Page 99 of The Deals We Make

Rae nods enthusiastically. “I know.”

“I have a business to run in California. I don’t know that I see myself sitting in the clubhouse a year from now, let alone ten years.”

“I know that too.”

“And I have this mess of feelings with Ti, with us not knowing what to do or how to make it work.” The words come out in an unexpected blurt.

Rae snatches my hand and squeezes it. “Why do you think I’m here asking?”

I hold her hand for a minute.

“You know, there are some really fucking genius women in the business world,” Rae says.

“I’d like to think I’m one of them.”

Rae nods. “You are. Possibly the smartest out of all of us. And I would imagine you’ve considered expansion, starting an East Coast office and moving out here to build it yourself, seeing youbuilt the West Coast so successfully. And I would imagine you’ve also considered who the smartest woman at your company is besides you. One you might want to encourage to set up and say, run the West Coast office, reporting directly to you.”

“We’re not ready to expand,” I said, the words falling out on rote.

“The company’s not or you’re not?” Rae asks.

“Again. Sneaky.”

“Listen. I know one thing for sure. You only regret the things you didn’t do in life. The old ladies of the Outlaws are as different as you and me. On paper, Catalina and Iris have nothing in common beyond belonging to bikers, and yet, somehow, we’ve become the friends and support we couldn’t find for ourselves outside the club. What you do doesn’t matter. How much you earn doesn’t matter. What you love doesn’t matter. It simply matters that you love an Outlaw. We’re one hundred percent there for each other during the good and bad. It’s time you gave all your preconceived ideas of who we are a break and just come find out who we are for yourself.”

“Fine. I’m buying what you’re selling.”

Rae laughs. “Jesus. You’re as bad as King. I’m not selling anything beyond an afternoon with eight women who want to watch me try on dresses. Well, only seven, really. Catalina would rather be cleaning guns or something, but even she’s going to put a brave face on and do it. So, if she can, you can.”

“Okay. Okay. Color me convinced. If you’re like this with King, I can see why the big bad president might capitulate.”

Rae chuckles. “He’s not bad all the time.”

And that’s how I find myself sandwiched between Gwen and Vi on an overstuffed ivory sofa half an hour later.

Vi pats my knee. “I’m so glad you came.”

I glance over toward the dressing room we’re all awaiting for Rae to emerge from. “I’m not sure I had that much of a choice.”

Gwen shoulder checks me. “She’s like that with all of us. I call it her Jedi mind trick. One moment you hate the idea of going to a water park, and four hours later, you’re at the top of a slide in your swimsuit.”

“Is there a theme for the wedding?” I ask.

Catalina sits on the floor next to Gwen’s feet, her long legs stretched out in front of her. “Not sure King is giving her time to come up with one.”

Sophia is seated next to Vi but leans forward. “He is. It’s a theme of ‘hurry the fuck up and marry me because I need a wife more than I need a perfect wedding,’ or something like that.”

Briar puts her hand to her heart. “That is very romantic, though.”

Iris shuffles about the sofa, her palm pressing firmly on the top of her bump as she tries to get comfortable. “Yeah, that’s King, the born romantic.”

The women chuckle.

“You know, you could just get married at the courthouse and call it good?” Catalina asks.

“Says the one who had a custom Armani suit for her wedding, and a custom white leather cut, and then the tiniest dress for the evening that drove Niro so wild, you disappeared for ninety minutes during your own party,” Vi says. “We ran out of excuses to tell Avery where Uncle Colton had gone.”

I can’t help but laugh at that.