Page 78 of Bruised MC Bear

9

Vincent

Iwasn’tsure what to expect at breakfast on Saturday morning. As requested, my staff opened up the hospitality suite on the floor, and a generous selection of hot and cold breakfast options were already available. Coffee was all I needed this morning, but with all the guests I met at dinner last night, nothing would go to waste. I’d met about forty people. Roughly half were bear shifters from Axe’s motorcycle club, and the rest were humans from Angel’s family. It appeared that I was the only vampire in the bridal party, and Sonya was the only wolf shifter. Everyone was at dinner except for Sonya, who was clearly avoiding me.

Not that I could blame her. We had both crossed a line into a forbidden zone. Still, it didn’t matter if sleeping with her was just a one-time thing—which I already doubted. What mattered was that she viewed our interaction as taboo.

Because it was.

Heads rolled whenever our species came together. I’d seen that reality firsthand over the centuries. Not that I was afraid of bucking trends, but I had to think of Sonya too. I knew nothing about her, or of her dynamics with her pack, and to be honest, this type of off-the-rails thinking was way too premature. I needed to let things be.

Axe was the first to show up as I sat to have coffee.

“Morning, Fangs,” Axe greeted me with the nickname he had been calling me since we became friends fifteen years ago to the day.

“Good morning, Fluffy.” I was the only person who got away with calling him by that nickname.

“How was your room?”

“Fucking sweet. I slept like a baby bear,” he joked.

“Good to hear, Goldilocks.”

“Don’t be surprised if my bed’s missing when I check out of the suite, Moneybags.”

“You like it that much?”

“I had the best night’s sleep in a long time.”

“The secret is those individual pocket coils. That’s what my procurement director keeps telling me, anyway. How about I have one just like it shipped to the clubhouse? Think of it as a wedding gift.”

“I don’t know, man… You’ve already splurged on us enough this weekend.”

“I’m the best man. It comes with the territory. Plus, I’ve never heard you rave about much of anything since I’ve known you, except for Angel … and now this bed. Come on. I insist.”

“Well … sure, okay.” He grinned. “Only because you’re loaded. Thanks, Fangs.”

“My pleasure.”

“All that sleep made me hungry. Let me at some of this food.” He stepped over to the hot food table, and began to fill his plate with a mountain of pancakes and sausage.

“You must be excited about later.”

“More like nervous as hell, but don’t mention that to Angel.”

“Ahhh, the jitters,” I remarked, thinking fondly of the last time I’d indulged in a wedding. “Take it from me. It’ll pass.”

“Oh, I’m not nervous about the wedding.”

“No?”

“Maybe a little, but it’s this Halloween wedding in Vegas thing that has my bear on edge. Don’t get me wrong. I’d do anything for Angel, but fuck, some of the stuff I saw when we were out on the Strip last night made our clubhouse shindigs look like Sunday school.”

“No doubt.” I checked my watch. “Just be sure not to let yourself shift for sixteen hours, five minutes and … twenty seconds roughly.”

He chuckled, putting his plate on the kitchen island to slap me on the back. “That’s why you’re the best man, Vincent. You’re perfect for keeping track of shit like that.”

“At your service, old friend. I’ve even got a cage ready in the hotel storage, just in case.”