver. Please come with me. It isn’t too late.”

“I married him,” I say. Silence. Pained silence. “He never would have stopped if I went with you. We’d never be safe.”

“I’d rather be running with you than have you there with him,” Axel says. “He’ll kill you, Denver. That life will kill you.Pleasecome with me.”

I cover my eyes. “I can’t, Ax. I need to make sure he stays away from you.”

Seconds tick by.

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