Chapter 13
Limit was pulling on his cut when a steady vibration caught his attention. He knew it wasn’t his phone, because his phone was off, which meant it had to be Scarlett’s.
She thought she was being slick by sneaking out while he slept, but Limit was no light sleeper.
He was awake the second her breathing changed.
Now, he was taking his time because despite the fact that she’d caressed his face like she truly thought he was worth a damn, she was only a temporary fix for a permanent problem. He loved spending time with her, and she challenged him at every turn, but he knew he needed to handle his own problems before he dragged her into anything.
As he searched for her phone, his eyes landed on his old combat boots tucked in the corner of his room.
Filled with sand and dirt and regret, they stayed there for the better half of his days. On occasion he would need them, but they would never find their way back to the trenches again.
Sometimes Limit missed how simple it was to show up to work; to be alone, to live alone, to take care of no one but himself. And, if he were being honest, he hadn’t paid too close attention to his own safety, either.
No, Limit had only worried about the men under his reign while they fought their way across Afghanistan in their own version of real-world hell.
While he tried not to think about it, sometimes the memories would creep through the curtain and he would be transported to another realm entirely.
Sometimes, he had nightmares.
Nocturnal bouts of bone-chilling terror.
Momentary lapses into internal psychological warfare that would make a lesser man pry his own eyes out in an effort to un-see the imaginations of his own mind.
Sometimes he would be trapped in his own mind for minutes, or hours, and in that time, he wasn’t Limit anymore; he was Colton Graham once again.
The man trained to kill with his bare hands.
The man trained to be alone, to fight to the death, to never leave a man behind.
All he was known by back then was his rank and his weapon, and a man like Colton Graham never missed a target.
Never.
That’s why he’d eventually become a sniper.
But, none of his awards or medals mattered anymore.
Not here, and not now.
Limit had only honed his skills further, utilized them, tended to them while under Ox’s care.
He watched out for his club and he did it with expert precision. He kept the memories at bay and did his best to stay rooted in the present. He didn’t always succeed, but he never let it show. He rode harder, faster, better than most of his brothers, but even still he couldn’t fix what was broken in his head.
The radio silence that sometimes crackled and spit commands that Limit knew had no connection to his life anymore.
The flashes of him and his brothers laid up in enemy territory, waiting to be rescued. The feel of his scope resting against the underside of his eye as he locked in on a target he knew wouldn’t make it past the perimeter of the barrel on his rifle.
Limit understood that none of those memories had a place in his life anymore, and yet, they haunted him.
Often times his club would make remarks about the fact that he was silent; that he lurked in the shadows, but what they didn’t quite understand was that the shadows were where he felt most comfortable.
The darkness.
In the dark, no one could tell when his eyes glazed over as he was catapulted into the rearview of his life.
In the dark, he could always make sure the crazy that sometimes shrouded his mind went unseen.
Unnoticed.
And then, there was Scarlett Hunter.
The sassy little virgin who looked at him like he was someone worth saving.
The spitfire who was too soft, too sweet, too sheltered to even begin to understand him, or what he’d been through.
Yet, he couldn’t shake her.
Limit tried, but he couldn’t get the taste of her innocence out of his mouth.
So, he watched her with a clarity that would startle most. He’d never made a commitment to her, and he didn’t know if he had any plans of doing so. They could talk about strings all they wanted, but once she got to know him, she would understand that being the enforcer for the Seven Deadlies was barely the tip of the iceberg.
“Hey, brother! Church is starting,” Rider said as he banged on Limit’s bedroom door.
Limit snatched her phone from the foot of his bed and started to tuck it into his pocket, his eyes grazing over the name Scott scrolling across the screen.
Before he could stop himself, he answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Hello? Who is this?”
Limit crossed his arms over his chest.
“This is Limit. Who is this?,” He asked.
The man on the other end of the phone scoffed loudly.
“This is Scarlett’s fiancé! Why are you answering her phone? Where is she?”
The rude tone of Scott’s voice did nothing but irritate him further.
“She slept in my bed last night, I’ll answer the damn phone if I want to.”
Before he could say another a word, Limit hung up the phone and shoved it angrily into his pocket. Of all the things to wake up to, that was the last fucking thing he’d expected. He knew she had a recent ex, but Scott sounded pretty fucking convinced that they were still together.
Limit didn’t know why, but the idea of Scarlett being attached to any other man-any other man- had his blood boiling in less than two seconds.
He almost ripped his door off its hinges in his haste to get to church on time lest Ox chew his ass out on top of everything else.
As he rounded the corner, a familiar tawny head of hair caught his eye.
Scarlett smiled at him and even though he’d been buried in her sweet pussy just hours ago, his anger overshadowed anything else.
Even though she looked like a fucking angel there to taunt him, to remind him of just how far from heaven he would always be, he was pissed.
He took her phone out of his pocket and tossed it onto the table angrily, his nostrils flaring.
“Here. Your fiancé called. Hope your little trip through the slums was worth it, princess.”
Limit watched her smile slowly fade away before she looked down at the phone that was ringing yet again. Rayna and Esme were staring at him with wide eyes, surprise on both of their faces. She sucked in a shaky breath before she looked up at him again, tears in her eyes.
“You really think I would make love to you while being engaged to someone else?,” She asked softly.
Her voice trembled.
Limit could practically feel his anger vibrating against his skin.
“We didn’t make love. We fucked. There’s a difference.”
Scarlett flinched at his words, and Limit realized that maybe he was being too harsh. He hadn’t made her any promises, had he?
“I thought that what happened between us was more than that.”
Limit snorted.
“Don’t be naïve, Scarlett. Look around you, do you think men like us entertain virgins on the regular?”
She looked stricken by his words, but he didn’t back down.
Limit hadn’t dabbled with romance in a long time, and there was a reason.
The desert wasn’t the only thing to break him down. He’d been married before, but like a lot of military relationships, it too had failed.
The thought of someone like Scarlett, someone so fucking good hurting him in the same way?
Well, it made him a little crazy.
“I guess I was naive, huh?”
She asked this question just as two twin tears fell from her hazel eyes and dripped down her flushed cheeks. Limit’s stomach lurched at the sight, but he didn’t say another word. He just sneered in her direction before he turned and headed for church. He caught a glimpse of Green and Fury watching him with wide eyes too, but Limit didn’t care.
He was done with women fucking him over.
If she wanted to stay with her limp-dicked fiancé, then good for her. He didn’t have to entertain her anymore.
As he slammed into his seat, Ox caught his eye and he figured he was better off without her. He didn’t need to complicate things any more than they already were, and Scarlett Hunter was just that: a complication.
“Alright, guys. Let’s settle in. We’ve got business to discuss,” Ox said.
All eyes were on him as he slammed the gavel once and pointed to Green.
“Our trusty accountant tells me that our plans to open up our own strip club have come to fruition. It’s time, boys. Axel found us a good hook up as far as real estate goes, and that means that we’ve got ourselves a location!,” Ox announced.
Resounding cheers echoed in the room before Ox waved a hand, silencing them. He was smiling.
“That’s right. More legit business, and the plot of land we’re going to develop is located right here in the Smokies with us. We break ground next week.”
Limit clapped along with everyone else.
He clapped, but he really didn’t give a shit about any business endeavors.
He was too caught up thinking about Scarlett.
“That’s right! And Rayna agreed to run it for us. I’ll work the books and she’ll work with the girls to make sure this place is filled with top notch pussy. We want it accessible to all of our allies, especially the Lone Rangers,” Green said.
Everyone nodded, including Prettyboy.
Hadn’t been too long since his old lady, Esme, had come to stay with the Seven Deadlies. Axel was her former ol’ man’s president, and when he died, Axel sent her to stay with the Seven Deadlies for a while…
Needless to say, she found a reason to stay for good.
Prettyboy and her were insanely happy together, so who was Limit to judge? He liked the little hellion, she was a good old lady. Not to mention the fact that she was Fury and Rayna’s surrogate.
That made her a-oh-fuckin’-kay in his book.
“As we move further with our building plans, all of us will take turns visiting the site and monitoring the progress. We’ll probably get every unsatisfied husband from Bryson City flooding through our doors too, which means we’ll also get more business in the garage,” Ox said.
“We got a name picked out?,” Rider asked.
“I vote for Peener Paradise,” Green interjected.
Everyone at the table laughed, apart from Limit.
“Pretty sure that implies the club is filled with dicks instead of pussy. Sorry, brother,” Prettyboy said with a grin.
Green pouted, but Slayer slapped his arm.
“I liked it, let’s get t-shirts made.”
Green’s pout turned into a smile as they fist bumped.
“What about the ladies? Where are we getting the pussy from?,” Torch asked.
Ox leaned back in his chair as he studied Torch.
“Other clubs in the area. I’ll offer Ruby and Loretta a place, too.”
Torch nodded, and Prettyboy spoke up.
“Esme said she’ll take over Rayna’s place once the baby is born. She can help wrangle some women from Axel’s clubhouse, especially if they’re automatic VIP’s,” Prettyboy said.
Ox nodded.
“Sounds good to me. Before we leave church today, I want to remind everyone that Fury’s wedding is Friday, so we better get prepared. Fury, am I allowed to invite Scarlett?”
Fury glanced at me briefly before he nodded.
“Rayna is already on it.”
Ox smiled happily, and it cut Limit right to the core. He was confused as hell, and for a man who didn’t want any strings, it sure as hell felt like he was suddenly being strangled by them.