Church lasted for over two more hours, so I eventually went to sleep in Cade's dorm. I was sleeping peacefully until I heard the door open. My nerves settled as Cade came in and closed the door behind him. He sat down on the end of the bed and pulled his boots off before standing up and getting undressed.
"What's the plan?" I mumbled as he climbed into bed next to me. We both smelled like smoke still, but I was too tired to care about showering. I could wash the sheets in the morning.
"Sending the prospects with your dad, Happy, Chibs and Abel. The rest of us are staying here. They're not going far though. Soon as we get word from Jarry's people that the Bandits are headed towards Charming they're doubling back. Letting the prospects wear colors so hopefully it looks like Charming's pretty unprotected." Cade said with a yawn as he put his head on my shoulder. I nodded slowly, looking for holes in the plan.
"So, it'll be you, Kenny, Juice, Quinn and Tig here?" I didn't like the numbers. The plan was good otherwise. Cade nodded.
"Kozik and the other Nomads will be here to. They were coming up for the wedding Saturday anyways. When do you want to tell your family?" Cade asked, tracing his fingers over my stomach. I smiled and kissed the top of his head.
"After the wedding and the shit with the Bandits is done. I don't want anyone focusing on me right now. Enough attention is off of Misty and Abel's wedding right now. I don't want to take any more." I said as my stomach growled. Cade nodded and moved over to his pillow but his hand stayed put.
"What you mean is you don't want anybody protecting you more than anyone else? I hear you but know that you're first for me, Vic. If I have to choose it's always going to be you." I nodded, knowing there was no way to convince him otherwise.
"Can we still go for the dress fitting tomorrow?" I asked with a yawn. Cade nodded and leaned in to give me a kiss.
"Doubled protection but yeah, Vic. I know better than to get between a woman and shopping." I giggled and curled up against his side before falling back to sleep.
"Are you all really coming inside?" Misty asked Cade as he took his helmet off and gave me a hand off his bike. He nodded and stood up.
"At least Abel isn't here. They'll try to blend in, right Jax?" Mom asked, looking at Dad pointedly. He hesitated before nodding with a smile. Misty rolled her sunglass covered eyes and lead everyone inside the little store. Tig and Dad waited outside while Cade and Juice walked in with us.
"How are you so little! Uh, I hate you both." Misty growled as I walked out in my matron of honor dress and mom walked out in her mother of the groom dress. I glanced over at Cade who gave me a little grin before getting back to his conversation with Juice. Mom looked over at my royal blue dress and smiled.
"You look sweet, Victory. Even with all the ink." She winked and ignored my eye roll. Misty nodded her approval and we headed back into the dressing rooms to change back into normal clothes as Misty changed into her wedding dress. I hurried out into the shop and looked at Cade and Juice.
"Neither one of you look at her and tell my brother a word about the dress. Not even what color it is. I know where both of you live!" I narrowed my eyes and pointed from Cade to Juice. They both laughed and nodded.
Misty walked out in her fitted, lace dress and already had tears in her eyes. I smiled and headed back to her side. The dress was fitted through the bust and then flowed down to the ground. It reminded me of something from Romeo and Juliet. I felt my bottom lip start to quiver as I nodded.
"You're beautiful, Misty!" I hugged her tightly and felt tears start rolling down my cheeks. I turned away and wiped them away quickly so no one would see me crying. It wasn't like me and they would know something was up.
"Do you think Abel will like it?" She bit her lip and did a little spin. Mom laughed and grabbed her shoulders.
"He will love it, Misty. There's no way he wouldn't." Misty nodded and gave her a tight hug. I took a deep breath and steadied myself on the back of a velvet chair. Cade was by my side in a flash.
"You okay?" He searched my eyes for an answer as I nodded. He didn't seem to reassured.
"I didn't have time to eat this morning and I just got a little dizzy. I'm fine, babe." He shook his head and took a deep breath himself.
"Vic, you can't go without eating. It can mess all kinds of shit up. Amanda had some kind of diabetes when she was pregnant. We done here?" He was looking over at mom and Misty as she headed back to the dressing room. I grabbed his chin and made him look at me.
"Cade, stop. We can wait a few minutes, okay? It would look suspicious if we leave out of the blue. We can break off and go to the diner on our way back." He narrowed his eyes at me and huffed.
"You know, most old ladies listen to their man." He grumbled with a little smirk. I laughed and hitched a shoulder.
"Most old ladies aren't the daughter of the president. You're the one that put a ring on it." I winked and stood on my toes to kiss him. His smirk cracked into a bright smile and he laughed through our kiss.
"You two are adorable. It's kind of gross." Misty said, grabbing my arm and stealing me away. Cade shrugged and seemed more relaxed than when I first got a dizzy spell. We loaded the dresses into the back of Mom's car and went our separate ways. Juice and Tig headed back to the clubhouse with my parents and Misty while Cade and I headed for the diner.
"You're really eating that?" Cade asked after I ordered a grilled chicken salad and a water. I nodded and showed him the website I had pulled up on my phone. "Eating healthy for baby and mom. Vic, you've practically got a six pack, I'm pretty sure you eat fine."
"I do for me but I don't get enough vitamins for a baby and it's always been really hard for me to gain weight. I've tried before." I twisted my mouth and went back to scrolling through the lists of foods. Cade took my phone and put it face down on the table.
"Vic, stop worrying. We'll go to the doctor after the wedding and all the shit with the Bandits. They can give you vitamins and stuff to help. Why don't you talk to Amanda about it? I know you don't want anyone to know but she's not connected to the club." He said as the waitress brought out our drinks. I shook my head and took a sip of water.
"No, but she's family. I want to announce it to everyone all together. Maybe we can have a dinner at my parent's or something. Do you think she'd come?" I asked between sips of water. Cade leaned back and nodded.
"Yeah, Vic, she'll come. She likes you." He said before his eyes turned dark. I furrowed my brow and wondered what he could possibly be upset about. I turned around and groaned.
"Cade, don't. Just act like you don't see him. He may not even be here for us." I said, taking his hand. He flicked his eyes over to me before going back to staring at the door.
"Yeah, he's probably just here for you." He growled before reluctantly looking away from Brent. I couldn't understand why he came back to Charming. He should have known better.
"Here you go sweetheart." The waitress gave me a smile. She was my favorite waitress and she'd been surprised when I ordered anything besides a plain burger. Cade just nodded curtly and she disappeared. I stabbed a piece of chicken with my fork and watched Cade get more and more tense.
"I love you, Cade." I brought my eyes up from my salad to peek at him. The corners of his mouth turned up a little and he seemed to relax just a little.
"I love you to, killer. You know you need to eat not just stab it with a fork." He had a smirk and it made me relax a little. I tasted the salad and almost hurled. Cade laughed and pushed his burger over to me.
"I can't eat that. I'm sorry." Cade laughed and shook his head before starting on the salad.
"It's fine, she probably hates lettuce." I raised my brow at him calling the baby a she, but I liked the sound of it. The burger settled my stomach and brought me out of my daze. I offered Cade a French fry which made him laugh and relax completely.
We finished our meal and settled the check, having nearly put the earlier incident out of our minds. Cade put his hand on my lower back as usual and walked beside me on our way out. I saw the all too familiar Harley Switchback parked a few spaces down from us and gritted my teeth. Cade didn't recognize Brent's bike, so he didn't react.
"Victory! Do you have a minute?" Cade stopped in his tracks as I slowly came to a stop just before his bike. I took a deep breath and turned around. Cade looked like he was torn between shooting Brent or stabbing him.
"Cade, you can't leave right now." We made eye contact and he scowled, but decided it better to hold off on killing Brent. "What, Brent? The club was clear about you not coming back to Charming."
"Can we talk, in private?" He asked. Cade shook his head and I didn't fight him on it. Brent shook his head and ran his hand around the back of his neck.
"Look, I just wanted to give you a heads up. ATF is looking into the club. They caught wind of something down in Nevada and they're building a case." Brent said, ignoring Cade. I sighed and shook my head.
"I don't know what you're talking about. We were at a rally. It's not illegal." I said, lifting a shoulder. Brent rolled his eyes and stepped towards me. Cade made a noise in his throat and moved slightly in front of me.
"Look, I just don't want to see the club or you hurt." Brent said, sounding some what defeated. I swallowed and felt a twang of sadness. I nodded and laced my fingers in with Cade's.
"Goodbye, Brent." I said, urging Cade towards the bike. They stared at one another for a couple moments before he finally let me lead him away. We headed back to the clubhouse instead of home.
"I'm going to lay down in your dorm, Cade. I'm tired." He nodded and kissed my forehead before letting me head off. I didn't want to face it. I didn't want to consider the possibility that my family could be facing serious time. I felt like it was out of my control and that made me sick to my stomach.