Lucy wraps her arms tightly around my torso as we cruise up the back roads toward the clubhouse. I’ve never felt so powerful. I don’t feel an urge to run from my problems. With Lucy here, I’m whole again. I have a plan. I’ll see it through.

My heart is racing. I can’t let go of Lucy… I can’t let go of her ever again. I can keep her safe, but not so long as Mac is part of my fucking life.

Maybe it won’t even make it to a vote… All I know is the darkness ends here. Tonight.

The club is with me. I’ll speak my mind and they’ll vote with me. I’m sure of it. Most of the club fears Mac more than they respect him. I ride with the Dragons, and they ride with me. The roar of our engines falls silent as we park outside the club.

“He’s here,” I tell Lucy as we step off the bike.

“How do you know?” she asks.

“I could smell his shitty cigars half a mile out.”

I nod to Rev and Garret and they wave the rest of the club inside. Crossing the threshold feels different this time. A wave of dread flows inside its silent walls. The girls have went home, the club is dark. Mac is waiting here, he knows what’s coming… He’s ready for me.

I find him right where I expect him to be… At the head of the table.

He’s not wearing his most recent cut. I can see he’s wearing his originals. They were retired years ago, the tattered leather showing a decade of the worst kind of abuse. A bullet hole in the side, a knife wound, blood and beer spilled on its flanks. Normally originals only come out on special occasions.

I guess this qualified.

“We have to talk,” I say, gripping Lucy’s hand tightly.

Mac stands up, looking first to Lucy then back at me. “You sure you wanna do this in front of the girl?”

He’s not as collected as usual. His voice is a little shakier.

“I think I can handle it, Mac,” she says.

“Then you won’t mind me beating the life out of your lover boy here, will you?”

“We’re not here to fight. We’re here for church,” I say, stepping up to Mac.

He looks at Lucy and smiles, then lands a strong crack across my jaw. I trip backwards from the sheer force of his fist. My head feels shaken in my skull. Everything seems a little further away but I have to fight through it.

I hold a palm to my already-split cheek and snarl, a sharp migraine piercing through my temple. “You feel better now, old man? You always did love a good sucker-punch, didn’t you?”

“Sit the fuck down!”

I listen to him because I need him calm though it pains me to do so. Every fibre in me wants to rip his dick off and shove it down his throat.

“The rest of you, sit!” We stay silent. “This is club business, girl.”

“I think I’ll stay.”

No one else protests so Lucy cozies in behind my chair.

“I want you out of this club.”

“Oh, you do you ya? After all I’ve done for you?”

He laughs and picks at his teeth with his knife.

“I’ve paid back those debts three times over.”

“Paid them back?!’ He slams his fist on the table. “I saved your damn life you piece o’ shit. Your scummy old whore of a foster mom who you so desperately wanted to get away from, you remember her? I saved you from her. Just like I stepped in when you were too sackless to get rid of little Palermo’s busy-handed daddy.”

“I want you out of this club. You got us back into drugs, you got us tied up in this mess with the Mafia, you…” I bite my lip, now wanting to think about his slimy fingers abusing my girl. “You laid a finger on my woman when you’re the one crowing on about respect.”

He’s amused. “Your woman? Last I checked your woman is Mia, and she wanted my fingers laid on her.”

“My woman is Lucy, and you crossed the fucking line.”

“So you’re breaking it off with Mia? Hundreds of thousands of dollars down the pisser because you’re too much of a pussy bitch to marry a real woman?”

Lucy places a hand on my shoulder and I hold it for strength.

“I’ve lived too long in your shadow, listening to everything you had to say like some kind of fucking God. Now I see it, Mac. You’re a piece of shit, and I’m done taking orders.”

Mac’s temple is throbbing, his face going red. “The fuck is this?”

The other boys are avoiding eye contact. I should be nervous to have them on my side but I’m not…Not for what I’m about to do.

“Call your fucking vote then. You think the boys will be on your side? I’m the one who brings the money. I’m the one who takes care of this club. Not a damn soul in this fucking club is gonna vote for a pissant like you, boy. I was President walking into this room and I’ll be President when I walk out.”

“I’m not calling for a vote, old man.”

“No?”

“I want vengeance.”

“Maybe you got your head all fucked up in that cage tonight, because you’re making a big fucking mistake. I’m gonna let you take that shit back.”

“I’m not taking anything back. You put your hands on my girl, you pulled her into this mess in the fucking first place. You’re paying for every pain you’ve caused. I want vengeance.”

“You don’t need to do this,” Garrett says, but I cut him off with a stare. Vengeance is absolute with the club. It’s how things are settled when power is corrupted. Mac has served far too long, and I’m not the only one who wants him gone. The hell he’s put me through is just the tip of the fucking iceberg.

Lucy squeezes my shoulder tighter. She doesn’t know what kind of shitstorm I just opened up, but I reassure with a gentle pat of her hand that it’ll be okay…I hope.

My eyes meet my brothers around the table, old and young, familiar and strange, all of whom have come here to watch the final showdown. Either Mac’s reign ends tonight and someone else takes his place, or I’m left on the edge of death and leave this town with Lucy at my side.

“Vengeance,” Mac says, smiling coldly.

“Aye,” I say.

“Aye,” comes a voice from the back. Various members begin beating their fists upon the table, a few at first, but the sound is growing.

“You’ve put families, children at risk, you’ve let power go to your head Mac. You shamed Retch in his grave by getting involved with the Cartel when you promised not to… And you pulled that fucking knife on Lucy and tried to have your way. I’m angry, we’re angry…”

“Aye, aye, aye…”

More fists start a tribal-sounding beat upon the wood until there’s an uproar.

“Fine! You all wanna see a show,” he looks at Lucy and shoulders by her, “you’ll get a damn show.”