"Yes, ma'am. I'm looking for Kent. He's an old friend from school." I slipped my hands in my jeans pockets as a shiver raced across my spine. I'd have many a woman eye-fuck me, but this one wasn't shy about it. I was scared for her. If she knew Selene Delgado was my woman... she'd turn her head quick and never look my way again.

  "Sure. Hold on, handsome." She turned and leaned into the house, lifting her butt as if I wanted a better view of it.

  I turned and walked back down into the yard, moving over to my bike and putting my phone to my ear. I mumbled some useless information, not talking to anyone, but not wanting to get into another conversation with the woman. No need to hurt her feelings.

  Moments later, Kent came walking down the stairs, his eyes cast toward the ground. The slight rounding of his shoulders and pale appearance left me with no doubt. He'd been there when Jamison had died.

  I put the phone in my back pocket and watched the woman go back into the house.

  "My sister wants to know if you're seeing anyone." He nodded back toward the house, but his tone told me he was forced to ask.

  "Yeah, I am." I brushed the back of my hand past my nose. "I'm here to talk to you about what happened to Jamison at the arcade today."

  "No clue what you're talking about, Lucky." He shrugged and gave me a look that was filled with defiance.

  "Of course you do. Speak up now. You know I'll not be doing anything that would get you in trouble. I'm just trying to find out for the Stone Wolves who did this shit." I pressed my hands to the seat of my bike and tried to relax. The kid was fucked up enough. He didn't need to feel the tension rolling off of me, too.

  "You know who did it, and I ain't about to rat them out. They’ll slit my throat, rape my momma and sister and kill them, too. Fuck no. It ain't happening, Lucky. Don't ask that shit of me, man." His lip started to tremble and I let out a long sigh. I didn't need to put him in the position I was putting him in, but fuck... I needed to know if Lena was there.

  Just ask her, you dick.

  "Alright. I'll leave you be, but the sooner you guys start sticking up for yourselves, the more they'll back off." I pulled on my helmet, knowing my words were useless. Rafael Delgado had everyone so fucking scared of him there was no use trying.

  He wasn't a man of words, but of action.

  "Men don't stand up to them, Lucky. They end up dead... seizing on the shit they're selling."

  "Jamison died because he stood up to them?"

  Kent shrugged. "Don't know. Just speaking universal truths."

  "Alright, man." I pulled my phone from my pocket as the kid walked off, and texted Lena. She didn't respond, but I knew without a doubt that if she had been in the middle of the shit, she'd be in one of two places. With her grandmother, or out at the garage, waiting on me.

  I'd try the garage and then Grandma's. Surely she hadn't gotten herself wrapped up in something so heinous. If she had, I was sure to find a broken woman. Lena was a Delgado by blood only. There was no way she would be down with someone dying because of her father's drugs.

  That I knew from experience.

  ***

  I found her bike parked outside of the garage I'd bought for the future, and my heart fell. She had to know I would be involved in the cleanup and investigation. Someone from the Wolves was always brought in to help, especially when drugs were involved.

  Pushing the door open, I spotted her sitting at my desk, her face in her hands as she wept. I hated Rafael Delgado more in that moment than I had my whole life. He was tearing her in half, and the sorry mother fucker was doing it on purpose.

  I wanted to comfort her, to calm her down, but I couldn't. She needed to first come to terms with the fact that her actions lead to someone dying violently on the floor of a children's arcade. I knew she knew how bad it was. I could hear the agony in her cries, but comforting her would only validate the fact that things would get better -- and they wouldn't-- at least not until she forced them to.

  "Lena," I spoke softly, but stayed by the door.

  She jerked her pretty head up, her dark mascara tracing lines down her perfect cheeks. "I didn't know. I had no clue that the fucking drugs were laced."

  I nodded. "But you gave them to Jamison because you were good with him getting illegally high?"

  "Don't you go getting all high and mighty on me, Lucas Morrison. You have no idea of the world I live in. It's filled with monsters and bullshit promises, and death!" She screamed the last bit at me, and all the reasoning in the world couldn't have held me back.

  "You're right. I have no clue, baby." I moved across the room and stopped in front of her, pulling her up and tightening my arms around her. "I still can't condone what happened, Lena."

  "I know that. I don't either. Elec gave him the fucking drugs. I was told to stand there and make sure he was alright." She let out another painful sounding sob.

  "Why didn't you call that cops? 911?"

  “I did! I called 911. And I stayed with him until I heard the sirens right outside the house.”

  I brushed her hair back and pressed my lips to the top of her head as she shook. The situation was fucked up. It would have torn me in half to see someone have a drug-induced seizure, much like it had the first day I'd joined the Wolves as a prospect. The memory of watching that boy lose his shit right there in front of me rolled over me. My stomach turned, and I swallowed hard, hoping like hell I wasn't going to have to excuse myself to throw up. Lena needed me. I could deal with my own fucked-up memories later.

  It took a few minutes for her to respond, but she finally seemed to get a bit of air into her lungs.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said, tears running down her face.

  I closed my eyes and let out a slow breath. I knew she was a good woman. The situations she was put into were impossible, and yet it would have to be her decision to rise above it all and strike back.

  "Did you call the cops?" I murmured softy against her hair.

  She jerked back and glared up at me. "No, I didn't call the fucking cops. I'm one of the bad guys, remember? We go to jail."

  I moved back, letting her go as she stomped around the garage, yelling about how unfair life was and what a villain her father was. I slumped down in the chair and just watched her. She lived a life that few of us would survive, and yet I knew she could do it if anyone could.

  "What the fuck are you staring at?" she asked before her face crumbled into sadness again. She pressed her hands back to her face and screamed a few times.

  I got up and moved toward her, offering my body as comfort, but it didn't seem to help much.

  "I want my grandmother." She pressed her face into my chest and wrapped her arms around my waist. "Can you take me over there?"

  "Of course. Let me pull your bike in here and then we'll head over there. I'm going to stay the night with you. Is that alright?" I brushed her tears away as she glanced up at me and nodded.

  "Yeah, I don't want to be without you."

  I leaned down and kissed her softly. "Then you won't be."

  She pulled me back as I started for the door. The earnest look on her face seared into my memory.

  "I didn't mean to do anything to Jamison. I would never hurt anyone, Luck. I'm a monster like my father, I guess." She glanced toward the ground, and I could sense regret all over her. It didn't fit her persona at all, but getting involved in the intimate workings of her father's shit left her very little in the way of choice.

  "No." I moved back and pressed my hands around her face, forcing her to look up at me. "You're nothing like him, but you'd better realize that he's going to consume you unless you get out. Dane and I are working on a plan to take him down, Lena, but we're missing the main piece of the puzzle."

  "What's that?" She lifted to her toes and kissed me softly.

  "You, baby. It's you."

  Chapter 9

  Selene

  I wasn't sure why Lucky was even with me. Or why he'd come to the garage, other than the fact that he knew that I was involved in Jamison's death and wouldn't want to go home. Sure, I didn't feed him the damn drugs, or know they were tainted, but I'd stood there while he died. Shocked into a stupor.

  I closed my eyes and tightened my grip around Lucky's strong center as I pressed my face to his back. He'd wanted me to wear a helmet, but it didn't let me get close enough. I wasn't concerned with a bike accident. I was scared like hell to lose myself.

  The image of Jamison lying on the floor, twitching as foam bubbled up from his thin lips made me whimper. I was a tough woman most ways, but right then, I was a scared little girl. The smell of shit in the arcade had been overwhelming by the time I got out of there. The scene wasn't going to leave me anytime soon.

  Maybe this wasn’t the life for me.

  It wasn’t.

  Grandma said I deserved better.

  Was she right?

  I didn’t want to live this way. I couldn’t let this go. I couldn’t let the murder go, either. This wasn’t me. I’d grown up brainwashed by a psychopath. And I was scared shitless of him. But I was a patched member now. Could I just run? Would he hunt me down? Kill me? Call me a traitor? Could he kill his own daughter? I cringed, know the answer to that only too well.

  Everything was crashing down around me.

  I needed to run. To run far away and not look back.

  Lucky would run with me. I had no doubt that he was simply waiting on my cue to jump on his bike and get the fuck out of Pleasant Valley together -- forever.

  His finger brushed rhythmically over my arm and my damn eyes filled with tears again. I wasn't an emotional person, and yet in the last few days I'd cried more than I had my whole life.

  We pulled up to my grandma's house, and Lucky stopped the bike, but we didn't get off.

  I couldn't help but press myself to his back as I bit back more tears. He wrapped his arms around mine and held me to him as if he understood exactly what I needed.

  "Don't tell Grandma, okay?" I whispered before kissing his back twice and getting off the bike.

  The three little girls from down the street raced toward me, and I dried my face before they reached me. I'd put them off once already, and honestly wasn't willing to do it again. I smiled and picked each up, turning and spinning them.

  "Wow. Who are these princesses?" Lucky moved up beside me and wrapped his arm around the back of my waist.

  "He's cute," one of the girls mumbled shyly.

  "Yeah, he is!" The oldest wagged her eyebrows playfully and giggled.

  "Selene." Grandma's voice caused me to turn as a smile lifted my lips.

  Her eyes moved across me, and I knew that telling Lucky to keep my trauma a secret was useless. She already knew that I was hurting. It was written across my face no doubt.

  "Sorry, Grandma." The little girl giggled and reached for Lucky's free hand. "You. Handsome boy, come play with us."

  "Handsome, hm?" Lucky released me and chased the little girls back down the street as I moved up to sit next to my Grandma on the concrete steps that lead to her house.

  "You okay, meja?" She wrapped her arm around my shoulders and kissed the side of my face as I leaned my head toward her.

  "No," I whispered and watched my man play with the little girls as if he were in love with each of them. He was a good man. No, a great one.

  "Do you want to talk about it, baby?" My grandmother ran her hand over the back of my head, pulling softly at tangles and lulling me into a peaceful state like only she could do.

  "A boy died today because of the drugs Elec gave him. Dad sent me to do it, but I couldn't." I let out a slow sigh and tried to keep my emotions in check.

  "Oh, baby. You didn't see him die, did you?"

  I turned and glanced up at her as I pressed my cheek to my folded hands, my elbows resting against my knees. "Yes. I was the only one there besides half of the arcade. He shit himself, foamed at the mouth and had a seizure while I watched, helpless. I didn't know what to do to save him, Grandma."

  "Oh, Lena." She bent her upper body over mine, and covered me in a hug. "Your mother would die if she knew the things you've had to see, baby. No girl should suffer the things you have. Come live here with me. I'll tell your father to keep his distance. He'll listen to me, baby."

  "Did you know that he killed momma?" I asked, almost choking on the words as they left me.

  She moved back and stiffened beside me. "I assumed as much, but I'd hoped I was wrong. The fact that you're living there now keeps me up most nights."

  "I hate him so much, Grandma. But I love him, too. Why? I hate all these conflicting emotions."

  “He’s your father,” she said. “It’s only natural to love him, too.”

  I sat up and turned to watch Lucky as he tossed the girls in the air, one at a time. The littlest clung to his leg as if she was afraid to lose him. I understood her fear all too well. I'd lost him once, and I could see it happening again if I wasn't careful.

  "I hate him too, Lena,” she said. “I always knew he was involved in my baby's death, but I guess I wanted to ignore it, to pretend that it wasn't real, because then maybe it wouldn't have to be. You know?" She touched the side of my face and I turned back toward her.

  "I do now." I closed my eyes and pressed my cheek against her bony fingers. She had become precious to me, like a part of myself that I could cling to until she decided to come back to me. "I love you."

  "Me too, baby. Come inside and you can help me make a new recipe for dinner. Neither of us can cook worth a damn, so between the two of us, we might burn down the kitchen, or end up with something almost edible." Grandma gave me a smile that had me returning the gesture. It didn't matter how bad life got. Having her was a good reminder that goodness still existed in the world, that light still burned through even the darkest of nights.

  I laughed and moved to stand, then reached out and helped her to her feet. Glancing back at the road, I waved in a teasing manner to my handsome beau.

  His eyes widened as if he was terrified as I walked toward the door.

  "No you don't. Lena. Lena!"

  I laughed alongside Grandma as we closed the door and walked arm in arm toward the kitchen. He was going to have a hell of a time pulling himself away from the cute little girls down the street, but it was good for him.

  "I love that boy , you know." She glanced over her shoulder as she stood at the stove, working to get a pound of raw hamburger meat into the skillet. "I know you do, too."

  "I do." I bent down and got a large bowl from under the cabinet. "I'll figure everything out with him soon. For now... where is this recipe that's going to fool him into thinking that we can cook?"

  "Right over there, meja." She pointed and gave me a silly look as the front door slammed and the sound of boots hitting the floor moved our way.

  "You two are in trouble." Lucky stopped at the opening to the kitchen and put his hands on his hips.

  "I'll take a spanking." I mumbled and smiled.

  "Not me, but you can give Lena mine." Grandma giggled and continued to work on dinner. "Wash up and you can make the salad for us, Prince Charming."

  "Well, I don't know about all that, but I'm happy to help out." He moved up beside me and leaned down, touching the side of my face as he pressed a soft kiss to my lips. The loving look in his eyes drove a stake into the center of me. Warmth spread out from his gentle touch on my face and coated me in serenity, forgiveness and wholeness. I needed him. I would tell him tonight. As selfish as it was, I was done protecting him from me. He was going to have to do that himself .

  I'd have to wish him luck in that venture.

  ***

  "That was actually delicious," Lucky muttered as he shoved the last piece of garlic bread in his mouth and gave me and Grandma a wide smile.

  I chuckled and picked up my tea. "We can cook as long as there is a very specific recipe involved."

  "And we don't deviate." She smiled at me. "Remember that time we tried to make Miss Betty's brown gravy and accidentally used powdered sugar instead of flour? That was..."

  "Sweet?" Lucky filled in for her and we all laughed.

  "Yes, disturbingly sweet." I sat my glass down and turned my attention back to Lucky. "You almost ready to go?"

  "Yeah, if you are." He turned his attention back to my grandmother. "Dinner was incredible, but the company was much better."

  "I couldn't agree more." She got up and pulled him into a warm hug, and then offered me one as Lucky walked to the front door, giving us a minute to ourselves.

  "I've told you from day one, Lena. He's a keeper. Stop playing hero and let him save you, baby. Before it's too late." She kissed my cheek and patted my arms. "Get out of here and have fun like you should at your age. You'll be old and tired like me one day."

  "Still beautiful..." Lucky called from the other room, causing my grandma to blush.

  "He's right." I hugged her once more for good measure and turned, walking back into the living room and taking Lucky's hand.

  We walked out into the yard to find the afternoon gone and the darkness of night setting in.

  "Where do you want to go, baby?" He tugged me closer.

  "To the garage. Do you have blankets and stuff there?" I asked, hopeful.

  "Sure do. There's a small space heater in the office there, too. We can snuggle up and talk a little if you want." He handed me a helmet as we reached the bikes. "Or we don't have to talk at all. Totally up to you."

  I nodded, not responding, instead putting on the helmet and getting on the bike. I snuggled up to him after he got on and slid my hands down his tight tummy to squeeze his package. Lust pumped through me as it jerked against my fingers and he growled and shook his head.

  A giggle left me, and I realized that all I needed was him and Grandma in my life. I'd come from the arcade feeling like a complete monster, and where I wasn't totally convinced I wasn't, at least I was feeling a little better about my future.

  We rode back to the garage. By the time we arrived, I was almost lulled into a sleep. I couldn't help but wonder if anyone had mentioned I was at the arcade during the event. My fear of the cops was nothing compared to fear of my father, but I still had a healthy concern about rotting in jail. There were certain crimes that even money and intimidation couldn't save you from. Murder had to be one of them.