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The knocks on the clubhouse door were so loud they could be heard throughout the whole building. Tash was the only one here helping me prep for the meeting tonight. We’d been joined at the hip, and I still didn’t want her out of my eyesight for long. I didn’t need to watch her. I knew she wasn’t going anywhere now, but still, I wanted to.

No one in the crew ever came here this early on meeting nights so I had no idea who was about to tear the door off the hinges with their hard ass knocks. Since Tash was already inside, and the person knocking couldn’t have been one of my boys, I was pissed at how loud it was. Knowing it was no one I welcomed at the door, I grabbed my pistol as I headed that way.

Not much had been heard from the Southside Burners since Burner’s accident, but my head would always be on a swivel. I knew as long as I had Tash in my possession, this thing between me and Tyson wouldn’t end until one of us was in the ground. I planned to make sure he was the one spitting up dirt at the end of the day.

When I swung the door open and was met with Burner’s wife, I was instantly pissed about how bad her face looked. Somebody had beat the shit out of her, and she was crying. Burner may have messed around with younger girls, but he loved his wife. I didn’t know much about her, but I know he treated her like a queen.

“I’m so sorry to come here, Solo, but I had no other choice.”

“It’s cool,” I said, stepping out the way to let her come in. “What happened to you? Who the fuck did this?”

There was a code in these streets, and putting your hands on another man’s wife was definitely against everything we stood for. Anything was fair game in war, but I would never stoop that low. If a Steel god was responsible for the way this woman’s face looked, they would pay with their life.

Burner wasn’t here to stand up for the woman he loved, but I was. I wouldn’t stand for nothing like this, and I was sure he would do the same if the roles were reversed. There was a level of respect that had to remain unbreakable no matter the circumstance.

“It was Tyson,” she said, limping over to the nearest seat. She even held her side as she walked.

I don’t know why I was surprised to hear her say her husband’s right hand man had done her in so badly, but I was truly shocked. I should have known it was him. He already killed the man who practically raised him, so beating his wife shouldn’t have been hard to fathom. Some people would go to the ends of the Earth to not only destroy you but also your legacy.

Tyson knew he would never be able to erase the legacy Burner built while he was on this Earth, so he was working hard to dismantle it. Everyone attached to the Southside Burners would feel it soon enough, but he had another thing coming if he thought he was going to bring that shit to my doorstep.

“Tash, can you come here for a minute?”

She was restocking the bar, but I wanted her to see her husband’s handiwork. The fact that he’d probably beat her just as bad let me know I was going to kill this nigga sooner rather than later.

“Oh my God, Sophia. Who did this to you?” She jumped into action as soon as her eyes landed on Burner’s wife.

“Tyson.”

She was still crying hard as shit.

“He just flew into a rage. We were planning Burner’s funeral and had a small disagreement. I told him I was the wife and had the final say. I thought that would be the end of it, but he punched me in the face.” She said the last words like she was still in disbelief herself.

“What? He hit you because you wanted to plan your own husband’s funeral?”

“Yes. I’d never seen him as angry as he’s been since the accident. I thought it was just grief, you know? We’re all hurting.”

“No. This is who he is. He’s just good at hiding this side of him from the world. Trust me. No one has experienced this more than I have. Stay here. I’m going to tend to those wounds for you.”

“Thank you, Natasha.”

“Solo, do you have a first aid kit?”

“Yeah. It’s one in the office. I’ll show you where it’s at.”

After answering Tash, I turned my attention back to Sophia.

“I’m going to handle this for you. All of it. Let’s bury your husband first, then I promise you’ll never have to worry about that nigga again.”