Just when I start to believe things are under control, it all goes to shit.

I walk into a boisterous tension-filled clubhouse and several people call out my name.

“What the fuck’s going on here?”

“Pres! Looks like your women are about to throw down,” the bartender for the evening shouts over the noise.

“Where?”

“Hallway to the meeting rooms.”

Axe is behind me, so I motion over my shoulder for him to come along, moving a lot faster toward the boarded up side of the clubhouse that’s still waiting on repairs to the exterior wall.

“What’s going on, Si?” Axe asks.

No answer is needed because we see the tops of Sabrina and Riley’s heads halfway down the hall in a standoff, partially surrounded by members hoping for a catfight to break out.

I push through the crowd, and move in close enough to hear the ladies’ voices above the cheers and whistles.

“Don’t fuck with me, crazy bitch!” Sabrina shouts. “I’m not the first and I sure as hell won’t be the last. Take it up with your future husband, not with me.”

I quickly realize it’s more serious than I first thought. It’s not a cat fight the members are waiting for. It’s a gunfight. Sabrina is in the middle of the clubhouse with a double barrel trained on Riley’s head.

My Texas charter fiancée, in the loosest of terms.

Club members and sack demons are keeping the two women in the middle, with some buffer space if the ladies decide to settle their argument with their fists.

“You got problems,” Axe states, smiling.

“I can’t catch a fucking break these last few days.”

“You might want to take care of it before it gets out of hand, Pres.” He slaps me on the back and heads to the bar, grabbing a bottle of whiskey.

“I don’t give a rat’s ass that you fucked him, bitch,” Riley shouts back. “You’re a two-bit whore wrapped up in designer clothes. Look around at the shit you caused here. You think he can’t see right through you? Well, he does. You’re nothing to him, twat.”

Sabrina doesn’t take that low blow too well. “I never said I wanted anything! Why do you women keep attacking me? Go after him, for fuck’s sake!” Her fingers trembles over the rifle handle and Riley goes in to grab it.

It’s time to break up the show before someone gets hurt. Pushing the rest of the way through the onlookers, I face off with Sabrina by getting between the barrel of the gun and Riley.

“Get the hell out of my way, Silas!” They both yell in unison.

“That’s enough. Both of you. Give me the gun, Sabrina.”

“We’re handling this!” Riley shouts.

And gives me the glare that reminds me why we never got together. We’re close friends, but I never felt a thing for her, and the feeling is mutual. Our engagement was a business transaction to join our charters together and keep us afloat. It was planned out long before we stopped playing in the sandbox.

“I don’t have time for this shit. Give me the fucking gun.” Sabrina cocks the safety back on and hands me the rifle, butt first. “You two ready to talk now?”

“Lead the way,” Riley says, and they follow me the rest of the way to a small children’s games room at the end of the hall.

I’m relieved that Axe is behind them with his whiskey glass in one hand. “Need help, Si?”

I nod at him over the ladies’ heads. “Use the back stairs to take Sabrina up to her room. Don’t let her leave until I get up there.”

“You’re not serious,” Sabrina shrieks.

Axe loops his hand under Sabrina’s upper arm, leading her away.

Riley folds her arms and lets out a scoff. “You could have told the bitch about us.”

“You should have left her the fuck alone.”

“Stop, Si. I’m not here for that.”

“Then why are you here?”

Riley throws her head back, tossing her blonde locks over her shoulder. “It’s a matter of pride, buddy. I wasn’t ready to let Ms. Mafia make me look bad in front of my crew for taking what’s mine.”

“We had this talk before.”

“I know,” she says, walking her fingers up my t-shirt until she has a handful of fabric bundled up into her fist. “You and I go way back. What kind of wife would I be if I didn’t put down a woman trying to be my better?”

“I don’t think she has that in mind…”

“You. Are. So. Wrong.” Riley follows up each word with a bop to the tip of my nose and then giggles. “She’s in love with you, you big dumbass. The mob princess wants to have your biker babies.”

“What the hell’s going on with you? Did something change since we talked the last time?”

“No. I’m here to make things official. I don’t want to be wifed up. Well, just not to you.”

“Try telling that to Cindy.”

“She’s not my mother. You’ve got to convince her.”

“Where is all this coming from? I asked your charter here to help me with this Padrino situation. Can this wait a few weeks?”

“No, it can’t. Just convince your mother to accept the fact that our charters don’t need a marriage to keep the alliance going.” She glances at me through her long lashes and bites down on one side of her bottom lip. “I’m in love with someone else, baby. Come on. You knew this was coming. You and I can’t even flirt right, let alone sleep together. Our friendship means too much. And with this fiery little mafia prize of yours in the mix, we both have an out now.”

“You’re all over the place, you know that? Have you been drinking?”

“Stop changing the subject. This can work. You and Sabrina. Me and the guy I’m seeing. Our friendship and charter alliance perfectly in place.” She wraps her arms around my waist and leans her forehead onto my chest. “See? We can have it all.”

As she pulls back and straightens up, she looks up at me. “Good chat! Oh, I need to get going. I have to pick him up at McCarran Airport in less than two hours. Let me know what Cindy says!”

“You’re insane,” I tell her as she rushes off toward the front of the clubhouse.

“Always have been. I’ll text you a pic of the new guy. Later Si!”

I need a fucking drink. Riley drops a bomb so quickly that it takes me another fifteen minutes for her news to sink in. We’ve talked at length about how impractical this arrangement was in the past. I should have guessed it was a matter of time, but now I’m the one who has to break it to Cindy. And the meeting with Giovanni is almost here. Well, at least Riley left her charter members as backup.

Then there’s the blowout with Sabrina, who’s waiting upstairs. I take the back steps up to her room. Axe is right where I asked him to be, standing outside her door, waiting for me.

“Good luck,” he says to me, and heads downstairs.

I knock on her door and turn the knob. It’s open.

“Yes?” she calls out.

I head inside, closing the door behind me.

“You’re a piece of work, you know that?” she shouts, getting up from her seat at the edge of the bed.

Sabrina balls her hands into fists at her side as she charges toward me, but when she crosses the room to where I’m leaning against the door, her right hand flies up, palm open, and lands hard on my cheek. I don’t react. I probably deserve it anyway. But as she rears back the same hand to do it again, I stop the incoming hit by gripping her wrist. Then she tries with her free hand, which I also block. She writhes and twists her arms, trying to free herself from my grasp, but I don’t let her go as I lower her hands to her sides. As usual, she’s persistent, struggling against my hold.

Something comes over me and I let her go. I can tell she wasn’t expecting that. Instead of resuming her slaps to my face, she just stands there with intense, sad eyes and wild locks falling around her shoulders. My hand lifts to her face, tucking some hair behind her ear without thinking, and I’m at that point where I need to have her all over again.

I turn her around, pushing her back against the bedroom door. She doesn’t fight me. Reaching for the waistband of her tights, I roll them down past her hips to her ankles, taking her panties with them. I drag off her shoes next. In one swooping motion, I straighten up and pick her up at the waist, tugging each ankle behind me. My cock is fucking hard for her. It may be my last chance to touch her, but I resist the overpowering urge to take my time.

She opens her mouth to say something but I smother each word with a kiss, pinning her back to the door as I taste her one last time. The kiss is as hard and demanding as the situation we’re in because of who we are. If nothing else, I want her to remember it wasn’t easy to let her in, and letting her go will be the same.

I reach a hand to the back of her head, gripping a fistful of hair. I don’t stop kissing her as I undo my zipper and press my hips into her inner thighs. She wraps her arms around my neck and grinds her pussy against my cock.

She wants me.

I want her.

But we both need to accept that it’s is our last time together.

Getting into position, I slide the tip of my erection past her folds, grab her ass, and slam into her core with a force that makes her breathe my name into our kiss. Every thrust is more forceful than the last as my nails dig into the flesh of her ass cheeks and drag her harder down my length, impaling her as far as I can go and further still. She slides her hands across the tops of my shoulders, clutching on tight as though there’s hope for us when we don’t stand a chance.

I fuck her for longer than I should. Our fates are on the other side of this door, knocking as hard as the sound it makes each time her back slams against it. Her body lets me know when she’s close, and as she reaches her climax, I let each pulsation of her tight cunt take me closer until I release every drop of cum inside her. Locking her ankles around my waist, I carry her across the room and lower her to the bed. I stare down at her for a long moment before pulling one side of the sheets over her. It’s the last time I’ll see her pale, creamy skin and perfect curves.

She lies there catching her breath while I sit on the side of the bed. After a short while, she pulls herself up and relaxes her back on the headrest.

“Sorry. I’m the last person to judge anyone. I was just hoping to find a way out from under Lorenzo before things went to hell with the surprise engagement.”

“That’s life.”

Her eyes turn sympathetic. “You’re in the same boat as I am with Lorenzo.”

“No. I’m not.”

“How is your engagement any different from mine?”

“Riley just broke it off.”

“What?”

“Yeah. And none of that changes anything. This meeting with your old man is still on. I won’t see you again.”

“I understand. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about—”

A loud series of pops outside the window cuts off whatever Sabrina’s in the middle of saying, and we both jerk upright.

Gunfire.

Then someone screams.

“It never ends around here, does it?” Sabrina asks.

If this is another rival attack on the club, I’ll fucking kill Giovanni.