Willa took it all in stride. She was one of the only people who knew the circumstances of the wedding and she hadn’t let the secret slip. Hell, she didn’t even treat him with the disdain I thought she would.
“You know, he’s one handsome devil,” she whispered to me, not quiet enough. He heard it and then grinned, winking at her and turning out towards the crowd.
I watched as her already rosy face turned an even deeper shade of red.
“You realize we have all night to get drunk, don’t you?”
It was early.
“It’s not my fault the parties had to all be jam-packed into a single day. You didn’t even do a rehearsal!”
“We couldn’t get use of the venue for that,” I explained. We were lucky to get St. Vincent DePaul to lend us the venue at all. Turns out Father Patrick was a cousin of Alexander’s.
“I see your point,” I said.
“We ready to do this?” Mary asked as she came up and threaded her arm through Willa’s. The three of us became close instantly and those two hit it off extremely well.
I could tell by the way they rolled their eyes in time that they would be friends even after the wedding.
“Yes. The sooner we do this the sooner we can get to the real party.”
“Real party?” I asked. It was mostly in jest because I knew they were planning something a little bit more lively than this.
“You bet your ass. We have penis shaped cake, Joanna. You aren’t getting out of that,” Willa said.
She pushed me around the room introducing me to just about everyone. Mary was there with us the whole way, letting me know who each individual was and how important they were to the family.
It didn’t keep her from rolling her eyes though. I liked Mary.
“Okay, rounds complete. Now the adults will get to sit and talk and we can get to the fun,” Willa said as she pushed me out the back doors.
“Wait, what about Greyson?” I asked. I wanted to at least get the chance to say goodbye.
“He has his own party to get to,” Mary answered.
It was going to be one long night.
Greyson
“Are you f*ck
ing serious?” I asked as I looked up at the name on the sign. Verge. It used to be one of my favorite haunts.
“What? I got us the VIP room.” Lenny said. He was one of my cousins and a guy I used to go out with.
Janson just crossed his arms and sighed. “I told him you wouldn’t like it.”
“No, it’s fine I could use a good drink.”
“Now that’s more like it,” Lenny said as he pulled me into the club. There were about ten of us all in tow every single one of them connected to the family somehow. Cousins of sorts.
“Greyson,” the bouncer said at the head of the club and I nodded at him. I’d been a couple months since I’d been by, but I was a regular before that. It was an easy place to find ass when I wanted it, and I never had to sample the same wares twice. Unless I wanted to.
And I almost never did. Except when it came to Joanna. I just wanted to be home burying myself into her with a nice buzz going on. I didn’t want to be here, pretending to live up the last night of my “freedom”. It wasn’t freedom to me.
This was the jail. This was the cage. Having to live like I didn’t give a shit about anything else.
The flash of lights in the club made me a little nauseous as we threaded our way through the bodies and towards the VIP lounge. Bodies brushed against me on the left and right, reminding me of all the women I’d danced with, ground up against. All the times I drowned my worries in alcohol and women.
It was a familiar taste, that’s for sure, but it wasn’t mine anymore.
No. I wasn’t the man I used to be. For better or for worse Joanna had changed that part of me. I didn’t want to take any of these women home tonight.
“Bunch of hotties, huh?” Lenny asked as he raised his eyebrows. I fought the urge to slap him on the back of the head and brushed past him.
“Yes. Hotties.” Janson said it in a singular disjointed way that made me chuckle. He’d never been one for places like this, and when he went it was only to act as my personal bodyguard. But any time he could get out of it, he did.
It was where I met his sister that one night. Why I ended up in on the rack for that well deserved beating. Without it I may never have met Joanna, or at least noticed her.
So many things had to happen for me to get to know her and I was thankful for every single one.
“Come on man, let’s get some bourbon and sit a spell, huh?” I asked as I found my way to our usual spot.
Sean was already there leaning against the bench seat with a drink in his hand. He was a good guy, a hard-ass, but a good guy.
This was my crew, the only one I had, and when it was my turn, when I came to power they knew that they were going to be promoted. That things would be different when I took over the family.
We didn’t talk much, didn’t need to.
“Greyson, hey hon. Haven’t seen you around in a while, what can I get you?” Millie, our server smiled at me with those knowing eyes of hers as she laid down the coasters.
“Bourbon tonight, doll.” I said with my usual charm.