Page 32 of Wild Card (Royal Bastards MC: Cody, Wyoming #1)
TWENTY-SEVEN
Ruby
“ Y ou look beautiful,” Earl tells me, trying to convince me with a smile that doesn’t make it all the way to his eyes.
“I’m gonna be fine,” I assure him, ignoring the filthy look Esmé gives me as she walks past us and starts making her way up the aisle.
“You don’t have to lie to me, I know why you're doing this.” He swallows a lump in his throat. “You’re momma told me everything. I just wish it was me she’d called that night, instead of him. She should have known he’d tell Derek; the pair of them always have been thick as thieves.”
“Wait…I thought she told the mayor?” I stare up at him, confused, and even though the organ player has just hit my cue to start walking up the aisle, I stay where I am.
“No. There's one man to blame for all of this, and I only found out the other day what kind of a man he is. I should have seen it sooner. Earl's eyes land on Byron, who's sitting in one of the pews, smiling like everyone else who's turned out to watch this shit show.
“All these years, I thought he was a friend.” Earl is rambling and looking so confused.
“Earl, you have to tell me what's going on,” I beg him, feeling time running out when I see the mayor starting to march down the aisle toward us.
“What’s the damn hold up? Is your sciatica playing up or something? I told you I would give you away,” he whispers under his breath, his top lip sweating as his face turns even redder.
Snatching my arm, he takes a long, deep breath and starts walking me up the aisle, himself. I look back at Earl helplessly as he shakes his head and looks disappointed in himself.
“Smile for Christ's sake. It’s your wedding day,” Mr. Porter reminds me from the side of his mouth, not letting his own smile falter as we make the journey to the altar, where he hands me over to his son.
It takes everything inside me not to cry or scream out for someone to help me.
I look back at the doors and see that Earl has taken a seat at the back, and when one of the groomsmen closes the door, I realize how much I wanted it to be Ash who came to stop this.
I’ve thought about calling him so many times over the past twenty-four hours, telling him I’ve changed my mind. But I’ve sealed my own fate now, and I’ve got to live with it.
I look at Esmé; she’s barely spoken to me all morning, and I get that she’s mad and frustrated with me, but I really need her right now.
Priest Wilson starts talking, and when I notice the way Esmé is looking at Hack, I try to discreetly turn my head so I can see what they’re trying to communicate to each other.
Brett squeezes my hand to remind me to focus, and I fake him a smile before I let my mind take me away to a different place.
A place where this man is not about to become my husband.
I picture myself on that ride I took on the back of Ash’s bike, and recall how free I felt.
“Repeat after me, Ruby.” I hear the priest say my name and snap myself out of the daydream.
“I, Ruby Saunders, take this man to be my–”
“She doesn’t.” A rough voice interrupts him as the door crashes open and someone in the room makes a loud gasp of shock. I close my eyes as relief crashes over me, and when I open them again and turn my head, I do not expect to see the person I see, standing in the middle of the aisle.
“Grizz!” I stare at him in disbelief.
“You can’t marry him. I won’t let you.” He shakes his head and starts marching toward us.
“Byron, rein in your boy!” Mr. Porter quickly stands up to block him, but Grizz keeps on walking. Pressing his forehead into his and stepping him backwards.
“Grizz, what the fuck are ya doin'?” Byron stands up and moves to the front. “Sorry, Father,” he apologizes before looking back to Grizz for some answers.
“Sit down, Byron,” Grizz warns through his teeth, looking ready to unleash hell. “Sit the fuck down before I let this whole congregation know what you’ve been doin’.” He lowers his voice and dares him with his eyes.
“I’m sorry, but this has got nothin’ to do with you.” Mr. Porter tries to intervene again.
“This has everything to do with me, that's my fuckin’ daughter.” I hear that loud gasp again when his finger points at me, and this time, I realize that it came from me.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you marry him, darlin’.” Grizz looks real serious as he steps a little closer
“Grizz, let's just take this outside.” Byron presses his body up against him and whispers in his ear. He doesn’t seem shocked like everyone else in the room is; he just looks nervous. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look that way before.
“I ain’t goin’ nowhere.” Grizz forces him out of his way. “I’m sorry, darlin’, I didn’t want it to be this way, but I’ve had some things to deal with,” he starts to explain.
“Does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?” Brett tries to stand between us, and Grizz makes the entire room go silent when he punches him straight to the floor.
“That's assault! Someone call the cops.” Mr. Porter rushes to his son’s aid.
“Objection!!!” A loud voice comes from the back of the church, and when I look back at the doors and see Ash, I feel my heart start to flutter.
“What the hell happened here?” He stares in shock when he sees Brett on the floor and Grizz clinging to my hand. “I’m not too late, am I? Tell me I made it on time.” He rushes toward me, looking at Grizz oddly before lifting up my other hand to check it.
“Phew, no ring.” He holds his other hand up, telling me to wait while he catches his breath.
“Ruby, you can’t marry him. You can’t marry him, because I’m in love with you,” he confesses, and I feel my jaw drop open as I stare back at him.
“Well, ya gonna say somethin’? That's the first time I ever said that to anyone. I was kinda hoping for at least a smile.”
I can see that he’s teasing me to deflect the fact he’s embarrassed to be in front of all these people, and when I try to form words, nothing comes out.
“Grizz, we’re kinda havin’ a moment here.” Ash leans into him and whispers. Clearly, having no idea what bomb he just dropped.
“He’s my dad,” I explain, trying to absorb the words as I say them. “ Are you my dad?” I turn my head to look at the man I’ve known since I came to town. He’s hardly ever said a word to me. Why choose now to tell me this?
“I’m sorry, darlin’, but I am. I only found out a few days ago, and I’d have been here to stop this sooner if I could have, but…” He turns his head to where Byron was standing, but he’s gone.
“Where did he go?” he asks, suddenly looking panicked.
“He left.” Earl stands up from the back pew. “I’d have left too if I was him.” I can see that whatever the guy’s done has pissed him off.
“I’m on it.” Hack gets up, excusing himself as he starts making his way down the pew to get out and chase after him, and I can see that Grizz wants to do the same, but instead, he turns his focus to me.
“I promise, I had no idea. I asked your mom when she first showed up in town, but she assured me you weren’t mine.”
“So why now? How did you?—”
“We can get into all of that when we’re alone. But right now, as your father, I have to stop you from doin’ this.” He grips my hand tighter in his, and from the corner of my eye, I see Ash lose all the hope from his face.
“Of all the people to be her father, it had to be you.” He looks to Grizz and shakes his head.
“Of all the guys to fall for my daughter, it had to be you ,” Grizz growls back in frustration.
“Kinda pissin’ all over my romantic gesture here, VP,” Ash smirks, and although I can see it pisses Grizz off, he doesn’t say anything, just looks back to me and smiles.
“You wanna get outta here, do some talkin’?” he asks, making his voice much softer.
“More than anything.” I laugh, feeling all the weight from my chest suddenly lift.
“You can’t leave.” Brett stands up and snatches my arm out of Ash’s. "Remember what we know, Ruby,” he whispers tight against my ear, and as I pull away, Ash throws a punch of his own that sends him right back to the floor again.
“Enough! This has gone far enough. This wedding is taking place.” Mayor Porter looks determined as he tries to drag his son up from the floor, and when Grizz lets go of me and starts making his way toward them, he looks over his shoulder to Ash.
“Take my girl back to the club,” he orders.
“You mean our girl.” Ash winks back at him. “I gotcha, Pops.” He winks, and when it looks as though Grizz is gonna swing that punch for him instead, I quickly take his hand and rush him the hell out of there.
“Do you ever take anything seriously?” I stop to catch my breath when we get to his bike, looking back at the doors and still trying to register all that's happened in the last ten minutes.
“I meant what I said in there,” Ash says with one hell of a serious look on his face when I turn back to face him. “I love you. You don’t have to say it back, you don’t even have to feel half the same way as I do. I just couldn’t let you be unhapp–”
“I love you, too.” I quickly snatch his face in my hands and kiss him, and when he raises my feet off the ground and wraps me back up in his strong arms, I pray that this isn’t a dream.
“I gotta be honest though, darlin’, I really don’t think your dad likes me.” Ash pulls away with that handsome smile on his face, and I laugh out loud and slap his chest.
“You two can work on it, just get me the hell outta here.” I hitch up my dress and let him help me onto the back of his bike.
Ash has poured me a scotch and got me settled at the clubhouse before Grizz returns. His boots tap loudly on the wood floor as he marches straight to the bar, picks up the bottle, then knocks it straight back.
“Taint, call in the boys for an emergency meetin’,” he orders, getting some confused looks from the other members.
“Where's Byron?” Moby asks, lifting his feet down from where they're resting on the table and straightening up like he can sense something's not right.