Page 98 of The Deals We Make

I smile at the thought of him. “Vex. Well, Ti. He’s the man who caused me to leave Jersey and head out west.”

“Oh,” she says. “A love-hate lover.”

“Something like that.”

“So, he wants you to stay?”

“Yes. He hasn’t said as much. More an acknowledgement that we could be so much if I didn’t have to leave.”

“Oh, sexy Vex. I like it.”

I grimace. “Please don’t call him that.”

She chuckles. “Okay. So, he knows you’re needed here?”

I think about that for a moment and sigh. “Yes.”

“The sigh says you wish it weren’t true. But, maybe, you guys could long-distance it. Or he could move here.”

Seeing him with his friends in the clubhouse made me realize I could never ask him for that. Who he is would never fit in with the life I have out there. Not that I would be embarrassed or ashamed of him.

I wouldn’t.

But reputationally, it would be a blow for the CEO of a company that effectively deals with cybercrimes to be fraternizing with a member of an organized crime group.

And I’m not sure he’d be happy, even if there’s a chapter of his Outlaws close enough for him to join. Assuming that’s how it works. He’s a Black biker, and there aren’t many of thosearound. And from what I understand, there are few true one percenter motorcycle clubs around the country that aren’t racist.

There’s a knock at the door, and I wonder for a minute if Melanie and Mom forgot their key. I should probably have a properly secured little lock box for a spare key placed somewhere innocuous for emergencies.

“Listen, I gotta go, Bec. Someone is at the door. Call you later.”

“Just when I was about to ask you all the juicy questions. I’ll text you them.”

“And I’ll ignore them.”

We both laugh as I hang up the phone.

When I open the door, I’m surprised to see Rae standing there.

“Hey,” she says. “Vex gave me your address. Hope you don’t mind. Do you have five minutes?” she says.

“I do. Come in out of the cold. We’ll go into the kitchen. Can I get you a drink? Tea? Coffee?”

Rae shakes her head. “No. Neither, thanks. I came by to ask if you’d join me and the rest of the old ladies to help me choose my wedding dress.”

“Umm. When?” I’m not sure I want to go. But hopefully, it’s when I’ve returned to California and have a legitimate reason to bow out.

“Right now.”

I think about the party and what I know of these women. I still don’t understand the point of submitting to be someone’s property.

As if sensing my thoughts, Rae smiles. “I know. You don’t think you’re like us. You may even think you’re better than us. But I still want you to come shopping for my wedding dress with me.”

“Why?” It makes no sense to me. “Why would you want me there?”

“Because I have a really strong feeling that, one day, you’ll be an old lady because Vex will be able to explain what it means to him. And what it means to him will mean enough to you that you’ll agree. Then, we’ll win you over with our eclectic charm and chaotic adventures. And because you’ll be an old lady one day, we might as well start practicing now, even if you don’t agree. Because ten or fifteen years from now, we’ll all be sitting in the clubhouse, or in the yard behind it, laughing and joking about something, and someone will say, ‘Remember that day we went looking for Rae’s wedding dress?’ And I’ll say, ‘Yeah, it was the first time the nine of us all did something important together.’”

I smile because, I have to admit, Rae has a way with words. “That was a sneaky way of convincing me.”