“He’s going to break her heart all over again!” I exploded, unable to hold onto it a second longer without indeed becoming a homicidal maniac. Dallas was my best friend, my sister. We had been through hell with our mothers and had only just barely made it back because we had been there for each other. “I can’t handle it if he hurts her again. She deserves better…” I turned to look right at her, finally letting her see how upset I was. She had been so quiet ever since she finally came out of Axton’s room that I knew she had felt my tension. “…You deserve better!”

Dallas smiled and pulled me into her arms. She wasn’t a fan of hugs, of any physical contact really, but she held me close and stroked her hands over my hair. “Stop worrying about me, Harp. I know what I’m doing. This is like closure. He and I are having one last crazy weekend. I’ve needed it, actually. He’s been haunting me for so long and now I can work him out of my system and leave with a smile on my face.”

I wrapped my arms around her small waist, breathing in the soothing scent of her subtle perfume. I didn’t believe a word she was saying, but I wasn’t going to call her on it. For the moment I was going to pretend I believed her. I was good at pretending things were okay; my childhood had made me a pro at it.

Hugging her tight for another long moment to soak up the love we shared, I finally let go. “Okay, Em. Let’s go.”

Big green eyes were still narrowed on me, but she nodded her head after only a small hesitation and turned around to put the Escalade in Drive.

By that afternoon I had pushed all thoughts of Dallas and Axton out of my mind. The seven of us were having too much fun for me to let any negative thoughts affect me. We were sitting outside by the pool at the house Shane and I had bought just a few months ago. I loved Santa Monica more than I thought I would. We had tried to find a house in Malibu, but there hadn’t been anything available that either of us had really liked. As soon as the realtor had shown us this four-bedroom cottage, I had been in love with it.

“We could have gone to a spa and gotten all of this done,” Emmie said as she watched Lucy put on a second coating of sunshine-yellow polish on her toes. “That’s what we did before my wedding.”

I shook my head. “I like this better. Just us.” It was perfect in my book. Sitting beside my pool with a glass of wine in hand while my favorite girls in the world catered to my every want and need. Dallas had done my mani and pedi, giving me a simple white French tip on both that looked elegant. I had an expensive mud mask on my face to make my skin glow come morning, and we were gorging on takeout food to the point I was sure my wedding dress wasn’t going to go over my hips. Perfect…

I missed Shane.

It was irrational, since I had just seen him a few hours ago. I would see him in less than twenty-four hours, and walk down the aisle to him and become his wife. Still, my heart ached to have him holding me right at that moment.

I wondered what he and the guys were getting into tonight. I knew they had something planned for him. I was sure that Drake was going to be watching Mia while everyone else went out. For Nik’s night out, he and Shane had gotten tattoos over their hearts. Nik’s had been mouthwatering. The heart, the lettering, the flames.

When Shane had shown me his own, I had cried. Then he had made love to me until I couldn’t remember where we were.

Drake had sketched my eyes. Big, violet eyes. Shane had taken it to the tattoo artist who had turned it into a masterpiece on my man’s chest. My eyes stared back at me every time he took off his shirt. I wondered if he was going to get another one tonight. With the remaining four members of OtherWorld joining them at Emmie’s house later tonight, I doubted it.

“I want a tattoo.”

Five heads shot up and around to look at me. They knew I wasn’t the biggest fan of tattoos. Unlike Dallas who was more tattoo than skin, I only had one little bitty one on the back of my neck that represented my friendship with her. I didn’t like the needles, the sound of the tattoo gun. But I wanted to show Shane how much I loved him, just as he had done for me long before he had trusted me enough to say yes when he finally proposed.

Dallas and Emmie were studying me more intently than the other three. I didn’t know what either were thinking, but finally Dallas grinned. “Okay. What did you have in mind?”

I thought of all of Shane’s tattoos. Except for the one on his chest of my eyes, the others were on his arms and back. They were all works of art, telling the story of his life in some way. The Demon’s Wings stamp on his left shoulder reminded me of the one that was on Emmie’s  with ‘Property of Demon’s Wings’ and the angel’s wings that were on Lana’s back with the simple proclamation of ‘The Demon’s Angel’.

I knew exactly what I wanted. “I need Drake’s help.”

Chapter 6

Shane

I was contemplating calling Harper when Drake came out of the house with Mia in one arm and his messenger bag full of his art supplies in the other. I jumped up off the lounger I had been sprawled in. “What’s up?”

“The girls want me to go over to your house for a little while. Don’t ask why, I’m not allowed to tell.” He grinned, readjusting Mia in his arm. “You guys still going out?”

“Pussy-whipped hasn’t made up his mind,” Liam called out, sitting in a lounger by the pool with a pair of shades on—more to hide his glazed over eyes than to block out the sun. As usual, Liam was high.

I ignored him because as much as I hated him when he was high, I loved him like a brother. “I figured we could just grill some steaks or something. I’m not really in the mood to go out.” I had no urge to go out and get shitfaced with a bunch of strippers—something I was sure Liam had been planning on when he had come over.

Maybe the idiot hadn’t gotten the memo, but I was getting married in the morning to someone who made my life complete. From the moment I had laid eyes on her my world had been turned upside down—in a good way. The need for a new girl every night and all the other shit I had done had stopped the moment my lips had touched hers.

“Sounds like a plan.” Drake pulled his keys from his pocket, already moving toward the driveway between the guesthouse and main house. “I shouldn’t be gone long.”

“Bye, Uncle Shane.” Mia waved as Drake carried her away.

“Bye, Mia.” I blew her a kiss before she was out of sight.