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“You and Roscoe are like family to Blade, and I’d like to think of myself as part of the family. It would make me very happy to do this for you.” I take her hand. “Please let me do this.”

“I refuse to say yes, but ‘we’ll see’ is the best I can do,” she says, but I can see that she’s close to caving. I’ll let it be for now because I’m so excited for this project.

“Well, now that business is out of the way,” my brother interjects, “you can tell me all about yourself, Willow.” I recognize that tone. Ryan is a smooth talker and is pouring on the charm. My first instinct is to get Willow alone and warn her about my brother.

Willow throws the question back at him. “Not much to tell, Ryan. I have a great job, love my man, have wonderful friends, and lead an amazing life. What about you?”

“I work in fashion as a model. I also have an entrepreneurial side where I like to dabble in new businesses and investments,” he replies. “You can’t model forever, you know. I have to secure a future, and investments are the way to go.”

“That’s very smart of you,” Willow replies, meeting his gaze.

“I think so. For instance, right now, I have a lead on a company that’s going public. It’s a sound opportunity. I know the family personally,” Ryan says. This is how it begins.

I look desperately at Willow, trying to get her attention, but her focus is on Ryan. “Are you buying shares?”

“My money is tied up in other things at the moment, but my buddy is going to see what he can do,” he responds.

“I hope it works out for you.” She turns back to me. “Have you heard from Blade?”

“Not yet. I hope he’s okay, and War and Demon too.” I look at my watch and add, “It’s been hours.”

“The guys know how to handle themselves,” Willow says with conviction. “After what happened to Roscoe, none of the guys do long trips alone.”

“What happened to Roscoe?” I ask.

“It was one of the worst days, and one of the best days, of his life, or so he says. I found it horrifying. There I was, driving down the road, minding my own business, when this truck forced a biker off the road. Then I saw them grab a chain and lead pipe, and I knew the guy on the bike was in trouble. So, I pulled up as close as I could and put Roscoe in my car and drove like a bat out of hell to get us to safety.” She does a little shudder.

“I wasn’t sure we would make it, and I thank my lucky stars that the Pride came for us. We made it through okay.”

At the mention of the Pride, my brother completely loses interest in Willow and the conversation.

He politely excuses himself and leaves. My moment of relief is short-lived when I think of how many people in town he’ll meet and if some poor soul buys whatever crap he’s selling.

The panic-stricken expression on my face must be pretty clear because Willow takes my hand.

“Relax, Emmy. Roscoe’s on watch,” she says.

I’m confused. “What does that mean?”

“Blade has your back, and suffice it to say that if you belong to Blade, you belong to all of us. This time, you’re not leaving town because your brother has made a mess of things,” Willow answers.

She softens her tone. “I hope you’re not angry that Blade told us about Ryan, but he was very worried for you. ”

“No, I’m not angry. I just don’t want anyone to hate Ryan.

He wasn’t always like this. He used to be my cool older brother who would let me sleep with him whenever there was a thunderstorm or would sneak candy into my room when my mother would put me on a restrictive diet.

” I can’t help the bite in my tone when I recall all the mean things my mom would say about my weight.

Although it wasn’t just my weight; she’d comment on my height, the way I walked and talked, and, well, just about everything I did seemed to irritate my mother.

“Ouch! That must have cut to the quick.” Willow’s eyes open wide, and she grips my hand tighter.

“You get used to it.” I shrug. “I don’t know how Ryan got this way. Yes, Mom coddled him, but he was way more down-to-earth than how he’s behaving now. I don’t know how to help him.”

“You have to let him make the mistakes he’s going to make, and when he’s ready, he’ll come back.”

“I can’t afford any more of his mistakes,” I blurt out.

“They are Ryan’s mistakes, and he needs to pay for them.

Not you. And I don’t hate Ryan, but it wouldn’t hurt him to learn humility.

The only way he’s going to do that is to let him reach rock bottom,” Willow tells me.

“I know watching someone you love fall hurts, but in the long run, he’ll be better for it. ”

My heart knows Willow is right.

Blade

L ate into the night…

It’s been the longest day of my life after a flight to Texas and meeting with our club brothers from Feared Justice.

Their prez, Tank, hooked us up with a truck so we can get around and to transport Jaws back to town.

Tank is also tight with the local police and will be ensuring our exit out of Texas to get home goes smoothly.

I understand why Guard wanted the three of us on this trip.

It’s a long trek back. Twenty-six hours, and that’s if we don’t stop for anything but gas and drive-thru food.

We’ll each take turns driving, and one will keep an eye on Jaws while the other gets some sleep.

None of us wants to be away for more than a few days.

Tank tells us that Jaws has been causing havoc, but out of respect for Guard, he’s going to let us take him back instead of doing the job himself. Tank wants to be part of the takedown to make sure it goes smooth, and he’s waiting in the shadows with a couple of his crew.

“It’ll be faster if we go in and get him,” I say with annoyance.

“He sees us before we can make our move, and we’ll be chasing him again. Show some patience,” War grumbles.

“Jaws has been holed up in there for hours. Is it possible he’s snuck out the back way?” Demon asks.

“Tank has that covered.” War utters. “Christ, you two, learn some patience.” He’s exasperated, and for good reason. We’ve been holed up in this car for hours, waiting for the asshole who left Aaron for dead, and we all want to get this done.

It seems that patience has its reward when twenty minutes later, Jaws emerges from the strip club with a woman with a brash-blonde dye job and a skirt so short, you can see half her ass cheeks.

I move to step out of the car, but Demon stops me. I turn to him and bark, “What?”

“Look around you, brother. Too many witnesses,” he growls back.

The parking lot is full of cars, and it’s dark, but the place is busy.

I see his point. Jaws gets on his motorcycle, with the blonde on the back of his bike, and takes off down the road.

War pulls out, and, keeping a safe distance, follows.

Jaws turns into a motel parking lot. He waits on the bike and has his woman go inside to grab a room. This is it.