Blizzard pulled into the clubhouse, and I looked up. What a fucking sight it was to see. He barely even pulled the truck to a stop before I was flinging my door open and climbing out. Club members and old ladies filled the parking lot of the clubhouse, each with beaming smiles on their faces, and fuck did it feel good.

I already felt like I was home again because that’s what these people were, they were home to me. Not the clubhouse or Athens or where I was brought up. These people, this family and brotherhood, were my home.

The kids were the first to ditch their parents and take off running toward me. Harlyn, Jayla, and Macy hitting me like a ton of bricks. I had a special bond with them. During my time as a prospect, I was often the one who watched over them when they were playing outside and kept them out of earshot when things might get a little crazy or intense.

Some might think that was degrading or lame, being a babysitter, being dumped with the kids, but I guess I saw it as more than that. I saw it as these people trusting me to protect the things that mattered most to them in the world. It was a lot of pressure, but it helped me to gain their trust because I would have done—and actually have done—anything I needed to, in order for those kids to be safe.

One by one, my brothers and their old ladies stepped forward to welcome me back.

Romeo stepped forward, his hands tucked in his pockets. It surprised me, given that since my little brother got here, he’d always looked and spoken like he was so sure of himself. But here he was, looking at the ground as if he was embarrassed or nervous.

“You gonna give me a hug or something?” I asked, holding my arms out.

He finally looked up at me, screwing up his nose. “No, you fucking weirdo. Why you all gotta hug so much? I thought you were all meant to be badas—”

Before he could finish talking I jumped on him, wrapping my arms around him and squeezing him tightly as he fought to get away. Before he could escape from my clutches, I spoke quietly into his ear. “We are gonna have words about that stunt you pulled with Meyah, too.” I let him go, and he stepped back, his hands in the air.

“Hey, not my fault you’re a fucking bastard.”

I pointed at him and narrowed my eyes. “I told you to keep her away.”

He snorted, and suddenly, he was back to that confident take-no-shit asshole. The shy little brother gone. “You also told these lot to keep it to themselves about you being locked up, too. But I blabbed on that one as well.”

“Why didn’t you just keep your mouth shut, Rome?”

He stepped forward and puffed out his chest. “Because you didn’t see how fucking broken she was when she realized there was something going on. Something that every other motherfucker here knew, except for her.”

I had seen.

When she walked into the visiting room when she looked at me through those warm chocolate eyes that seemed to soothe me but had turned dark and hard.

I opened my mouth to argue, even though I knew he was right. But Leo stepped in between us. “That’s enough,” he ordered, his eyes moving between the both of us like he was daring one to argue so he could show us why we shouldn’t. When we managed to keep quiet, he turned to me and pointed at the clubhouse. “In the meeting room, now.”

I was tired, annoyed, and in a foul fucking mood, but I really wasn’t up to arguing with him at that point. Instead, I followed him inside to the meeting room with Optimus falling in behind us.

I raised my eyebrow at him, and he shrugged. “I’m just here to make sure that hot head over there doesn’t fucking kill you.”

Turning to look at Leo, confused at what was going on, I didn’t expect the fist that plowed through my face, collecting my jaw and throwing my entire body into the large wooden table. I was already feeling unstable and dizzy, so I struggled to even gain my wits back, let alone move at all.

“Leo, that’s enough,” Optimus ordered sternly. “He’s half the fucking size he was when he went in there. I’m gonna text Skins and ask him to check him out.”

Finally, I managed to roll to the side and fall into one of the comfortable office chairs which surrounded the table. An icepack was slammed onto the table next to me, and I immediately picked it up and pressed it to my face before I looked up at Leo. “You done?”

I knew he was fucking pissed.

I deserved a goddamn punch in the face.

I deserved a kick in the balls, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.

Just in case he took it as an invitation.

The second I claimed Meyah as my own, the dynamics in this situation changed.

Where Leo, as Meyah’s uncle, had once made the choices for her in relation to her place within the club, she wasn’t just a family member anymore. She was an Old Lady.

My fucking Old Lady.

Which meant it was no longer up to him to make choices in regards to her, that responsibility fell on me. I knew he didn’t like it, especially given the circumstances, but it wasn’t as if I was expecting this situation.

“Do you know what you’ve done to my relationship with Meyah?” he snapped as he started to pace.

Optimus moved around the table and took a chair opposite us, his eyes watching the interaction carefully in case he needed to step in and rescue me.

“I’m gonna fix it,” I swore to him honestly. “You know I was just trying to keep her from getting involved in this bullshit mess. I was scared they’d try to use her against me, or that she’d have to see this bullshit.” I pulled at my clothes, lifting my shirt up over my head. They were baggy and gross and then to top it off, my stomach and ribs looked like a fucking rainbow. Yellows, purples, blues, I was all the colors of a fucking unicorn.

“Why did you feel like you had to be a fucking hero and go at this shit alone?” Optimus asked seriously. “There are things we could have done on our end, people we could have called.”

“This was a mistake my brother made. A mistake that came from events which happened fucking years ago when I wasn’t the man I am now,” I told him, finally laying it all fucking out there. “This wasn’t the club’s problem. Romeo was put in that place with the asshole because I didn’t protect him like I should have. I fucking failed. And I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. So I took fucking precautions, okay? I chose to keep as many people away as possible, including Meyah… especially fucking Meyah.”

Leo tugged out a chair and dropped his large body into it, looking like he suddenly had the weight of the entire world on his shoulders. “I really want to punch you again right now.”

“I will fi—”

He slammed his fist down on the table, making it vibrate, the sound exploding in the room. “Goddammit, will you listen to how stupid you sound?” I forced my shoulders back, ready to stand my ground. “Do you know what having an Old lady means? It’s more than just keeping her safe or sending her away when there are problems. It’s about letting her fucking be there for you when you need her. It’s about having someone who’s willing to put up with your dumb ass bullshit. Who’s willing to look past the fact that we sometimes have to be the bad guy, and who’s willing to fucking love you and have your back no matter what.”

Each word was like a fucking punch in the face all over again.

Keep her safe.

Hide her away.

Don’t let anyone hurt her.

That was all I could think about. I didn’t want my mistakes or Romeo’s mistakes to hurt her. I didn’t want her to see me beaten to a pulp, treated like a piece of fucking dirt. I didn’t want her to see me broken. Because I was meant to be her Old Man.

I was meant to be strong. A rock she could rely on.

“We made mistakes, too, you know,” Optimus interrupted. “I forced Chelsea out of my life trying to do exactly what you did with Meyah. Protect her by cutting her off. Trust me. It’s fucking stupid.”

“Understatement,” Leo scoffed, shaking his head. “I gave her to you. Trusted you to do what’s right. Your Old Lady, your call. You forced me to fucking lie to her. To act like I believed that you fucked around on her and that I was okay with it.”

The one thing about being a part of the club—these guys had my back, no matter fucking what. But they would not sugarcoat shit in private. They would lay it all out for me, tell me what a fuck up I was, and then they would help me fix it.

Seeing the pain in Meyah’s eyes, hearing her say she felt as though I was worse than that asshole, Nick. Damn girl basically ripped my heart out and slapped me across the fucking face with it. And the more my brothers talked, the more I realized I fucking deserved it.

She was meant to be my Old Lady. The woman who I held precious above everything in this whole damn life. And I’d fucked that all up. I’d screwed up royally by forcing my brothers and my family to keep secrets from her. It only pushed her further away.

Being an Old Lady ain’t fucking easy.

Putting up with us moody bastards on a daily basis was almost fucking impossible.

“You want her back?” Leo asked.

Instantly, it made me laugh and made him look like he was going to hit me again.

“Back? She’s still mine.”

Optimus snorted out a laugh. “Best you let her know that then because I’m pretty sure she considers herself a free agent. She fucking loves your dumbass, though, that’s for sure. Punched old Kent in the mouth when he tried to hit on her and talk shit about you as she walked out the prison on Monday.”

My eyes lit up, and boy did I fucking grin like a Cheshire cat.

That was my fucking girl.

My woman.

My Old Lady or whatever you want to call her.

Even though she basically told me I was the worst scum on earth, she was still fighting for me.

And I was going to fight for her.

I was going to make shit right.