“I’m sorry, but we got family shit goin’ down,” Princess says, walking up with a pretty young woman around my age, maybe a bit younger.

The girl has a busted lip, and her eye is a bit swollen, but I also notice her knuckles are red and swollen. Whatever happened to her, she fought back. Good. And from the fire breathing in her eyes, she’s not one to back down easily. Tough woman. I like it.

“Understand. When do you want me to start?”

“Wait. What’s going on?” the young woman asks, looking between the two of us, curiosity brimming.

“This is Rylie. She’s taking over security at X. Get used to seeing her.” Princess looks at me. “Rylie, this is my daughter Austyn.” Ah, so this is the infamous Austyn. Word has it Princess taught all her kids how to fight, how to defend themselves. Seems like she did a bang-up job with her daughter.

“Hi. You alright?”

Austyn’s back straightens. “Of course. My mom taught all her kids well.”

“I bet she did. When?” I prompt Princess, ready to get the hell out of there.

Something big is going down. The damn tension in the air is so thick and weighted it’s liable to suffocate everyone if they stick around. It all centers around the gorgeous man who pulled up with Austyn. Deke, they called him.

He didn’t look happy one bit to be here, so I guess there’s bad blood somewhere. It was strange, though, for that split-moment when our eyes connected. A pulse ran through me, like he was pulling me to him. It was unnerving. I don’t need that shit in my life. It must be hormones, and it’s been a damn long time.

One asshole ex is enough for right now.

“Let me call you. I don’t know how this is going to go.” Princess gazes at her daughter who meets her intense eyes full-on, even lifting her chin.

Gotta say, I’m impressed. Most people would crumble under that kind of stare, but not her. It’s all interesting. Very interesting.

“Sounds good.”

“Mom, tell them to leave Deke alone. Seriously. He did me a favor, and now they’re going to treat him like an enemy. He’s not,” Austyn starts as I try to make my exit from the scene.

I’m blocked by a damn table, which I don’t like. Two options: one, hop over it, or two, tough it out.

“Why does he have all the cuts on his face, Austyn?”

“He’s a fighter, Mom. You know this. It’s not new. He didn’t know I was coming and just got done with a fight. That’s why his face is busted.”

“And why the fuck is my daughter’s face busted up? That was a stupid ass move.” Princess gets in Austyn’s face, but the girl still doesn’t back down.

“I wanted to get away. I got jumped, took care of it, and went to Deke’s. End of story.”

I can’t help watching Austyn’s eyes. They’re strong and determined. In the far recesses, though, something is wrong. For Austyn’s sake, her mother better not pick up on that small tell. She’ll nail her ass to the wall.

“Don’t bullshit the bullshitter, Austyn.” She sees it. Sucks for Austyn.

“Mom, just don’t, alright!” Austyn explodes. “I’m not talking about it. I left. I’m back. I’m twenty-years-old, and just because I didn’t tell everyone where I was going does not mean you all get to treat me like I’m a child! You didn’t raise me to be stupid. Remember that.”

As they stare each other down, I take that as my cue.

“Alrighty, I’m just going to get out of here and let you handle your business.”

Princess steps to the side, allowing me to get through, not taking her focus off her daughter. That chick is going to have a rough night.

I glance a second longer than I should have at the door Deke went through, then shake my head. According to him, he’s leaving. This is a good thing.

* * *

“Harder!” Charlie yells as he moves his body to the left then the right.

I nail him a couple of times, and all he does is chuckle. Fucker.

We go at it for another thirty minutes, all while thoughts of my time at the clubhouse run through my head. If nothing else, it should be an interesting job, if they can keep all their personal shit to themselves. Not that I need interesting, but it should change up the monotony a bit.

Really, if you think about it, a strip club isn’t any different than a fight club. Both have guys high on testosterone and sexy women around.

My mind keeps going back to the tall, built man with anger all over him. Hell, even from far away, I could feel those waves bouncing off me.

Austyn said he was a fighter. In my experience, a lot of men fight to cut through the tension in their lives. True, they do it for money, too. But there always tends to be an underlying thing. I wish the curiosity of it would go away, but unfortunately, it’s burning inside of me.

“Rylie, either get your head in the game or step the hell out!” Charlie calls out, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I halt mid-swing, coming back into the present. Damn. He’s right. Motherfucker. When was the last time I got lost in myself? When I lost focus at the task I was doing? Shit, the last time I remember was when Aunt CB was on my ass while I was living with her. And that was a damn long time ago.

I need to get this man out of my head. Way out of my head. This shit is bad news all the way around. I don’t lose focus. Ever. That’s the moment you’ll get killed. I’m not quite ready to go out yet. I fear, with that man, though, I’d go out in a blaze of glory.

Dumbass, you’re not going to see him again. Ever.

“Sorry. I got this.”

“What’s goin’ on, girl? This isn’t you.” He stares at me with those eyes that have looked to the heart of me for years. If I were to have a father, I’d want it to be Charlie. Except when he calls me on my shit. Or maybe it’s especially because he calls me out on it. That’s a toss-up.

“Startin’ a new job, and it’s on my mind.”

Charlie puts his hands down and stares at me like I’ve grown horns and am spewing green slime from my mouth. “New job?”

I stretch my neck from side to side, stretching out the muscles. “I’m workin’ over at X for a while as security.”

“How the fuck did you get that job?”

Needing water, I lead us over to the bench and proceed to explain my run-in with Princess and how it ended with me and a job. He says nothing, which isn’t like Charlie. He’s an in-your-face kind of man, always wanting the best for everyone. Heart of gold, I tell ya.

He’s also a meddler when it comes to me. Truthfully, I wouldn’t have it any other way. At least he gives a shit, and that’s more than I can say about the actual family I have.

“Give me somethin’,” I finally say, gulping down a bottle of water. The coolness helps quench my thirst. Love working out, but damn am I always so thirsty.

“That club’s been around for years. Know Pops. He was president for years. Handed over the reins to his boys, Cruz and GT.” He shakes his head. “For a while, they were havin’ some serious problems. Men comin’ after their women. Of course, this is all hearsay. Not one of them would confirm or deny anything. But shit gets out. They’ve been pretty tame over there at that clubhouse. I just don’t know if you going to work for them is a good idea.”

“Why? I mean, I’m already in with Schade as it is.”

“Yeah, I know. Just don’t want you in any deeper than you are. Know you can hack it. Just want good for you.”

My heart warms. He’s always seen more to me than I ever have. He needs to give that up, though I’m really not ready for him to.

Hope is a powerful thing. Me, I love my life. If I didn’t, I’d change it. But it’s nice that he cares.

“This is my life, Charlie, and I’m good at it. Plus, Princess is paying me double what I make with Schade and is working around my schedule there.”

His face softens. “Damn, she really wants ya.”

“It appears so. That being said”—I rise from my seat—“need to practice, old man, or do you need a potty break?” I chide, seeing him smirk.

“Get your smartass out there. Let’s do this.”

Mind in the game, we work out.