For the last few days Renee had been worrying about what would happen with that man. True, he’d tried to hurt her, said horrible things to her. But she didn’t want anybody dead because of it. She’d tried to talk to Vengeance about it but he had been closed shut, telling her it was club business and she didn’t need to worry about it. It had been the same thing Weasel had said to her.

She stared down at her coffee, the cream swirling and mixing with the darkness, creating a caramel color. Her thoughts were lost and she didn’t hear the door opening and closing until heavy footsteps sounded.

Renee turned and saw Vengeance standing there. He walked over and sat across from her at the table. For long seconds he didn’t say anything, but it was a comfortable kind of silence, the kind she embraced even.

“How are you doing?”

She looked down at her coffee and shrugged. “Fine, I guess.” He didn’t respond and when she lifted her head and looked at him, he was smiling. “What are you smiling about?”

“Let’s go for a run,” he said instead before she had time to respond. “Like we used to. Remember when we used to hit the pavement and run for hours?”

Yeah, she remembered. They had done it to “escape.” Their childhoods hadn’t been the greatest, but they always had each other. Running had been a way for them to get their energy out, the frustration and anger at all the crap life had thrown at them.

“Right now?” It had been years since she’d done this, but she was actually looking forward to it.

“Yeah, why not?” He was still grinning as he held his hand out for her to take.

Renee found herself smiling as well, slipping her hand in his and letting him pull her up out of the chair.

Well, looked like they were going for a run.

* * *

Sweat ran down the valley between Renee’s breasts, along her spine, and she was gasping for air. They finally made it back to Weasel’s place and her throat was so dry it was like she’d swallowed sand.

It had been years that she’d run like this with her brother and when she looked over at him, she could see that he barely broke a sweat. He grinned at her and clapped her on the back, and together they made their way inside.

When they entered the house, she could hear somebody rustling around in the kitchen. They made their way toward the sound and saw Weasel opening the fridge and grabbing a beer out of it. He glanced over his shoulder at them, turned back toward the fridge, and grabbed two more beers out.

She headed over to the sink and filled up a glass of water, drinking the entire thing before she even moved away from the faucet. When she turned around she saw Vengeance and Weasel staring at her, both of them wearing grins.

She rolled her eyes when they started laughing at her.

So what, she was out of shape. She hadn’t run like that in a long time. But it felt good, freeing. She was making a promise to herself to run more frequently, not just for the exercise but also because it helped to clear her mind.

Renee looked between Vengeance and Weasel, and all she wanted to do was tell her brother how much she cared for the other biker. She found herself taking a step closer, the words on the tip of her tongue, the need to be honest with him and to tell him that being with Weasel made her feel alive.

“Vengeance...” she found herself saying, her mind foggy with the need to be honest. Her brother had been the only solid thing in her life before Weasel came along. He’d been there for her, protected her, made sure she was always safe and looked after above anybody else.

And keeping this from him was eating at her.

“What’s up?” Vengeance was staring at her, clearly not knowing what she was going to say because he seemed so easy-going.

Would he be upset about this? Would he hurt Weasel because he was so angry about the situation? Or maybe he’d accept their relationship with open arms?

She looked over at Weasel and saw he say up straighter, the expression on his face telling her that he knew exactly what she was about to say. But she couldn’t lie anymore, not to the one person she loved more than anything else, the one person who was her only family. She couldn’t lie anymore and saying what was going on right now was the best option.

At least she hoped so.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she glanced back at Vengeance. Just say it; just tell him what’s going on. Don’t be afraid. This is your brother, the one person who loves you no matter what.

“What’s going on?” Vengeance looked concerned now, his focus trained right on her.

Say it. Don’t be weak.

“I love Weasel and we’re together.” There, she’d said it. But the silence stretched on, the air becoming thicker, electrically charged.

God, had this been the right idea?