My mother and father were killed before I could walk. He was a small-time crook and wannabe bank robber who couldn’t plan dinner, let alone a bank heist. Holed up in a motel in New Mexico after a botched bank job, he decided to try his luck in a shootout with the FBI.

He soon found out his marksmanship skills and his ability to rob a bank were comparable. When the room was searched, they found the two of them on the floor. His archaic revolver, a half-eaten bag of Doritos, a few empty bottles of malt liquor, two thousand dollars, and a gram of heroin were scattered about the filthy room.

When their bullet-riddled bodies were laid to rest, I was in Montana, developing a palate for Malt-O-Meal. No one cried, no one cared, and no one attended the funeral. My first birthday was celebrated three months later with a big bowl of home-made ice cream and a two-layer white cake with chocolate fudge frosting.

When I was a kid, I wondered if I was destined to follow in his footsteps. As I grew older, I learned there were no genes for intelligence, and that the mutations that lower intelligence in mankind were non-specific, and idiosyncratic.

In short, my father was one of a kind.

Consequently, so was I.

I got out of the shower, wrapped a towel around my waist, and walked into the living room. My morning trip to the window revealed another sunny San Diego sky. A black Dodge Charger was parked across the street, Alfredo’s truck was at the curb, and the bookstore that doubled as a hipster coffee shop was preparing to open.

It was almost seven in the morning, and Andy was still sleeping in my bed. Making the decision to have her stay the night wasn’t as easy for me as it should have been.

My life didn’t have many firsts left in it, and her sleeping over was the first time I’d ever had a woman sleep in my bed. It was also the first time I’d ever been in bed with a woman and not had sex with her.

I didn’t regret the decision. As I admired the lines of her face, however, I was reminded that getting her out of my house would require that she walk past each of the MC’s men. It was something I’d realized before asking her to stay, but not something I was eager to deal with.

I turned away from the window and walked into the bedroom. “Andy,” I said softly. “Wake up.”

She turned from her back to her side. After a moment, she opened her eyes.

“Good morning,” I said. “How’d you sleep.”

She smiled. “Good.”

I smiled and nodded before I turned toward the bathroom. “It’s six forty-five, you should probably get up.”

I took four steps before she said something. I had doubts I would have made it that far.

“Whoa. Stop. Hold on a minute,” she said, her voice dry and coarse from the night’s sleep. “What’s that deal on your back?”

I tensed. It was something that had to be done. It didn’t make doing it easy. I glanced over my shoulder. “It’s a tattoo.”

“No shit. Devil’s what? What’s it say?”

I turned around. “Disciples. Devil’s Disciples.”

“What is that?” She sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Are you in a gang?”

“No. I’m in a motorcycle club.”

“Oh wow. Like Hells Angels?”

“Kind of.”

“Why didn’t you just put it on one of those little leather vests? Like all the other motorcycle gangs do?”

“Club. We’re a motorcycle club. And, I didn’t do that because I’m not like everyone else and this club’s not like anyone else’s.”

“What makes it different?”

I walked to the edge of the bed and sat. “Most motorcycle clubs are filled with men that need the club for one reason or the other. They didn’t have enough attention paid to them when they were kids. Their parents got divorced. Someone took their lunch money in school. They tried to join the police force and couldn’t pass the psychiatric exam. Whatever it is they wear their colors on their vests proudly as a deterrent to outsiders. That patch says, don’t fuck with me, I’m a badass, and I’ve got a hundred brothers that will kick your teeth in if you don’t believe me.”

“And this Devil’s Disciples club isn’t like that?”

“Not at all. We’re not in it for recognition. Actually, quite the opposite. We’ve got the tattoos to prove our loyalty to one another. To prove our lifelong commitment.”

“So, it’s a forever thing?”

“It is.”

“I guess that’s okay.”

I drew a long breath and then looked at her. “It’s an outlaw club.”

“What does that mean?”

“We’re…” Considering what she’d told me about her ex, telling her any version of the truth wasn’t going to be easy. I couldn’t tell her everything. But, if we were going to have any kind of a future together, I had to tell her something. “We’re. We don’t always follow the rules and regulations that the rest of society does.”

“Bikers never do, do they?”

I chuckled. “Probably not.”

She nodded slowly.

There was a high probability that she had no idea what I was taking about. As much as I wanted to end the conversation, I knew I had to elaborate.

I looked her in the eyes. “We break the law.”

Her eyes thinned. “On purpose?”

“Sometimes.” I let her chew on my response for a few seconds, and then clarified. “Actually, quite often. Before you ask, I’m bound by an oath not to discuss what we do. But, I can tell you this: I’m a good person, and other than what I’ve got to do to honor that oath, I’ll never lie to you, and I’ll never hurt you. Ever.”

She looked away. After a moment, she met my gaze. “I know you’re a good person. You prove it to me all the time.”

Her gaze fell to the floor. For a moment, she stared blankly, and then looked up. “So, this is a lifetime commitment? This club?”

“It is.”

She shifted her eyes to the bed. “I want to think about all of this. It’s a lot to take in.”

I stood. “Take you time.”

I finished getting ready while she brushed her teeth and changed into the prior night’s clothes. After a silent cup of coffee and a slice of dry of toast, she asked if I’d walk her out.

I had two options. Taking her down the stairs, which would bypass the clubhouse, or taking her down the elevator, which would lead her right through it, in front of any of the early risers. It was Cash and Ghost that normally showed up early, and my guess was that they were downstairs.

So, I chose the latter.

If we were going to take even one step in the direction of a relationship, there were a lot of things I was going to have to take ownership of.

One of those things was her.

I pushed the front door open and gestured toward the corridor. “After you.”

We walked side by side to the elevator. Together, we took a tense ride down one story. Our reasons for the tension we felt were different, but I rode knowing they were both the product of my life’s choices.

When the doors opened, I stepped out first. As we passed by the entrance to the clubhouse, Cash met my gaze. His jaw clenched tight. Ghost gave a silent nod, and Reno did the same. All three of them knew my position regarding manners, and I hoped Cash didn’t make a fool of himself before we got out of the hallway.

“Mornin, Boss,” Ghost said.

I gave a nod. “Morning.”

Reno cleared his throat. “Morning, Boss.”

Another nod. “Reno.”

“Morning, Prez,” Cash said.

It didn’t surprise me that he had to say it. He had no idea that I’d told Andy, but he felt the need to get under my skin, because I’d got under his.

I turned to face them. “Fellas, this is Andy. Andy, this is Reno, Ghost, and Cash.”

“Good morning, gentlemen,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Two likewises and one grunt followed.

I walked her to the entrance of her building, all the while wishing things between us hadn’t got awkward. But, they had. Before I could apologize, say goodbye, or ask when I may see her next, she hugged me.

When she pulled away, she looked at me for an instant, and then turned around.

“I need some time to think,” she said over her shoulder.

My lips parted, but I didn’t speak. Frozen by fear of the unknown, I stood statue-still and watched as she disappeared through the doorway.