Page 2

T he morning light shines through the windshield, making it hard to see. I don’t need to know what street is next, though. I already know.

I haven’t driven this path in over a decade, but it still feels familiar to me. As if I never stopped coming out here.

Everything has changed, though. The Lotus aren’t the same as they were back then. Now they are run by the only person who could possibly help me with my current case. Only, he is the last person to want to help me.

It’s a difficult situation. One I wish I wasn’t in.

I look over to the folder in my passenger seat. Everything I know about this case is laid out. I never anticipated that it would lead me here, though.

As I continue on my way, my mind flashes back to the last time I saw him.

“Please don’t leave me, Hayes. I love you. I want you to stay here with me. If you go over there, you will die. I can’t live without you.”

He rushes to my side, cupping my face. “I have to go, Bails. It is either that or join the club. Neither option would make you happy.”

“At least with the club, you would be here. Who is going to protect me if you are gone?”

I remember the tears well. They were warm falling down my face, which was a feat in the Texas heat. He didn’t listen to me then. He had chosen his path, so I chose my own.

When I pull up to the gate of the clubhouse, I find a younger-looking kid standing guard.

“This ain’t public property, lady. You need to get gone,” he says as he walks up to my window.

I don’t miss the way he is checking me out, though. I try to make the girls look a little better as I bat my eyes up at him.

“I’m here to see your president.”

He snorts. “Honey, you are fine as hell, but you aren’t getting through this gate. You wouldn’t be the first woman to bat her eyes and show her tits to get a shot at the pres. Not happening on my watch. I want my patch.”

It’s then that I realize his patch says prospect. Of course. They always have prospects guarding the gates. Always seemed odd to me. You are testing them, but you are also trusting them to keep you safe. Wouldn’t you want someone you know is loyal to guard you?

Not my club, so not my place, I suppose.

“I’m not here to do whatever it is you think I want to do with him. I assure you,” I tell him.

“Sure, and your tits just fell out of your shirt on their own. Turn around and head back to wherever you came from. If you want something a bit more, I’ll be available later though.”

“You’d want a chick you think wants your brother? That’s a bit messed up. I never understood club girls. I would never want to be shared.” I glare at the kid.

“Too bad. Now go.”

I smirk at him. “Sure thing.”

I crank my music in my car, making him step back. Then I grab the key fob and a sucker, climbing out.

“What are you doing? Get back in your car.”

“No,” I tell him, then I toss my keys as hard as I can into the empty field across the street.

It’s not exactly lush with grass, but it does have some. I’m sure it won’t be easy for him to find the keys, but it’s going to be worth watching him try. All I can hope is that there isn’t a snake or scorpion over there. Besides, if he doesn’t find them it’s okay. I have an AirTag on them.

The kid pulls out his phone, stepping away from me to talk.

I settle onto the hood of my car, opening the sucker to pop it in my mouth.

He will come. I know he will.

I might not have laid eyes on Hayes since the day he left for the military, but he can’t be that much different. He will come because he will find it curious that a woman is at his gate. He will come, if only to tell me to pound sand himself.

I’m really hoping that once he sees me, he will give me a chance to talk. Things ended on bad terms with us, but I hope he can forgive me for what I said then.

If he doesn’t, I don’t know what I will do. He is part of this puzzle that I need to solve.

“You have no idea what you got yourself into, lady. Pres is coming, and he’s pissed. I sure hope you knew what you were doing when you decided to show up here today.”

I smile at him sweetly, trying to kill him with kindness. “Don’t worry about me, champ. I can handle him. Maybe you should be concerned though? You look like you are about to piss your pants.”

He glares at me. “You might be attractive, but your mouth ruins the appeal. I can tell you that Pres prefers his women silent and choking on his cock. You might want to get on the same page as him, otherwise, you wasted a trip.”

I throw my head back and laugh, even though a pang of jealousy runs through me. “Oh, honey, you have no idea what you’re talking about. You are going to feel like a fool when your pres sees me and his tune changes. Then I’m going to make him make you spit shine my shoes for a month for your comments. Enjoy your smugness while you can.”

“I will believe it when I see it. Oh, look, here he comes now.”

I turn toward the long driveway. Sure enough, a man is stalking down, but I can’t really see who it is with the glare from the sun. I squint, needing to know if he looks the same.

I’m desperate for any glimpse of the boy I once knew as mine.

Pulling my sunglasses to the top of my head, I sit up on the hood of my car as he gets closer.

The moment he sees me, he freezes.

“Bailey?”

“Motherfucker,” I curse as the wrench slips, banging my knuckle.

This is fucking stupid as hell. How the hell did my uncle keep this place going without doing any maintenance? When I took over as president of the Lotus MC in San Antonio, I knew I had my work cut out for me, but I thought it was going to be mostly dealing with the members.

No one warned me about how run-down the clubhouse had become in my absence.

I remember running around this place as a kid while my father was out working. Uncle Rogue took me in and treated me as one of his own, which meant Colt and I were put through a lot of shit to become men. I had to grow up fast. Faster than I wanted to.

It’s the whole reason I left for the military. I needed to get away from this place. Especially when Colt was recruited and went to Vegas. The military wasn’t any better, though.

That’s why I’m here fixing a leaky pipe instead of sitting in my office going through new prospects.

I think I have the leak fixed finally, so I turn the water back on. Only it sprays everywhere, completely soaking me and everything around.

“Fucking piece of fucking shit pipe!” I scream out, turning off the water again.

Pulling out from under the sink, I grab a towel and wipe myself clean. Then I pull up the video I had been watching about fixing pipes.

Thank God for the internet.

I’m in the middle of trying to figure out where I went wrong when my phone rings. I silence it, not wanting to deal with a prospect right this minute.

He doesn’t let it lie, though. He calls back again.

“What do you want?” I grumble into the phone.

Music greets me on the other end of the line. Old-school classic rock blasting.

“Sorry, Pres. There’s a girl here at the gate and—”

“Send her away.” I cut him off, hanging up the phone.

He calls back right away.

“What’s the problem? Is she claiming to be someone’s baby mama? If so, call them. Is she a cop? Tell her to contact the lawyer. Sweetbutt? Send her to Lainey. Nut up, bro.”

“She is refusing to leave. She tossed her keys into the field across the street. Unless I put hands on her, I don’t think she’s leaving.”

“Well, what does she want?” I ask, my irritation growing.

It’s a never-ending list of shit to do. If I had known this, I would have never stepped up to be pres.

Ok, that’s not true, but it feels that way. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. I never get any fucking peace.

“She says she needs to talk to you.”

I frown at that. I have only been the president of this chapter for a few months. There’s no way she actually wants to talk to me. It has me curious. Could she be looking for my uncle?

“Fine. I’ll be down in a minute.”

I click off the phone, looking down at the sink. I need a break anyway. Sitting here any longer is only going to make me want to punch something.

“Tiny, come work on this shit. I’m taking a break,” I call to my sergeant at arms working on the bar in the other room.

“Got it, boss,” he calls back.

When everything went down with my uncle, Tiny was a suspect for a bit. Then we realized who the real culprit was, but Tiny is still on my radar. He is a troublemaker who let it be known that he wanted to move up in the ranks but was shot down. So far, he seems content letting me run things, but until he proves himself loyal to me personally, I’ll keep an eye on him.

I don’t bother putting my shirt back on. It’s hotter than Satan’s balls out today, so I’ll likely be drenched in sweat by the time I make it to the gate.

As I start the short walk, I think again about what the prospect said. The woman wants to talk to the president of the Louts MC. Could be a booty call, but that doesn’t feel right. From what I can tell from the others, my uncle never brought his sweetbutts here. No matter how long he and Aunt Jody were separated, he still respected her. He was a good man like that.

Then again, he was also an asshole who had us running drugs when we were teens.

Balance, I suppose.

Still, I miss the ugly bastard. He would know what to do with all of this. I feel like I’m floundering while I try to figure it out.

As I get closer to the gate, I can hear music blaring still. I already have a headache, so whoever this chick is will be getting the full Savage attitude. Who does she think she is pulling up to our place like this, trying to force our hand?

I’m about to show her.

She’s gorgeous, I’ll give her that. The more I look at her, the more I like. Dark brown hair is loose, falling over her shoulders while she leans back on her hood. Her long tan legs are stretched out in front of her as she has her head tossed back. Then she moves her head to look my way. The aviator sunglasses are mirrored so I can’t see her eyes, but I feel her stare. Something is sticking out of the side of her mouth, making me wonder what she could be sucking on.

When she leans forward, a twinge of familiarity hits me.

No. It can’t be.

As I get closer, I call out a name I haven’t spoken in years.

“Bailey?”

She straightens up, sliding off the car. “Hey, Hayes. Long time no see.”

I want to simultaneously cuss her and hug her.

Her showing up here isn’t good. Not for my mental health nor her husband’s sanity. If I get my hands on her again, I won’t be letting go. Not like I did the first time.

“At least with the club, you would be here. Who is going to protect me if you are gone?”

“I will always protect you,” I tell her.

“No. If you leave, don’t bother coming back for me. I won’t be here. I won’t wait for you to kill yourself. If you leave, I will find someone else to protect me.”

She is so beautiful and stubborn. I love that about her.

“I have to go, Bails. I love you. I will be back for you.”

“I wish that was enough, Hayes, but it’s not. I deserve better than that.”

Those were the last words she spoke to me.

I understood where she was coming from. She needed more from life. She always needed attention and affection. Flying across the world to fight for our country meant I couldn’t give her any of that.

The day I got the wedding invite in the mail, I lost it. I ran into a mission half-cocked and almost got myself killed.

Now here is that same woman who broke my heart, standing in front of me looking every bit of the siren she always has been.

“What are you doing here?” I grunt out.

“I need to talk to you. Five minutes. Please.” She bats those eyes at me.

The same green eyes that she has always had. We used to joke about who her mother cheated on her dad with because neither have green eyes.

I always thought it made her special.

“Prospect, go find her keys, then top off her tank. Park it in front of the clubhouse.”

I never take my eyes off Bailey, but she looks at the prospect smug as ever.

Makes me want to spank her ass for being so cocky. For knowing which buttons to press to get what she wants, as she always has. She is a blast from my past that I never expected and hoped to never see.

She goes to the passenger window and leans in through the window.

Fuck me, does she look good bent over like that. She’s married.

She pulls herself back, ending the show with a folder in her hand. Then she walks toward me, stepping inside the gate. I turn and start walking toward the clubhouse. She falls in line next to me.

“Where’s your husband?” I ask, not able to hide the bitterness in my voice.

I already clocked that she isn’t wearing a ring. Must have been a divorce. As much as I hate that she married someone else, I want to beat his ass for leaving her. She deserves better than that. Always has.

It’s why I let her be.

“Not married.” She looks over at me, giving me a tight smile. “Oil rig accident two months before the big day. He didn’t make it.”

She looks back forward, a sadness settling over her.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” I mean every word.

I might not have liked it, but I never want her to be in pain.

“Are you really, because you never responded to the invite? I figured you didn’t want me marrying him.”

“I didn’t,” I say quickly, holding the door open to the clubhouse. “Doesn’t mean I also didn’t want you to be happy. You must have loved him.”

She shrugs. “Lance was a good man. He treated me well. Provided for me. He was never you, though.”

“Is that what this is? You want to reconnect? I got to tell you, Bails, I’m not the same guy I was back then. I don’t think our story ends well.”

She shakes her head. “Of course not. I’m here because I need your help.”

“With what?”

She hands the folder over, rocking my entire world.