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Hattie studied me for a moment, searching my face.

“Only if we do it at the clubhouse. I strong-armed you into a regular wedding the first time around, and you hated that damn tux. You looked so miserable.”

I groaned at the memory.

“The fucking thing felt like it was strangling me.”

Hattie pressed a light kiss to my lips.

“If I’m marrying a biker, I should have a biker wedding.”

I brushed my knuckles over her cheek, down the curve of her throat. No words could describe how much I loved this woman. If she wanted a biker wedding at the clubhouse, that’s what she would get.

The harsh ringing of a phone made me jolt awake. Hattie was curled into my side, arm draped over my middle, leg hitched over my hips. She groaned and burrowed into my chest.

Swearing under my breath, I patted around blindly on the nightstand for my phone. But it wasn’t there.

Damn it. I’d probably left it in the pocket of my cut.

Reluctantly tearing myself away from Hattie, I crossed the room and rummaged around in the pockets of my cut until I found my phone.

“What?” I grumbled.

“Whoa, you clearly haven't had your coffee yet,” Baby Doll chirped. “Shepard called from the courthouse a minute ago. Thought you’d like to know that the jury reached a verdict in Hattie’s trial.”

The cobwebs of sleep quickly vanished from my mind. I glanced at Hattie, sheets barely covering her tits, exposing a bare hip. I scrubbed a hand down my face, fighting the knot in the pit of my stomach.

“I’m listening.”

“Not guilty,” Baby Doll said. “If you can believe it. Welch’s damn attorney planted just enough doubt regarding Hattie's statement that the jury didn't feel it carried weight."

“Fuck,” I hissed.

If I’d kept my distance, like Officer Shepard suggested, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.

On the other hand, if I’d stayed close to Hattie, she wouldn’t have endured any of this in the first place.

“You’re telling me Welch walks away clean,” I said.

“Afraid so,” Baby Doll admitted. “Now that his partners in crime have been taken out of the game, I can’t imagine Welch will be happy about that.”

“No. He won’t.”

After hanging up, I heard the sheets rustle. When I turned around, I found Hattie sitting up in bed, sheets clutched to her chest.

“The trial?” she whispered.

I nodded, sliding back into bed. I kissed her temple.

“The jury decided Welch is innocent.”

Hattie’s face fell. My heart clenched to see the disappointment, worry, and fear in her eyes.

“I’ll take care of it, baby,” I said softly. “Just focus on planning that biker wedding, all right?”

Chapter sixteen

Hattie