Bursting through the doors of the clubhouse, I find Buzz waiting for me.

“Got the call from a buddy of mine at our local. Asshole reported it last night, but the tapes were already wiped, so there’s no proof any of us were there. They’re just coming to question and wanted to do it here.”

“Fuckin’ dickhead. He doesn’t think I or the Ravage MC have any power. That we are nothing in his precious, little, sick, twisted life. We’re gonna show him we do.”

Buzz smiles sadistically. It’s almost as frightening as when Rhys gets ahold of someone he doesn’t like. Except, Buzz’s is all about the computers.

“Everything you can dig up on, him. I’ll do what I can on my end. Let’s wipe this fuckin’ guy and his entire operation off the fuckin’ grid. Everything crushed and destroyed. We gotta make shit up, that’s what we do. I don’t give a flying fuck at this point. He’s done.” Only the slightest of hesitations hits me, and that’s related to my mother and siblings still there. If we destroy everything, it will make her in need of more help, but I’ll figure that out later.

“On it.” Buzz takes off down the stairs to his technology lair. He’ll have most of it done before I finish with the cops, unless we have to call in some favors to get something finalized.

“What do you want me to do?” Austyn asks, her hand on my chest, looking like she’d move the world for me if she could. Fuck, it’s beautiful.

“You bein’ here, beautiful.”

She gives me a huge smile and sags into me. I wrap my arm around her waist.

Princess shows up from around the corner. “Come help me make some food.”

Austyn looks up at me, and I pull her up for a kiss.

“Go ahead.”

“Right.” She gives me a squeeze then goes off with her mother.

I sit with Tug, Cooper, Nox, Green, and a few others.

“Takin’ good care of my sister?” Nox asks with an intense stare.

“What do you think?”

“Finally got in there, huh?” Cooper adds.

“Can we get off my love life, assholes?”

They both smile, letting me know they’re just giving me shit. While it feels good, having the cops here boils my blood. Seeking my ultimate revenge will be worth it. I’ll wipe the world of those assholes once and for all.

A banging comes to the door.

“Let me handle this shit. Asshole’s gonna pin it on me.”

Sure enough, the cops are all over my ass, but have zero proof and can’t do shit to me. There aren’t any other witnesses besides James and my mother. No one to collaborate their story.

James is going to know what it’s like to get shit on. Fucking piece of shit is going down.

Afterward, I search the clubhouse, looking for Austyn and running into her mom.

“You know where Austyn is?”

Her eyes grow intense like she’s going to throw the hammer down on me and nail me to the fucking wall. This should be good.

Even I have to admit Princess is a badass motherfucker. She’s one woman you do not want to meet in a dark alley with her pissed off at you. She’s the one you want to have your back in that alley.

“Ya know,” she starts, crossing her arms over her chest, “always knew my girl loved you. You better not hurt her, Ryker. I’ll slice off your balls.”

I feel my nads shrivel up a bit. I’ve heard stories about how Princess deals with men who fuck her over. Once, she ripped a guy’s balls so hard away from his body he sure as shit will never have kids.

“Gotcha.”

“Are you threatening again?” Cruz comes up to his wife and wraps an arm around her shoulders.

“Just makin’ sure Ryker here knows what it’s like to be in the family.”

I can’t help the smile that graces my face, taking that as their approval.

“Right. She’s downstairs with some of the kids.”

“Right. Thanks.”

I jet off down the stairs and into the basement. It was redone years ago to be more of a kid zone. Most of the time, the kids are just watching movies or playing one of the arcade games Tug insisted on getting. Not that I’ll complain. Skee-ball is fun as hell, but Pac-Man can suck my dick.

Getting to the bottom of the stairs, I see Austyn sitting on the L-shaped couch with only Mazie, Tanner and Rhys’s youngest daughter. Some movie is playing where they are singing about being wicked and the two girls have blue and purple hair.

“Whatcha watchin’?” I ask, moving next to the couch.

Austyn smiles up at me.

“Descendants 2!” Mazie says excitedly. “It’s just started. Ryker, come sit with us!”

“I don’t think so.” The singing and dancing on the screen is officially freaking me the fuck out.

Austyn grabs my hand, giving it a squeeze, but it’s Mazie who talks.

“It’s awesome. It has pirates and kings! You have to! Plllleaaasse!”

I move to the front of the couch and sit next to Austyn, pulling her to me. “I can’t say no to a pretty girl.”

Mazie beams while Austyn elbows me in the ribs. On an oomph, a chuckle leaves me.

“What?”

“You’d better be saying no to all the girls, mister.”

She sets me on fire.

I lean down to her ear. “You’re all I want and all I need, beautiful.”

“Hello! The movie is on!” Mazie says, bouncing up on the couch and trying to get our attention.

After placing a small peck on Austyn’s lips, I say, “Alright, tell me what this is about.”

Mazie doesn’t answer, already too enthralled in the movie.

There’s a cauldron, apples, and four kids singing about being wicked, then dancing all over a school. Lord help me if this is what this whole thing is about.

Two hours later, the movie spins in my head like a bad dream. Holy fuck. I lost count the number of songs they sang and danced, but fuck, it was a lot. Little purple-haired girl thought she was badass. Then the pirate girl … fuck, she was some octopus or something. Hell, if I know. I would much rather get shot in every limb of my body than watch that movie again.

There’s one part in it, though, that got me. So much so Austyn saw it during the moving yet said nothing.

“Wasn’t it great?” Mazie says with an amazement I won’t dare squash.

Standing up from the couch, I stretch out my arms, my shirt rising just a bit. “It was interesting.”

“I know! I just love it. I’ve watched it so many times, and I’m trying to learn all the words to the songs. Oh, and the dances! That would be so cool!” Mazie leans over to Austyn. “Thank you for watching it with me. Dad says, if he has to watch it again, he’s going to bleach his eyeballs.”

This makes me laugh. That totally sounds like something Rhys would say.

“Anytime, but we’ve gotta get goin’ now.”

Austyn rises from the couch just as two little arms wrap around my waist, her head right at my abs.

“Thank you, Ryker.” Mazie then bounces off.

“She’s somethin’.”

Austyn comes closer and steps right into my arms with zero hesitation. Fucking love that. “Yeah, she reminds me of me when I was little. I used to love these movies, and my parents would get fed up about the tenth time I watched one.” She pauses. “How did it go?”

Brushing her hair away from her face, I then cup her cheek. “They just questioned me. It’s his and my mother’s word against mine. It won’t go anywhere.”

“Are you sure? I mean, they’re minors. I don’t want you to …” She trails off. I know what she’s thinking.

“Nothing’s going to happen to me.” I kiss her deeply, then pull away. “But, he will pay.”

She nods, not asking any questions. Another reason we fit so damn well together. She understands that there are some things I can’t talk to her about.

Damn, I love this woman.

“Okay.” She pauses, and I feel it coming. “What about that part in the movie when you tensed up?”

Letting out a deep breath, I tell her, “It was the part where the pirate, teal-haired chick talked about the lost boys and girls. That’s what I was called once they kicked me out. A lost boy. Dealing with all this is just dredging up all sorts of shit that was locked down.”

“Why did they call you that?”

I tightly squeeze her as I answer, “Because that’s what we are. We’re lost to them. Don’t exist.”

“You said boys and girls?”

“Nah, the girls were just in that movie. It’s only the boys who get kicked out. My cousin Carley, she chose to leave, and that’s really the only way she could’ve gotten out. They won’t risk losing the girls.”

Her eyes shine with sadness. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not. My life had to happen the way it did to end up in this spot, right here with you. No way would I do anything to fuck that up.” Leaning down, I take her mouth. “Let’s go up.” I hold her hand the entire way up.

As soon as we hit the top, Rhys bursts out laughing. “Fuckin’ suckers!”

“It wasn’t bad,” Austyn says, not letting go of my hand.

Rhys only laughs harder, this time with his head thrown back. “Love my baby girl, but fuck me. If I have to see those pirates dancin’ around one more time, I’m burnin’ that DVD.”

“You can’t burn it, Dad. It’s on Prime,” Mazie says, approaching her dad.

Rhys pulls his daughter onto his lap. “Then I’ll bust all the tablets.”

Mazie’s eyes grow round. “What? Daddy, no!”

The smile never leaves his face. That man loves his girls with everything he has. He has another one, Rylynn. I’m not sure where she is.

Austyn curls into me, her head tilted up to me, eyes gleaming with humor and lust. It’s a beautiful look on her. Not thinking twice, I lean down and take her lips roughly. She gives in, fully pressing her body against mine like glue.

When hoots and hollers come from the peanut gallery, we break apart, but all I notice is the smile on Austyn’s face.

“I’ve thought of this exact thing.” Her voice is soft.

“What, me kissin’ you? ’Cause, baby, that’s gonna happen a lot.”

She slaps her hand over my chest playfully. “No. My parents. My father doesn’t hold back when he kisses my mother. He doesn’t care who’s around or what they think. He does what he wants.”

“Beautiful, I’m not sure where you’re going with this, but talkin’ about your parents while my dick is hard as a rock isn’t top on my list.”

“Oh, zip it and listen.”

I close my mouth with a grin.

“I always told myself that I would be with a guy like that. One who didn’t care who was around. One who loved me enough to show the world that I was his and he was mine. A man who took as much as he gave. A man who treated me the same way I’ve seen my dad treat my mom over the years.” Her eyes beam. “And you’ve given me that. Thank you.”

Fuck. My chest tightens to the point of pain, but it’s a gorgeous pain, one I never want to stop. It’s like an unbreakable bond is connecting right before my eyes. One that won’t waver and won’t be broken. I hope to Christ she feels the same way.

“Beautiful, I’ll give you anything and everything I got.”

“Alright. As happy as I am for you two,” Cruz says, slapping me on the shoulder, “you even attempt to take this further in my presence, I’ll beat the fuck out of you.”

Austyn lets out a laugh, tightly holding me.

Finally, she’s let me in fully. Time to get the fuck out of here and show her how much I love her.