Dark never knew what to do when women cried. It didn’t help that they tended to breakdown a lot around him. Flexing his hands, he thought the correct thing to do was reach out and pat her back. Hadn’t he seen men do that before? Then again, what if she freaked the fuck out on him again? No, he’d best not risk yet another emotional outburst.

“Look, lady, I don’t know what you want me to say. I’m sorry I ran over your pooch, but we have a leash law in this state for a reason.”

The pretty blond teared up all over again. “I didn’t have the heart to put one on him. He was just a puppy.”

“Yeah, well now he’s a dead puppy.”

Flinching like she’d been slapped, the woman started snuffling and wiping at her eyes all over again. Why the hell were women so confusing?

Thankfully, his son rushed over. Holding up two hands, he spoke in a placating voice, “My old man did not mean that. We’re very sorry about your puppy. I can see he was really damn cute.”

The young woman turned big tearful eyes on his son. “Oh, he was adorable. I can’t believe he’s dead.”

Shaking his head, Dark pointed out helpfully, “Well, he is. See, he’s laying right there on the pavement, flat as a pancake.”

Much to his annoyance and utter confusion, the woman started wailing all over again. Big crocodile tears slid down her face, and a little dribble of snot gathered around her left nostril.

Darkness wiped at her face with his shirt sleeve, shooting him an annoyed look. “Look, old man, you gotta stop talking or we’re never going to get through this.”

Spitting on the ground, Dark stalked back over to his pickup truck. Climbing behind the wheel, he watched Darkness handle the woman’s emotional overflow. Ha, patting her on the back was the correct action. Darkness just did it, and she calmed right down.

Dark was annoyed with himself for not just going with his gut on that one. His son was a chip off the old block. He had Dark’s long black hair, ice blue eyes, and was built like a freight train. Though both of them were lethal in their own ways, his son had a way with women that Dark could never quite manage. He knew what to say and how to phrase things to get women to cooperate.

Dark’s mind drifted back to his wife. She’d been the one and only woman to ever take an instant liking to him. She brought out the best in him, liked his rough ways, and forgave his propensity to speak plainly. They were a good fit for each other. Though they’d loved each other, he still wondered if they were ever actually in love.

He’d spent a lifetime observing people in love. They gravitated towards each other, made eye contact across a crowded room, and desire shone in their eyes when they looked at each other. Even being a cynical outlaw, Dark could recognize the signs of such tenderness. Seeing it happen with the men in his club, drove home the fact that he apparently lacked the depth of emotion necessary to draw a woman that way.

His little shit of a son had it in spades. It seemed like every woman he bumped into wanted to get to know him a little better. Hell, everything came easy for the boy. He fell into the biker lifestyle as a child, and never looked back. Even when Joy overdosed and everyone insisted it was intentional, Darkness shook off his mother’s death like it was nothing. Dark didn’t know if it was because he knew his mother better than to think it was suicide or because suicide was the sign of a weak character, and that was something his son frowned upon.

Dark had grappled with that subtle distinction for thirteen long years and was no closer to answering the question than on the day he found her. Joy was a fun loving, freewheeling woman who enjoyed fast bikes, rough men, and drugs to the point of excess. Dark didn’t think she would just kill herself. Then again, even he could tell something was missing from their relationship. Though he had no clue what that something was, he could feel it all the way down to his bones.

Darkness climbed into the passenger side and slammed the door shut.

“You gotta learn how to talk to people, Prez. That got ugly fast.”

Shrugging, Dark replied nonchalantly. “It was just a dog.”

“Some women treat their animals like people. You just ran over her little one and didn’t show much remorse.”

“There’s a damned good reason for that. I can’t make myself give a shit about some animal that should have been on a leash in the first place.”

Grinning, Darkness quipped, “I’m tracking with you one-hundred percent on that one. Remorse is an easy expression to fake though. I keep trying to remember to teach you about puppy dog eyes.”

“Fuck that, why can’t women be more like men?”

“Because they wouldn’t be as much fun to fuck?”

“I meant on the inside, smart ass.”

“They lack testosterone.”

“What the hell kind of answer is that?”

“One you think of when you’ve had more than a sixth-grade education.”

“Don’t start bragging about your high school diploma. I run the club and we make bank. I don’t need a fuckin’ college degree for that shit.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, old man. It ain’t like I’m college bound or anything.”

“Where are we headed? You promised your old man fun, relaxation, and booze. Don’t disappoint me.”

“They’re having a bash at Enzo’s place.”

Bumping along, the conversation turned to their last job with Johnny and Enzo. The bank job had netted the club several hundred thousand dollars in cash, jewels, and other miscellaneous valuables. Dark had to hand it to the young jet-set gangsters. They were ballsy and planned a good solid heist. The brothers were normally leery of outsiders, but Lorenzo’s crew was as solid as they came.

Pulling up to the huge home, Dark whistled through his teeth, “Fancy digs.”

“Johnny’s friend lives here with his wife. The brothers are already here. We better get a move on.”

Walking around to the back, he saw the party was in full swing. Someone handed him a cold beer and he popped the top. Surveying the scene to make sure everything was kosher; a delicate face with soft brown eyes caught his attention. Feeling like he’d been gut punched, he came to a stuttering stop with the drink to his lips.

“What’s up, old man?”

Unable to take his eyes off the pretty brunette, he whispered, “Dibs on the brunette. Pass the word, son.”

Darkness grabbed his arm and leaned in for privacy, “No fucking way. That’s Johnny’s old lady. Stay the fuck away from her unless you want a war between the MC and local mafia.”

Noticing that she hadn’t been able to take her eyes off him either, he mumbled, “That sexy little bitch is filled with need. You can see it all over face and in her body language. Ain’t no mobster gonna neglect his woman like that.”

Snapping his head around to look at the woman, Darkness whispered, “Shit, you’re right. I’m not sure what’s going on there, but she’s still off limits. Get that through your stubborn head, old man.”

“We’ll see.”

Darkness shifted uncomfortably. “She’s staring at you like you’re a fucking god.”

Suddenly, there was another woman who looked similar enough to be her twin at her side. They were wearing identical bikinis. To his mind, they were trying to look alike, but Dark could easily tell them apart. His brown-eyed beauty was lithe, frail, and lonely. Her eyes were slightly haunted, cultivating a need deep in his soul to utterly destroy whatever had made her that way.

By contrast, her counterpart was more fleshed out, bouncy, and happy to the point of being jubilant. For some reason, he found her slightly off-putting. Maybe he was getting to be a crabby old curmudgeon after all.

Charlie approached with a beer and a knowing smile, “See you caught the eye of that hot little agent’s sister.”

“What do you know?”

“Ever short on words, I see. We just rescued her from some fucked up international company that had her doing dirty deeds.”

“What kind of deeds?”

Darkness chimed in his two cents’ worth, “It was probably prostitution or drug running, from the look of her.”

Charlie responded cheerfully after taking a draw from his bottle, “Try gun for hire.”

Shocked, Dark pulled his eyes from the woman to look at his MC brother. “You don’t fucking say, Charlie? Was she a shooter or some kind of support person?”

“World’s greatest sniper is what I hear.”

“Fuck. I don’t believe that. She looks like she’s about to jump out of her skin.”

“You don’t have to be a bad ass to lay on a rooftop and snipe someone.”

“No, you don’t, but it sure as hell helps.”

Dark kept her in his sights all evening. The discreet loner only perked up a bit when her sister was around. At one point, he saw an element of steely resolve in her personality when she was quietly having it out with her sister’s boyfriend. She had some fire, but he could tell she really had to dig for it. He’d seen her kind before, a woman who was near the end of her rope.

Johnny tried to keep things under control when she argued with him. Dark could tell because the big gangster was exasperated with her but didn’t lash out like mobsters were wont to do with their women. The pretty little agent had the mafia don’s son wrapped around her little finger, but that kind of shit didn’t normally last long with their kind. Mobsters’ passions tended to burn red hot then fizzle out in a few years, leaving the women at home alone while they painted the town red with a new mistress.

Darkness approached with a grim look on his face.

“What’s up, son?”

“Johnny’s partner doesn’t like your interest in Miss Margaret. He wants us to warn you to stay away from her.”

Taking another pull of his beer, Dark replied, “His partner, that fancy pants attorney’s son he runs with? Enzo? Tell him to fuck off. Nobody tells me where to dip my dick.”

“Charlie laughed in his fucking face.”

“Bet that went over real good.”

“Stupid fucker’s got no room to talk since he hitched himself to Charlie’s sister.”

“Over Charlie’s very strenuous objections, if I remember correctly.”

“They beat the shit outta each other several times before Enzo made it to the altar with that pretty little thing.”

“You might want to remind him that, unlike Charlie, I don’t hit like a girl. If he rolls up on me, I ain’t gonna hold back.”

“If you mess up that pretty face, his woman is gonna be all kinds of pissed.”

“I remember her, from when she pulled a runner on him. Can’t believe she went running back to the dumb little shit.”

“They say it's true love.”

“True love is a fucking myth, son. You ought to know that.”

“Now you’re just talking pure garbage. If it’s such a myth, why are you always looking so hard for it?”

“Fuck off.”

“Shit, Charlie just punched the stupid fucker in the face.”

“I don’t know whether to kick both their stupid ass for fighting over things that don’t concern them, or stand them both in the corner until they learn to behave.”

To his credit, the big mafia don’s son, stepped in, tossing Charlie to his club brothers and Enzo to his bodyguard to control. Dark grabbed Charlie from behind and immobilized his arms. He smelled heavily of alcohol.

“Don’t know what the fuck you two are doing, going at it like we’re at a bare-knuckle boxing match, but you’re spoiling the fuckin’ mood.” Johnny’s angry voice rolled through the room.

Charlie snarled at the well-dressed mobster, clearly itching to punch him again. Enzo glared right back at him. Neither man was willing to speak on the nature of their disagreement. Dark could guess. Gripping Charlie’s arm, he sent an unspoken message to cease and desist.

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but you two need to get your shit together. Enzo, this ain’t no way to host a fuckin’ party. Charlie, you’re normally pretty level headed, so calm the fuck down.”

Still unwilling to make nice, Charlie pushed off Dark and stalked to the bar. Enzo allowed his new bride to pull him away. Gino announced to no one in particular, “It’s always something to do with bitches with those two.”

Johnny snarled, “I don’t give a shit. Sarah and I are heading upstairs for a little rest. Look out for the Stepford twin, will you?” Slinging her over his shoulder caveman style, he headed upstairs.

Mobsters were always so melodramatic. They couldn’t even take a woman upstairs like a normal dude. Dark was fairly certain none of them were quite right in the head.

Though Gino jerked his chin in agreement, his accusing eyes slid to Dark.

“We gonna have any more problems?”

“Stepford twin? That’s a shitty way to refer to a woman.”

“Are you fuckin’ kidding me? Your club calls them sweet butts. Johnny didn’t mean anything by that. It’s just the way he talks. By the way, you never answered my question.”

“I got one for you. Are you the kind of man who lets other dudes tell you where to stick your junk?” Dark continued.

“Hell, the fuck no, I am not.”

“Me either. Now you tell me, are we gonna have problems or act like grown ass men? Tonight has been a real exercise in patience for me. I ain’t used to this particular kind of conflict.”

“I’ll talk to Enzo. He’s just worried because that new bitch is family and she’s been through some shit,” Gino said.

“I ain’t a fuckin’ idiot and you need to modify your language.”

Shooting him an aggravated look, Gino turned on his heel and headed in the direction Enzo went.

“Busy making friends and influencing people, I see.”

“Shut the fuck up, you lying piece of shit. You promised your old man this was going to be a friendly, fun-filled get together. So far, it’s been short on friendly and not much fun. Are you sure we’re at the right party?”

“Calm the fuck down, old timer.”

“I’m forty-one. That’s not exactly old.”

“I was just joking around with you, old man. What’s up with you tonight?”

Staring at his son, Dark realized he was more irritable than normal. Before he could figure out why, Darkness spoke.

“I get it. Calling you old when you’re thinking of jumping that hot-assed sharp shooter is messing with your head. Don’t worry, old man. You still got it going on for a guy your age.”

“Or better yet, you could just shut the hell up altogether.”

“Don’t be so touchy on the subject. I already talked to Miss Margaret.”

Going still, Dark struggled to leash his fury. The last thing in the world he needed was to watch his son win the affections of the only woman who’d captured his interest in ages. It would be just the kind of annoying irritation to push him right over the edge. “You hit on her when I expressly said not to?”

Darkness looked at him intently. “After what happened with Mom, I owe it to you to make sure she’s not some crazy freak or drug addict.”

“I’m appalled to discover you see your own mother as crazy or a druggie.”

“Don’t bullshit me, old man. Saying that falls in the category of stating plain facts. Either she was mentally ill and killed herself, or she accidentally overdosed on crystal meth.”

“I tried...”

“I know. I was there, remember? You put her in rehab what two or three times?”

“Four.”

“Well, the nice little brunette blew me the fuck off and she wasn’t even nice about it.”

Letting the uncomfortable conversation of Joy’s death go, he swung to the new topic of discussion. “That’s never happened to you before. What was her problem?”

“She already had her sights set on you, I imagine. Told me to go home, play with my toys, and come back when I had more than peach fuzz growing on my chin. It was fucking disrespectful if you ask me.”

“Serves you right for sticking your stupid fat face where it doesn’t belong.