I roll out of bed quietly, my throbbing cock thick and heavy. Christ, she is stunning. Way too good for a man like me. My eyes glaze up the naked skin on her back, her hair covering half of her beautiful face. I’d give about anything to crawl back in bed and sink my cock into her pussy. My mouth knows firsthand how it tastes; now I need to feel. To let her grip me until I’m coming inside of her.

The minute I noticed her standing in the bar, my dick hardened and my head boiled with red-hot rage when her long, lean legs and hot-as-hell tits were spilling out of her dress. The woman standing before me was not the same woman who left without a Goddamn good-bye three weeks ago. Hell, no, she wasn’t. She stood there in a dress that had me wanting to haul her ass out of there and blister it. Short as fuck. Black as the inky sky and dipped so damn low in the front she had me seething. Then she spoke. Burned my damn ass even more.

What we did last night was not my intention when I hauled ass over here. I had every intention of chewing her fucking ass out for being a bitch. I’m not a man who goes around collecting favors, but I’ll be damned if I was going to let her treat me like a piece of shit. She’s better than that, and she knows it. Fuck, she’s better than me.

I haven’t been able to get her off my mind for one damn minute. My mind is a fucked-up mess over her, and there’s not one way I can even begin to explain it. I’ve never believed in love and connections and all that other bullshit, but there’s some invisible string tugging the two us together. I’ve felt need before. Not like this. I have a feeling once I get inside of her, imprinting her with me, that I’ll never be able to get enough. She’s beautiful even when she’s lost. Told Zeke that shit, too, when he tried chewing me a new one the minute I stepped out of the shower at his place.

I slide into my jeans, easing the zipper up around my angry dick. Not now, buddy. We will be back. It’s time to give our little vixen a taste of her own medicine. Her cell phone on the nightstand lights up with text after text filling her screen. She has her phone set to read ‘Text Message’ instead of the actual message. Everything inside of me wants to pull that damn phone into my hands and read those texts.

I grip the sides of my head, tamping down the instant rage of jealousy. She’s a professional. Has, or I should say, had a life outside of me. I’ll be talking to her about that the first chance I get. Whatever this is between us is something I’m not about to fuck up. I dig this chick. This woman is fucking mine.

It takes everything inside of me to walk outside and shut these fancy-ass double doors. I check to make sure the bitch is locked. With the fucking glamorous house she calls home, I’m shocked she doesn’t have a security system. That shit will be changed real fucking soon. No woman of mine will be living without one. Fancy fucking house or not.

I flick my lighter; inhale my cigarette, grinning like a dumbass. I did promise her I’d quit if she started eating again, and by the looks of her in that dress and the way she felt in my arms last night, she held up her end of it.

She still needs an ass beating, though. Cherry red with my dick sliding between those globes. Damn.

Her fucking ass in my palms last night and tits in my mouth, I’m certain she’s been eating. Curvy as hell and making my dick punch through my jeans. Not the most comfortable predicament to be driving back to the club in, that’s for sure.

My burner phone rings and I know who it is without having to look. It’s one call I’d never deny.

“Yeah.”

“The fuck, Brick.” Curtis slams something on his end of the line. “You better be walking in this motherfucking clubhouse right now.”

“On my way.”

“Church in twenty.”

The phone line goes dead, and my foot goes down heavy on the pedal. Ain’t no way I’m making it to church on time.

* * *

All my brothers are already around the table along with the Diamond family. Curtis at the head slamming his gavel down as soon as I walk in. His glare tells me everything I need to know. He’s fucking pissed, and I’ll be paying for it.

“Update,” Curtis growls.

Curtis and I met with Roan Diamond and a few of his men last night. They flew out here to gather information to help us out. I owe them. Roan takes over the conversation about the gun deals we have going on with them and how many more runs it will take. It ain’t no typical run because there are about five other clubs just waiting for our fuck-up to work with the Diamonds. These guys are our friends. We ain’t fucking up nothing. They wouldn’t be here if they didn’t care.

I bite down on my bottom lip. Pissed as hell, knowing my ass will be on another run across the country in a few days. Used to never bother me to hit the open road. Catch some sweet pussy along the way. That all changed a few weeks ago when a certain doctor unintentionally banged on the front door of my heart. Now, the thought of leaving her for one damn day has my mind wandering.

Someone clears their throat, and I notice Katch leaning in a dark corner of the room. Besides other clubs and the Diamond family, our club works with no one but Katch Sterling. That’s why he’s in church on an as-needed basis. The man isn’t a part of the club but as close as it fucking gets. He does the dirty jobs with no fucking questions asked. He’s one man you never want to piss off or look cross-eyed at. He’ll blow your head off and walk away with his dick hard from it.

“Got some news about the kid.” He kicks off the wall with half his face still in a dark shadow. “The fucker messed up.”

My fists clench and unclench. I know my fucking place, but it takes everything inside of me not to fucking demand answers. This club is my family, my one blood relative, Zeke, is the doctor the club uses, and Katch is the man who is going to bring justice to my family. I know I need to keep my mouth shut and would never show disrespect, but it’s taking all my strength to keep my shit reined in.

It’s a tangled web with all of us interconnected even though we survive in different walks of life. We battle this world and take care of our own. End of.

“What’s that?” Curtis growls out.

“They found his car burned and deserted in the middle of Utah. His only credit card transaction was in Fort Collins, Colorado. It’s obvious he’s running out of money, running scared, and soon he’ll be trying to run from a bullet that’s aiming for his fucking head.”

Curtis throws his head back in laughter. “Fucker’s gonna learn he can’t hide.”

Snake, our VP and the brother who specializes in computers and all that brainy shit, has been following leads and adds to the Intel. “His car was found three days ago; just broke out on the national news an hour ago. Our friend at the police department let me know Ricky’s mother contacted him.”

“The fucker’s family finally stepped up,” I growl, not able to control my rage any longer.

Curtis sends me a glare. I lift my brows. If this were his family, he wouldn’t be shutting up. I toss him the glare that says ‘Fine. I’ll shut the fuck up for now.’

“No. The cops talked to her. Our guy said she was trying to get him to turn himself in. The lady had no idea she has a grandson. By the sounds of it, she’s pretty shaken up,” Snake adds.

I dig my phone out of my pocket. Another ballsy move. My first thought goes to Eden’s safety. I send Zeke a quick text to have him get his ass over there with no questions asked. Know the fucker is off today because I’m supposed to go over there tonight for a family dinner.

Snake keeps rattling on with new information. My head is about ready to explode. “This puke spent most of his time in juvie after his single mother couldn’t handle his ass. He’d beat the shit out of her. Went balls deep into some pretty hard drugs. He ran away when he was seventeen. His mom hasn’t heard from him since.” What a fucking loser. I can’t for the life of me figure out why Zoe would get herself involved with a worthless fucker like that. Jesus Christ.

“Where does she live?” Katch asks.

“Seattle, Washington,” Snake answers.

“Give me her address. I’ll get someone from the Seattle chapter to keep an eye on her,” Curtis states.

My thoughts are racing, my blood is boiling, and my body needs to hold Eden when she hears this fucking news. The only thing keeping me grounded is knowing I’m surrounded by the best of the fucking best. These men will find Ricky and make him pay. Nothing gets by them. Wilder will be safely back in the arms of his aunt. That’s the shit I have to focus on. He’s fucking up, and we are taking advantage. My only fear is that the cops get to him before we do. Prison is too good for the motherfucker.

“Doesn’t make any sense. Where the hell does he think he’s going? He killed a woman, for God’s sake. You would think he’d done left the country by now.” Curtis exhales a thick cloud of smoke.

“It makes all kinds of sense.” Katch steps out into the full light. “He’s not going to his mother. He’s running for the mountains to hide out. Probably thinks he can find a small mountain town and create an alias. He’s running from something besides killing that woman. I’ll stake my life on it.”

Snake slams the lid of his laptop. “No evidence of the boy, living or dead. There were a few empty shell casings found in the burned vehicle. Police believe the boy is still alive, but that’s just speculation.”

“Fucking idiot.” Curtis leans back in his chair. “Bastard’s face is plastered all over national news. His time is tick-tocking away. I’ll call in the Denver chapter, too. Get their eyes on it until we get out there. Snake, you take Katch’s theory and see what you can find out.”

Silence floats heavy over the table in the room. My fucking punishment is about to rain down on me. I know exactly what the fucker is going to do. He owes someone. Drug dealers. Just like Katch said. I’d stake my life on it.

“Snake, Dilan, Cain, and Katch, you head to Colorado. You find out anything, Snake, and you call me.” He raises the gavel. “Any of you assholes have a problem with that?”

My jaw ticks.

Curtis slams the gavel down on the table.

When it comes to the death of a good woman and the safety of an innocent child, no one has a problem. Except Ricky.