Colson (The Henchmen MC #20) - Jessica Gadziala Page 0,86

that cost the price of a car.

I would be happy to give her exactly what she wanted.

Just like I was happy to give Eva exactly what she wanted.

Which was a shotgun wedding in a sweatshirt followed by an ice cream cake shared with everyone at the club, this extended family she had settled so comfortably in.

"Here," Eva said, walking down the street toward the courthouse, bending down to snag a couple wild daffodils. "Now I have flowers," she declared, giving Jelena a warm smile as she wrapped her arm around her.

"I could help you plan a real wedding," Jelly insisted. "So everyone can be there."

"This is a real wedding, honey," Eva told her. "And I have the three most important people in my life here with me. That's all that matters."

"Okay, I guess that is kind of romantic too," Jelly relented, leaning her head into Eva's shoulder.

I'd found a lot of reasons to smile the past few years.

Each time I learned something new about Eva.

Each time the kids found more reasons to get along.

Each time I saw Jacob becoming a better and better young man, someone with a bright future with a good head on his shoulders.

Each time he looked to me like a father figure in life even if he had worked to heal the relationship with his biological father as well.

But watching Jelena look to Eva as her mother, yeah, that shit got me every fucking time. It didn't matter how often it happened.

The two of them had become fast friends, often ganging up on me or Jacob—or the both of us. I would come home from the clubhouse to find them cuddled up on the couch watching Jelly's cheesy teen romance shows or movies, eating ice cream out of the tub, or to both of them slaving over an intricate dinner in the kitchen, or spending time with Maeve or doing some little DIY house project to get Eva's place spruced up for the eventual sale.

Eva was who Jelly ran to when her first serious crush dashed her hopes and dreams for a happily-ever-after, crying loudly into her arms as Eva tried her best to convince Jelena that this only left room for an epic love story later in life, and that Devon was probably going to lose all his hair and get a beer belly anyway after college, so she was better off anyway.

I was pretty sure Jelena was waiting for us to officially marry before she started using the "M-word," but I knew it was coming.

As for Jacob, I wasn't his father. I knew the D-word was saved for Rob. And that was okay by me. I was Colson. Sometimes, I was "old man" or "dude" or even, once in a blue moon, "Pops."

I was happy with that.

I knew my role in his life.

And it was an important one.

Even if the label was different.

"Okay. Let's get on with it," Eva said, smiling at me. "I hear there is going to be cake after," she added, wiggling her eyebrows.

So we moved inside, ready for a small, intimate wedding.

Or so we thought.

"Did you really think you were going to get away with it?" Gus asked, shaking her head, clucking her tongue. "We want to see this too."

"We?" I repeated, brow raising, already having a feeling.

"Let's just say, the people here aren't too happy about the crowd we have assembled," Gus said, shrugging. "Come on. Let's get you two cool cats married. Don't worry, West paid off all the people ahead of you, so you can do it today. He's a keeper, that one."

"Gus!" Eva said, mouth falling open.

"What? Oh, shush. They were happy to have the money. They will all get a nice honeymoon with it. Come on. I have a speech prepared and everything."

"Should we be scared?" I asked, wrapping an arm around Eva, falling in step behind Gus.

"Well, it's Gus," Eva said, shrugging. "So, probably."

The whole club didn't show up. There wouldn't have been room. But Gus and West and a few of the others—including Lo, who could never resist a wedding—and Reign, whose disappearance had been a major factor in our relationship, were there.

Jelena had also texted Freddie who gathered up Thad, and come to be witness to our big day as well.

Gus's speech, as predicted, was wildly inappropriate, making Eva put her hands over Jelly's ears more than once, and having Jacob's cheeks going a bit red.

But then things turned more serious as I stood up there with my woman—the woman I never