My eyes focus on the doorway over the top of my glass waiting for men dressed in suits and weapons to enter.

Instead what enters has my skin warm to an overheating temperature.

Mac and his men race into the room, guns raised, and I nearly choke on my wine.

My hands tremble uncontrollably, eyes filling with tears, the glass slips from my hand, bounces off the table, and shatters into a million pieces.

“Mac?” This can’t be real. Veer poisoned me, I’m seeing things.

“Pocahontas,” he breathes as if he’s been holding his breath since I left, his eyes taking in the gruesome scene.

I’m not dreaming. He’s real!

Jumping from my chair, it knocks back onto the floor. I step over Veer’s body and rush into Mac’s arms nearly knocking him over. Hard, warm arms wrap around me, pulling me into the smell of mint and leather. The scent comforting me into believing I’m going to be safe and I’m going to see my daughter again.

My fingers claw into his leather cut, pulling him closer, my face in the crook of his neck. I can’t feel him enough, smell him any more than I am, but I’m going to fucking try. My heart resumes beating, my body temperature warm instead of cold, I feel whole again having this man in my arms.

“You’re safe, baby,” he whispers in my ear, holding me tightly. Telling me exactly what I needed to hear since I left Vegas.

“Damn, what happened in here?” Machete asks, stepping past us.

Mac pushes me a step back, his eyes curious but I don’t want to talk about. The scene before them says everything.

“Where is Catori? Take me home, Mac,” I cry, ignoring their curious eyes. I’m not a murderer, a bad person. Veer made me into the monster I became, showing me what I’m fully capable of. “Take me to our little girl,” I whimper, my voice wavering with emotion.

His gaze sweeps from Veer’s body to mine, his lips more inviting than ever. I smash my mouth to his, my tongue taking in his taste of salt and beer. He kisses me back, his tongue massaging my own, his hands gently pressing against my cheeks as he deepens the moment.

“I’m taking you home, where you belong,” he whispers against my trembling lips. Opening my eyes, his pupils dilate as they set on the cut on my face where Veer hit me.

“What the—”

I turn my head away from him.

“I took care of it,” I mutter, hurt and anguish painting my voice a color I don’t recognize. Everything that has happened here I just want to forget. None of it matters, I just want my daughter now.

“Let’s get you out of here, baby.”

I nod, so ready to escape this place.

“Um, you can’t ride out of here in that.” Machete points to my pajamas, and I remember there are blood stains all over it.

Holding my arms out, the baby blue pajamas something from a horror movie.

“I um- I have something I can change into.” I remember the dress upstairs. It’s over the top, but it doesn’t have blood spilled all over it.

Machete bends at the knee, inspecting Veer’s body a little closer.

Eyes fluttering, my fingers trembling as I recall my loss of control. I killed someone. I took a life with my own hands. I’ve never been a violent person, but something dark raced through my veins at that moment and I did what I had to do. As a mother, and as a woman.

I’ll never be a doormat to such a vile man.

“Go change, and Machete and I will take care of this.” Mac kisses my cheek, but my fingers refuse to let him go. I don’t want to leave him, he just got here.

“Go with her, I got this, brother.” Felix pats Mac’s shoulder. Felix is such a good-looking man, his man bun, and large biceps, a kryptonite for any single woman. Alessandra surely has her hands full with that.

Looking into Mac’s eyes, I plead for him to go with me to change.

“Okay,” he agrees.

I stop, looking over the uneaten food laid out on the table.

“Oh, are you guys hungry?”

Machete sniffs the chrome bowl of potatoes and then dips two fingers in before plopping them in his mouth.

“See, violence doesn’t just make me hungry.” Mac points at him, wrapping his arm around my neck as we head up to my room for clothes.

“Is Jillian okay?” Simone asks, undressing from those hideous blue pajamas.

“Uh, yeah, Zeek took her home after they pulled the bullet out and gave her some blood.” That’s what he texted me anyway. I’ve been hell-bent on finding Simone to go see either of them at the hospital.

Sitting on the bed, the fucking bedding is so fluffy my feet don’t even reach the ground. This place is immaculate, better than I could ever give Simone.

“Jesus, this guy was loaded, why would you wanna be with me when you could have all this?” The sentence falls from my mouth before I can catch it, but it’s a question that needs to be asked. I can’t offer her and Catori half of this shit.

Simone turns around with her hands on her hips, her bra and panties the only thing she’s wearing. My chest rises as I take her cute little ass in. I missed her so goddamn much. I thought I was going to die with every passing second I was on the road trying to get here as fast as I could. Every minute I thought that something bad was happening to her, made me speed even faster.

“You think this is living?” she scoffs, and my eyes trail up her torso back to her eyes. “This doesn’t make me feel like I do when I’m with you. This”—she waves her hands around—“is making up for a life of loneliness, and let me tell you something, it doesn’t fucking work! It’s just a fancy prison.” She takes a deep breath, her hand rubbing her collarbone.

“I don’t love being here or any of this stuff if it’s not with you and Catori.” Her voice softens, and sucker punches me right in the chest. “I told you before, I wanna hold your stupid hand, and wear your stupid shirts. Nobody else’s.”

A boyish grin spreads across my face, and I suddenly need to touch her. It’s one thing to hear it, but I wanna feel it.

Sauntering up behind her, I trace my finger down her spine, little peach fuzz tickling against the pad of my finger. Her flirtatious eyes peek over her shoulder and my dick rises.

She yanks a dress off the floor and steps slowly into it.

“Call me crazy, but I’d rather wear leather than this stupid ball gown.” She shakes her head, shimmying her shoulders, the sheer fabric falls into place. This woman is marriage material, I tell you.

Sliding my hands down her sides, my dick dances in my pants. Fuck, she’s getting thin and curvy as hell and it’s turning me on to see every inch of it in this dress.

Pulling her braid from her shoulder, I pull my cut off my shoulders and grab her arm, helping her into it.

Smiling eyes meet mine as I help her put it on. Clutching her shoulders with my hands, I force her to turn around and look in the mirror.

“Anything looks good with leather.” I wink at her reflection in the mirror, and she giggles. “When we get home, you’ll have your own cut, babe.”

“Yeah?” Her eyes light up, and that reaction means so much to me. Knowing she wants the world to know she’s my property.

I’m going to fuck her with so much disrespect when her doctor gives her the clear.

My tongue, cum, and fingers will be on every inch of her skin.

“What are the guys going to do with Veer?” she asks, taking my mind off her sexy ass. I open my mouth to tell her but decide against it. There are some things that need to remain club business, and this is one of them. It’s not that I don’t trust Simone, I’m protecting her. Protecting her from the mental damage and guilt that comes with being in the brotherhood, and from anyone who thinks she might have details of club shit.

“We have to make a pit stop in Vegas,” is all I tell her, hoping she’ll be asleep when we take care of it.

“Let’s roll!” Machete roars from downstairs.

Smacking Simone’s ass, we head out of the room and downstairs, my hand wrapped around her tightly. The entire staff of the mansion is tied up on their knees with pillowcases over their heads. The boys work quick.

Simone’s eyes widen as she looks everyone over. “We couldn’t take any risks with someone calling the cops or ID’ing us,” I explain.

Clutching her hand, I take her outside to my motorcycle. Raven is standing guard just outside, her gun raised and ready to fire. She’s fierce and determined. I tried to make her stay behind, but it’s almost as if she thinks she’s patched in as a brother or something. Always down for some action.

“Easy, Tomb Raider, we’re out of here!” I tell her in passing. She lowers her gun and smiles at Simone. Starting my bike, Simone climbs on behind me, her fancy dress and heels making it hard for her. When she wraps her arms around me tightly, my cock throbs at the recognition of her touch. It’s scary how addicted I am to her, how crazy I become without her.

They say meth is the most dangerous drug out there, freely sweeping the streets on its own will, but I don’t think it has anything on love. It’s more dangerous and out of control than a street drug.

Machete whistles casually as he and Felix carry a large garbage bag into the back of the truck; Veer’s dead body. Simone doesn’t look away, it’s almost as if she needs to see it to believe he’s really gone. Reaching back, I squeeze her thigh in reassurance that nobody will ever hurt her again.

A loud groan sounds from the bag and Simone nearly screams.

“Fuck!” Growling, I pull my gun out and climb off my bike. Stepping to the bed of the truck, Machete backs up, letting me climb up into the back. The bag moves and grunts.

Pointing the gun at the round end of the trash bag, I fire one single bullet and the groans fade instantly.

“Damn it, I’m really going to have to bleach my truck now,” Machete mutters. Gun still aiming at Veer’s body, a small hole in the plastic allowing blood to spill out, I feel much better knowing I delivered the final blow to his existence.

Hopping out, Simone is looking the other way with her hand covering her mouth.

Putting my gun up, my hand on her lower back I kiss her neck.

“I took care of it, let’s get home to Catori.”

She nods and climbs on the bike after me.

Machete gets into his truck, and Felix gets on his bike beside me. Pulling out of the mansion driveway, we leave behind more than just a crime scene, but life Simone gave up to be with me.

We last a few hours on the road, and I notice Simone starting to shift, her hold on me lightening. For someone who doesn’t ride often and with her still recovering, long hours can be straining. Veer took Simone down south to his mansion in California, and it’s a good few hours away from where we reside.

I pull over to a secluded gas station off the freeway to give her a break, we need to fill up anyway.

The little shitty gas station’s yellow and blue paint is chipping away with every gust of wind, the gas pumps old and rusty.

“Why are we stopping?” Simone asks as soon as I turn the engine off to my bike.

“Need gas, and why don’t you climb in the truck for a while. Stretch out?” I suggest.

“No, I don’t—”

Pressing my hand against her mouth to shut her up, her eyes go wide.

“Go. Rest. I’ll be right behind you.” I’m not giving her the option. I don’t want to be apart from her either, but with her just having surgery a little over a week ago, I know she’s in pain.

Her body sulks, and she stares at me with a death look as she slowly begins to climb off the leather seat. Taking her hand, I help her off. When her heels hit the ground, she winces, her hands on her knees as she bends over.

“You okay?”

“It’s just my...” she waves to the general area of her cut.

“Yeah, see. Come on, let’s get you in the truck for a while.”

“Fuck this is a drive!” Machete yawns, climbing out of his truck and stretching.

“Simone is going to ride with you, she needs a break,” I tell him.

“Yeah, climb in.” Machete shrugs, uncaring. “I’m getting jerky.”

Walking her to the back of his truck, I open the door. The smell of new car rushing about us.

Giving Simone a kiss, she nips my lip and smiles weakly before climbing into the back seat. My hand on the bottom of her back, I do my best to help her in.

“I’ll be right behind you,” I assure her before shutting the door. I hate being without her, but she’s in so much pain she needs a break.

“Drive like you have some sense!” I point to Machete who is walking out chomping on dry meat.

Filling our tanks, and grabbing some snacks, we’re back on the road in no time. I’m ready to see Catori. Alessandra, Felix’s ol’ lady stayed back to watch her, and that alone makes me nervous. Alessandra is a firecracker and does whatever she wants. I’ll kill her if she does anything stupid with Catori in her care.