Page 130 of Queen of Anarchy (Dirty Broken Savages 2)

46

River

I walk as quicklyas I can without flat-out running back to the front of the church, looking for my men.

The entryway has started to empty out as more people have gone into the nave, or whatever it’s called, to find their seats. I spot the guys in a little alcove off to one side of the sanctuary, talking in low voices, and I hurry to join them.

“There you are,” Ash says, grinning when he sees me. “I thought you were getting cold feet.”

“Notmywedding, Ash,” I mumble back.

“Everything’s ready,” Gage informs us, his voice tight. “Now we just have to wait for this thing to get started.”

He’s more focused on the plan than anything else, but that’s good. Someone has to be, after what I just saw. I’m surprised my fucking eyeballs aren’t bleeding.

“What’s wrong?” Priest frowns as he glances at me.

He has that expressionless mask back up, his features a lot more rigid than I’ve seen them lately. It’s probably because of all the strangers around. There are plenty of people here we know for a fact we can’t trust, especially when we’re about to pull off a heist of sorts here at this wedding. But I realize with a little thrill that I can still read him pretty well, even with his control firmly in place. He’s worried, which means there must still be a disgusted look on my face after what I witnessed at the back of the church.

I lean in closer, swallowing the acidic taste at the back of my throat.

“Julian Maduro is a sick fuck,” I mutter to them. “Even worse than we knew. I just saw him in the back, railing his sister.”

Gage, Ash, and Knox all look disgusted. Something flickers through Priest’s expression, the only visible sign that he’s grossed out too.

“Jesus fucking Christ. And I thought that fucker couldn’t get worse,” Gage mutters. “You’re sure?”

“Unless there’s someone else walking around in a big white dress today, then yeah,” I reply. “And she was moaning his name, so it’s pretty hard to mistake that for someone else.”

He shakes his head, like he doesn’t even know what to say to that, and that makes two of us.

“Good thing you’re not actually getting hitched to that bitch, huh, Knox?” Ash whispers, smirking at his friend.

Knox scoffs. “As if I would have touched her with a ten foot pole even if we were. But yeah. It’s a damn good thing I’m not.”

The last few guests start to trickle in to find their seats, and two of the ushers that Julian has standing by move to close the doors. The wedding is about to begin.

I smooth my hands over Knox’s shoulders, getting any wrinkles out of his tux. I reach up and fix his tie, then step back to look him over.

He looks fucking good.

It’s the first time I’ve really had a chance to take him in since we all got dressed and headed to the church. The tux is tailored to perfection, hugging his muscles in a way that shows them off without making it look like he’s about to burst out of the fabric. Even the lavender pocket square that Natalie insisted on works well with the whole thing, and although Knox definitely doesn’t want to be doing this, he stands straight and proud and looks fucking amazing.

I’m so tempted to lean up and steal a kiss, but that’s probably really bad form when he’s about to pretend to marry someone else. So instead, I just gaze at him, letting the heat smolder in my eyes so he knows that I would be all over him if I could.

He smirks back and winks at me.

“It’s time,” Gage murmurs.

The four of us go sit down in our seats, leaving Knox at the back, preparing to walk down the aisle.

“Who do they think they’re kidding with this church ceremony?” Ash mumbles as we take our seats. “Given what you just saw Natalie and Julian doing, I’m surprised they dared to set foot in a church. I would’ve thought they’d be afraid of burning to a crisp as soon as they walked through the door.”

“It’s all for show,” Priest replies, his tone clipped. “But it works out for us. If they were doing an outdoor wedding, this would have been much harder.”

I nod, because he’s right about that. There are guards posted around the space, dressed to look like they belong at a wedding but standing out like sore thumbs anyway. Julian obviously takes his security seriously, and it would be a lot harder to get Hannah and Cody away if we were all outside. We’d be spotted too easily, by one of his guards or someone else. The back rooms and hallways of the church will give us better cover.

Music starts up a moment after we’re settled in our pew, soft and unobtrusive. The priest or whoever the fuck the Maduros hired to perform this thing stands at the front behind the altar, and Knox comes through the door at the back, walking down the aisle.

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