Griffin and Cormac looked ready to rumble. Cormac was practically jumping out of his skin as he pounded his fist into his palm. They reached us. Griffin and Cormac looked Alex up and down. "Shit, Jax, I was expecting someone a little more—well— more worth fighting," Cormac said.

"He's just here to watch. Doesn't want to mess up his hair," I said snidely. "Looks like half the town is here. We better get down there."

We reached the top of the path where you could look past the shrubs and trees and see the long stretch of ivory sand. "Well, shit, looks like a battlefield," Cormac said. "Only our side is kind of lacking compared to the other side."

On one side, stood a wall of giant men, all dressed in black and wearing shirts to show off their bulk.

Some of them had more soft bulk than hard, but that didn't mean they couldn't throw a mean fist. I counted ten in all.

The way they stood at attention just waiting for their cue was almost laughable.

Especially with the group of opponents on the opposite side.

Trayton locals, at least thirty of them, were bunched up together on one side of the sand. A mix of fear and anger floated amongst them as they seemed to stay circled around each other like elephants facing down a pack of lions.

"Normally, I'd say safety in numbers," Griffin said, "but even in big numbers, the Trayton side is not ready for battle."

Martin Vernon, the owner of the local bait and tackle shop, spotted the three of us coming down the hill. He yelled. "Everyone, look who's coming! The Stone family. I told you they'd be here." He leaned and looked past us. "Just the three of you?" he asked, not trying to hide is disappointment.

"Sorry, Jules and Stella don't like physical fights," I said wryly. Martin nodded as the sarcasm went right past him.

Ernie Johnson, one of Martin's best customers, broke free of the protective circle. "You should have seen what they did to my grandson, Kit. He's going to need a plastic surgeon for his nose. I saw they got Cru, too."

I nodded. "Stella's getting him to the doctor."

"Explain to us what's happening here," Griffin said.

Martin stepped forward to do the talking. "We told them we're going to stand here on this beach for as long as we like because it has always been a local beach. The big one with the tattoo—" Martin motioned in their direction.

"Gonna have to be more specific, Marty," Griffin said. "Actually, never mind. They're just one big blob of shit as far as I'm concerned. What did he say?"

"He said they were going to kick us off the private beach even if it was as one mass of bone and blood." Martin's face lost some color as he said it.

I looked at Griffin and Cormac. They were thinking the same thing as me. The standoff didn't matter. The assholes had just sent Crusoe and Theo to urgent care. They were going to pay. Unfortunately, we were outnumbered, and no one in the Trayton crowd looked able or willing to join in.

Martin put his hand on my arm as we turned to walk across. "You boys can't do this alone. I'll join you." Martin was in his sixties, and he occasionally used a cane to support his bad back.

"It's all right, Martin. We got this."

Griffin, Cormac and I walked toward the group. They stayed in formation, a straight, impenetrable wall. Ivan stepped forward. "I guess you saw what we did to those surfers." A grin crossed his face, and I decided right then it was time to wipe it off.

"Sure as fuck did and now you're going to pay, motherfucker.

" My fist plowed into his face, before he could remove the grin.

I was sure his teeth made a smile imprint on my knuckles.

Grunts and the sounds of fists hitting flesh blurred around me.

I was focused on Ivan and two others who decided to jump in on the fun.

I was able to shoot off another fist, one that caught Ivan on the chin, before he found his bearings after the first blow.

His partners each grabbed an arm. I kicked sideways and landed a good blow to the one guy's knee.

He cried out in pain but recuperated faster than I expected.

He came back with a kick of his own before I could free myself from his buddy's grasp.

His giant black boot left a footprint on my shirt and knocked the wind out of me.

I stumbled back and gasped for breath to reenter my lungs.

I looked around the sand. Cormac had bloodied someone's mouth, but he was doing plenty of bleeding himself.

I couldn't see where it was coming from, but it didn't slow Cormac down.

He was fast and reckless, and we liked to joke that he felt no pain.

I was sure he was feeling it plenty. I sure as hell was.

Air refilled my lungs and let me know, like Crusoe, I had a broken rib.

Griffin had a guy in a chokehold. The man was purple in the face. I saw movement behind Griffin. "Fin, behind you!" I yelled.

The asshole came down hard on Griffin with both fists.

Ivan stormed toward me, and I spun around with a kick that landed squarely on his jaw.

Blood spurted from his mouth. A fist landed in my back and knocked me to my knees.

I saw a menacing shadow loom over me but still hadn't gotten my bearings.

Cormac yelled and raced toward me. His fist plowed into the person behind me. A groan and a spray of blood followed.

Cormac came to my rescue, then it was time for me to return the favor.

He hadn't seen the guy coming up behind him.

I lunged past Cormac and planted a fist in the guy's face.

My knuckles were already swollen to double in size.

My fist caused the guy, who was meatier than the others, to stumble back a few feet.

He shook his head, probably to stop the ringing.

The ivory sand was sprayed with red. I took another blow, this time to the back of my head.

"Too fucking many of them," I groaned to Griffin who was holding his gut.

He nodded in agreement. Footsteps pounded the sand behind me.

I spun around. One of them was charging toward me like a fucking bull.

I braced myself and was ready with my defensive fists.

Everything was starting to hurt, but I planned to land a good blow when sand suddenly flew into the guy's face.

He grabbed at his eyes and fell backward.

Martin was standing with a bucket, looking pleased with himself.

"Thanks, Martin. Now go, quick."

Martin's eyes rounded as the man with sandy eyes got to his feet. "Right. I'm off." Martin got a few steps. I was worried about protecting him and didn't see a fist coming. It landed directly on my chin. I bit my tongue hard. I spit the blood out.

"Look, Jaxon!" Martin called to me. "Look who's here!

" The Trayton crowd were cheering as if rock stars had just landed on the beach.

I looked through my swollen lids. In the locals' eyes, it was better than rock stars.

The dads were marching down the beach path with murder in their eyes.

"Like phoenix rising from the ashes seeing those three marching down that path together.

Whooee! You boys are in for some ass kicking now!

" Martin yelled and ran back toward the others.

Mom, Jade and Britton appeared on the trail behind them.

Griffin had taken a tough hit to the gut. He was on his knees puking in the sand. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked up to see what the excitement was about.

"Well, holy shit," Griffin groaned.

Cormac whistled loudly and then threw his elbow back into a nose. You could hear the thing squash. "You assholes are fucked now," Cormac laughed.

There was a lull in fighting as our opponents took stock of the new arrivals. "Looks like a bunch of old men to me," one of them sneered. Low, guarded chuckles followed.

The three of us paused to watch them as the dads hit the sand and headed our direction. The locals clapped and cheered. "You assholes are through now!" someone yelled from the crowd.

Cormac looked over at me. "Don't know whether or not to feel insulted by that. Shit, Dad looks like he's going to start tearing off some limbs."

Slade had his fists tight as he marched toward us. My dad's massive shadow fell across the sand as he swept along the beach. I was bigger than him, but I still wasn't Hunter fucking Stone … as much as I wanted to be.

"We still outnumber them," one of Ivan's men said with far less confidence than the phrase deserved.

"That's what you fucking think," Slade said.

He was the first to reach us, and he wasted no time.

Cormac had inherited his dad's lightning-fast reflexes, but he was a sloth compared to his dad.

Slade picked his mark and went straight at him.

The guy didn't even know what fucking hit him as Slade's fist pounded his face not once but three times at jackhammer speed.

The six of us fell into an almost organized fight pattern.

I knew my dad fought plenty when they were younger, but once we were born, the Stone boys had toned it way down.

My cousins and I sort of stepped in to fill the troublemaker void, but we were never like them.

None of us had ever had to fight with our fists to survive. We'd all had it good growing up.

Dad caused one of the thick-neck giants to drop down to the sand in a sort of big bully surrender.

I was still holding my own but starting to feel all the bumps and bruises.

With the help of the badass old man trio, we'd pretty much wiped the sand with our opponents.

Ivan and a few others were still trying to hold the line, but the chaos came to an end when Officer Prentiss blew his whistle and yelled at us through a megaphone.

"All fighting stops now, or I will arrest each and every one of you." Red veins were sticking out from his neck. Officer Adams stood next to him, looking unsure of how all this was going to end.

We peeled apart. Ivan and his team of muscle-heads were close to surrender anyhow.

Cormac, Griffin and I were bruised and bleeding, but the dads looked about the same as they had when they stepped on the beach.

Colt had a cut on his lip, and Dad wiped his bloody knuckles on his jeans.

Slade still had his fists curled. He glared at our opponents to let them know one move and he was going to lunge at them.

"You all right?" Dad put his hand on my shoulder.

I looked at him and nodded. "Thanks." Mom always liked to tell me that I'd never appreciated my dad enough, that I'd never appreciated how much he'd gone through to make it safely to adulthood, that I'd never appreciated the fact that Hunter Stone would smash mountains, cross seas and face down the fiercest enemies to keep all of us safe.

But she was wrong, I did appreciate all of that about him.

Sometimes it was hard growing up in his enormous shadow, but I still always stood in awe of him.

The moms reached us, too. My mom looked at the opponents and smiled. "Suckers. And whoever left my kid with two black eyes—I hope you're fucking constipated for the rest of your life."

Colt and Slade shook their heads with a laugh.

Prentiss and Adams had stayed back, out of the way but now seemed to consider it safe enough to walked toward us.

I hadn't seen Walsh arrive, but he was there now, in his pristine suit and tie.

He was flanked by a man on each side, both in fancy suits and glossy shoes.

I glanced around the beach and that was when I spotted the one person I wanted to see.

Interestingly enough, she was walking with Stella down to the sand.

Stupidly, the first thing I thought was "LaLa better not be telling Bridget embarrassing shit about me. "

Bridget was wearing a white dress and sandals, and she looked like the fucking angel she was as she came down the path. Seeing her jarred another memory, the short conversation with Alex on the highway. There was no fucking way she'd agreed to marry him. Just no fucking way.

Walsh and his two well-dressed sidekicks reached Officer Prentiss. He looked with disgust at his "security team." They looked like a bunch of nine-year-olds that had just had their asses handed to them in a game of tackle football.

"I want all of these men arrested, Officer Prentiss," Walsh said and waved his hand at our side. "And tell the crowd at the end of the beach that they're trespassing, and they need to vacate my land immediately."

Dad, Colt and Slade walked forward. They'd dealt with Prentiss in their younger days, when he was the young, inexperienced cop on the beat. According to them, he'd always been a weasel. At the same time, he had a loyalty to Trayton. He'd grown up here.

"Well, Officer Prentiss," Colt said looking straight at him. "Do you have room in that jail of yours for half a dozen Stones? Cuz all of us would do this again."

Mom marched forward. She was tiny, but everyone knew she was a fucking powerhouse. Prentiss flinched when she stuck her phone in his face. "Look what these assholes did to Cru. And Theo and the others ended up like this too. But go ahead, side with the rich outsider."

Prentiss lifted his cap and wiped sweat off his forehead. "All right, everyone. Let's calm down and talk about this."

Stella and Bridget reached us. Bridget glanced my way for a second and then avoided eye contact.

Every muscle in my body throbbed, my face was on fire with pain and swelling made my knuckles ache but nothing hurt more than having her pull her gaze away so indifferently.

Maybe Alex was telling the truth. All the physical pain vanished, replaced solely by the ache in my chest.