I Do, Babe (Hades Hangmen #5.5)

My pansy ass tried to imagine being at the fucking altar and seeing Mae walk toward me in white. Her fucking smile and her wolf eyes. I opened my mouth. “I-I-I . . . R-R-River, t-t-t-t . . .” Without even looking at my brothers, I kicked my chair and smashed that fucker against the wall. I pounded out of the room and into the clubhouse.

“You get your period, Prez?” Vike called after me. I didn’t even stop to kick his ginger ass. Embarrassment and anger ran through me like lava. I was storming toward my bike when a hand landed on my arm. I turned and immediately wrapped my hand around Ky’s neck. I walked him backward until I smashed his back against the nearest wall.

“Styx,” he said with his hands held out. “I was just trying to fucking help.”

“D-D-Don’t,” I snarled then released him so I could sign. “Don’t pull shit on me like that again, Ky, or I swear to fucking Hades I’ll slit your throat. Best friend or not. I promise I’ll kill you.”

“I was trying to help. This is eating you up, asshole. I’ve known you all your life. Don’t think I can’t see how it’s all getting at you.” Before I could answer, Ky’s cell rang. He answered immediately.

“She is?” He nodded, sighing in relief. “Thanks, man. Appreciate all you’ve done for her.” He put the cell back in his jeans, but I was already moving to my bike. I threw my leg over the saddle, and Ky called out, “That was AK. Phebe’s out of the woods. Gonna go and get Li. She’ll meet Phebe again tomorrow.”

Still pissed, I stuck out my middle finger and took off along the dirt path. Dust and stone kicked up in my wake, and I just fucking rode. I rode along the path until I looked to my left and in the field were Lilah, Madds and Mae. Grace was with them too. I killed my bike’s engine when I knew they hadn’t seen me.

I eased up the kickstand and moved to a tree that gave me the fucking perfect view of my bitch. She was braiding Grace’s hair or some shit as Grace played with dolls. Mae’s hair was down. And when she threw her head back and laughed at something Maddie said, my heart fucking broke.

I watched her pink lips as she spoke. I watched as she spoke to her sisters like not one of them had been raped as kids. Like not one of them had a fucking care in the world.

My hands were in fists as I tried to loosen up my mouth. As I silently mouthed the vows Ky had written on that fucking sheet of paper.

The sound of a bike roared across the field, and I saw Ky roll up and speak to Lilah and Grace. Grace ran over to my brother and jumped into his arms. The fucker’s million-dollar smile was out on full display as he lifted her in his arms and kissed her on the cheek. Then he looked over in my direction, and I saw his face fall.

As pissed as I was at the dick, I knew my VP was only trying to help. And as much as I wanted nothing more than to cut off his cock and stuff it down his throat, I knew the fucker would die for me too.

He just didn’t understand. None of them did. How the fuck could they?

Seeing something pulling Ky’s attention, Mae looked my way. The minute she saw me, that same blinding smile she always gave me spread on her lips. And like Pavlov’s dog, my dick hardened and my heart fucking nearly burst from my chest at the sight of her. Especially in her long black dress that showed off her baby bump. My kid that I fucking prayed to all that was holy didn’t inherit this shitty speech impediment.

Ky flicked his chin at me as he led Lilah and Grace back home. Maddie left Mae with a kiss on her cheek. And as I’d known she would, Mae walked toward me. As she came my way, I leaned back against the tree and worked on loosening up my throat. Then, with no one to hear me but the wind, the sun, and fucking Hades himself, I opened my mouth and spoke. “I-I, R-River N-N-Nash.” I sucked in a breath and watched Mae’s smile get brighter as she got closer, and I finished, “T-take y-y-you M-M-Mae . . .” My head twitched and my eyes blinked fast, the fucking tic I always had when I tried to speak. Then, when she was only yards away, I managed to finish quietly, “T-T- b-b-be my . . . l-l-law . . . l-l-lawfully . . . w-w-w-wedded . . . w-w-wife.”

I panted, out of breath, as I spat the last word of the vow. But I felt something in my chest break as the fucking vow was done. I would never be able to do this.

“River?” Mae whispered and took the final few steps until she was before me. “What are you doing here?”

I couldn’t fucking speak any more, so I held out my hand and pulled her down into my lap. Mae called out, laughing, as she gently landed on my lap and I wrapped my arms around her waist. She turned her face toward me and, before she could speak, before she could even ask me what the fuck was wrong, I crushed my lips to hers. Mae sighed into my mouth as I took her tongue with my own then broke away.

She settled into my chest and closed her eyes. I fucking let her as I stared out over the field, eyes focused on nothing. “I love you, River Nash,” she said sleepily. “I cannot wait to be your wife.” I squeezed her tighter; then she said, “We should go home. I am tired. I am struggling to keep my eyes open today.”

But I only held her tighter. I never wanted to let this bitch go. Taking a deep breath, I said, “St-Stay. St-Stay h-h-here w-w-with me.”

Mae looked up at me through her long black lashes and smiled, taken aback. Her cheeks were pink from the sun, and she’d never looked more fucking perfect to me. “Okay,” she said softly, her eyes closing again. “We will stay. It is warm enough, and I have you.”

As her breathing evened out and she fell asleep against my chest, I closed my eyes too and mouthed the vow once again.

I River Nash take you Mae . . . And I mouthed it over and over again until I fell asleep too.

Funny how I didn’t stutter in my dreams.





Chapter Four


Mae



I lit the final candle just as I heard the lock turn. I sat on the edge of the bed and waited.

I heard his footsteps move through the house, and I knew who those feet were searching for: me. Each night, every time he returned from his run, his trajectory was to wherever I was.

Always me.

I waited for the call of my name. But as it had been for the past few weeks, his arrival home was silent. My fiancé was silent. He was never silent with me. With me his words—although stuttered and weak—were many, expressive . . . loving. But the silence that had befallen his soul lately was suffocating—just as the effort to speak was suffocating for him. And worse, he was not using his hands to tell me what was wrong. There was just . . . nothing.

I held my breath as I heard him approach the door. My heart beat as fast as it always did in his presence. I was sure with each passing day that beat increased in both volume and rhythm. I was sure it would until my very dying day.