Chief stood at the bank of the creek. Johanna slowed to a walk over the uneven ground, catching her breath. Going by the activity in the clubhouse and Keeffe giving her permission to go outside alone to look for Chief, she suspected he'd taken care of the problem with Skidd.

Fearful that he'd be arrested and forced to leave her again, she tried to console herself that he stood in front of her. Later, after Olin recovered and Nene's death wasn't giving her nightmares, she would try and figure out why her distress of losing him impacted her more than someone losing their life.

She walked through the tall grass, and when she was within ten feet of him, Chief put his hand behind his back, reaching for her. He always knew when she was near without looking.

She hurried the rest of the way and slipped her fingers into his hand. Side by side, she looked at him, trying to figure out what was going on and what happened with Skidd. What she needed to do to make sure nobody found out what went on today and how she could keep Chief in her life forever.

He gazed into the water. She brought his hand up and kissed his knuckles. She learned long ago that when he wanted to talk, he would. If he wanted silence, he refused to talk.

She'd take either side of him. Looking where he stared, she waited.

A maple leaf fell from the tree limb overhanging the creek. The orange and maroon colors fluttered freely in the air. The rolling water gently caught the leaf, not damaging the fragile state.

She watched the foliage float downstream, protected from the rocks, the sticks, and the force of the water. Peace came to her. How many times had Chief been the cushion for her to fall on?

"I will never leave you," said Chief, breaking his silence. "Remember that."

She turned her gaze to him. "I remember everything."

He closed his eyes an extra beat and inhaled deeply. She stepped closer and leaned against his arm. The bits of information he'd made her remember over the years were part of a bigger picture that she accepted. As if he understood giving too much of himself would scare her away and weaken him.

"On the other side of the creek, Rollo built a house for my mom." Chief exhaled heavily. "It was back when they first met. He was spending all his time building Brikken that he wanted her closer to him. If you stand in the meeting room and gaze out the window, you'll look right at this spot here."

Absorbed in the story, she held her breath, lulled in by the thick emotions coming through his voice.

"Rollo loved my mother more than life." He glanced at Johanna. "Almost as much as I love you."

She warmed. He'd grown up in a loving household with parents he respected.

"Rollo believed in the old philosophy...." He cleared his throat. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

She looked away from him and repeated the idea, unsure if she personally agreed. Her preference would be to stay away from anyone she didn't like.

"In the end, he was wrong and inviting that friend of his enemy into Brikken failed to protect my mother." He squatted down. "Get on my back, bug."

She latched her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He walked across the creek with her on his back, ignoring the water getting in his boots, and stepped onto the bank bringing her to the other side. She slid off his back and grabbed his hand.

Chief led her fifty feet away from the water and stopped. She peered down at the burnt remains of the house she hadn't been able to view from the other side of the creek. The broken concrete and aged wood charred from a fire lay underneath her sneakers.

He picked up a nail and rolled it between his fingers. "The friend of my father's enemy decided it was important to tell my mother that Rollo hadn't just happened into the diner where my mother worked one day, sweeping her off her feet, but had planned the hardships that had hit her life before meeting him. He wanted my mother to believe Rollo forced her to accept my father's help—which started their love affair."

"He was only helping her?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, my father had an ulterior motive, the friend was right. Rollo had her parents killed, and then a month later had her evicted from her apartment prior to her meeting him at the diner. He'd spotted her several times without her knowledge and became fixated on her. He made sure that she had no options but to accept his help when she found herself living in her car and no family to help her."

"That's not right," she whispered. "He was a murderer."

"Does it matter? They loved each other."

She frowned. "She had a right to know. Maybe her feelings for him would've been different if she had known the truth."

His gaze softened. "There are always two truths, bug."

She pursed her lips. It was hard to agree because she heard the story second-hand.

"Learning the truth got her killed." He walked a few paces away and turned around, facing her. "Without that knowledge, Rollo and my mother would be alive today, loving each other, believing they had the best thing in life."

She stepped toward him. "How did your mother die?"

"The friend who took it upon himself to betray my father tried to get my mother to leave Rollo. He claimed he'd fallen in love with her and she deserved better than my father. She'd already forgiven Rollo for his crimes and told the friend to leave her alone. Rejected, the friend came back later that night while my mom was sleeping and set the house on fire. She was alone. Rollo had ridden out with the club that night, and when he came home in the early hours of the morning, he found out the fire had taken his wife."

"Oh, my God," she whispered. "How old were you?"

"Twenty-five. I was on the ride with Rollo when it happened. Back then, we didn't have as many Brikken members. When we rode, we all went together."

Her heart ached for him. Since she'd known him, he always had respect for his parents and raised his kids to honor Rollo.

"Losing his wife devastated Rollo. Mom had been his life. He got reckless, taking chances where normally he wouldn't. He rode out looking for the disloyal Brikken member and for weeks I didn't know if my father was alive or dead. In the end, he came back without paying retribution, partied too hard, fucked too much, and wasn't ready for when mom's killer shot Rollo in the back." Chief squatted and put his elbows on his thighs. "I won't make the same mistake."

She pressed her hand to her chest, taken back by the hardness in his voice. Then, she looked behind her, and across the creek, afraid someone would overhear him.

"I wouldn't believe someone else if they tried to convince me not to love you," she whispered.

"That's why I brought you out here where we could talk privately. What happened today with Skidd made it apparent that I not only have to protect you, but you must know the truth so that nobody can ever weaken what we have together." He straightened.

She shook her head. "Nothing could ever make me stop loving you."

"Come to me." He waited until she stood in front of him. "Over the years, you've asked about your mother."

Her body came to attention, and she braced herself on his stomach. He'd never willingly talked about her past before.

"She's gone, bug. It happened not long after I brought you to Brikken." He cupped her face. "The reason why she came and went in your life was that she was hooked on heroin."

She waited for the shocking news to hit her and she felt nothing. A small part of her always knew something was different with her mom. She'd known other children had mom's that were always home and picked them up at school. Knowing she had passed away also made sense. There was nothing on the internet showing her mom existed.

"That's why I always woke up in someone else's room and wouldn't see her for days." She stared at his beard. "I barely remember what she looked like or what she sounded like."

Chief stroked her face with his thumbs. She tried to remember the night Chief took her to Brikken. Something had woken her up, and she'd found herself in a strange place, alone and scared. She'd hid in the closet when she heard men's voices.

She looked up at Chief. "Is that why she never came for me, because she'd died?"

"Let it go, bug. It was a long time ago, and there's nothing you can do to change your past." Chief lowered his voice. "You weren't living a good life. A safe life."

"I probably don't have grandparents, or they would've stepped in and taken care of me," she mumbled, numb from hearing someone else tell her what she'd always suspected.

An addict. No wonder she was afraid of her mom leaving and not coming back. Even at a young age, a child would be afraid of a mother who acted differently or was never available.

The only person she'd ever been able to rely on was Chief. He'd taken her insecurities onto himself and planted trust, security, love in her.

Her vision blurred and she squeezed her eyes shut, opening them to Chief's concerned gaze. "Thank you for loving me," she whispered.

He captured her mouth. Hard, solid, and possessive. He washed away the gloom that settled over her in the retelling of his parents' life together and her past.

He pulled back, then kissed her again. "Been a long fucking day."

"It's not even noon." She smoothed his beard down his chest and then remembered what started their morning. "Did you talk to Skidd?"

He grabbed her hand and led her to the creek. "Yeah."

"Is it true that he was your half-brother?"

He stopped at the edge of the water. "I'll never know."

She tilted her head. "Why not?"

"He's dead."

Her head snapped back, and her chest seized. "You killed him?"

"No." He hooked the back of her neck and brought her forward. "Like his mother, he took his own life."

Her mouth opened and another senseless death stole her words. She would never be able to understand the level of desperation a person would have to hit to harm themselves with something so permanent.

Struck speechless, she shook her head. "I'm sorry. He was a member of Brikken for so long and with what Nene claimed—"

"I will protect my family. You, Jett, Olin, Thorn. My men." He gazed across the creek at the clubhouse. "Rollo's legacy. My legacy. I won't repeat the same mistakes as my father."

She slipped her hand underneath his vest and rubbed his back. He'd done more in his life than most people and took more responsibilities onto himself than was expected.

Johanna stared wide-eyed back at the landscape of where Rollo built Jaqueline a home. A fresh breeze and the comfort of fallen leaves masked the old, burnt timber, crumbling concrete, and fallen chimney. The beautiful area once scarred by an enemy could not kill the love that was grown here.

It was time for Brikken to grow.

It was time for Chief to sit back in the comfort of his family and enjoy the riches he'd achieved.

Johanna turned to him and kissed him softly.

She remembered.