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S hit was going downhill fast. The MC he loved was taking paths Sunny didn’t agree with. He held a rank—enforcer—but had no loyalty to Zeus. Sunny’s allegiance was to Chance Michaelson, whose father had started the club with his.

Sunny had been fourteen when his stepdad had been killed by a Hellfire brother. An unknown person had murdered Enigma. Neither he nor Chance talked about their father’s deaths.

Chance had still been grieving when there was an attack on the other founders of Hellfire MC. Fourteen-year-old Sunny had lost his dad that night four years ago when Bullet had been shot multiple times. Cutter, Slash’s son, had gone on a rampage, Sunny had no doubt that Zeus had sanctioned it.

Chance, then sixteen, and Bear had saved the one last founder Hellfire had, Big Al. Hell, Cutter had even slaughtered his own parent, Slash.

In retaliation, they’d killed Cutter, which marked Sunny’s first kill. Fourteen and he’d a body under his belt, something his dad would have hated.

But Sunny owed Bullet that. The man wasn’t his blood father but had got with Sunny’s mom when he was one.

His sperm donor, a Hellfire brother called Primal, ignored Sunny and had been kicked from the club when Sunny turned four.

Primal had attacked Enigma in a drug-fuelled haze.

Needless to say, Sunny didn’t remember him.

In the years since Bullet’s death, Sunny had grown up. Eighteen to Chance’s twenty, they had both matured quickly. Then they received fuckin’ awful news.

Arrow, Rage MC’s founder, had died from cancer. Chance had been working with Arrow to reclaim Hellfire. The fight had just become harder. No way would Arrow’s son claim the presidency. Drake Michaelson was still a kid. Sunny didn’t see a clear path to Rage and Hellfire staying clean.

In the four years since Zeus had stolen presidency from Chance, Hellfire had been on a steady decline.

It hadn’t happened at once, but gradually, with good members blacking their ink and shit replacing them.

Over half the club was stoned most nights; cheap, tacky pussy was in abundance.

Sunny was sure ninety per cent of the bitches attending had some sort of sexual disease.

Booze flowed freely, and Zeus made bad choices.

In Enigma’s time, all brothers worked and paid into the MC a cut of their wages.

Most of them had left, so Zeus used illegal means to get money.

He’d been running pussy for three years, much to our disgust, and that was the tipping point for the decent brothers.

Last month, we’d breached into drugs, and now Zeus was making noises about guns.

Chance had started looking outside the club to recruit brothers that thought the same as us.

Shotgun and Levi, our friends from childhood, had joined us a year ago.

A quiet lad we had known at school, Chatter, would join next year.

He was another old friend from kindergarten.

Chance was searching for more decent guys to bring in, and we’d slowly start taking Hellfire back from the filth that infected it.

This would be a drawn-out battle. But that was too fuckin’ slow, in Sunny’s opinion.

Sunny wanted Zeus and his band of thugs gone.

Despite Zeus’s clique denied knowing anything about Cutter’s killing spree, Chance and Sunny did not believe him.

Much like they didn’t believe Zeus and his buddies knew shit about Enigma’s murder.

Some days, Sunny felt like pulling a gun and just shooting the fuckers dead, but his father deserved justice. True retribution would come by Sunny’s hands. Cutter hadn’t killed Bullet of his own cognisance. That was Sunny’s word of the day, and he’s used it. Kudos to him. Whatever.

Cutter was a sheep, not a leader. The fuck had been ordered to murder Bullet, Slash, and Stingray. Sunny shook his head. What type of animal could kill his own father? Cutter must have been snorting more than coke.

“Sunny!” Zeus bellowed.

Sunny looked up with narrowed eyes. Chance, Levi, and Big Al glanced in his direction.

“What?” Sunny drawled rudely.

Zeus swivelled his head to where Sunny was sitting. His eyes fixed on him, and Sunny straightened his shoulders. Sunny recognised that mood. Zeus planned to fuck with someone, and he’d chosen Sunny.

“I wanted fried chicken. Go get it,” Zeus demanded.

Sunny held his gaze as Zeus’s little clique chuckled.

“Yeah, that ain’t happening,” Sunny drawled.

“Say what?” Zeus snapped.

“Get a prospect. I’m a full brother. I don’t do food runs, the prospects do. Oi, Grinder, get Pres fried chicken,” Sunny called out. He deliberately picked Grinder, knowing he was Zeus’s cousin.

Zeus smiled.

“Didn’t ask him. Asked you, fucker,” he sneered.

“And I don’t do scut, I’m patched in,” Sunny insisted.

“You’ll do as I fuckin’ order!” Zeus screamed. “Or end up in the ring. Hound needs a workout.”

“Hammer, go clean the toilets, there’s shit everywhere. Anarchy, I want the kitchen scrubbed spotless, and Matches, the trash needs emptying,” Chance said from behind Sunny.

Zeus rose to his feet. “What the fuck are you doing, Michaelson? The inner circle doesn’t do scut work!”

“If Sunny has to, then so do the others. And if they refuse, then they’re in the ring.” Chance smiled. “And in case you forgot, it’s Chance. That’s what my patch name states.”

“Are you fuckin’ with me?” Zeus screeched, going red.

“Sunny is an enforcer. He’s leadership!” Chance said calmly.

“I’ll have your—”

“Watch your mouth!” Chance snapped as Zeus’s eyes narrowed. “I’m a legacy, whether you are president or not.”

“And you don’t outrank me,” Zeus sneered. He stroked the president’s patch. “You’re just VP.”

“If you wanna go for a vote, let’s do it. Right now. I ain’t a kid anymore, and I have a founder behind me,” Chance taunted.

“Watch your back, you’re dangerously close to mutiny,” Zeus warned.

“Since when were we on a boat?” Big Al demanded.

“Disrespect to a legacy has consequences. Check the charter, then come back to me,” Chance retorted and squeezed Sunny’s shoulder. “Let’s ride. I need a decent fuckin’ drink.”

Sunny got to his feet. Eighteen or not, Sunny wouldn’t bow to Zeus.

Straightening his shoulders, he glared at Grinder. “Gave you an order. Your president wants fried chicken. Fetch.”

“I won’t be a prospect forever, Sunny,” Grinder warned.

“We’ll see,” Sunny taunted. “Now go.”

Grinder mumbled under his breath and sent Sunny a dire look. Confidently, Sunny walked out. Zeus was heading for a fall; he just had to wait.

1995

Sunny’s skin crawled as he took the money from the whore in front of him.

She gave him a gap-toothed smile. “How about a blow job, boyo?” she offered.

“Not for me, Merry. You had any further trouble from that John?”

“Nah. Seems the beating you gave him, son, did the trick. Me and the girls ain’t seen him since,” Merry replied with that toothy grin. Shit, she needed to see a dentist, Sunny thought.

“Anything else?” Sunny asked.

“There’s a new girl. She shouldn’t be on the streets. Men are eyeing her, and I don’t think she’s on the game, but she’s close,” Merry said.

“Why’s that my problem?”

Merry eyed Sunny. “I remember your Pa. He was a good man, and none of this bullshit would have happened with him or Enigma around. Bullet would have got her safe. Hambone and Greaser have been watching her. It’s mere days before they take her,” Merry warned.

Sunny’s gut churned. He knew exactly what Merry meant. Hambone and Greaser would rape the girl and then pimp her out. If she fought, they’d drug her up and sell her that way.

“Sure she’s innocent?” he asked.

“Don’t know about that. But she’s not a street girl. Get her safe. I’ve seen enough shit in the last decade. Do not need that kid on my conscience,” Merry proclaimed, and Sunny nodded.

“Point her out,” he ordered.

“She’s with DeeDee,” Merry said. “We’ve been keeping an eye on her.”

“DeeDee at her usual spot?”

“Yup.”

“Take care, Merry,” Sunny said and headed towards DeeDee’s area. It was a minute’s walk away, and he left his bike, knowing Merry would watch it. As he turned the corner, Sunny heard a girl pleading, and his gut tightened even further.

“Please, let me go. I’m not a whore!”

“You soon will be, babe, just spread those pretty thighs and stop fighting,” Hambone growled, and Sunny sped up. He spotted them down an alleyway and noted Greaser was with her, too. With a swift punch, Sunny took Greaser out and headed for Hambone.

He’d managed to knock the girl down and was struggling to rip her clothes off. Sunny wrenched him back and sent him flying.

“What the fuck?” Hambone exclaimed, and Sunny noticed his blown-out pupils. The fucker was high. The girl scrabbled backwards, sobbing.

“Yeah, what the hell?” Sunny spat as he stood in front of her.

“She’s fresh meat and is gonna be working for us,” Hambone boomed.

Sunny thought quickly. The girl was crying quietly and had curled into a small ball.

“She’s my woman, and you attacked her,” Sunny snapped. He walked backwards, keeping an eye on his two club brothers, and knelt near the shaking girl. “If you wish to escape this intact and not be forced into whoring, go along with me,” Sunny murmured.

Wide blue eyes stared at him as she wiped tears from her cheeks and nodded. Sunny scooped her up with a warning expression and turned as Hambone came at him.

“You’re going to share!” Hambone snapped, agitated.

“This is my woman. Mine. I don’t ever share,” Sunny retorted.

“You’re fuckin’ a whore?” Greaser demanded, confused.

“She’s not a ho. She was working undercover for me, checking the whores weren’t skimping us on their cuts,” Sunny replied.

Hambone’s eyes narrowed, and Sunny wondered how high he was. Greaser wasn’t as far gone and stared at the sobbing girl. She was stiff in Sunny’s arms, and he needed her to relax. Sunny dug his fingers into her thigh as a warning.