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“ S o what's the deal with you and Saul’s sister?” I finish yawning and scrub both hands over my face to wake myself up.

I hate keeping watch, I hate it even more when there ain’t shit happening.

A black van leaving from the gates fifteen minutes ago is about the only action we’ve seen, and we’ve been here all fuckin’ night.

“There is no deal, I’m just staying at the house.” He shrugs.

“Are ya into her?” I ask the question I know everyone else is wondering. Alicia and Vike seem to go everywhere together these days.

“Why would you even think that?” He stares back at me, trying far too hard to look surprised.

“Well, you ain’t exactly been in anyone else lately. When was the last time you got your dick polished off?” I light myself a smoke and snigger at him.

“Since when have you been so concerned about my dick?” He shakes his head as if I’m being weird.

“I might just be fed up with the whores who hang out at the club. Don’t you ever look at what the other guys have and wonder how it might be to…

ya know?” He lights a smoke of his own and rests his head back against the seat.

“You’re falling for her,” I call him out, shaking my head and laughing at the same time. “Jesus Christ, I wish Saul were here to see this.”

“I am not fallin’ for Alicia. C’mon, she’s Saul’s sister!”

“Bro, I think it’s safe to say that code is null and fuckin’ void in our charter. Hell, if that's the only thing holding you back, have at it.”

“That's not what I mean. What I mean is that I owe it to Saul to take care of her. She’s vulnerable right now. The girl just lost the father of her kid and her brother, all in a few months. She needs all the help she can get.” He tries to sound convincing, but I ain’t buying it.

“Don’t be using me as a distraction, you got problems of your own.

You figured out what you're gonna do about this Corey situation?” He turns the heat onto me, and I don’t like it one little bit.

“There ain’t a Corey situation.” I shake my head and drag hard on my smoke.

“Dev, c’mon, you know you can’t force him to do something he doesn’t want to do. He’s eight–”

“If you remind me that he’s eighteen, I swear to God I will make you eat that fuckin’ steering wheel,” I warn, fed up with everyone having an opinion. “I know he’s old enough to make his own decisions, but he’s making the wrong one.”

“If you really think club life is that bad, why ya still here?” he asks me outright.

“Where else would I get to hurt people the way I do and get a pat on the back for it?” I look to him for an answer.

“Corey isn’t like me, Vike. He’s not like any of us.

This life would ruin him.” I block out the memories of the past that start to resurface and pick up the binoculars to check the shipyard gate.

We’re parked a fair distance away so we don’t raise suspicion.

From here, we can only see what's coming in and going out, and since they’re using blacked-out cages like we do, it’s hard to get an idea of how many men are in there.

Way I’m feeling right now, I don’t fuckin’ care. I’d happily storm through those gates myself to find out. I’d do anything to stop myself from thinking about Millie and what she said back at the diner.

The girl must be as na?ve as she is stupid to have those kinds of feelings toward me, and I can’t even let myself think that I’m the reason she broke up with my brother.

Maybe what I’ve demanded her to do is harsh and unfair, but that girl is Corey’s world; she’s the only person who could make him give up on this idea he’s got of joining the club.

“You really wanna risk losing him, because I’m tellin’ ya that's what will happen,” Vike warns.

“Like it or not, the kid’s old enough to make his own mistakes now, it’s the only way he’s gonna learn.

Way I see it, you can either be with him or against him, and it’ll be a whole lot easier to protect him if you're with him.”

“Why do you care anyway?” I ask, trying to ignore the fact that what he’s saying makes sense. He’s never gonna understand, no one will.

“Because it wasn’t so long ago I was that same kid, I scored high on my SATs, people had expectations of me.

But that's not who I wanted to be. There was something missing from my life, and I found it here. You really gonna take away the chance for Corey to find what he’s looking for?

” He questions me, and I throw my head back and groan in frustration.

Vike is right, everyone is fuckin’ right. I can’t force my brother to take the path I choose for him. He’ll only resent me.

Up until now, the idea of him joining the club hasn’t even been considerable to me. The least I can do is hear him out, and hope when I explain my concerns, he hears me too.

“Looks like we’re being relieved.” Vike throws his hand at my chest as he looks in the wing mirror and sees one of the club's other cages pull up behind us.

“Anything to report?” Ruck steps up to the driver's seat window.

“Fuck all, except a van leaving about twenty minutes ago. This place is dead.” I lean over Vike to hand Ruckus the binoculars. “Good luck stayin’ awake,” I warn him.

“Good luck to you if you're heading back to the club, boss is still awake, and he’s in one helluva mood.” Ruck takes a deep breath. “Oh, and your brother stopped by earlier looking for ya, he was pissed off.”

“You know what he wanted?” I ask, wondering if Millie has already spoken to him. I could tell just from the way she looked at me that she was gonna do what she was told. Behind the hard girl act she puts on is a submissive little creature that would be so easy to break.

“We all know what he wants, Dev.” Ruck rolls his eyes. “Wrath and Sasquatch are taking over from us tomorrow, so leave the cage for them in the yard. And Alicia’s having a sleepover at the club with my old lady in case you start to worry.” He winks at me when Vike instantly swipes back in defense.

“I’m not fuckin’ worried. Why would you….? Enjoy six hours of staring into thin air, asshole,” Vike strops as he starts the engine.

“I’ll be getting my head down, Saint never sleeps. He can wake me up if he sees something worth seeing.” He heads back to his own cage with a cocky grin on his face.

“Back to the club, I guess.” Vike looks at me before he pulls off.

“I’ll tell ya somethin’, I’m real lookin’ forward to gettin’ into bed.” Vike starts yawning as we get closer to the club. I’m really struggling to keep my eyes open now. Yet, I know that as soon as my head hits the pillow, all I’m gonna be able to do is think.

“What the fuc–” I hurl forward when Vike slams on the brakes outside the club gates.

“ Holy fuckin’ shit, Dev! ” He throws open his door, leaving the cage abandoned in the middle of the road, and jumps out the driver's seat.

“What the—” I look up through the windshield, and when I see what's got him acting all crazy, I suddenly feel all the warmth leave my body.

“ Corey? ” I whisper my brother's name as I study the limp body that's hanging from the club gates more closely. “Corey!” I say it louder as I get out the cage and charge toward him.

“Dev. DEV!” Vike tries to hold me back, but I keep moving, reaching up and grabbing my brother’s head to lift it from being slumped forward.

I realize that the scared shriek I’m hearing is coming outta me when I see the bullet hole right in the center of his head and the vacant look in his eyes.

“No!” I drop my hands to his chest, patting it so I can feel his heart beating, but he’s just still.

“Corey, stop screwing around.” I grab his shoulders and shake him, rattling the gates so hard they almost come off their hinges.

“ Corey! ” I’ll keep yelling his name till he hears me, because he can’t be dead.

“Prez, it’s Vike you need to get out front. It’s Corey…He’s…He’s dead.” I hear Vike’s voice come from behind me and spin around.

“No…Why are you sayin’ that? He ain’t dead.

” I storm toward him, gripping his cut and shaking him, too.

“He’s not fuckin’ dead. You’re not dead.

” I look back at my brother. My little brother, the boy I’ve spent my entire life protecting.

“You’re not dead.” I stumble back toward him, dropping to my knees and wrapping my arms around his waist. “You're not. You can’t be.” My voice comes out weak, and when I feel Vike grip hold of my shoulder, I look up at him and shake my head.

“He can’t be. I…I protect him. I..I take care of him. ”

We both look to the other side of the gates when Raze comes rushing out the arch into the parking lot, and he stops dead when he sees us.

“ Fuck. ” He covers his mouth with both his hands, closing his eyes and turning away from us, and I feel everything around me crumble when I realize this is real.

“Help me get him down.” I grip my brother's blood-stained shirt as I grapple up from my knees to stand.

“We’re gonna find out who did this, Dev.” Vike grabs my face in his hands and shakes me. “We’ll find out and we’ll fuckin’ gut ‘em,” he promises, but his words don’t fuckin’ matter.

Nothing matters anymore.

I failed.