Chapter 66 Wedding ideas notebook
Sage's POV
The wedding plans arrived by courier the next morning in a thick manila envelope with my name written in elegant calligraphy across the front. There was no return address, just a Blood Sisters patch stamped where a stamp should have been, like they wanted to make sure I knew exactly who the envelope was from.
I stared at it for a full minute before opening it, my stomach churning with dread.
Inside was a leather-bound folder. It looked expensive and of high quality, the kind of thing you'd see at actual weddings where people spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on every detail. I opened it with shaking hands and immediately wished I hadn't.
The first page was a formal invitation with Diego Vasquez and Sage Romano requesting your presence at their wedding ceremony, with the date, time, and location all listed in beautiful script that made this nightmare feel more real. Three weeks from today at the Blood Sisters compound in Arizona, like it was already decided and happening whether I wanted it to or not.
My throat tightened as I forced myself to keep reading.
The second page showed the venue with photos of an outdoor ceremony space that had mountains in the background, rows of white chairs arranged perfectly, and an arch covered in flowers that looked like something from a wedding magazine. It looked beautiful and romantic and everything a wedding should be.
I wanted to throw up.
The third page listed the guest list and I felt my stomach drop as I scanned the names. Over three hundred people including Blood Sisters members, Steel Wolves members, other MC clubs from across the Southwest, and politicians and businessmen whose names I recognized from the news. This wasn't going to be a small ceremony or a private affair, this was going to be a massive event, a show of force, a public declaration that two powerful families were uniting whether the bride wanted it or not.
The fourth page showed my dress, or what Diego had chosen for me anyway, all white lace and traditional styling that looked expensive and beautiful and made me feel sick.
I slammed the folder shut before I could see more, unable to look at another page of this nightmare they were trying to force me into.
Ryder walked into the kitchen and stopped when he saw my face, his expression immediately shifting to concern. "What's wrong?"
I pushed the folder across the table toward him without a word. "Diego sent wedding plans."
He opened it and his jaw clenched tighter with each page he turned, his knuckles cracked as he gripped the folder. When he got to the dress he closed the folder and shoved it away like it was contaminated with something toxic.
"You're not wearing that."
"I'm not wearing anything because I'm not going through with this wedding."
"Damn right you're not."
But even as he said it, I could see the doubt in his eyes, and I could see him calculating odds and coming up with the same conclusion I had. We were running out of time and options, and the noose was tightening around us with every day that passed.
The attacks on the club were escalating with no sign of stopping. Johnny was still in the hospital and might never fully recover from his injuries. The bar was destroyed and would take months to rebuild. The garage was damaged and barely functional. Brothers were getting jumped in broad daylight just for wearing their colors.
And now there were surveillance photos, threatening messages, and a store clerk beaten for the crime of smiling at me.
Diego was tightening the noose around our throats, showing us exactly what would happen if I refused to honor the contract my father had signed.
"We could run," I said quietly. "Like we talked about yesterday."
"And leave Jaxon to deal with the fallout? Leave the club vulnerable to whatever Diego does next?" Ryder shook his head. "You'd never forgive yourself and you know it."
"I'd also never forgive myself for marrying Diego while I'm in love with you."
He moved around the table and pulled me into his arms, and I pressed my face against his chest as I tried not to cry.
"We'll find another way," he said against my hair. "We have three weeks and that's enough time to figure out who killed your dad, who's sending the threats, who's coordinating the attacks against the club, if it's not the Blood sisters’ doing."
"And if we don't figure it out in time?"
"Then we run. We get on my bike and we don't stop until we hit the Canadian border, just like we agreed." His arms tightened around me protectively. "I'm not watching you marry someone else, Sage. I'd rather burn the club to the ground than let that happen."
"Don't say that."
"Why not? It's true." His voice was fierce. "You're more important to me than the Steel Wolves, than Jaxon, than anyone or anything else in this world. I love you, Sage, and I will do whatever it takes to keep you, even if that means destroying everything else in the process."
The intensity in his voice scared me because I knew he meant every word, but it also made me feel cherished in a way I had never experienced before.
My phone rang and Elena's name flashed on the screen, making my stomach clench.
I almost didn't answer because ignoring her seemed like the better option, but I knew that would only make things worse in the long run.
"Hello?"
"Sage! I hope you received the wedding plans Diego sent." Her voice was cheerful and fake, like we were friends instead of enemies locked in a battle neither of us could afford to lose. "What do you think?"
"I think it's premature."
"Premature? The wedding is in three weeks and if anything we're cutting it close with the timeline." She laughed like I had made a joke. "But Diego wanted to give you time to adjust to the idea because he's very considerate that way."
"Considerate would be not forcing me to marry him in the first place."