I read over my letter as many times as my stinging eyes would allow, sitting on the back of my bike in a heather-covered field. I could only hope this one would sneak past Helen and not be returned like all the rest had been over the years. There were hundreds of scribbled letters never delivered to my baby, but I was never going to stop trying. Someday I would be able to prove to my daughter that I’d at least tried. Someday I would be able to show her the boxes of letters, all the unopened envelopes that were meant to ease Crickett’s mind.

Does she even remember me?

I wiped my nose with the sleeve of my flannel before riding back to the clubhouse where my men were waiting for me. Eight long years I had been stuck in Vilas, eight fucking torturous years of feeling out of place and unwanted.

Abel was sitting on the couch with his girlfriend, Colleen, nestled in his lap as I made my way into the quiet clubhouse.

“Shouldn’t y’all be in school?” I glanced from the teenagers up to the clock on the wall.

Abel shrugged, swigging from a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon. “Teacher workday?”

I smacked him on the back of his shaved head, ripping the beer out of the boy’s hand before pulling Colleen to her feet. “I wasn’t born yesterday. Class, now, and put some damn clothes on, young lady. Around here, you don’t want to be seen as another lay ripe for the picking. Abel, you know better than this.”

Even though Abel was Odin’s son, I treated him more like my own than his old man did. As I escorted the kids to Abel’s beat-up truck, I heard Sherry scream from a back room.

I flew into the makeshift bedroom like a bat out of hell right as Odin punched her square in the jaw. This was the last time; I wasn’t going to sit back and let him get away with beating on her again.

Grabbing the back of my president’s cut, I threw him across the room. Even though I was a few inches shorter, I doubled him in weight and muscle. Add in my blind rage, and I would have killed him if I could have.

Blow after blow, I beat his face in as he unsuccessfully tried to defend himself. My ax cried for me to let her finish the job as he fell to his knees in the corner like the little bitch he was, spitting blood and a few teeth onto the concrete floor.

“I told you once before, we are not woman beaters. You will never lay a hand on her or any other woman as long as I am alive.” I hawked a thick loogie onto the president’s patch. “It’s outlaws like you that give one percenters a bad name.”

Sherry lay motionless, curled up against the wall in the closet. Without thinking twice, I picked her up and carried her into another room to tend to her injuries, leaving Odin to deal with his anger and lick his wounds.

After locking the door, I grabbed a med kit out of the top dresser drawer of the room I had called home since the day I had arrived in that shithole of a town.

“He’s going to kill you for this, you know,” Sherry said, whimpering as I dabbed the gash over her right eyebrow with an alcohol swab.

“I’d like to see him try.” I snickered, cleaning the trickled blood from her swelling face. “What happened anyway?”

She shrugged. “Lover’s spat is all.”

I let her keep her secret. I wasn’t one to pry. “These might need stitches. We should probably get you to the hospital.”

“No hospitals. They’ll try to make me file a domestic and walking in there with those busted knuckles wouldn’t be good for you.” She grabbed the suture kit out of the bag, placing it in my hand. “I’ve seen you patch up more guys than I can count. I trust you.”

I grabbed a half-empty bottle of Jameson from the nightstand. “Chug. This isn’t going to feel good.”

After she downed a few long pulls from the bottle, I slowly went to work sewing up her cheek and forehead. She muscled through it, biting down on the bedsheet as tears rolled down.

“I’m sorry if these scar up. I’m not usually worried about the aesthetics of these types of things.”

She pulled down the collar of her white shirt, which was stained with her blood, revealing a jagged scar running down her sternum. “It’ll just match the others.”

I leaned down, softly kissing the top of her scar between her tits. “You’re beautiful, scars and all.” I breathed in the lilac sent on her skin, realizing the mistake I had just made. Body frozen, I glanced up at her.

Pulling me close, she brushed her lips over my forehead. Instinctively, I knotted my fingers through her tangled mane, finally tasting the lips I had craved for years. Hunger overcame me as I crawled on top of her on my bed, feeling every nerve in my body buzz with lust.

“I want you, Rave,” she moaned in my ear as my teeth sank into her tender flesh.

“Be careful what you wish for, darlin’.” I breathed into Sherry’s ear, my fingers still knotted in her long golden locks, her hips pinned between my thighs.

She bit her bottom lip. “I like playing with fire.”

Banging erupted from the door, forcing me out of my love-drunk daze, and I reluctantly snapped back to reality.

“You fucking whore! Open the damn door!” Odin yelled as his fists beat against the thin wood.

“Come on.” I pulled Sherry to her feet, seeing the terror in her eyes. “I’m getting you outta here.”

“We can’t.” She pulled me toward the corner.

“We can and we will. Just keep your eyes down and walk beside me. Odin is not going to mess with me after the beating he just took. He’s dumb, but he’s not a complete moron.”

I sucked in a sharp breath before unlocking the door. I stood toe to toe with Odin as I shielded Sherry, pulling her out of the room.

“Someone had to clean up your mess, Pres.” I growled before walking Sherry right out to my bike. Every club member sat motionless as Odin yelled every foul thing he could muster. I didn’t care. I wasn’t loyal to him or to any of those men. I was loyal to my club, what we stood for, my personal code, and now Sherry.

I helped her onto the back of my Chief, whisking us to the gorgeous field I had parked in only hours before.

“This is breathtaking.” Sherry looked around at the expansive blanket of wildflowers as I killed the engine and stood up from the bike.

“You’re breathtaking,” I responded, wrapping my arms around her shaking body. “Are you cold?”

She stopped me from stripping off my jacket before kissing me sweetly. “No, I’m fine. It’s just been an intense day.”

My body ached to feel hers. My mouth watered as I thought about kneeling down and tasting her. My cock grew as I thought about bending her over my bike, but it was not the time or the place. She was vulnerable, and there was no way I would take advantage of her after what she had just endured.

“Do you want me to take you home?” It was the last thing I wanted, but I didn’t want her to feel pressured.

She shook her head against my chest. “Please don’t.”

In the middle of that field, I said three words I had only ever said to my mother and my daughter. “I love you.”

With her tiny hand on my cheek, her face softened into a knowing smile. “And I have loved you since the first time you came to my rescue. All these years, you’re the only one who has cared for me, defended me, and treated Abel like a son.”

In that moment, my world shifted again, the Hyde in me softening back to its even balance once more. In that moment, Sherry became my old lady.