Kraken (Hades Abyss MC 4) - Harley Wylde Page 0,17

kissed my cheek.

“You’re egging them on,” I whispered.

“Good. They obviously need something to talk about.”

I looked around, feeling as if people were staring at us. “Shouldn’t they be home in bed? It’s late. Like, really late.”

Kraken’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. “Baby, last I checked, we’re here shopping late. Why wouldn’t other people be here too?”

When he walked me to the jewelry counter, I tried to back away. He pressed his hand to my lower back, holding me in place. The determination etched on his face told me this was a battle I wouldn’t win. I didn’t know what he was up to, but I didn’t need shiny things.

“Kraken, I don’t need anything from here.”

“Yeah, baby. You do.” He waved over a store associate. The older woman eyed him, then me, clearly disapproving of the fact we were together. If Kraken noticed, he didn’t care. “Which one do you like?”

I looked into the case and realized they were wedding rings. I sagged against him, the fight draining from me. “You’re buying me a wedding ring?”

“Look, I may not have gone about things the right way, but I want the world to know you’re mine. You deserve something better than this store can offer, but I don’t want to wait another second to put a ring on your finger so everyone knows I’m the lucky bastard who goes home to you.”

“Kraken, that’s…” Tears misted my eyes. It was the sweetest thing I’d heard in forever. I scanned the contents of the case. They were all so beautiful, and cost entirely too much. All I needed was a plain wedding band.

“Don’t even think it,” he said.

“What?”

“I see you checking out those bands. Nothing ordinary for my wife. Now which one do you like?” he asked.

The woman cleared her throat. “May I make a suggestion?”

Kraken arched an eyebrow at her. “Depends. Is it your suggestion she leave me for another man?”

The woman snorted. “No. But your wife has small hands, delicate bones. Anything overly large may be overwhelming for her. Unless you want people to see it from space.”

“What rings would you suggest?” I asked.

The woman pulled out three different wedding sets. Each was beautiful, without being flashy. I pointed to the one in the center. “What about this one?”

Kraken took it from the box and slid it over my finger. It was a bit loose, but I loved it. The rings didn’t feel heavy, and I liked the way they looked on my hand.

“We can send them out to be sized,” the woman said. “Shouldn’t take more than thirty days to get them back. Or you can take them to the jewelry shop on Clover. They might be able to do it within a few days.”

“We’ll take them,” Kraken said.

“Do you need a ring as well?” the woman asked.

“Have anything indestructible?”

She put the rings away and locked the cabinet before opening another. The woman pulled out a black band with an inlaid green design and set it on the counter. “Tungsten steel. Popular with men who work with their hands.”

Kraken slipped it on and flexed his hand. “Fits good.”

“You’ll have to pay for the rings here. If your wife wants to wear hers before you get it sized, I can help tighten it a little.” She pulled out a package of what looked like clear rubber pieces. “Just put one of these on the bands.”

Kraken paid for our purchases, then the woman helped me with the rings. I had to admit, it felt amazing wearing something showing I belonged to him. The fact he’d wanted a ring too surprised me. My father had worn a ring, but as a preacher, he’d been a pillar of the community. Appearances were everything to him. I’d noticed a lot of married men in the congregation didn’t wear one. A biker seemed like the last person who’d ever want a wedding ring.

Kraken was right. He wasn’t the same as the Sadistic Saints, not even a little. If my father, a man who preached from the Bible, had the respect of the community, and didn’t abide liars, had sold his own daughter, why couldn’t a man who looked as dangerous as Kraken be sweet and charming? I’d always thought when I met evil, I’d know it. With Deuce, it proved true. Everything else, though… My father looked like a sweet man. He clearly wasn’t. Not even a little.

When we’d finished at the jewelry counter, we got a shopping cart before we started gathering the other things we