Unbeautifully (Undeniable, #2)(65)

The crowd—his boys, their family and friends, even Preacher—erupted in happy cheers and laughter.

“You may kiss your bride,” the minister said, shaking her head.

He didn’t waste any time. He grabbed his woman, his wife, his Eva and lifted her off her feet and crushed her to him. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms around his neck, and their mouths crashed together.

“’Bout f*ckin’ time!” Blue bellowed from his place at the bar just before “Born to be Wild” blasted through the outside speakers and drowned out the cheering.

Eva pulled away laughing, happy tears rolling down her cheeks. He curled his hand into a fist and ran his knuckles down the side of her face.

“There it is,” he whispered.

“What?” she whispered back.

“You, Eva. Just f*ckin’ you.”

They both turned to watch as Kami threw herself across the aisle at Cox. Beside them, Dorothy buried her face in her hands, her veil of red hair shielding her from view, and burst into tears.

Mick rolled his eyes. “Idiots,” he muttered. “I’m surrounded by idiots.”

And Danny…he paused to study his oldest daughter.

“Mama!” Ivy cried out, bursting out of the crowd, gunning for Eva. Eva turned away from him to bend down and catch their daughter as she toddled up the stairs and into her mother’s arms.

Deuce looked back to Danny, worried about the strange expression on her face. He followed her line of sight to…

Ripper?

They appeared to be having some kind of staring contest, the rest of the world forgotten, no winner in sight.

What the f*ck?

“Yo, Danny!” ZZ said, appearing beside his daughter, startling her. She turned to ZZ.

“You wanna dance?”

Danny shot one last look at Ripper, turned back to ZZ, and nodded. Deuce watched them walk off—already planning on how many different ways he was gonna beat ZZ to death—then got up in his former sergeant at arms’ face.

“What was that?” he growled.

Ripper eyed him boldly. “What was what?”

His nostrils flared. “You. Danny. What. Was. It.”

“Baby,” Eva said, wedging herself in between them. “I wanna dance.”

Of course she did. She always had him doing stupid shit like dancing. And for some reason he was always doing it, even though he f*cking hated it.

“Later,” he promised Ripper, and allowed his new wife to drag him off.

“When can we get the f*ck outta here?” he asked her.

Laughing, she wrapped her arms around his neck and tucked her beautiful body against his. “I love you, Deuce.” She giggled. “So, so much.”

“Babe,” he said softly, holding her tightly. “Fuckin’ yeah.”

“One more thing,” she said.

“Yeah?”

“You’re mine.”

He grinned. He sure as f*ck was.

? ? ?

With Deuce as far away from Ripper as she could get him, Eva thanked god she’d interrupted the two of them before Ripper said something out of anger and blood was shed. The guy looked strung out, both pain and fury deeply etched in his features, and he hadn’t stopped staring at Danny since breakfast this morning. Glaring, really. He wasn’t even trying to hide it. It was a wonder no one had noticed yet. Although…

She glanced around the crowded lawn, her eyes landing on Cox, who also seemed to be more concerned with Ripper than Kami’s violent attempts at getting him to dance with her.

Danny wasn’t acting any less obvious either. And Deuce wasn’t stupid. Neither was ZZ. If Danny and Ripper weren’t careful, someone was going to put together: one, those hateful, needy looks those two were giving each other; and two, Ripper’s sudden and unexplained disappearing act, and BOOM, the mess that would follow in the wake of that discovery was going to be worse than if an atomic bomb had gone off. Deuce would know instantly why Danny had fallen apart, and his anger wouldn’t just be stemming from the secret affair but Ripper’s fault in Danny’s superseding emotional demise.

Plus the fact that Deuce had been forced to accept ZZ as a part of his daughter’s life. That because of Ripper, Danny wasn’t just hanging around the club, she was ZZ’s old lady now. It was something Deuce had never wanted for her and had only dealt with because he’d known ZZ was the sole reason he’d gotten some semblance of his daughter back.

There had been so many times Eva had wanted to tell Deuce what she knew, or tell Danny she knew why she was hurting, but the timing never seemed right. The family fights had been unending; neither Cage, nor Danny, nor Deuce could be in the same room and not start in on one another. Telling Deuce would have only added fuel to the already blazing fire, and telling Danny…

She had no idea what Danny would have done. She hadn’t wanted to push her any further away, and having had no prior experience with brokenhearted teenage girls, she was at a loss.

So she’d said nothing and though it killed her to do so, kept her distance unless her refereeing interference was needed. Eventually things began to settle. Danny would never be the same spunky, covered head to toe in pink and sparkles, sixteen-year-old girl she’d met a few years before, but the girl had recovered enough to start moving forward again and in turn, so had Cage and Deuce.