Beep! Beep! Beep! I groan and roll over in bed to turn off the alarm. Once it’s turned off, I roll onto my back and yawn, my eyes watering. Then I reach onto the nightstand and grab my phone. I see a text

Lane: Your niece wants to have a girl’s day.

I grin at the prospect of spending the day with my niece. I love that little girl more than anything. She had a rough go of it before Lane got her. I want to kill her mother, and I would have if I thought I could get away with it. What kind of mother tries to put her kid up for ransom?

Me: Be there in an hour.

Lane: Perfect.

Thirty minutes later, I am ready. I will get breakfast with my niece. I grab my purse off the back of the chair and my keys off the table. I push my hair out of my face and behind my ear as I put on my shoes. All of my shoes are flats because I can barely walk on solid ground. I am clumsy. That was a huge thing for me while growing up. I have broken way too many bones because of it. I step onto the porch and lock the door behind me, slinging my purse higher up on my shoulder. That’s when I see something lying on my lawn chair.

What the actual fuck is going on? Is some crazed man or woman sleeping in my yard? I look around to see what I can knock some heads with, and all I see is a rock. Shrugging, I bend down and grab the rock. I raise my hand and chuck it at the person lying on the lawn chair.

It hits them in what looks like the chest area. This person stands up, knocking the chair over, with a gun pointed directly at me. My eyes take in this person and I sigh loudly.

It is Butcher. It’s official. This man is stalking me. I can’t believe he actually slept in a chair in my yard. Who does this?

“What are you doing, Butcher?” I ask him and take a couple of steps closer. He doesn’t say a word, but he does stare at me. “Butcher?” This time he looks me up and down before giving me that smile.

Okay then!

“I got to go…”

He nods and turns his back to me. He walks over to his bike and, for a few seconds, I blink in slight disbelief at what is happening. Okay. I am so confused. If this man wants to date me or something, he has it way backwards. But I must also admit he is totally different from every other man out there.

First of all he is scary to look at, but I find that attractive.

I back up a few steps, without taking my eyes off him, before walking through my yard to my car. I live in the suburbs. My father wanted me out in the country, but I didn’t want to drive forty-five minutes to work every day.

As I put the key in the ignition, I see Butcher is still sitting there. I guess he is waiting on me. I pull away from the curb, make a U turn, and drive away.

My brother lives almost thirty minutes away from me, in a housing development near town. All the houses in the development belong to the MC. It’s fenced and heavily guarded.

My brother had these houses built once he became president. What can offer more protection than having all your brothers together in one area? My father made the club thrive and do very well. My brother is what made it prosper. He used that business degree he got after he came home from his deployments from the military. Now they own close to fifty businesses throughout Texas and other states.

I hear a motorcycle speeding up behind me, and I look out my side window. Much to my surprise, it’s Butcher. He is close to the back of my car. I guess he is coming along for the ride.

I pull up outside my brother’s driveway and put in the code. The gate opens and I drive down the long driveway. I hear the bike turn off. I look out the rear window and see Butcher has parked outside the gate.

I pull up near the front porch, and Lane comes outside with my niece, Tiffany, on his back. He is babying her and she eats that up. Not that I blame her. Lane is an amazing father and, from the moment that little girl came into his life, everything changed for him. She changed all of our lives.

I climb out of my car and smile at Lane and my niece. My brother smiles back, and his head snaps up to look at his gate. I guess he sees Butcher. Lane’s eyebrows shoot up and I shrug. I don’t have an answer for him.

Tiffany tells Lane she wants down, and he sets her on the ground. “Bye, Daddy!” She hugs his hip because that’s within her reach. A blinding smile comes over his face, and he presses his palm to the back of her head. “Love you, baby girl.” She lets go of him and runs down the steps and straight into my car. I guess she is ready to go.

“Why is Butcher outside of my gate?” Lane asks as soon as Tiffany shuts the door.

I let out a loud breath and look at Butcher before answering. “Since yesterday, he hasn’t left. He sat and watched me work all day yesterday then slept outside of my house.”

Lane’s eyes widen and he bursts out laughing. The smile drops from my face. What is he laughing at? I narrow my eyes at him. I don’t like to be at the butt end of jokes.

Lane takes in my expression and immediately shuts up. “This man is fucking crazy and looks like he is stalking you. If I didn’t know Butcher, I would put a bullet in his head for stalking you.” He starts laughing again.

He is pissing me off. Butcher isn’t crazy—he is just different. I take a step closer, ready to throttle him. Lane backs up. “You’re crazy too, Shay. You blind people with all of that sweet shit and, bam, the crazy comes out.”

I grin because I’ve got to admit it’s true and he knows all about it. “That’s right. I am going to go! I will see you later.”

I climb in the car and roll down the windows. This is my and Tiffany’s thing. We blast the radio and have all of the windows down. “Bye, Daddy!” Tiffany yells out the window, and she blows him a kiss. His face softens and he waves bye.

“Let’s hit it Shay Shay!” She claps her hands, a huge smile on her face with those huge dimples on either cheek. I love that little girl!

I turn in the yard and blast the radio. She sings along with every word, and this little girl can’t sing at all, but that doesn’t stop us.

I wish my mom were around. She died from cancer when I was little, and I don’t have any memories of her. I wish I had moments with her to remember. Lane remembers her some but not a lot. It saddens me that Tiffany had a mother who is a waste of fucking air.

The gate opens automatically and I drive out. I pull straight onto the highway and Butcher pulls out behind us. “Who is that?” Tiffany asks and I look through the rear window. “A friend.”

“Oh cool!” she says simply and doesn’t ask any more questions. The bike revs up, and Butcher drives up beside Tiffany. She laughs and reaches her hand out. Butcher grins at her and touches her hand. She laughs even harder.

I grin at their antics.

We arrive at the mall. “Wait on me to come get you, angel,” I tell Tiffany because she likes to do things herself. My door opens and I jump in shock. Butcher is standing there holding my door open. Okay.

I grab my purse off the passenger seat and walk around the car to let Tiffany out. She already has herself unbuckled. She steps out and latches onto my hand. Together we walk hand in hand into the mall, and Butcher walks about ten feet behind us.

Tiffany spots the nail place first thing and drags me there first. She leads me right up to the counter. “I need to get my toenails painted. Dad tried last night and it didn’t end well,” she explains and at that I look down at her toes. It takes everything in me not to start laughing. Her whole toe is almost blue.

“How can I help you guys today?” the lady at the counter asks.

“We want two pedicures,” I tell her and she points to the seats. Tiffany lets go of my hand and runs over to the one that is made for princesses, which is pink and gold with a crown resting at the top. She climbs in the seat and I sit down beside her.

Everyone stops talking, and I look to see what is going on. Butcher walks past me to the seat directly beside me. I lick my lips and stare at him. The lady who seated us is looking at us nervously as she wipes her hands up and down her clothes. She strides over to him. “Do you want a pedicure also?” Butcher glares at her like he can’t even believe she asked that. She steps away and stumbles, hitting another man who works there. He catches himself and her. She apologizes and runs back the counter.

“Tiffany, go pick out a color for me and yourself—okay, sweetheart?”

She runs to the wall that is just nail polish. I sink back in my seat and grab the remote to turn on my back massager, keeping a close eye on Tiffany.

“So, do you want your toes done?” I ask Butcher, not knowing what else to say to him.

Butcher rolls his head around and stares at me. I guess that’s the answer.

“I got you a red one!” Tiffany interrupts and hands me a bottle of red polish. She has a pink one for herself and one more: clear coat.

No, she isn’t?

“I got a clear polish for him! Daddy lets me paint his all the time in this color.” Lane is totally busted! Tiffany walks over to Butcher and sets the polish down in his lap. She smiles at him and goes back to her seat.

I grin and look over at Butcher. He is staring at the polish like it’s going to come alive and attack him. I bite my lip to stop the laughter that is bubbling up. This is all too comical. “I am allergic,” he blurts out.

I laugh loudly. That was epic. Tiffany leans forward and looks at him. “If you say so, Mr. Butcher!” she says in a sing-song voice.

His fingers wrap around the top of the polish, and he sets it down by his chair. Two ladies walk up to me and Tiffany, dragging two small chairs over. I sink into my chair.

“Shay, can we get some makeup today?”

I look over at Tiffany, and she looks at me with those huge eyes. “Of course!”

She grins at me and sits back in her chair. This little girl has everyone wrapped around her little finger. Who cares if Lane will probably kill me? It’s just play makeup.

For the next thirty minutes, we are pampered. Once our toenails are dry, we step back into our sandals, and I walk over to pay for our stuff. The lady who freaked out earlier at the sight of Butcher shakes her head. “The scary man already paid.”

Butcher is standing outside the nail place waiting on us. I take Tiffany’s hand and walk straight to him. “Thank you! You didn’t have to do that.” He winks at me and my stomach flips.

Tiffany takes my cue. “Thank you, Mr. Butcher!”

She is too stinking cute!

Tiffany and I walk farther into the mall, and I see a clothing store that I absolutely love. I lead Tiffany inside and look for the little black dresses that I saw through the door. I grab a black one and the maroon one next to it. A woman can’t have enough dresses. Tiffany has already spotted the little kids’ section and is eagerly pulling me in that direction.

If the dresses don’t fit, I will just bring them back. I let go of her hand and let her freely look. I may be a bit protective of her, but the thought of something happening to her has me very paranoid. Hell, it has every one of us paranoid. Tiffany is our world.

Tiffany picks out some dresses and shorts.

“Let’s go try these on.”

She nods and walks in front of me to the dressing room. I find one that is vacant and open the door for her. She steps inside, and I set my two dresses on a hook outside the door. The door slams shut.

“Which one do you want to try on next?”

She grabs a dress on top of the pile.

For the next ten minutes, we try on everything we selected, and we end up with two dresses and a pair of shorts. The girl loves her clothes. I open the door and, as we step out, I look at the hook where I had my clothes hanging.

These aren’t my clothes—I can tell that at first glance. I take what is up there and unfold it. It looks like a dress an Amish woman would wear. What the heck? “Come on, Tiffany. Let’s go grab my dresses. The saleslady must have put them back.”

We walk over to where the rack of clothes was, and I see the whole rack is gone. What the heck? “I guess they are sold out?” I tell Tiffany. She smiles at something behind me, and I turn around to see what she is looking at—but there isn’t anything there.

I arrive home around eight o’clock. Tiffany and I spend the day together. Butcher didn’t get close to us, like he did at the nail salon, again. He was there, but he stayed out of the way. He just watched me.

I look behind me as I pull into my driveway, and I notice that Butcher isn’t around. I guess he went home tonight. I yawn and step out of my car. I grab my bags and shuffle into the house. My feet are hurting something fierce. I can be on my feet all day at work and not hurt, but the moment I go to the mall, my feet kill me.

Once inside, I reset my alarm and lock the door. I go to my bedroom first and set the bags on the floor. I walk to my closet and grab a pair of shorts and a baggy T-shirt, and I take a hair tie off my wrist.

I walk into the kitchen and grab a bag of chips and water. I am so ready to veg out on the couch for the rest of the night while watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I grab a blanket off the back of the couch and tuck myself in.

I startle awake and look at the clock on the wall. Midnight. I fell asleep on the couch. I fold the bag of chips and set it on the coffee table. I walk to my front door to double check the locks before I settle in for the night.

I look out the window, and I see the same lawn chair that was in the yard earlier on the porch with Butcher lying on it. I go back to the living room and grab the blanket that I just used.

I open the front door slowly so I don’t wake him up, and I walk over to him. His eyes are closed and, for the first time since I met him, he looks like he is at peace. I shake out the blanket and cover him with it.

I turn around and walk back into the house, and I lock the door behind me.

---

Butcher

---

She doesn’t know I am awake as she covers me with a blanket. I can’t leave her. The moment she is out of my sight, my body screams that it will be the last time I ever see her. I lost my family in a car accident, and since then I’ve kept everyone at arm’s length besides my brothers.

My brothers became my family, and the military made me who I am. Shaylin surprised the fuck out of me. Her innocence, her sweet look, and the way the light radiates off her.

Sitting up on the lawn chair, I grab the blanket that has fallen halfway to the floor. I lift the blanket to my face and sniff, my eyes closing. It smells like her. I want her. I want her so fucking bad. I want to take her and hide her away so nothing can fucking hurt her.

At the bakery, when the guy touched her hand, I saw red. I wanted to tear him to fucking pieces just for touching her. I want to fucking kill anyone who even looks in her direction. When she was walking at the mall, men would stare at her, and I wanted to gouge their eyes out.

She is mine. She was mine the moment I laid eyes on her.