I paused and turned to face my youngest cousin. "Rough shit? Some dude died at my feet and Elec left me the fuck there to deal with it on my own."

  "Right, and as a patched member, that should be no problem for you." He touched the side of my face and gave me a shit-eating grin. "Remember that, silly girl. They’re watching you."

  "Good. I'm not doing that shit anymore." I pulled from him and walked into the main dining hall. Paz was on his phone at the far end of the room, looking at the window and talking in a low voice. I turned and walked from the room, almost bumping into Mateo.

  "Back the fuck up, bro." I pushed at his chest softly. "You're not my shadow."

  "No, but Dante will be soon. Your papa's worried." He chuckled.

  "You're getting on my fucking nerves." I moved down to my dad's office, knocking once and walked in, making sure to slam the door in my cousin’s face.

  Dante glanced up from the couch where he was sitting, a tight smile spreading across his thin lips. "Speak of the devil."

  My father poked his head out from a large closet just beside his desk. "Butterfly. There you are. We were getting worried."

  "I was at Grandma's. I have a living grandparent, remember?" I grumbled and took a seat as far as I could from Dante. They were both a little too happy to see me, which could mean only one thing... another job or trip to deliver death to some poor, unsuspecting victim.

  "Someone is a little edgy." My father chuckled and moved to stand beside Dante. "You take her now that she's here."

  "Take me where?" I couldn't seem to keep the angst out of my voice. I hated that I was pissy, but I was. Just being in the house around them made me that way.

  "We feel bad about your college stuff, so Dante's going to take you up there and help you with anything you need to get all signed up." He patted Dante's shoulder.

  "Fine." I shrugged, getting my way without having to say anything at all.

  "That was easy." Dante chuckled and stood. "I'll drop the stuff off at the Markum party too. Selene can stay in the car."

  "Car? I'd rather take my bike." I stood up too. "I'm itching to ride."

  My father glanced at Dante, as if it were his right to decide how we were riding. I almost snapped at the two of them that I was a grown-ass woman, but I kept my tongue.

  Dante glanced at me and nodded. "It's all good. She can take her bike and I'll follow behind her. I understand the need to ride."

  "Thanks." I walked to the door. "I need ten minutes to freshen up."

  "Alright, and butterfly?" My father began. "I'm proud of you."

  "Why is that?" I opened the door and turned around to face them.

  "For leaving that fucker to die. We don't need rats in our world, Lena. He deserved what came to him. I’m proud of you for delivering it." He winked and turned back to Dante as my stomach turned upside down.

  I barely made it to my bathroom upstairs before hitting my knees and throwing up everything in my stomach.

  My father was proud of me for watching someone die.

  Maybe Lucky was right. Maybe it was time to join the other side. I couldn't stay on the side I was currently on. I didn't even know the man leading us anymore. My father died a long time ago.

  Probably the night he killed my mother.

  Chapter 12

  Lucky

  I will still shaking by the time I made it back to the bar. Having the courage to kill someone came natural just because of the way the MC helped to raise me most of my high school years. None of my brothers would have hesitated to take out a crazed Delgado who was reaching for a weapon.

  Then why do I feel like such shit about this?

  It had to be because of the look on Lena's face. She'd been stunned, shocked and slightly disgusted. I pulled up to the clubhouse and let my thoughts dissipate. There was nothing I could do about it now, and even though I was a little overwhelmed myself, life went on.

  I could worry about her approval and mental stability later when I lay in the darkness of my room for an afternoon nap. It was coming... I promised myself.

  Rusty glanced up as I walked into the clubhouse and tugged my bag over my shoulder. "Hey kiddo. Whatcha know?"

  "Nothing much, old timer." I smiled and stopped by my room to drop my stuff off. Several of the guys lived at the clubhouse, which moonlighted as a bar and a small restaurant when old Mae was up to cooking. The rest of the members were married and living around the edges of the city.

  After washing my hands and fixing my hair to lay flat, I walked back out into the bar and put on a bar apron. It was almost lunchtime and the place was going to fill up like it always did near the weekend.

  "You alright, boy?" Blade walked up to the bar and pressed his thick forearms on it as he watched me closely. His distinguished look was almost comical given the fact he was a hardened biker. He could fool just about anyone. Not me, though.

  "Yeah. I've been better." I rolled my shoulders. After all the shit I'd been through with my old man, Blade was the one to rescue me. I wasn't willing to lie to him or do anything that might hurt our relationship.

  "Liar." He tapped the bar. "Come out back with me and help me unload the new truck of liquor that came in. The guy driving the fucker is out cold, and I know today is going to be busy. Football game is playing tonight and the town's buzzing already."

  I nodded and walked out of the bar with the older man on my heels. A comfortable silence lay between us, which was more than welcome. Lena was the only other one in the world that I could simply be myself around and not feel the need to fill the air with idle chatter.

  We worked on the truck for about ten minutes before Blade hit me up again. "You gonna tell me what has you so damn pale?"

  "Yeah. These fucking boxes are heavy. Not all of us are ape-shit strong like you." I gave him a cheeky grin, but he wasn't having any of it. "Yeah... I killed Domingo Delgado this morning. Fucker pulled a knife on me, and then went for his piece."

  Blade stopped in his tracks. "What? Where? Do we need to go bury the body?"

  "No. I already did it." I didn't answer the other questions, which had him in my face fast.

  "I asked you where and what happened. We don't keep secrets from each other, Lucas. You know that." He squeezed my arm firmly, but not enough to threaten me.

  "I know that, Blade, but I have a few things I'm dealing with that I don't want to share with the MC just yet. A man still has his privacy." I tugged away from him, trying hard not to let my temper flare. I had too much of my old man in me as it was.

  "I'm not talking about the club, boy. You and I have been through a lot together. You're like a son to me. I'm here if you need something. You know that." His voice was gravelly, and I knew he was holding back emotion he didn’t want to show.

  "I'm in love with Selene Delgado. I want her to be my wife; the mother of my children, my riding partner forever." I shoved my hands in my pockets and turned to face the music.

  "That it? Fuck. I thought maybe you were thinking of running or joining the other side." He let out a long chuckle.

  "Really?" I stood stone still, a little shocked by his lack of concern.

  "Yeah, really. She's a woman and you're a man. I know you're rivals, but you'll figure that shit out. You know where your place is, and the fact that you wasted one of her cousins this morning leaves me to believe that you're not going to cross the line. Women come first, but not above the pledge of the club. You know that, right?"

  I did, though I didn't agree. I nodded and got back to picking up boxes of liquor. The sound of someone calling my name had me glancing up.

  My father.

  "There you are, you bastard." He hiccupped and walked toward us, waving his fist in the air. I'd not seen him in more than three months. The last time we'd been in the middle of town, and he'd torn me down so fast that I didn't react when he came swinging at me. How he could hate me so much for nothing was stifling.

  "You're not welcomed here, Paul. Back your drunk ass up and get out of there." Blade moved in front of me, and I almost had to laugh.

  I was in much better shape than the biker before me, but it wasn't about brute strength. Blade was making a statement to my old man. I belonged to him and the MC now. If I fought... we all fought.

  My dad stopped in his tracks and crossed his arms over his frail chest. "I ain't got no beef with you. Move the fuck outta the way. I'm taking my boy back home."

  "Your boy is a man, and he's a patched member of the Wolves now. He don't belong to you no more, old coot. Get the fuck out of here, or I'll hand out ass-whooping after ass-whooping. You hear me?"

  I had no doubt that my father was going to ignore that warning completely. He was an old navy vet and there was no telling him anything that he didn't want to hear. He'd sooner take an ass-whooping than back down any day.

  It was going to get ugly if I didn't step in, so I did. Moving around Blade, I took a step toward my father and lifted my hand, palm facing him.

  "Stop, alright? I'm not going home with you, and I'm not a boy anymore. You keep getting in my face, and I'm going to be the one to whoop your ass. It's not something I want to do, but I will." I rolled my shoulders as anger over all the abuse I'd taken roared to life inside of me.

  "Fuck you, Lucas. You're not going to do shit." He moved toward me, and I turned, lifting my hand to Blade as I could hear him moving forward to. I would take care of it. It was far overdue.

  He swung at me, and I jerked to the left, missing his mean right hook. I grabbed his arm as it moved past me and pulled, tugging him off balance, which wasn't too damn hard to do. He was drunk as a skunk, which was nothing unusual.

  Kicking at the back of his knee, I put him on the ground, pulled his hands behind his back and put my knee in his back. I wanted to press his face into the dirt, to punch him a hundred times and make him feel the pain of all he'd done to me, but I couldn't. I was nothing like some of the monsters in our town. I would never be.

  I pressed down on his back and leaned down so that he could see my face. "Get out of here! I'm not playing with you anymore. Every punch, every hit, every nasty word is worthy of me putting a bullet in your skull, but I'm nothing like you. I never will be. I can't wait until I have a son so I can show him just how special he is. What a gift he is."

  Blade moved up beside me and ruffled my hair. "Come on, Luck. He's not worth your time. He's dead to us... remember?"

  I looked up as my heart raced. "Yeah. You're right."

  Getting up, I had to move fast to miss my father's leg as he swung it out, trying to knock me off my feet. Blade moved in and pressed his boot to the side of my dad's face.

  "Get the fuck off my property right now, Paul. I see you again, and we'll be burying your ass on the back ninety. Got it?" He pressed down as my dad groaned.

  Some part of me wanted to defend the old goat, but I knew better. He needed to learn a lesson, and I was grateful to Blade for teaching it. Moving back to the truck, I picked up the last three boxes and heaved them into the bar.

  Knife met me and took one of them off of me, his eyes moving across my face. "What's up?"

  "Just my old man causing shit again." I sat the other two boxes on the bar and shrugged. "No big deal."

  "He outside?" Knife sat his box down and reached over, squeezing the back of my shoulder tightly.

  "Yeah, but Blade's out there with him."

  Knife chuckled. "Seems like I might need to get out there then. He's the most likely to take your dad out."

  "True." I turned my attention back to the bar as my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out to see the first text I'd gotten from Lena in the last year. A smile moved across my face and peace settled back over me.

  Juliet: There's a place called Clay's near the south side. About 20 minutes from here. You know it?

  Romeo: I do. What about it?

  Juliet: Meet me there at ten. I got us a room.

  Romeo: Done. Be careful. Hurry up!

  Romeo: Don't tell me what to do.

  I chuckled and slipped the phone back in my pocket. Knowing that she wasn't too pissed at me loosened the knot in my chest that had formed earlier that morning. Where I'd have cared greatly about the situation with my dad a few months before, he meant nothing to me now. He would die alone, and most likely drink himself into a coma, but that was his fate. I could have no part of it, namely because he didn't want me to.

  Looking around at all the familiar faces, I let go of my past. My future was here, in the MC, and with Lena.

  Blade stopped in front of the bar as I moved behind it and tapped the counter top. "He's gone."

  "Good. Thanks, but you know I can handle my own shit, right?"

  "Wouldn't doubt that for a minute, Lucky. It's just a lot harder to handle your own shit when family is involved." He rolled his shoulder. "Your secret’s safe with me, too. Just be careful. Make sure that when the time is right, you bring that little girl over here for us to help take care of her."

  "Lena?" I turned my attention on the old biker.

  "Yeah. We all know that Rafael ain't got no respect for women. I don't know what she doing over there, but it can't be good." He ran his hand through his hair. "Just be smart about all of this. They'll put a hit on you so fast that it will make your head spin."

  "A hit?" I laughed. "They want all of us dead."

  "Good point. Get to work and stop being a smart-ass." He tapped the bar and turned, walking off into the crowd of townsfolk that had shown up.

  Chapter 13

  Selene

  The trip to the college was quick, and not having to ride with Dante made it all the better. He hadn't gone in the registration building with me, which was good. The last thing I was in the mood for was to play twenty questions with his dumb ass.

  Stopping by the party was supposed to be a quick drop off, but after sitting on my bike outside the large house for more than twenty minutes, I finally turned the bike off and decided to go in. I wasn't worried about Dante, who had been inside far too long in my opinion. I was curious.

  I texted Lucky about meeting up at Clay's and felt better immediately about where the rest of my evening would be spent. It was time to start having a little bit of fun in the midst of our tragedies, which weren't soon to stop from what I could tell.

  I'd bought a lovely blond wig a few months before, wanting to take it to Grandma's to let the girls in the neighborhood use having fun. They were always playing princess, but were too damn poor to actually get anything to dress up in. The wig was on sale, and they would love it.

  With everything I'd been going through, I just hadn't gotten it over there. However, it was a good thing. I was going to dress up tonight and surprise Lucky with a blond version of me. He would croak, but it would be fun to see the look on his handsome face.

  The fact that I wanted to be playful again left my insides loosening a little. It'd been far too long since I'd felt anything but darkness.

  I started to knock on the door, but realized that no one inside would hear me. The music blared from the cracked windows and the sound of a million voices poured out as well.

  "No wonder they want drugs. Someone needs to sedate these fuckers," I mumbled and walked into the madness.

  Most people looked to be my age, and I got more than a few looks as I moved through the room. The echo of my last name following me around left me with the clear knowledge that me not knowing anyone in the house didn't mean shit. They all knew me.

  Great.

  "Hey, baby. You here alone?" A handsome dark-skinned guy moved out from the kitchen holding two drinks. He offered me one, which I took and sat down on the counter beside me. No way I was getting drugged and taken upstairs. I would survive it, but the guy would soon know the meaning of eunuch once my dad got a hold of him... and he would.

  "No. My guy came in early to deliver some excitement to the party." I looked around as the guy moved closer, taking up my view completely.

  "Right, well, he's not here now. Come dance with me. Drink with us." He picked up the discarded cup and handed it to me again.

  I switched the two of them, taking his cup and drinking deeply. I nodded toward the glass. "Right, you drink that one."

  His eyes widened a little. "What the fuck? This one was yours. I made mine special."

  I chuckled and turned to see a group of girls disappearing upstairs, laughing loudly over the bad boy they'd trapped. Had to be Dante. Where he was nothing more than a thug to me, he was a sexy hunk of badassery to most other women who were clueless to his true nature.

  The guy beside me fondled my butt and pressed his erection against my leg, pulling me in with his free, drink-less hand. I didn't hesitate to put my fist in his face.

  He dropped like a sack of rocks, and I moved over the top of him, excusing myself politely like I'd done nothing.

  Good. Should teach his dumbass a lesson not to touch a woman when she's not inviting him to.

  Traversing the stairs, I took them two at a time, not paying attention to the heels I had on thanks to wanting to look a little professional at the college. My sweater and jeans wasn't over the top, but enough to help me look less like a biker, and more like a woman after a sound education.

  I knocked on the first door to the right before pulling it open. Two guys were pounding into a girl twice their size. I smiled and shut the door as my stomach turned. I loved sex when it was me and Lucky, but seeing other people fuck. Ugh. No. Just no.

  By the third room, I was getting pissed. I needed time to get home and shower before my date with Lucky, but by the looks of things, I would be lucky to even go home before I had to meet him. The sound of someone screaming loudly caught my attention, and my blood chilled. It wasn't a sexy scream, but a scared one.

  I jogged down the hall and tugged the door open to see Dante with his pants down to his knees. His ass was constricted tightly as he worked some girl against the wall. He grunted loudly and shifted his hips forward as she cried out again.

  "Hey. I'm fucking getting tired of waiting on you," I barked.

  “Sorry, but I’m a little busy at the moment.”