I shook my head at her. “You and your cold heart, Roxie.”

“No, me and my practical heart. He’s worse than a schoolgirl with a new crush every day. I swear, I’m going to lock him up for a couple of months and teach him some new ways.” She came to me and reached for my hair. “What are we doing today? You only just had it coloured.”

A huge smile made its way across my face. “I’m getting married,” I announced, a little breathless with excitement.

In typical Roxie form, she didn’t even bat an eyelid. “It’s about time.”

“Yeah, it really is.”

She let my hair go and started rummaging through a cupboard. “So this is why you’ve got all the girls coming in today. I was wondering.”

I’d asked Madison, Velvet and Layla to come today so I could get their opinion on my hair for the wedding. But that wasn’t my real reason. I figured after everything that had happened with the club recently, we needed some girl time. The club had to rebuild, and I truly believed that involved their women. We had to be strong so they could, too. Men would never fully grasp this, but girl time was more than just talking girl stuff and hanging out. It was soul time.

“Oh, my God!” Madison screamed from behind me. “Did I just hear that right? You and Scott are getting married?”

I turned with a grin. “Yes!”

It was like her whole body was lit up. Her happiness shone from her. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight. “I am so happy for you both!”

She held me for a long time, and when she finally let me go, I said softly, “Thank you. And thank you for coming today. I’m excited, but I’m also nervous. I need my girls around this week.”

“I’m here for you, honey. Whatever you need. And - ” she stepped aside, “ – I brought Sophia with me. I figured it was time for her initiation.”

I welcomed Sophia with a smile. “We’re throwing you in the deep end today. Sorry about that.”

She returned my smile. “Congratulations on your engagement. And I love being thrown in the deep end.”

I hardly knew Sophia, but it was easy to pick up on her warmth and friendliness. “You’re going to fit right in with us girls. Griff’s not going to know what hit him.”

“We might need to ease him into it. I do love him, but he’s taken a while to get his shit together with regards to introducing me to the club,” Sophia said.

Velvet arrived at that point, and threw her two cents in. “I think you’ve got the patience of a saint.”

“I’ve got all the patience in the world for that man. I’ve never known a man to be so good to me,” Sophia replied, and I loved her a little more for saying that.

“I think Griff’s an amazing man, too,” I said. “And I’m so glad he’s found a woman as good as you to love him.”

Roxie interrupted us. “Oh, God, enough of the love fest. I may gag soon. Let’s start thinking about your hair for the wedding.”

We headed out to the front of the shop and as I took a seat, Bobby said, “Layla just rang. She can’t make it today. Something about Blade, and him having the day off, and her knowing you girls would totally understand.”

Velvet took the seat next to me. “After two full days of Nash loving, I totally understand where that girl’s coming from.”

Bobby sighed. “I knew I should just have called in sick. Listening to your sexcapades with those Storm men may just kill me today.”

We all broke out into laughter, and happiness bubbled through me. This was what made life good – friends and family who loved you, and who shared the good and bad with you. Friends and family who held your hand and guided you when you couldn’t guide yourself. I knew I still had work to do on myself, and that the journey would never be clear of hardships, but with these girls by my side, the bumps would be a little easier to navigate.

20

Scott

“Where are we at with Julio’s guys?” I asked Nash during Church that morning. After King and I had dealt with Bourne the other day, we’d pulled everyone together and delivered a warning to Julio’s crew to leave town – the kind of warning that involved blood and not many men left standing.

“The few that were left standing have all headed back to Adelaide.”

I expelled the breath I hadn’t realised I was holding.

Thank fuck.

I nodded as I relaxed back into my chair. “And King has advised me that he’s promised hell to Adelaide Storm if they retaliate.” I looked around the room, taking in the serious expressions the guys all wore. Leaning forward again, I rested my elbows on the table and said, “This is all over. Finally. Now we rebuild our club and hope to fuck that we can have some peace for a long time.”

I watched as their serious expressions gave way to smiles and nods of relief. And all I could think was that it was about time.

Griff took over to discuss some pressing matters involving Trilogy and Indigo, and once they were all sorted, I spoke up again. “This Saturday, I’m getting married - ” Wolf whistles and cheers cut me off, and I gave them that for a moment before taking control again. “If you’re in town this weekend, I want you at the wedding.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the fucking world,” J said as he grinned at me. “Never actually thought I’d see the day that Scott Cole got married.”

“Smartass,” I muttered before calling an end to Church.