Page 40 of Sweet Rule
Daddy.
The word comes to me in a whisper and I close my eyes against it. It’s a word that, along with Law, I’ve tried not to think of in equal measures. It has been almost as impossible and seeing as I’m going to be marrying him within the hour, it’s the only word that will come to me. He was my Daddy. The man I trusted above everything else and now my father is forcing me to marry him.
How did I get here? With everything I’ve ever wanted coming to me in the darkest and most twisted way. This isn’t what I wanted, but it is. A father, a family to belong to, Law as my husband. And…a child?
I’d never thought that far ahead, but it’s my present, so I better figure it out.
I open my eyes when Connie clears her throat. She’s leaning against the door, a hand on the brass knob.
“What did you ask Zeus for?” she asks.
“My mother,” I answer her immediately, voice just above a whisper. “I-I asked him for justice.”
“Meaning?”
“I ruined her,” I tell her and stand from the couch. “I took everything from her. Every dollar, every penny, her homes, her cars. I don’t know what he gave her, but it’s all gone. Every bit of it.”
She hums. “I’m impressed. You are his daughter, after all.”
I wince. “Don’t say that. I don’t know how I feel about it right now.”
“Current circumstances aren’t ideal, so I get it but…” her voice trails off and she opens the door with a flourish. “I think you’re going to make this work for you.”
I shake my head and follow her out into the hallway. “You have far more confidence in my abilities than I do.”
“I know. You really do need to give yourself more credit, Honey.”
I’m speechless at her words. She’s looking straight ahead, a slight curve of her lips giving away the small smile playing across her mouth, but Connie doesn’t say anything else on the matter, so I don’t either.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
LAW
It’s dark and crowded in the Great Room. Where the party had once raged, guests are now arranged in seats that form an aisle leading up to me. There’s no music and the priest is twitchy and impatient. He keeps looking around like he wants to be anywhere else but here and I wonder how much Zeus paid him to do this.
This isn’t the way that I thought my wedding would go. Then again, it’s not like I ever thought about my wedding in the first place. Relationships, love, marriage. All of that was for a different man. One without blood on his hands and that could give his wife a future safe from bullets and blood.
One where she wouldn’t be touched by the dark.
I can’t give that to Honey. I know that now, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not going to marry her. I’m standing at what looks like an altar, or as close to an altar as the club can manage with only the slightest nod to sacreligious idolatry. It’s black and jagged, just like everything else in this fucking place. It’s hewn from stone and sucks up the light until it practically glows. It’s a pulsing, living thing, almost beautiful, and if it weren’t for her, I’d look at it.
She shines like a beacon. Bright like a dying star in the dimness of the club in her white dress. She’s holding a bouquet of crimson roses, so deep red that they almost look black. Zeus is at her side and he’s playing into the role of the beaming, proud father giving away his daughter on her wedding day.
As if he didn’t just try to auction her off to a roomful of fucking animals talking about taking her up the ass. I breathe in deep and my eyes find the fucker that said it. The blonde one. He’s watching Honey with barely veiled lust. I can see the want in his eyes. He thinks he’s going to get a shot at her.
I’m going to kill him the first chance I get.
Before, I’d tried to walk away from that life. I’d made myself respectable and didn’t so much as cross the street without looking both ways. All I wanted was peace and quiet. The ability to do what I wanted with my days. But then Honey had burst into my life and it’d all changed.
No matter what I did, the only way to keep my girl was to become the man I’d been. The one I’d thought couldn’t have this. I swallow and watch the way her eyes move over the crowd. She’s nervous and walking slowly, Zeus is practically dragging her, his fingers are digging into her arm. Her jerks her the last step and she winces but he keeps her upright and in a few seconds she’s in front of me. She comes to a stumbling halt and almost loses her footing but I reach out and catch her.
I catch Zeus too on his way past me and bring him close. “Touch my wife like that again and I’ll cut your hand off.”
Honey gasps and I feel him stiffen. He turns his head to look at me. His dark eyes glitter in the dim light, almost as much as the altar and for a second I think he’s going to swing on me. I hope he fucking does, but he doesn’t.
Instead, he chuckles and claps a hand to my shoulder like I just fucking told him a joke. “My apologies, Lawson. Your property, your rules.” He inclines his head and steps away while Honey tries to pull away from me.
I look at her. “You’re going to fall on your ass. Stop it.”
