As soon as I pull up to the club, the front door comes crashing open on its hinges. I look over in surprise to see Angel burst through the doorway. He comes stalking toward me, a murderous look in his eye that I’ve only seen a couple of times before.

“Oh, shit,” I mutter. This can only be one thing.

When Angel’s about halfway to me, he starts to yell and wave his arms in the air. “You fucking piece of shit! You fucking piece of shit!”

He’s way too wound up and angry to listen to anything I have to say right now. So I know what I have to do. I swing my leg over the bike and stand to face him, bracing for the inevitable.

“You’re fucking my sister?” Angel yells, the veins bulging in his neck. “You goddamn traitor! I’ll fucking kill you!”

His fist comes flying toward the left side of my face, and I don’t move to block it. Instead, I take the hit, staggering back as he connects hard with my left cheek, right under the eye. Fuck. A lightning bolt of pain flashes through my head.

That one, he gets a free pass on, because I deserved it. I’m not taking more than one hit without a fight, though.

I get my feet underneath me, and then brace myself for the second one. He roars and flies at me again, but this time I feint and dodge him, grabbing his arms and pulling him to the ground with me. We scuffle as he struggles to get free and swears a blue streak at me. I manage to keep him from landing another punch, and eventually, when I sense he’s starting to tire out, I let him go and stagger back into a crouch. I watch as he scrambles up, waiting to see if he’s gonna charge me again.

When he sees that I’m ready for him now, and that I mean business, he squints angrily at me but doesn’t make a move.

“How did you know?” I rasp, breathing heavily.

“Abe fucking told me,” Angel says. He’s still seething. “How the fuck does my fucking father know this before I do?” He spits on the ground. “Jesus, when you said no one would touch her, you didn't mean you, huh?”

“Dammit, Angel,” I swear. “I know you aren’t gonna believe this, but I was coming here to tell you about Jenna and me.” Angel snorts, shaking his head in disbelief. “It’s true,” I persist. “Look, you can ask Jenna about that.”

“Why the fuck would I believe Jenna? She goddamn lied to me, too. Both of you can go to hell,” he sneers in disgust.

“I’m not lying, Angel. We’ve been trying to think of how to tell you for a while, now.” I take a breath and let it out, then continue more slowly. “It’s not something we planned. But this isn’t just a meaningless fuck, brother. This is the real deal. Jenna’s my old lady now.”

Angel’s face changes when I say these words. It’s maybe the only thing I could have said that would calm him down.

“I mean it when I said I was coming here to tell you, brother,” I continue. “You don’t have to believe it. But it’s true. I’m sorry we kept it from you for so long.”

The smallest hint of a smile tugs at one corner of his mouth. “You’re serious? Jenna’s your old lady?”

I chuckle softly. “Yeah. Never saw it coming, but there it is.”

“Shit, man.” He stands motionless for a moment. “That’s… That’s pretty cool, actually.” He shakes his head and snickers. “Except now I gotta know that you two fuck.”

I throw my head back and laugh. “Sorry. Kinda comes with the territory.”

“Huh. I guess that means we’re brothers in more ways than one, then.” He grabs my hand and claps me on the back.

“Guess so.” I grin, then wince a little at the pain.

“Oh, fuck. Shit, sorry about that, man.” Angel’s brow creases. “You shoulda told me yourself. If I’d known…”

“Nah, it’s okay,” I said. “You probably would have punched me anyway. I was ready for it.”

He snorts. “Yeah, you might be right. Look, let’s go get something cold for your eye. It’s already starting to swell up.”

I take a step forward as he turns toward the clubhouse. “As long as that something cold comes in a bottle…” I start to say, and then freeze in my tracks.

Something’s not right.

Now I know for sure that Angel didn’t know about Jenna and me before today.

Angel didn’t tell Abe.

Abe told Angel.

Bells are going off in my head, and it’s not because Angel just punched me.

Abe’s known all along.

“I’ll take a rain check, brother,” I mutter hastily to Angel. “I’ve got somewhere I need to be.”

I race back toward the bike and fly out of the parking lot like I’m on fire.

I have to get to Jenna.