Thunder (Hell's Handlers MC #10) - Lilly Atlas Page 0,147
as they were when I was little.”
With a snort, Copper drew away from his red-faced wife. “Go get your mother a refill,” he said, shoving Shell’s wine glass toward Beth. “I wanna make a toast.”
“You sit, babe. I got it.” Lee put his hand on Beth’s shoulder as he stood and reached for the empty glass.
Hmm, gentlemanly. Fine, he got one point for that.
“Thanks, Lee.” Beth gazed up at him with fucking dopey eyes.
“You’re scowling,” Shell whispered.
Goddammed right he was.
“Can’t help it. You got any idea what an unmarried thirty-three-year-old biker gets up to in his spare time?” he whispered back.
Shell’s head fell back, and a loud laugh left her. The smooth line of her throat called to him. He had a sudden urge to run his wife upstairs and celebrate the rest of her birthday in private.
“No, Copper, I don’t know anything about bikers. Please fill me in.” Her eyes leaked tears from laughter.
“Smartass,” he said, giving her firm ass a pinch. She squealed and laughed harder.
Across the table, Beth rolled her eyes as she tossed her long reddish blond hair over her shoulder. Nothing new for her.
A few moments later, Lee returned and set the glass in front of Shell.
“Thank you so much, Lee,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Whew, that was good.”
Copper grunted. “Keep laughing, woman. We’ll see how well that turns out for you later.”
His wife’s eyes darkened with lust and he couldn’t resist kissing her again. Fuck. Whose idea was this party anyway? And how rude was it for the guest of honor to leave less than an hour in? Because he really wanted to get his wife home for a private celebration.
Oh, right, it’d been Beth’s idea. The daughter across the table currently making vomiting noises. He turned his head. “You shut your trap,” he said, pointing at his daughter. “Or your boyfriend will be spending the next month on the road.”
Her jaw dropped. “You wouldn’t.”
Finally, Copper had a leg up. “Oh, but I would, daughter of mine.”
Lee didn’t look the least bit concerned as he whispered something in Beth’s ear.
Copper stood, taking Shell with him. He set her on her feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Listen up!” he called out. “This won’t take long.”
The DJ cut the music, and everyone partying began to return to their tables to retrieve their drinks.
“We are so lucky,” Shell whispered, voice cracking.
He glanced down at his wife, who was staring up at him with so much love in her gaze, his chest ached. Lucky didn’t begin to cover it.
Together they looked out over their kingdom. Over the people they loved. How had they—how had he—gotten so goddammed fortunate in his life? He didn’t deserve this wonderful family life he had, but the urge to make sure each and every one of his family members knew how important they were hit strong.
He cleared his suddenly thick throat. “Just want to take a quick second to thank you all for coming out to celebrate the woman who—” Shit, his throat clogged again, and he wasn’t sure he could finish.
Shell squeezed his waist. “I love you,” she mouthed.
He’d get it out. He’d do anything for his woman. After clearing his throat again, he spoke. “To celebrate the woman who is my entire world. It seems like only yesterday that I was a fucking idiot with my head in the sand when it came to Shell. I know you all love her almost as much as I do. She’s at the very center of this club. The heart of our family. She’s kept me smiling in good times and sane in the rough ones.”
“You don’t deserve her!” someone called out, probably Maverick. He sat with his wife Stephanie, and their twelve-year-old twin boys.
“You think I don’t know that?” he yelled back. “Pretty sure I don’t deserve any of you.”
He paused, taking in all the love around them.
Toni and Zach sat with their five-year-old daughter and their adopted daughter Lindsey, who’d just turned twenty-eight. They’d been the last of the crew to get married. Even Screw and Gumby had their version of a commitment ceremony with Jazz before Zach proposed to Toni. The triad was one of the few relationships in the club that hadn’t produced children. They loved playing aunt and uncle to the hordes of kids in the club. They also had about ten foster animals at their house at all times.
Even Thunder and Makenna had gone on to have one boy despite always joking about their