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“ C ’mon, you have to admit, your brother's girl is a grade fuckin’ A.” Sinner slaps me on the back as we head through the yard and into the clubhouse. Raze has called a meeting, and there's no points for guessing what it’s about.

“You leave her the fuck alone,” I point my finger in his face and let him see I’m fuckin’ serious. I wasn’t expecting to see her this morning, truth is I was never expecting to see her again. Corey was the only reason a girl like her would ever cross paths with a guy like me.

“You tellin’ me you haven’t noticed how cute she is?” Sinner keeps on jabbing.

“She’s eighteen,” I remind him.

“Last I checked, eighteen was legal,” he sniggers.

“There’s a difference between legal and moral,” I remind him as I step through the door.

“Yeah, well, bein’ moral ain’t no fuckin’ fun.” Sinner winks as he heads straight through to church.

“Dev, can I get a word?” Ruck tears himself away from his old lady to stop me before I make it through the doors myself.

“Sure, what's up?”

“Corey came in for his shift at the gym this morning, and he seemed kinda off.”

“Kid got dumped last night,” I explain, sighing to myself when I realize how unsympathetic I’ve been.

Corey’s always been hyper sensitive, he got that from our momma.

I’m forgetting that Millie has been the center of his world since he was fifteen years old.

“He’s takin’ it hard, I’ll speak to him once we’re done here. ”

“Hard? Dev, you shoulda seen the way he was hitting those pads. He’s mad, and the person he’s mad at is you.”

“Me?” I stare back at him, confused.

“He wants in, says you're trying to dictate how his life should be, and that he’s done with it. I’m tellin’ ya, brother, he meant every word. I’ve known that kid a long time and I ain’t ever seen him like that before.”

“ Shit .” This is the last thing I fuckin’ need.

“I’ll head over soon as this shit’s out the way, thanks for tellin’ me.” I smile at Freya, who looks just as concerned as Ruckus, before we both head through to join the others.

“I got an address.” Raze rubs his hands together and still has that stern look on his face as he addresses us all. “Burlusconi is convinced those fuckers were hired by Braian Quinnell, and every last one of ’em’s gonna die.”

“How many?” Ruckus asks, lighting himself a smoke.

“Not sure on that. We’re gonna need to spend a few days keeping watch, figuring what they’re up to and what their business here in Long Beach is. Their faces are new in town, and for all we know, there could be more of ‘em on the way.”

“What is it with fuckers keep setting up on our fuckin’ patch?” Vike shakes his head.

“It was inevitable. Cliff’s been double-crossing the club and Burlusconi for years. We don’t know who he’s been getting handouts from. Now things have changed, those people are bound to keep on crawlin’ out the woodwork.” Raze’s answer makes sense, but don’t make shit any easier.

“So, what we dealin’ with here?” Tawk speaks up, looking recharged and ready to fight all over again.

“We don’t know, that's why we’re watchin’. Vike was right, they ain’t bikers, that’s for sure,” Wrath adds.

“We had a meeting with Burlusconi this morning, and he wants this shut down fast. So do I. We’ve just proved to the Reapers who run this town, now it’s time to show these fuckers, too.

And I’m telling ya this, brothers, we’re gonna need to find some resilience because I got a feeling there will be more organizations like this one stepping up.

Cliff had plenty of people in his pocket.

I don’t think we’ve even scratched the surface.

New leadership always gets challenged, and these fuckers are gonna keep on coming at us.

Let’s show all those who are lying in waiting what happens when those challenges come.

” I can see that Raze is pissed. He’s been on edge a lot recently, and I can’t help wondering if the club is the only trouble he’s got.

“Burlusconi’s had some of his men on lookout, it looks as if they’re running things out of an old abandoned shipping yard.

It’s gated, so it ain’t gonna be easy, but if we got eyes on the place, at least we can watch what’s coming and going.

I need two of you to take over tonight. Burlusconi’s men have other shit to deal with and I want eyes of our own out there.

“I’ll take a graveyard shift,” Sasquatch offers.

“You sure?” Raze checks.

“I can sit in a cage and fuckin’ watch shit, I ain’t an invalid,” he points out.

“I’d offer to join ya, but I’m lookin’ out for Alicia,” Vike pipes up.

“There somethin’ goin’ on there?” Ruckus asks, flicking off his cigarette and looking suspicious.

“Nothin’ more than what I’ve told ya; there's a fuckin’ killer on our streets and she’s livin’ in that house alone. She’s grieving, she’s pregnant, and she needs some support right now. What ya think Saul would have me do?”

“Well, he sure as fuck wouldn’t have ya doin’ his sister,” Sinner pipes up, and Vike shocks us all when he launches himself across the table and grabs him by the scruff.

“You watch your fuckin’ mouth, wise ass,” he snarls at him, lifting him from the chair and smashing him against the wall.

“Touchy.” Sinner laughs. That fearless fucker never gets fazed by anything. Believe me, I’ve tested him.

“C’mon.” I grab hold of Vike and drag him away. “You know Sin. He don’t mean anythin’ by it.”

“Ain’t it ‘bout time we got Saint back? You’ve been hangin’ around too long,” Vike growls at him as I ease him back to his chair, and Raze nods his head at me gratefully.

“Have I got a volunteer for someone to join Sasquatch tonight?” He looks around the table.

“I’ll do it.” Tawk raises his hand.

“Appreciated.” Raze wraps things up by slamming the gavel, and everyone gets up and starts to make their way out.

“Dev, I need to speak to you,” Raze grunts as I get up to follow them, so I sit back down and wait for the last man out to close the door before I look at him.

“Corey called me again this morning. He really wants in.” Raze knows how against the idea I am. We’ve had this conversation so many times before, I’m sick of it.

“That ain’t nothin’ new, boss, that kid’s wanted in since he got the first hair on his nutsack.”

“I know, and I get your reasons for not wantin’ him to be part of this, but he’s eighteen years old; he can make his own decisions now, and we could sure as hell use his smarts.”

“Raze, his smarts ain’t supposed to be used for gun runnin’ and getting the club outta shit. He’s got the brains to be a doctor, and?—”

“Does Corey wanna be a doctor?” Raze interrupts me.

“It ain’t happening, Prez.” I shake my head at him sternly.

“I understand your need to protect him, same way I wanna protect my sister, but you can’t make Corey’s decisions for him anymore. He’s grown now.”

I hear what Raze is sayin’, and I get that I’m being hard on my brother, but I will not let him waste his potential, and I will not have him living in danger, not when I’ve spent all my adult years trying to protect him from it.

“Corey’s confused right now. His girl just broke up with him, he’s getting to the end of high school, life’s gettin’ real for him. This ain’t what he wants, Raze, it’s just what he thinks he wants.” I stand up to leave.

“You ever thought that what really scares him is losing you?” he asks me before I get away.

“That ain’t ever gonna happen.” I get up and see myself out, heading straight for my bike so I can go speak to my brother.

“Ain’t you supposed to be workin’?” I find Corey in the corner of the gym, kicking the shit out of a punching bag.

“Place ain’t busy.” He turns around, and I can tell from how red his eyes are that he’s been crying some more.

“Wanna talk about it?” I take a seat on the weight bench.

“Ain’t gonna make no difference talkin’ about it, she won’t even pick up my calls.” He punches the bag hard before taking a seat on the mat and leaning back on his arms.

“You were together a long time, not having her in your life is gonna be hard to accept.”

“Dev, I ain’t gonna accept it. We love each other, and I don’t know what's going through her head right now, but I can fix it.”

“And supposin’ you do, what ya gonna do if she tells you that she don’t wanna be part of the club?

What if she asked you to leave this place and become the kinda man she deserves?

Do you know what old ladies of the club have to deal with, Corey?

” I see a new angle to get this shit through to him.

“They’re never safe. They have to spend every second of their lives looking over their shoulders because if the club piss someone off, they’re the best way to come back at us. ”

“Millie knows how it works, she’s not a?—”

“She’s a spoiled little rich girl, Corey.

Her biggest problem in life is deciding which of her daddy's credit cards to use. Yeah, she has a job, but it’s to teach her values, not to fuckin’ keep her livin’.

You have the chance to be a man who can keep her safe, you can treat her the way she deserves, give her everything. You can’t do that if you wear the cut.”

“You’re forgettin’ that I’ve already lost her.” He laughs sadly, standing up and heading toward the front desk.

“Corey, listen to me. This is a time you should be studying. Don’t throw?—”

“I don’t wanna be a fuckin’ doctor, Dev, I’m not this perfect fuckin’ kid that you keep makin’ me out to be. I want the club life. I want the cut, and you can’t hold me back no more.” I march toward him, feeling my temper rising.

“Ya think? Just fuckin’ watch me.” I point my finger in his face, then crash my way out through the door and get on my bike.