Discovering Me

By Crystal Spears

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner
whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher Crystal Spears except for the use
of brief quotations in a book review.

All names, work of arts, places are fictitious and from the imagination of the Author.

Any references to historical events, real people, real locales, or brands are used fictitiously. Other
names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any
resemblances to actual events or locales or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

This material contains New Adult/Mature acts and/or situations along with language.

To contact the author for any reason, you will find contact information at the back of this novel.

Author

Crystal Spears

Editor

Katie Mac @ Indie Express, LLC

Graphic Design By

Melissa Gill @ MGBookCovers

eBook Formatting

Crystal Spears

A letter from the author,

Dear Readers,

In order to understand the series, I suggest reading them from the start. The order is as follows: Seize
Me, Withstanding Me, Resenting Me, Shadowing Me, and Discovering Me. This novel is not for the
faint of heart and contains very intense graphic scenes. Violence, rape, drugs, language, murder,
vengeance, racial slurs, and weapons are used. Please heed this warning carefully. This novel is for
readers 18 and over and again, not for the faint of heart. This is by far my favorite novel of the series
to date. There is no instant love, but a love that was there all along… they just had to discover it.

Thank you,

Crystal Spears

Chapter One

Piper

“Breathe in, breathe out.”

His hot breath blows against the dip of my neck. Hands roam my arms as he steadies my position. He
runs his thumbs along my skin as he adjusts me to his liking. My hands shake, nerves flaring, as his
body presses closer to mine. His muscles compel me to recognize the strength behind his frame. My
eyes flutter, my skin heats, and I breathe in as he moves in closer behind me. His smell invades my
senses, and I become lost in the sensation of the few memories I have where his scent burned its way
into my brain.

Focus, Piper. Focus on what is in front of you. Disregard the man behind you. Ignore the past he has
begged you to forget time and again.

“Piper,” he rumbles in my ear.

His tone snaps me out of my coma, and I turn my head to peer at him as he looks down at me with
disappointment.

“Yeah,” I answer with a false clueless retort.

Sniper tilts his head to the side. His gray eyes twinkle at me and he bares his straight white teeth
when he grins at me. “You weren’t payin’ attention to a damn thing, were you?”

I make a sound that should never come out of a female’s mouth in front of a man, and I shrug and turn
my attention back to the target. Sweat beads in my trembling hand as I aim ahead of me.

“Piper…”

Oh, for heaven’s sake. “Hmm…”

This is all I can force out at the moment. I wish I could forget the night on the pool table ever
happened, but I can’t. Stuck in my head is the blissful memory he wants me to forget.

“Baby, are you even listenin’ to me?”

I flick the safety on my gun and lower it with frustration. “How am I supposed to pay attention when
you say my name with that stupid, honey drip?”

Sniper’s touch disappears as he steps backwards and I grow even more exasperated. This isn’t us.
We aren’t afraid to be near one another. Yes, we get mad and we fight, but we never step away from
one another. Ever.

“You had to do that fuckin’ ecstasy with Tea. You had to fuck everything up!”

If he expects me to say I’m sorry, he’ll be waiting forever for my apology. I will not apologize for
living my life and having a little fun. I’m young and, sure, I might be running from my shit past, but that
is another reason why I live life so free and open.

“If you can’t deal with what happened between us, then we need to take a break,” I say, my words
calm. I pivot on my heels and give the gun to him as I walk away.

“Take a break?” he sputters in disbelief. “We’re not even together!”

I throw my hand up in the air behind me and flick my wrist in a ‘whatever’ movement. “So not the
point, Snipe. I meant a break from our friendship.”

Saying it should make my stomach knot up from fighting with him. It normally does, but not this time
around. I think I have learned how to ignore the awful feeling that comes over me every time we
argue.

“This is crazy talk, Piper. Would you fuckin’ stop walkin’,” he roars over the sound of his stomping
boots as he rushes towards me.

Of course, me being the stubborn, bullheaded person I am, I don’t listen and keep walking towards my
car. He should have known I was in one of my moods long before we got out in the middle of
nowhere to shoot guns. I demanded we take my car and not his precious, beloved bike. Okay, that was
a little uncalled for. I love his lady, and I love riding on it.

“Pipe…” he whispers as he maneuvers himself in front of me.

Not that tone, Sniper. Any tone, but that one. The softness escaping him is part of the Sniper I give in
to. The man that reminds me that he, too, is human. That he, too, looks for the same things in life I do.
When my feelings towards him grow stronger, I slam them back down again and build a false image
of him to calm the unsteadiness of my heart. If I think of him as a careless, hard ass biker, it helps for
a little while. Not long, but long enough for me to get my bearings straight again.

I put one of my hands on the hood of my car, tilt my head down to stare at the gravel, and toe my tire
with my boot-covered foot. I don’t know whom I am trying to fool. He knows I am looking for an out
of this conversation he is trying to have with me.

“I don’t know what to do… We are off from how we normally are,” I mumble while I bite my bottom
lip, a nervous habit I picked up from Lana in the short time I was blessed to know her.

“Ain’t that the fuckin’ truth, babe. Shit is fuckin’ with me, too. I fucked my best friend, multiple times
in one night. You think that’s sittin’ well up in my head?”

I shake my head back and forth. “I had myself back down to thinking just about the pool table incident,
Sniper!” I exclaim. “How dare you put that back in my mind?”

I worked so hard at pushing a huge part of that night away.

“Sure, because it’s only fuckin’ hard for you, right? Who knew the best pussy I would ever have
would be the pussy of my best friend? This shit has me as twisted as it has you! I don’t want to fall in

love with my best friend, no more than you do!” He shoves away from my car and stomps around to
the passenger side. “Take my ass home. You’ve pissed me off.”

I take the opportunity to peek over at him as he climbs into the car and slams the door. I have to fix
this. Sniper and I are two peas in a pod around the club. The happy ones, the jokesters of the club, and
if we go back and we’re jumping down one another’s throats, it’ll cause unnecessary tension.

I open my car door and slink inside without making a sound. I don’t stick my keys into the ignition.
Instead, I lean my head against the steering wheel, press down on the horn, and plaster on a smile as I
turn to look over at him. My cheek rests against the wheel and my smile brightens as I catch the grin
he is trying to shake from his face.

“What in the hell am I gonna do with you, darlin’?” He chuckles as he reaches over, grabs my arms,
and jerks me into his hard chest. “You’re a pain in my ass!”

I shove away from him before he can squeeze me tight. “Love me, but not fall in love with me. What
in the hell were you thinking, saying something so stupid?” I chuckle as I reach for my keys to crank
my car.

“God, I’m gonna find me a woman, but I don’t want that woman to be you. No offense, babe.”

I completely agree with him. My love for this man is deep, but falling in love with my best friend
would be the biggest mistake of my life. He is my rock. The one person I can always lean on no
matter what. If I fell head over heels in love with Sniper, he would destroy me. I would lose that
steady ease he gives me.

“Agreed. Love you, Sniper. I do, but we would destroy one another.” I look both directions to insure
cars aren’t coming and pull onto the open, deserted road.

“You better not have scarred my dick for life. I’m not playin’, darlin’. Shit! It ain’t even just my cock.
I still have the taste of your pussy on my lips.”

And he had to go there. “Savor it, baby!”

His laughter roars in my ears. “Piper, the Pied Piper of pussies!”

That son of a bitch. “You suck. I’ve a good mind to dye my hair to piss you off.”

His amusement stops cold, and my skin prickles at the daggers his eyes shoot at me. “Do it, and I
swear I’ll sit on the roof of the live-in and use your car for target practice.”

He would, too. Everything has to be real for Sniper. It’s an obsession for him, and he loves that about
me, his best friend. I am one hundred percent genuine.

“Then come up with something else. Pied-Piper doesn’t do it for me.”

He drums his long fingers on the windowsill. “It was meant as a compliment.”

Yeah, right. Sniper is straightforward with those. He hands them out on a regular basis. “Liar.”

As we drive down the long road back to the MC, my mind wanders. If he finds someone, and she

doesn’t like me, our friendship will be over. Our easygoing banter will cease and I will be left
devastated. I don’t care for those odds. I can’t fall head over heels in love with him, and I risk losing
him when he does find someone. The steady hum of my heart isn’t so steady anymore. Now it beats
hard and fast against my chest cavity.

“Snipe…” I squeak.

“Yeah,” he answers.

I square my shoulders and refuse to take my eyes off the road. “What if whoever you find doesn’t like
me, and she demands you cut our closeness, what then?”

His hand drops onto my bare thigh and his fingers dig into my skin. “If she doesn’t like you from the
start, she’s gone. I won’t even have a chance to fall in love, because whoever I fall in love with, she
has to love you as much as I do.”

Sure, it is sweet, but it doesn’t ease my anxiety, and he senses it.

“Slow down and pull the car over,” he demands through gritted teeth.

I take my foot off the accelerator and mash the brake as I pull over to the side of the road.

“Look at me, baby, cause we ain’t goin’ no further until this shit is cleared up.”

I lean all the way back in my seat and turn my head towards him, my eyes watering as I do.

“Me and you, we’re thick as fuckin’ thieves, darlin’. You’re like one of the guys, but pretty and clean.
You joke around, you love, and you live life to the fullest. Our friendship is… Our friendship is
special and always will be. I’m not lettin’ a single person fuck that up, not even one of us.
Understand?”

I chew on the inside of my lip as a single tear slides down my right cheek.

“Hell, baby, you’re learnin’ how to shoot a gun so we can have more in common. What best friend
does that shit? I may be a dude and all, but I’m pretty sure that is a fuckin’ killer friendship, and I
would be stupid to let someone fuck that up.” He wipes away the lone tear hanging on my chin. “With
you, it’s as if I’m hangin’ with one of the guys, but only I get to stare at pretty when I do. You’re
stronger than most of the brothers, too. The stuff you went through ain’t right, and you deserve my
loyalty. You’ve been let down so much in your lifetime, that I’m vowing you will always have me and
my loyalty as if you were a brother. So if I say I ain’t lettin’ a single person ruin what we have, you
best believe me, babe, shit won’t happen.”

I exhale and say the one thing I can. “Love you.”

His gray eyes twinkle. “Love you, too, Pied-Piper. Take my tired ass home.”

He has to joke the seriousness away.

***

Chapter Two

Sniper

The clubhouse is a fucking madhouse, with sluts as far as the eye can see through the fog of joint and
cigarette smoke lingering in the air. We haven’t had a night as rowdy as this one in a long time. The
sound of ass slaps echoes around the room. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very much enjoying it. I’m a
single, free man. In fact, I’m scouting tail to get my mind off the deliciousness that is my best friend.
How fucked up is it that Piper had to have the sweetest fucking pussy I have ever tasted?

Ah, to love your best friend and fuck your best friend. Shit should be put in Pandora’s Box and
labeled ‘don’t touch’. Everyone knows I am not against falling in love, but I am against falling in love
with your best friend.

Piper is clueless. I have known for a while she fights it every single day. Who can blame her? Our
chemistry is out of this fucking world. I once made a list of all the reasons Piper is my closest female
friend, and her beauty is the one difference between her and the guys. I told her the truth earlier today
when I said she was like one of the guys but pretty. Hanging with her is the equivalent of hanging with
one of my brothers. I can talk about fucking a chick with Piper. I can even shoot my guns while
chilling with her. Shit. She’s unreal, this friend of mine. Fucking love her to pieces.

My thoughts always drift back to her. It never fails. I’d been thinking about bending one of the whores
over, and now I’m thinking about Piper again. Always happens. I have to find me a girlfriend or a
regular fuck, and fast, before Piper invades my every being more than she already does.

The night I got to sink into her three times in a row racked itself into my brain. It won’t leave, and I
can think of only one way to get rid of it. I have to fuck someone else, and it has to be better than it
was with Piper. Doing her on one of the picnic tables outside, against the door to the live-in, and on
the dresser in my bedroom has left a fantastic fucking aftereffect on me. She tasted of heaven. There
are no words for how good she felt on my tongue; heaven is the one thing I can think of.

Her pussy drew at my cock as if she was sucking me with her mouth. Juices flowed and leaked down
to my balls. The woman didn’t dry up one time. She stayed wet and came over and over again.
Nothing makes a man want to beat on his chest more than a woman who comes all down his cock.
Most satisfying sex I have ever had. Hell, one of the very few times I can remember every detail. Ah,
hell, it is the single time I can remember every detail.

God, she rode my cock something fierce.

I hear a buzzing whir and look over to my right to see the Doc sawing at Rap’s legs. What in the hell?

“Yo, Rap, what the fuck, brother?”

He still has a few weeks left in a cast. Dumbass will be walking with a limp.

“I can’t do it anymore, Sniper,” he mumbles over the top of a bottle.

Sure, bourbon will make it all better when your ass is walking funny. I can understand why he wants
out of the wheelchair, but risk screwing up his legs? That is stupid as fuck. We ride bikes for a living,
and he wants to chance it? Damn dumbass.

“Whatever. Your legs.” I laugh as I move to another seat closer to the pole.

A fine piece of ass is clapping her ass cheeks together as she dances to the music. I see one tattoo, a
small butterfly on her right hip, which is a good sign she isn’t a muffler bunny. She’s here for a good
time, not to hang around. She’s butt naked, so she wants to get fucked. She isn’t sure by whom yet, but
I’m going to change that. The naked bitch isn’t a brunette, so that’s another plus.

Got to have every detail different to take this Piper hangover away.

“Finger test her.”

Speak of the devil.

“Finger test her.” I chuckle as I repeat what my best friend has said to me.

“Yeah, double finger test her. First, you lick one finger and ram it inside of her. If she makes a sound
that isn’t a moan, and it’s more of an ‘ouch’ with a slight hiss, she’s got an infection. If she passes that
test, lift your fingers up to your nose and smell. If she smells good, she’s good to go.”

Where in the fuck did she come up with this shit?

“Come on. You didn’t know that?” she asks as her green eyes laugh at me.

I fucking didn’t know that. Interesting little factoid.

“How did you stay clean without me?” She smiles and I almost forget all about the naked bitch on
stage. Almost. My cock twitches inside my jeans. Piper did it, not the chick dancing.

Motherfuck! “Always distracting me.”

I shouldn’t have said that to her because Piper can distract me anytime she wants. Not many people
come first in my life, but she’s one of them, and always will be. She’s right there behind my brothers.

“My bad. Hey, ass clapper, get down here.” She motions the chick down with one of her hands and
my attention follows.

When she obeys Piper’s hand signals to stand in front of me, Piper kills me with what she says next.

“Spread your legs. My friend is gonna finger test you,” she explains. “What’s your name?”

I don’t need a fucking name. What the hell, Piper. Making a simple fuck personal.

“Everlee, and go ahead. I’m clean,” ass clapper replies.

When Piper gives me her irritated look, I snort and lick one of my fingers. She gives me the same look
when I am taking my sweet ass time and need to hurry up. Piper’s attention stays on Everlee as I drop
my hand between her legs and ram my wet finger up there. She doesn’t flinch, moan, or hiss. So I
guess she passed the first test. I withdraw my finger and find myself disappointed when it doesn’t pop

out. I’m not going to forget about Piper’s tight-ass pussy any time soon. That much is certain. I bring
my hand up to my nose and sniff the test finger. Musk. The smell of her wet pussy tells me she won’t
be the greatest, but she will have to do in a pinch.

“Smell?” Piper giggles.

I shake my head no without taking my eyes off her. I love her giggle. It is so innocent. It draws me to it
because deep down, I know the sound comes from someone who isn’t so innocent. Piper loves to get
into a little trouble here and there.

“Excuse me.”

Ah, yes, naked woman. “Go find something to do. I’ll get atcha in a bit.”

Fingers fly in front of my face and snap. “I’m over here.”

I don’t have a chance to set this bitch in her place because Piper is up and out of her chair faster than
my mouth can open.

“You have two seconds to apologize to him. You’re in his fucking club!”

I lean back in my chair, bring my arms up over my head, clasping them behind my neck, and then kick
out my feet. I’ll take a Piper showdown over pussy any day. Bitch has my back.

“He was being rude!” Everlee exclaims.

I roll my eyes. Something I never do, but I can’t help myself this time around. Bitch is crazy if she
thinks that was rude.

“You realize you’re in an MC, right? If you came here to get treated with respect, you might have
gotten it if you would have kept your clothes on. But seeing as you’re butt naked and let my friend
shove his finger inside you, and then snapped your fingers in his face as if he’s a dog, I’m booting you
out of here if he lets me.”

There’s my girl. “Do your thing, darlin’.”

Any other time, if something similar were to happen, we would straighten the bitch out, but Piper is
showing me respect. I’m not about to rain on my girl's parade.

Piper stalks over to the stage to grab the woman’s clothing, walks back over to her, and shoves the
articles into her chest. “Get dressed. Get out, and don’t come back until you’ve googled the ‘how-tos’
of being in a club,” she stresses to the woman while I wonder if we could find such a thing on
Google. Wouldn’t surprise me. “You can come back if you learn how to respect the fucking brothers
of this MC. I want to like you. You don’t look like a dirty bitch, and we need more who look like you
around here, but not bitches who act like you,” Piper chastises and points her finger in naked bitch’s
face. I know that was to make a point as well. “When you come here, expect the unexpected, and if
you want to be treated with some respect, you’ll have to earn it. Bring condoms too, because next
time, I guarantee they won’t let you leave without one of them fucking you first. They don’t supply
alcohol and drugs for shits and giggles.”

Who needs to make a point when they have Piper around? It is nice to relax for a change, and that is
what I do. Relax while Piper lays into her. I don’t have to worry about Piper taking it to the head. She
knows I’m not interested when my attention has been on her more than the bitch she is throwing out.

I’m so lost in Piper thought once again, I don’t even notice the chick she told to get lost, leave.

“I’m sorry, but that made me mad,” Piper explains.

I keep my fingers clasped together behind my head and shrug while I grin at her.

“I’m going to go and relieve Braxx. I know he wants to be down here with you guys, but feels bad
Win’s stuck up in that bed. With ZZ, Shadow, Storm, and Tea gone, we’re down help when it comes
to that pregnant mood-swinging heifer.”

Yeah, no shit.

“I’ll give Berry a call in a few days. Let her grieve a little more before asking for her help,” Pyro
says as he flops down out of nowhere. “Rap’s casts are off.”

I unclasp my hands and turn my body around to look. Sure enough, they are off, and now the sound of
voices urging him to go wash his smelly legs float to my ears.

I broke my arm once. When the cast came off, that shit didn’t smell like roses. It smelled like my ass
might if I didn’t wash the fucker. When I turn back around, I catch Piper kissing Pyro on the forehead
before she comes over and whispers, “get laid,” in my ear before kissing my head and leaving.

“She amazes me,” my VP says.

She sure does.

“How you guys have fucked and still are cool as hell, I’ll never understand.”

You and me both. I am doing my best to stay sane. “It’s hard as fuck, brother. Every time I look at her,
I’m reminded of how fuckin’ fantastic it was.” I dig into the pocket of my jeans for my smokes. I got
to stop thinking about her pussy. It’s stressing me out.

“She was high on ecstasy when it happened, too. Fuck, if she was sober? God, I don’t even wanna
know what I’m missing out on.” Dammit. Fucking hell. “She even whispered ‘get laid’ in my ear
before she left. She’s the best, and that’s all there is to it. The first woman I fuck who isn’t clingy
afterwards had to be my good friend. Go fuckin’ figure that bullshit.” I light up my smoke and take
advantage of Pyro listening to me bitch like a schoolgirl. “I’m not pissed we fucked. I’m pissed it’s
stickin’ with me.”

Pyro picks up a bottle of whiskey from the floor next to his chair and hands it to me. “Here. I’m tellin’
ya, it’ll be hard findin’ one to match that feelin’. It’s crazy how one fuck can change you, brother.”

I’m not goddamn changed. I still love sex, drugs, alcohol, and my club. I’m hung-up is all. I’m
changing this motherfucking topic.

“How’s Akela?” Take that, you fuckwad.

Pyro laughs at me while answering. “She’s good. Decided to move to Nevada. She’ll be back in a
week or so.”

Hmm… interesting.

“Dude, she’s gay. Straight up gay. Not bisexual. Gay. Understand? She’s moving her girlfriend Ripley
down with her.”

Well, I didn’t see that one coming. I could have sworn I saw him making googly fucking eyes at her
the other day.

“How long you known she’s gay?”

I have to know.

“Since her third night here. Think she was gonna broadcast that shit around a bunch of horny bikers?”

When he puts it that way, no, the bitch is smart.

“It’s nice havin’ a connection to Lana. That’s what you fuckin’ saw,” he growls. “I don’t have to ask
because that look on your confused, ugly mug says it all.”

These brothers of mine are always so serious. That shit gets old. You can enjoy life and live it to its
fullest, even when you’re serious, but hell if most of my brothers don’t take it to the extreme.

If Piper could hear my thoughts, she’d yell at me and tell me to be more sensitive when it comes to
matters concerning Lana. Truth is I am sensitive over it, and everyone else is as well. But there comes
a time when you have to move on, and it is way past that time for the rest of us. Maybe not Pyro, but
the rest of us, yes, it is time.

Piper. Piper. Piper. All up in my head. Fuck. “I’m headin’ to bed.” I stand and walk my none-too-
pleased ass right out of the clubhouse, out the courtyard, and into the live-in.

***

Chapter Three

Sniper

“I told Zig Zag he has a week to do whatever. The man lost his unborn child, and then the son he just
found out about. Not rushin’ to have his ass back here when he has to mourn. Pyro didn’t ask for time.
He took it. At least my Road Captain had the fuckin’ decency to ask me,” Prez hisses.

Always so damn uptight.

“And Pyro, if I catch you pushin’ Rap down again, your ass will be replacin’ one of the prospects and
you’ll be scrubbin’ toilets. The man can’t wind up back in a wheelchair. He’s no use to us if he can’t
ride or walk!”

The room erupts in laughter. Poor Rap. Dude made it out of prospecting, and then lost mobility in his
legs.

“Shit is funny as hell. Stupid fuck should’ve left his casts on, but nope, he wants to wobble like a
toddler. Don’t understand it,” Pyro says to the Prez while shaking his head back in forth.

“I’m right fuckin’ here,” Rap roars and the room goes silent. “I’m not a fuckin’ prospect anymore.
Show me some fuckin’ respect!”

Everyone claps. “That’s what we were waitin’ on. You’ve grown some balls.” Prez chuckles.
“We’ve been waitin’ for them to appear. All right, Pyro wants to address an issue, or rather, address
somethin’ he doesn’t want to become an issue.”

Oh goody. The lesbian talk.

“Akela is gay, and she’s bringin’ her girlfriend back. Don’t tease her. Don’t you dare make her
uncomfortable. As your VP, that’s a fuckin’ order, and Prez backs me on it. Capiche?”

My brothers all have ginormous sticks up their asses. I need some positive fun. Slinging threats and
shit aren’t doing it for me.

“Wait, she’s gay, as in hates men?” Smokey asks.

What is so hard to believe about that? Gays pretty much even out the straights these days. Come on,
sometimes I think this MC doesn’t know jack shit about anything that doesn’t revolve around the club.

“You don’t have to hate men to be a lesbian, Smokey,” I say with a sarcastic tone. “She loves fuckin’
women and not men. It isn’t that hard to grasp.”

Smokey flips me off.

“Fuckin’ fantastic. Church is adjourned,” Prez announces while smacking his gavel down onto the
annoying ass, little plank of wood.

***

I stand there, taking in all that litters my bathroom, and scratch at my head, confused at what I’m
seeing. I know we are close, but I never thought in a million years I would be staring at this shit. I
shoot off a text, telling her to get her ass up here. I want an explanation, and I want one right now. I
stop scratching my head and flick at the item closest to me. What in the fuck does that even cover?

“Yeah,” she says with a sweet, textured voice.

Oh, look at her trying to butter my ass up.

“Piper, what in the fuck is this?” I gesture around the room, indicating the lacy garments that appear to
have eaten my bathroom alive. “Don’t you have your own bathroom for this shit?”

She smacks at my hand that fingers the delicate thong. “My bathroom is crowded with my whites that I
can’t dry.”

I mean I am all for sexy lace garments, but shit. “And you couldn’t hang the whites in here and your
frill in your bathroom?”

Piper laughs. “Where’s the fun in that? I knew you’d be all fucked in the head if I did this.” She
gestures. “What? You can dish it, but you can’t take it? Since when?”

Oh, the little whore. “Bitch, it’s on,” I growl through a laugh as I jerk the nearest bra down and fling it
at her. “I suggest you remove all this shit, or else you might find yourself without it. How I’d love to
peer under your skirts and stupid dresses to find a bare ass pussy.”

She turns and walks away, and I’m not expecting that. I thought for sure she would rip it all down
with quickness.

“Go for it,” she hollers over her shoulder. “It’ll be torture for you, knowing that my bare pussy is
right there for the taking, and you can’t take it. You’ll be teasing yourself.”

Okay, frills in the trash. Got it. I might test my resistance with the thought of her wearing no
undergarments, but she’ll be pissed they are gone. We both lose this round.

“Trash it is,” I chuck back at her while I rip each piece down.

“I’ll make sure I rub one out in front of you,” she tosses back.

Dammit! Fucking. Killing. Me. Shit, these look familiar. I run my fingers over the bright red thong
with a small rip in it. She did this on purpose, planting these in here. I have met my sarcastic match,
and I love the shit out of it.

“She got you good this time.”

Ah, shit. Smokey.

“She sorta did, but she ain’t gettin’ this shit back,” I reply as I rip the bras and panties down.

Smokey laughs and I stop, turn, and look at him with a frown. “What?”

“If you think that she’ll be missin’ those, you’re wrong. Look at the colors, brother.”

My frown deepens while I turn around and a scowl replaces it. “That bitch hung up her darks!”

It is fucking on now. “Grab the staple gun and a permanent marker, Smokey. We’re gonna have some
fun like we used to in high school.”

Shit’s getting started now. She’ll regret damn coming up against me.

***

Piper

I’m going to rip off his testicles and feed them to him, and then I am going to murder his ass. I can’t
believe he did this shit.

“Sniper,” I roar, ripping through the clubhouse to find him at the pool table with Smokey and Rap.
“For a good time, call Piper Lacy at 555-6329? Are you fucking serious,” I yell, dangling my
underwear with my number scrawled onto the fabric. “You wrote my number on them and stapled
them around town? Do you realize how many fucking calls I’ve got?”

There are no words for the anger seeping through my veins. I am all about pranks, but giving personal
information out to the public when I have a screwed up history unnerves me. Tears spill from my eyes
as I fling the underwear at him.

“I can’t believe you put my name and number on them! You could have left the number off and stapled
them up without it!”

His eyes widen when he takes in the real tears. He tries to move towards me, and as I step
backwards, hurt crosses his face. “Piper…”

I hold my hand up. “You know me, Sniper. You fucking know me! Personal line crossed that you
know so damn well!”

Hurt. That is what I am. Downright hurt.

“Darlin’… I didn’t… shit… I didn’t think,” he rebuts.

“You think,” I cry out. “I can take pranks. I can dish and I can take, but you crossed the line, a big
damn line with my number. I can’t talk to you.” I finish off with a whisper as I turn and walk out of the
clubhouse.

Moments later the door slams behind me, and footsteps pound against the pavement of the parking lot.
“Piper, stop. Dammit, stop!”

I shake my head, moving my feet faster. My number with my name on it. I don’t have the luxury of a
fake name or a nickname. My real name is Piper, and he scrawled it, along with my number, for god
knows whom to see. I was abducted years ago, sold into human trafficking, and healed from it, only to
have the fear of someone looking for me thrown right back into my face.

“I’ll go remove the rest,” he yells when he realizes I’m not stopping for him.

The rest of them! I almost laugh. “Damn right you will, and don’t talk to me again until they are all in
the burn pile!”

This prank went too far. He knows it, and I know it.

There are certain things you don’t play around with, and my safety is one of them. He would never put
me in harm’s way on purpose, if he was thinking with a clear head. My life is important to him, and I
will have to figure out a way to get over this. He loves me and would never want anything bad to
come my way. He got caught up in the fun, and so did I, and I cannot jeopardize our friendship by not
being able to get over it. I walk into the live-in building and stroll up the stairs, my mind set on
heading to my bed so I can wallow while he collects my panties.

***

Chapter Four

Sniper

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why the hell I posted her name and number all over the town. I
get it was a prank, but I understand about her past. I can’t fathom why it did not cross my mind when I
was doing it.

I’m an asshole. Point blank.

I toss the garments I’ve collected in the fire pit and head upstairs. I dread having to tell Piper some of
the bras and panties were gone. I don’t know if they were thrown away or if someone took them for
personal benefit. All I can do is offer a huge apology and pay to have her number changed.

My feet drag the steps one by one. You never want to disappoint those you are closest to. I’m
respectful and knock on her door, and then crack it open when she doesn’t say anything.

She is curled up in a ball, fast asleep on her bed. Her eyes are puffy from the tears I caused, and my
heart beat speeds up in anger. I’m angry with myself for taking our playful banter and joking too far.
There are limits to everything and I have surpassed them this time around.

“She’ll be fine,” Winter says from behind me.

I turn around and give her the look. “You’re supposed to be in bed. Prez will shit his pants if he finds
out you’re roaming the halls.”

A loud sigh escapes her. “She came to talk to me earlier. I came down here to check on her is all. I’m
allowed to walk a little bit, but not much.”

I’m not going to pretend that I understand bed rest for pregnant women. I’m thankful I’m a dude.
Women have those fucked up hormones and crazy pregnancies that make them immobile and shit.
Fuck being a woman. Glad I was born with a dick.

“Are you going to stay with her,” she asks.

“I am. I’ll kick off my boots and cuddle her if you want,” I smart off. I don’t like to explain myself to
anyone, not even our first lady.

Winter gives me a disgusted face and walks off, and I shut the door. I walk to the bed, sit and kick off
my boots and shrug out of my cut before tossing it onto the chair in the corner. This won’t be the first
time I will sleep in the same bed as Piper. Hell, we do it all the time. We get high or drunk and fall
asleep as we talk bullshit life. When we’re alone, we don’t have to be Sniper and Piper, the
pranksters. Yeah, we love to live life to the fullest and not to be serious all the time, but we do have
brains and we do use them.

“I figured you’d come in here and make yourself at home,” she mumbles, half asleep.

Smartass.

“I’m sorry, Pipe. I’ll have your number changed,” I say as I lay down next to her and pull her body
into mine.

“I know you are. You’ll fix it. Now go to sleep.” She yawns so hard, her jaw pops.

I bury my nose into her hair and sniff and she giggles and tries to jerk away from me. That giggle is
how I can tell if we will be okay or not. I loosen my hold on her, bring a hand up to her nose, and
squeeze. “Honk.”

She turns to face me and her eyes crack open. “We’re fine, Snipe. No worries.”

I study her face to make sure her giggle and her words are the truth.

“Stop it. You’re freaking me out a little. You get playful when you’re uncomfortable with something.
You think it hides your discomfort, but it doesn’t with me. Stop honking my nose and don’t study me.
We’re fine. Promise.”

I lean my forehead against hers and don’t take my eyes away from hers. “I’ll make sure when we’re
pranking one another, I’ll think before I act.”

Her eyes close and she nods her head, and our foreheads rub together. “Let’s go to sleep.”

“You got it, darlin’.”

What a fucking day. It is messed up how you can go from a kickass morning, and then the afternoon
can take a turn for the worse in such a short amount of time. I’ll have to grovel and buy her a new
helmet and leather for when she rides with me. She has to know how sorry I am, and if I have to buy
her stuff to prove the seriousness of my apology, I will.

Piper is one of a kind, and the thought of losing her is beyond any words I could come up with.

“Never go to bed angry,” she whispers. “My grandma told me that once.”

I’m confused. “Why?”

She snuggles into my chest. “Not just with your spouse, but with anyone. She said going to bed angry
makes you a resentful person.”

Ah. “All right.”

I don’t know what else I could say to that. I guess it makes sense in a way.

My phone chimes in my pocket, and I groan as I dig it out. A text from Braxxon. Fucking peachy.

Prez – Church. Now.

I lean back into Piper and kiss her on the forehead. She doesn’t stir, so I know she fell back asleep. I
must have drained her mentally if she is that exhausted. It’s Monday night. Nothing’s happened, but

the drama with Piper and me, so I wonder what the Prez could want.

I sit up, reach for my boots, and slide my feet in, not bothering to lace them. I walk over to the chair,
grab my cut, and slip it back on before digging in my pockets for a smoke and my lighter.

I wait until I am out of her room before I light it. Piper smokes pot, but cigarettes, she hates. She’s
subjected to that shit enough around the club, so I’ll respect her private space. I do my best not to
smoke around her as much as I can.

When I inhale my first draw, the nicotine glides its way down my pipe and into my lungs. My nerves
loosen up as I make my way down the stairs and out of the live-in. I’ll never give up this one vice.
Does it control me? I guess in a way it sort of does and I don’t mind. Everyone has shit they won’t
give up. The club, my bike, my guns, Piper, and my smokes are mine. You ask me to give up one of
those, and I’ll laugh in your face. Each one of those serves a purpose in my life. I like it to stay that
way.

When I walk into the clubhouse, it is quiet. No music blares, no rip-roaring laughter fills the air, and
it confuses me. Where did the constant party from the other night go? They were set on going back to
old ways, and it has disappeared that fast?

Something is up.

The door to Church is open and a few brothers sit around, so I head in, take a seat, and stub out my
cigarette in the ashtray on the table.

When Smokey enters, we’re all here and the gavel smacks down. My brother’s face is unreadable. No
expression and it is odd. Prez either has a pissed off face or a happy one. He has neither right now.

“We got fuckin’ problems.”

All my brothers and I shift in our seats and give him our full, undivided attention.

“Juan called. Petra was found murdered at the 24 hour pay-at-the-pump gas station near his house.”

Fuck!

“You know what this shit means.”

Every motherfucking wannabe gangster and MC around will try to take control of the snowball and
dust business. My brother doesn’t have to say jack shit. We know Petra was murdered over his drugs.
What I wonder is how the fuck they got past his bodyguards to ice him. Petra never traveled without
at least three people at all times. When you run an operation like Petra, you take every precaution
necessary.

“Tomorrow at noon, we’ll head over to Petra’s place to talk with the Mexican cartel. Ain’t no way
that they aren’t already here. Petra kept mental notes and his front men informed. They’ll no doubt
need the information we have. We’ll offer up our services to help keep things in check.”

This is not what I expected. I figure he would want to take control of the drug trade that runs through
Jamaica.

My brother picks up his pack of cigarettes from the wooden table, flips open his Zippo, strikes, and
slams the lighter back down. He hotboxes and stubs it out, the entire time he doesn’t speak a word.
There is not one single expression on his face; I imagine he is in thought.

“We’re not in the drug trade, brothers. We have our small customers, and that’s the way we’ll keep it.
We have enough bullshit. We’re not gonna deal with more than we got to,” he says while he grabs his
gavel. “We’ll leave at 11:30.” He slams it down.

No lockdown for the family, but if we don’t do this right, we could put them in danger once again.

I’ll let Piper sleep, and I guess I will have to talk to her tomorrow. Make sure she stays more alert
when she leaves the compound.

Guess I’ll go lay in my bed and get so high that I pass the fuck out cold.

***

Chapter Five

Piper

I am in the kitchen about to pour some coffee when Sniper comes downstairs, whistles, and nods his
head towards the courtyard door for me to follow him. My face contorts in confusion. I thought we
took care of everything we had to fix last night. Or was it my imagination? I shake my head out of my
thoughts, pick up the pot, pour some coffee, and walk across the cold tile of the kitchen floor with my
bare feet. I always forget to wear my slippers in the morning, and I regret it every damn time.

I push open the door and shield my eyes with my free hand as the morning sun beats down on my face.

“I couldn’t even drink my coffee first,” I say teasingly. “I was under the impression we fixed us last
night. Am I wrong?”

Sniper huffs, sits down on top of the picnic table, and props his large, boot-clad feet on the bench.
“Naww, babe, we’re good. Something else I gotta talk with you about.”

I shut the door, sip my hot coffee, and move over towards the wall to try to block the rays. “So
whatcha wanna talk about?”

He jumps up, unhooks his sunglasses from his cut while he walks towards me, and places them on my
face. “Better?”

Damn his thoughtfulness. “Yeah.”

He nods, studies me, and then takes my coffee from my hands. “I shoulda got me some.”

You bet your ass he should have got his own cup. I can’t function without my morning caffeine.

“Talk, Sniper. You drag my tired ass out here to steal my energy. What’s up?”

He takes another small sip and hands it back to me. I don’t remove my gaze from his eyes. He appears
troubled, and Sniper is never, ever troubled.

“Club business. Carry your gun with you, and have the safety off if you leave the compound.”

Oh boy. “Why…”

He said nothing about lockdown, so I imagine whatever it is, it isn’t that bad, or else he wouldn’t
even give me the option to leave the premises.

“Dammit, Pipe! You know I can’t tell you,” he yells. His hands fly to his head so he can fist his hair.
“It pisses me off how you still try to question shit. I’m askin’ ya nicely to carry your fuckin’ gun when
you leave the compound. That should be enough of an explanation for you.” He kicks at the wall
beside me.

I do know better, so now the guilt eats at me as I walk over to the table and set my cup down. “I’m

sorry. I’ll do as you ask.”

Sniper faces away from me and grumbles under his breath. I haven’t seen him this anxious in a long
time. It is a little unnerving. The man is a trained sniper, for fuck's sake. I walk over, wrap my arms
around him, and lace my hands together in the front so he can’t move away from me. “I’ll try not to
question you when I know it has to do with club business. I know you’re worried about my safety. I’m
a stubborn bitch, what can I say.”

His body shakes against mine and his voice spits a venomous tone. “I care about you, and I would
fuckin’ murder the entire fuckin’ town if somethin’ happened to you, Pipe.”

Good grief, nothing is going to happen to me. What is his deal? I unlace my hands and move around to
his front, standing on my tippy toes so I am at least near his height. “You’re still beatin’ yourself up
about yesterday. Don’t say you ain’t, because I know you are.”

He groans under his breath and tries to turn his face away from mine.

“Stop it!” I reach up and jerk his chin forward. “Would you like me to stay on the compound? At least
until whatever the hell is goin’ on is taken care of?” Please say no, please fucking say no.

“Hell no!” he roars as he jerks out of my hold. “I’m not fuckin’ trappin’ ya here more than I have to.”

I glare at him confused. This behavior isn’t Sniper. He’s never conflicted about anything.

“Fuckin’ carry your gun! That’s all I fuckin’ ask!” he screams at me as he stomps over to the door,
flings it open, and disappears.

Okay. That was weird. I pull my phone out of my pocket and check the time. It’s early, but not too
early, so Winter should be up. I need to get some advice on his behavior and attitude. She’s known
him a little longer, and even with the amazing connection and friendship between Sniper and me, this
area is not one I’m familiar with, with him.

I trudge my way inside, quietly shut the door behind me, and make my way upstairs to Winter and
Braxxon’s floor. Her apartment door is open, and she’s laying on her bed reading on her Kindle.
Great. Braxx is gone so it will be easier to talk with her.

I knuckle tap the doorframe. “Hey, can I come in?”

Winter puts down the Kindle, smiles, and word vomit flies. “Thank fuck! I love my books, but shit, I
need real people, too!”

I leave her door open because she had it open to begin with, and with Win, she always has a reason
for the things she does. Even the small and simple things like a door open, she has a reason.

“Sniper is actin’ weird,” I grumble as I climb onto her bed and lay beside her. “I kinda insinuated that
I wanted to know what the club business was that had him wantin’ me to carry a gun with the safety
off when I leave the compound. Needless to say, he blew up!” I exclaim frustrated.

I am a happy person who tries her hardest to keep things peaceful all around, and, when I can’t read
one of my closest friends, it irritates me. A person I love is trouble, and I have to get some

perspective as to why.

“He’s worried, that’s all that is. No worries. All you gotta do is appease him. Sniper is one of the
simplest guys I’ve ever met. He loves you and wants you safe. I don’t see the harm in you carrying a
gun with the safety off.”

There is way more to it than that. His normal behavior would have been something like ‘yo, Pipe,
when you leave the compound, carry your gun and be on the lookout’. This morning was so beyond
his usual self.

“I told him I wouldn’t leave, and he got even more pissed off though. Definitely not Sniper behavior,”
I argue and fluff up the pillow behind my head. I already want to go back to sleep. I’m not a morning
person, and getting up early to deal with a weird Sniper has made me grumpy.

Winter eases over on her side and motions for me to do the same. “He’s a man. There is one percent
when it comes to normal behavior for them. Ignore it and do as he says. That simple.”

I snort. “Yeah, simple. Yep.”

She cocks one of her eyebrows while she gives me a gaze that says ‘you better watch it’. “Don’t get
flippant with me.”

We both go quiet for a little while. It takes everything in me not to question her about what might be
going down. Braxxon tells Winter almost all business deals and issues with the club. But if I ask her,
she’ll get angry and accuse me of trying to get her to betray her husband’s trust. No matter what I do, I
will never know what is truly going down by asking questions. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. If I
want to find anything out, I need to put my ear to the ground and the walls, and listen carefully.

“I’m goin’ to work today. With Storm gone and you on bed rest, we’re behind on paperwork and
orders. I have those interviews to do as well. I’m still pissed y’all are makin’ me find an assistant.
I’m not qualified for this shit.”

Winter rolls her eyes at me, moves to her back, and peers up at the ceiling. “I’d give almost anything
to be outta this bed. You love Club Sated, and you love me. I trust your judgment. Besides, you know
everything there is to know about the club and how to run it. Hell, you run it as well as me and
Storm.”

I let a moan escape. I don’t care for a shit load of responsibility. In my mind, I’m still a little unstable
from my past. I wouldn’t trust me at all. I love to party and sleep in when I can, and no way in hell do
I want to do this today, but Winter saved me, and for that, I will always owe her one.

“Whatever. Guess I better go get ready,” I grumble and slide out of her bed.

“Pick me up some donuts on the way home?”

Gross. “Sure…” I drag. I love sweets, but donuts are disgusting. You’ll see a donut in my hand if I am
starving.

By the time I shower, dress, and blow dry my hair, it’s time to go. I walk over to my nightstand, pull
out my gun, and set it on the bed. Then, I pull up my skirt and strap on the holster. When I am satisfied

it is tight, I pick my baby Glock back up, flick the safety off, and with care, put it in the holster. As I
lower my skirt, I pray that I don’t shoot myself in the leg. I don’t recommend ever having the safety
off, but I made a promise to Sniper, and I stick to my word.

Time to go be responsible. The freaking pressure.

***

All interviews have been a bust so far. Every damn applicant asks me more questions than I ask her.
Why would they need to know if the guys from Breakneck come inside the club? Fucking whores. I
take a red marker and write a giant X on their resumes right in front of them, and then the doorman
Frank escorts them out the door. After I fix myself a drink, because hell if I don’t deserve one, I sense
a presence behind me when I cap the vodka.

I turn around and the sexiest redhead I have ever seen stands in front of me. I’m jealous of her on the
spot.

“Hello,” she says timidly. “I’m here for the open interviews.”

I put one hand behind my back and cross my fingers for good luck that this one will pan out. I can’t
handle doing any more of these today. “Follow me.” I do not care if she sees my fingers behind my
back. My patience disappeared an hour ago, and my smart mouth is ready to take prisoners.

When she sits down, it is with ease, and after she places her purse on the table, she crosses her hands
in her lap. Change of pace, this one is. “Do you have any experience with being a manager’s right
hand?”

I never said I had grace or spoke a managerial language.

“I do. Here, let me get my resume out for you,” she says quietly as she digs into her oversized purse,
pulls out a folder, and hands it over. “I’ve had one job, but it was for multiple years.”

Well, ain’t she prim and proper.

“Jinx Kay.” I read her name and decide I already like her.

Unique. She was an assistant for five years. Hell, she barely looks twenty-one. She even has a copy
of her driver’s license already attached. Twenty-nine. Now why the hell can’t I have that kind of
skin?

“If I called your old employer, what kind of reference do you think they would give me?”

Her face lifts into a brilliant smile. “A good one. I would still be there if they didn’t have to let
employees go due to budget cuts.”

Seems honest. I’m over interviews so I hope she passes my next couple of questions.

“Do bikers scare you?”

Her blue eyes widen. “Umm… I don’t honestly know. Never been around any.”

Interesting. Lives in Jamaica, but has never been around bikers?

“I can tell you right now, if you can’t handle bikers, you won’t make it here.”

Jinx shifts with a nervousness to her movements. “Guess I won’t know until I am around them?” she
replies with more of a question than an answer, but it works for me.

“I assume naked women don’t make you nervous.” It should be obvious. After all, she’s applying for
a job at a strip club.

“We all have the same bits.” She smiles.

I love her already.

“How do you get along with other females?”

Seems as if it is a stupid question, but Storm, Winter, Tea, and I are very close. If she is going to be
assisting two of us, she has to be able to get along with women.

“Catty women, no. Strong, independent women, yes.”

I almost want to squeal out loud. I will never do interviews again, but Jinx makes it almost worth the
hassle today.

“Are you able to pass a drug test?”

She laughs while nodding her head yes.

“Your take on drinking?”

She bites her lip and appears nervous again.

“Answer honestly.”

She picks up my red marker and taps it against the table. “You live once. I work hard, and when I let
loose, I like to drink a little. I’m not an alcoholic.” She gasps. “Oh god, did I screw up my chances?”

Is she kidding me? “You’re hired!” Piper, chill out. A little too enthusiastic.

“Seriously?”

I nod my head and pass over the employee handbook and forms Winter told me she had to fill out.
Screw being a manager. It sucks balls.

“The owner, Winter Breaker—yes, I know her name is weird as shit—is on bed rest. Storm, the bar
manager, will be out of town for the next week or two, so you’re stuck with me until then. They’re
crazy for wanting me to start training you, but we’re out of options here.”

Jinx sets my marker down, nods at my pen, and I push it over to her. “You don’t seem so bad,” she
says while she clicks the pen. “I peg you for a free spirit.”

Where did this lady come from? “You peg me right.” I smile.

My phone dings with a message. Jinx is busy reading and filling out paperwork, so I dig it out and
read a text from Sniper.

Snipe – Where r u?

Good grief. I text back my response.

Me – At Sated, hiring. Where are you?

He will be pissed with my question.

Snipe – Piper, fuckin stop it! I’m tellin Frank to watch ur ass. Club business, c u tonight.

My good mood has evaporated into thin air. Bastard ass.

“Jinx, you’re in for the ride of a lifetime,” I say as I put my phone back away.

She lifts her head to peer at me. “What do you mean?”

I motion for Frank, and he does not hesitate to walk over. “You see his leather cut?”

Frank is prospecting for the club. If you ask me, he is one of the lucky ones. He has been on doorman
and bodyguard duty for a few weeks. He has not had to clean toilets or anything of that nature lately.

Jinx trails her eyes up Frank’s massive physique, and I nod for him to go back to the door.

“Breakneck MC, huh. I’ve seen them around town.”

I snort. She has seen them around town? “They own this town, hunny. Shit can get messy around here.
I sure hope you can handle large, sexy, badass men and a shit load of drama.”

I’d rather her be aware now before it is too late, and I am stuck doing stupid interviews again.

“I can handle it,” she replies as she peers back down to the pile of paperwork.

We will see.

***

Chapter Six

Sniper

Riding up to Petra’s place with the atmosphere so thick with tension is a strange feeling. Petra may
have been in the drug cartel business, but we earned his trust, got familiar with this place, and now
that is long gone and we’re about to stroll in blind.

As we turn off our bikes, I say glued to my brother’s side. I am not only his blood brother, but I am his
sergeant-at-arms. It is my job to protect him, and him alone when in these situations.

Pyro, Smokey, and Rap flank us. The older brothers stayed behind to watch the club. With fuckers
running amok trying to take over businesses, we don’t need to get robbed by leaving our clubhouse
with no protection. We don’t have a shit load of drugs around the club, but we have the largest stock
of guns in the area. We lose those, we lose everything. It would take a very long time to rebuild our
supply.

These Mexican cartel members are some big ass dudes. Almost as big as the Russian mafia we’ve
had to deal with in the past. But even though they think they are intimidating, they are wrong. Their
size and machine guns mean jack shit to me and my brothers. Not one of these motherfuckers has the
skill that I have. I could have stayed back and picked these motherfuckers off in one minute, and we
would control everything. Now that the thought is in my head, I wish we were back at Church around
the table where I could present my idea.

Not one person says a fucking word as we follow these fucktards up into Petra’s open garage. Shit is
fucking weird he isn’t here anymore.

My brother takes a seat in the fucking old, torn up chair he always sits in when we come here, and we
close flank around him. Our guards will not go down, so they are wasting their time if they think we
will ease up.

“Petra was a friend,” Braxx says and the tall, skinny fuck I assume is the dude in charge says nothing
in return. He sits there and rubs at his chin as he mean-mugs my brother. “I run this town and Petra
used that to his advantage of gainin’ clientele. Everyone that knew his pipelines happens to be iced,
and all that is left is me,” he says while he lights a smoke. “Before you get your cartel panties in a
twist, I’m here to tell you we don’t want the fuckin’ drug business. I’m willing to offer up all the info
Petra had stored in his damn head. It comes at a price, of course. We want to stay the fuck out of it. I
give you the information you need, and in return, you keep us the fuck out of it, and we still get our
cuts when hookin’ you up with more vendors.”

That gets the drug lord's attention. He sits up, and in a thick accent says, “That easy? Some dollars on
the dime and you offer up the shit I need?”

I don’t know how they do shit in Mexico, but here in Jamaica Nevada, this is how we run our shit.

“That fuckin’ easy,” my brother responds.

“Carlos, get this man a fuckin’ notebook,” the drug lord orders one of his men. “You don’t order for
personal use?”

My brother laughs. “Of course we do. We have a few people we sell to, but nothing big like Petra had
runnin’. I’ll put our usual down on the pad of paper as well. You want to be in the know when it
comes to the drug business in this area. You need to befriend an informant named Juan. I’ll write
down his contact info. You’ll never meet him. He’s a ghost and runs on burner phones.”

After Braxxon says this, Pyro takes out his phone and shoots off a text to Juan to let him know to be
expecting these fuckers to contact.

“Juan is impressive. If he dumps a phone, he somehow has this magic, fuckin’ goddamn skill to let
everyone know. He calls or you call, and after you get what you want from him, he tells you a drop
off point for his pay, and that’s it.” Prez erupts in laughter. “Don’t try scoutin’ out the place to find out
what he looks like. You’ll be wastin’ your motherfuckin’ time. When I say ghost, I mean he is a
fuckin’ ghost.”

I would love to know what Juan looks like. We’ve all talked about it before. We know we have seen
him around, and he is most likely a friend we know who goes by a name different than the informant.
There is no way in hell he has eluded us for all these years, in the town we have in our pocket.

“I ask, one boss to another, that you don’t fuck with my informant. If you decide to use him, respect
my town and me by not fuckin’ it up. Juan will always be valuable to the illegal community, and there
would be a lot of pissed off fuckers if something were to happen to him.”

The drug lord eyes Braxx and uses a tone that pisses us all off. “Is that a threat?”

My brother crosses his ankles and answers him. “You’re the fucking Mexican cartel. I wouldn’t
threaten you, I’m not a goddamn fool, but I do know how business goes. You’re comin’ into my town,
and you need somethin’ from me. In return, I ask for a little spendin’ paper, and to be respectful of
what I have fuckin’ built. You don’t see our asses down in Mexico, do you?”

I can’t help but snort and my brother chuckles.

“You make a valid point, although, do you think I give a shit if this is your town or not?”

I cock my gun with his response. He had to go and fuck this shit up.

“There is nothin’ left to discuss. I’ll prepare for a turf war, then,” my brother says while he stands. I
move closer to him.

“Wait,” the drug lord orders while he stands.

My brother doesn’t move. He is waiting for this fucker to piss him off some more. It will fuel the fire
he wants to rage now.

“There is no wait. You said you don’t give a shit if this is my town or not. That means you have a
problem with respect, and I ain’t got time for motherfuckers like you. You may be the fuckin’ cartel,
but let me tell you somethin’. You think this town will deal with you fuckers comin’ in like you own
the place? They’d rather be scared of us than the cartel,” he seethes. “I have the fuckin’ entire town in
my pocket, and a wife whose money would squash yours. You want to play, we’re gonna fuckin’
play.”

I would call my brother a goddamn idiot for mentioning his wife’s money, but he’s playin’ his cards.
He is letting this fucker know that he has the power and the funds to fight until the end. Protection
around Winter is going to be tenfold now. She is going to be fucking pissed.

The drug lord’s men cock their guns, and the echoes of ours follow.

“Go ahead and shoot. My brother, who you don’t need to know because he’ll pick you off before you
can pull your triggers, will have iced most of your men. Then where will you be? A squattin’ dick in
someone else’s town without protection.”

My trigger finger is doing a happy dance. It begs me to pull it back and kill these fuckwads.

“Now that is a fuckin’ threat, you dumbass. You’ve had your chance. We’re outta here. Fuck with my
town, and we’ll pick you off one by one. Don’t believe me? Call up the Russian mafia. We picked
them fuckers off one by one until there were a few left, and those few ran off with their cocks tucked.”

The drug lord makes a motion with his hands for his crew to lower their guns. “We don’t need to start
bloodshed right now. We’ll take what we want eventually.”

What a dumb fuck. My brother’s laughter roars as we walk out. They may be the fucking cartel, but
we’re goddamn Breakneck, and we are used to motherfuckers starting shit with us. Grant you, this is
the largest we will have ever gone against. We do have the manpower, guns, and the funds to cover
our asses.

He wants a war? Well, he got himself one.

When we reach our bikes, we wait for our Prez to give us our orders as we straddle our ladies.

“When we get back, call up the other charters, Pyro. Their families are safe, but ours are not. Get
them here. Our town needs our fuckin’ protection too. We can’t cover everything by ourselves,” he
growls low so that someone might not hear. “Shoot Juan a fuckin’ text; tell him not to help these
fuckers. You can tell him everything. It’ll piss him off too. They don’t have his number because I
didn’t get a chance to write it down, but he needs to be cautious anyway.”

More goddamn bloodshed.

“Pyro and Smokey, you guys need to go and get Berry. Since she lives the farthest, you both need to
go. Two is better than one. Rap, can you handle swingin’ by Sated to get Piper,” Prez asks as we hit
the throttles on our ladies.

Shit, Piper!

“Prez…” I drawl. “I’d feel a fuck ton better if you, Rap, and I all went to Club Sated.”

“That’s fine, but let’s make this shit quick. We gotta inform the other brothers. I’ll call a gathering
meetin’ so we can prep the family.”

Great. It’s about to get ugly.

“We need to get Zig Zag and Storm back here, but I want Shadow to keep Tea fuckin’ far away. ZZ
has lost enough fuckin’ members of his family; let’s not let him lose another. So don’t call Shadow
back, and that’s a fuckin’ order.

What bullshit. All of this is fucking bullshit.

We notice three cars following us as we leave and you can tell my brother is losing his patience. He
shakes his head back and forth as we ride along the highway. When Pyro and Smokey turn off to get
Berry, one car veers off and trails behind them. The other two vehicles tail us all the way, until we
pull in front of Sated.

Piper is walking a redhead out of the building when I turn my lady off. Prez, Rap, and I are all
thinking the same thing as Piper hugs the woman. Her being friendly with whoever that is cost that
redhead her freedom. If these cartel assholes think Piper is friends with this girl, they will go after
her.

When I nod my head no, Piper tells the redhead to hold on a second.

“Club problems. Get your new friend, and let’s go.”

The redhead looks taken aback by my behavior and she should. I am the strange man who ordered
them to follow us.

“My name is Jinx, and I’m sorry, but I won’t be coming along.”

Trying to apologize doesn’t cover the sassy from showing.

Piper pulls her aside and gestures with her hands. I can’t imagine what the fuck Piper is saying to her,
but whatever she has said caused the redhead to stumble a little backward.

Whatever was said works because she follows Piper as she walks towards me.

“You’ve got some explainin’ to do to this lady,” she points, “when we get there.” She walks towards
Tea’s car. I hope to fuck she is taking care of it because Piper tends to be a little messy.

“Frank, Piper won’t be coming back tonight. Make sure, if you need anything here, to call me and only
me. Leave Piper and Winter alone. Shit goin’ down, and if you want to prove yourself, here’s your
chance,” he threatens.

Thank fuck the redhead is out of hearing range because if she weren’t, she’d be running for her life,
scared shitless if she isn’t already.

***

Chapter Seven

Piper

Beside me, Jinx shifts with nervous movements as I drive back to the compound. Me and my
overfriendly ways cost her her freedom for a while. I am such a fuck up sometimes. The club has been
quiet about business dealings, so I have no idea what the hell is going on, but if he made me drag a
stranger back home, it has to be awful.

“I’m sorry,” I say as I wait for the large Breakneck gate to open. “I have no idea what is going on, but
I feel like it has to do with those two cars following behind the guys on our way here. They don’t ask
for anything that isn’t necessary.”

She leans her head against the window. “I won’t pretend not to be pissed, because I am, and where I
am at now in my head… I wish I wouldn’t have applied for the job.”

If she thinks her saying so would make me angry with her, she is wrong. I wish she didn’t apply as
well. She wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t.

“You deserve to feel the way you do. Honest to god, I don’t know what the hell is goin’ on, but
Braxxon will let us know, especially since I have you with me. He won’t keep you in the dark.”

She turns her head away from the glass to look at me. “Who is Braxxon?”

“He is the club president. Also, my friend’s husband. A town badass.”

Jinx huffs and turns back to the window. “This is bullshit.”

Whoa. First curse word I have heard come from her mouth. “It is. Again, I am sorry. We’ll listen to
what they have to say, and if you’re stuck with me for a bit, we will get fuckin’ wasted tonight,” I
offer. She did say she likes to unwind after working. I think this is a worthy occasion.

“I hope to hell you have something strong then.”

Well, well. The sweet is gone. Damn. I liked that about her.

I change the subject from drinking to something we will have to know if she is stuck on the compound.
“If you are stuck at the MC, is there anyone who you have to call?”

A laugh sputters from her mouth. “Yeah, right. It is me and me alone. My father died a few years ago,
and who the hell knows where my mother is.”

Shit. “I’m sorry.” I hope she understands that.

“It was a while ago.”

Okay, then.

The gate opens and I pull in. When I park, I take a deep breath and prepare her.

“The guys look rough, and they are. Their looks don’t deceive you. Almost all of them are fine as hell,
too. So if you are stuck here, at least you’re stuck lookin’ at sexy the entire time.”

The upside of lockdown and it’s the only enjoyable part about it all.

“I’m sure my husband will love that,” she says, and it throws me off.

“You said—”

“Gotcha!”

Damn her.

“When I am nervous, I joke. I shouldn’t, but it is a habit. It helps my moods.”

Maybe she is sweet and has a small, sassy side. I sure hope so. There are enough smartass bitches
around us.

“You’ll definitely throw the girls off with that behavior. You gave me fuckin’ whiplash, chick.” I
laugh and grab the handle. “You ready?”

She straps her purse to her side. “I have no choice, right?”

I give her a sad smile and shake my head no.

“Well then…”

I take that as my cue to open the door, and she does the same with hers. Once we are out and the doors
of Tea’s car shut, I click the alarm, and we head towards the clubhouse.

“That large, tall building is the live-in. Basically, the slut free zone. The family area and that small
building over there is the office, and you can tell what all the other small buildings are.”

Jinx looks around. “You can’t tell how big this place is from the outside. It is huge once you are
inside the gate.”

She thinks it is big now, but she won’t be thinking that if she is stuck here with us. The guys throttle
into the compound and linger behind in the parking lot as we walk inside.

“Whoa, cigarette and weed-filtered air.”

“Sorry.”

She will probably get tired of hearing that come from me, but I can’t help it.

“No biggie. I’m not a smoker so it is heavier on my senses.”

When we round the corner, I gesture for her to sit on a barstool. She does and she lays her bag on the
bar counter. I want to scream, “Get your name brand purse off of there. You don’t know what disease
infested shit will crawl up onto your bag,” but I can’t because the chick will be scarred for life.

“A stage and a stripper pole?”

I grab two shot glasses and some cheap whiskey and crack a real smile. “Don’t knock it. When you’re
trashed, you won't believe what you can do with that there pole.” I point at her as I uncap the bottle,
pour us some shots, and slide one towards her.

“Bottoms up,” she says and gulps down the shot. She didn’t ‘cheers’ me, and I can’t say I blame her.

The door to the compound opens, and Pyro’s voice echoes to the bar area. “Yeah, brother. She
packed her bags, and she’s at the live-in. No, Berry was very pissed. She screamed that she was too
old for this shit. Next time, you can give the low down to your mother. I ain’t ever listenin’ to her
scream like that again.” He rounds the corner. “Look, I gotta go,” he says to who I think is ZZ. “We
got a straggler,” he smarts off as he eyes Jinx.

“Asshole,” she murmurs low for me to hear.

When Pyro hangs up the phone, he can’t help himself. “Piper, what did we tell you about bringin’
strays home. Just because they’re hot, doesn’t mean bring them home. You’ll never learn,” he jokes.

“First off, asshole with no manners, my name is Jinx, and I’m not a straggler or a stupid stray,” she
yells and I pour another shot for her. “I happen to be here against my will.”

Pyro turns his attention to me. “Truth?”

“Yeah,” I answer. “I gave her a friendly hug, and the men went red, and here we are.” I move my hand
around in the air. “No idea why. Still waitin’ on answers. Guys still outside?”

Pyro doesn’t answer me. His attention goes right back to Jinx. “Well, aren’t you unlucky,” he teases
as he takes a seat next to her.

What. In. The. Fuck?

The guys coming in interrupt my thoughts, and the older brothers come out of the church room.

Braxx walks towards me and leans on the bar. “Scared yet?”

Could he be any more of an asshole?

“No, but maybe you should get yourself a breath mint.”

Wow!

“I like her,” Sniper jokes from the couch. I didn’t even see him sit down. My Sniper blinders are
disappearing again. Hell yes!

“Little lady, I believe you’re probably right. Smoked a fat joint outside before coming in here.”
Braxxon moves closer to her. “Are my eyes tweaked, too?”

She leans backward. “No offense, but I don’t care.”

Pyro scrubs his face to hide his smile. Interesting.

“All right, enough fuckin’ round. Move to the chairs and couches. I’ll tell you guys what the fuck is
happenin’, and then I got to explain this shit storm to my wife,” he orders us.

We walk over to the sofas, and Jinx sits next to Sniper and me.

“Club is on lockdown, and other charters are coming in. It will get crowded as hell, but with the live-
in, we’ll make it work. Parties are to be kept at a minimum with no outsiders allowed in. Ol’ ladies,
girlfriends, current muffler bunnies, and that’s it. Understood?” Braxxon orders and explains to us.

Sniper lights up a joint, and Jinx flinches. I sigh loudly.

“And what’s your name, sweetheart,” Braxx questions Jinx.

She folds her hands in her lap. “Jinx Kay. I was applying for a job at Club Sated, and now I’m here. I
have no family and no one that will be looking for me. No worries.”

She is a quick learner.

“Obviously, while you’re stuck here and we take care of the situation, we will cover your expenses.
Get them to that fat guy over at the computer. His name is Max. And that includes your bills for your
home or a car.”

Jinx says nothing.

“Piper hugged you in front of some enemies,” Braxxon says. “Here is how serious that is for you. If
they remember what you look like, and see you out around town, they will kidnap you, rape you, drug
you, or kill you. Or all of the above. She was too friendly, yeah?”

I’ll never repeat that mistake again.

“I get it. I like breathing. I think I’ll stay awhile,” she smarts off.

“Great. Piper, you both need to help Berry with the cookin’. I’m sendin’ the prospects to buy a deep
freezer and two more fridges. With all the help comin’, we won’t have enough room in the spaces we
got.”

I throw my hand up in a salute motion. If they want me to poison them with my horrid cooking, that’s
on them.

“Pyro, with the prospects out shoppin’, I need you to get one of the air mattresses and shove it in
Piper’s room for Jinx. Oh, and call Akela and tell her to get her ass back here. She is close to the MC
now, and I am done takin’ chances.”

Pyro jumps up to accept his orders. “C’mon, little lady. I’ll show you to your dungeon.”

Seriously? What in the hell. Where did this happiness sprout from?

Jinx timidly gets up and trails behind him.

“Don’t say a fuckin’ word, Pipe. Maybe he’s startin’ to live again. Don’t look in disbelief. We may
be assholes, but we aren’t all the time. He’s just being nice. Shut your mouth,” he growls. “Flies are

gonna get in.”

I turn and slap him hard on the arm. “Shut the fuck up. It’s weird is all.”

Pyro’s been catatonic for what seems a lifetime.

“How’re you doin’ with…”

I curse under my breath before giving him an answer. “You’ll be happy to know you’ll be pickin’ my
trashed ass up and carryin’ me to bed tonight.”

Sniper hands me the joint, and I take a long pull.

“I figured, babe. I won’t apologize for wantin’ ya safe, though.”

I exhale. “You don’t gotta.”

When I hand him back the joint, I lean against his arm and rest my head on his shoulder. “I’m wishin’
I would have gone with Storm or Tea. You know how I feel about bein’ confined,” I whisper. No one,
not even the girls know this hang-up about me. After being in captivity, and then sold off to a sex
farm, I am a little fucked in the head.

“I’ll sneak you out, and we’ll go shoot guns when we can,” he says to try and make it up to me.

“We’ll probably have to take Jinx with us. This won’t be easy on her. Strangers and being locked
down. I predict some nasty arguments to come from her.”

My mind travels to Winter. She is on bed rest. Her day spa construction has been put to a halt. She
has to trust us with Club Sated and rebuild a BDSM club to keep the locals that practice happy. A
doctor is not needed to know that she will be stressed the fuck out.

I wish Storm were here to take care of Winter. She is more the supportive type. I don’t do well under
stress. I joke around entirely way too much and hide my worry behind closed doors.

“We got shit to take care of, babe, but I’ll check on ya later,” Sniper huffs, irritated he has to leave me
while I am in such a rotten mood. “Love ya, darlin’,” he whispers against my forehead after he pecks
it.

“You too.”

***

Chapter Eight

Sniper

The lady chapter is the first to arrive, being as they are only two counties away. I can’t wait for the
other chapters to get here so the ladies will get out of our asses and into the other brothers. The
women are great. They all have amazing qualities about them, but they can drive you up the wall,
fucking crazy after a few short hours. ZZ and Storm also made it back in the nick of time. Maybe
Storm being back will be good for Piper.

I was shocked to learn Piper went to bed after I left her last night. She didn’t get trashed and need
help. That is unlike her, and I know being cooped up is already affecting her. I’m helpless to help her.
This is her own shit from before Breakneck and she doesn’t share about it often. I know enough, but
she keeps me distant, to an extent, for a lot of it.

“Diz… don’t stress out my fuckin’ wife,” my brother threatens Dizzy.

Lord, if shit hits the fan this soon, we’ll all go fucking mad.

“Relax, Prez. If we’re to be stuck here, under your manly thumb, I want to make nice with her,” Dizzy
defends herself.

Make nice? Bitch, you have a past with her husband. I won’t be surprised to find Dizzy with a bullet
in her skull.

“I appreciate that, Dizzy, but fuck, my wife is on bed rest!”

Dizzy throws her hands in the air, frustrated with my brothers. “I’m a fuckin’ woman, Prez. I
understand the goddamn situation, which is another reason I want to go clear the air. She’s pregnant
with your child, and here I am, and I am tellin’ the truth when I say I don’t want her to worry about my
presence here.”

Hell has frozen over!

Braxx digs out his phone and shoots off a text, and moments later, it pings back. “She said go on up.”

“Thank you. You’re my Prez. You’re family. I wouldn’t do anythin’ to jeopardize your wife’s health.”

We both shoot Dizzy a look.

“Sniper, don’t make me draw on ya,” she mouths off. “He wasn’t married in the past. He is now. I
respect that shit.” She defends herself as she leaves the room.

“Stickin’ your dick in her was your worst mistake ever, brother,” I say with seriousness.

“No fuckin’ shit.”

Don’t get me wrong. I’d fuck Dizzy if she hadn’t already boned my brother on multiple occasions, but

our past with Christina is a perfect example as to why the fuck I won’t do it.

“Where’s Piper? Surprised she isn’t adjoined to your hip,” my brother questions.

“She’s with Jinx somewhere around here.”

I don’t want to bother her. Her mind is occupied, and if I search her out, I might trigger the reminder
that she is trapped here. Jinx is keeping her busy.

“See how Pyro was eyein’ her last night?” he asks.

Not him, too. “Leave the man the fuck alone, brother. I don’t see it goin’ anywhere. She’s beautiful.
It’s kinda hard not to eye her.”

I speak the truth. The woman is out of this fucking world gorgeous. Not my type, she’s too classy. I
like them real, but not that fucking real.

“Just sayin’. Shit, brother, you need to get laid.”

I wasn’t thinking about it until he fucking said something. Fucking dumbass. We have too much
bullshit to worry about than my dick getting sucked or fucked.

“You’re a bastard,” I retort.

“Dude, we have the same fuckin’ father. You’re a bastard, too.”

I groan and he chuckles. He must’ve got laid last night. He’s in too good of a mood. Lucky fucker.

“Yo, Prez, Akela is back, and she has a woman with her.” Phish, Rap’s replacement prospect comes
into the clubhouse.

That was fast. “Did she bring shit with her?”

“The woman and some luggage, why?”

The fucker knows better than to ask questions. So much to learn.

When I’m about to shoot a text off to Pyro to let him know she is back, Akela walks in, followed by a
gorgeous black woman with badass braids. She must be Ripley.

“Braxx…” Akela trails confused. “Pyro wouldn’t tell me anything over the phone.”

Prez motions for them both to take a seat, and they don’t hesitate to follow his directions. Akela must
have warned her girlfriend all about the club before getting here. She moved, quick to follow orders.

“We’re on lockdown, like serious fuckin’ lockdown, sweetheart. You’ve come in and out of the club
for weeks and you’re associated, so I wanna take no chances with your safety, yeah?”

Wonder when Akela gained my brother’s respect. He is talking way too nice to her for the short
amount of time we’ve known her.

“Well, I had time to pick up Ripley and some more clothes because of Pyro’s swift instructions. I
guess Ripley and I will take the slam room?”

She’s fucking crazy. It’s about to get rowdy and crowded with horny bikers.

“We’re about to have over sixty more people here. It’s gonna get crowded. Sure you don’t wanna stay
in the live-in? It’ll be a little less chaotic over there,” I say before Prez can answer her. I don’t want
Pyro flipping out if his new friend gets stressed out.

“Lana,” she says simply, and we understand with that one name.

“You got it, babe. I’m gonna be straight with ya ladies. We’ve never had full blown lesbians stayin’
here fulltime. Our other charters are headin’—”

Akela cuts him off. “It won’t be the first or the last time we’re messed with over our sexuality,
Braxxon. We’re big girls. Babe, this is Braxxon, Braxx for short. He’s the club President. The head
man.” she explains to Ripley. “That’s Sniper, his sergeant-at-arms. His name stays true to him. He’s
lethal with a gun I’ve heard. I have no idea where Pyro is. That over there is Rap. Oh, he has his casts
off,” she says with glee. “I’m happy for him. And the older guys don’t talk, and I’ve not been around
them very much. I joke with Pyro and say they are in the early stages of retirement. They are always
drunk or silent.”

Braxxon and I laugh our asses off. She couldn’t have explained them better if she tried.

Pyro strolls in, and when he spots Akela, his shoulders slump in relief. Looky there, the bastard has a
female friend he cares about. Now he can’t fuck with me about my friendship with Piper. Fucking
hypocrite.

“You made it back,” he says, and she turns around and jumps up into his arms.

For watching a man that has been out of it for the longest time, this behavior confuses the shit out of
me.

“You didn’t give me much choice,” she teases and lets go of her embrace. “This is Ripley.”

Ripley stands and sticks out her hand. Fuck with the manners of these women this week. Pyro ignores
her hand and instead, jerks her into his body. “Nice to meet ya, pretty lady.”

Braxxon and I look at one another with the most fucked up faces. I mouth what the fuck, and he does,
too.

When Pyro lets her go, he ignores us, grabs their bags from Phish, and leads them to the slam room.

“Was it me or did he already know where she’d be sleepin’,” I ask my brother.

“I don’t even know my own VP anymore,” he groans and rubs his face. “I’m gonna go check on my
wife and Dizzy to make sure they didn’t fuckin’ kill one another.”

Damn, I forgot all about them, too.

“Frank is stoppin’ by with the trailer to drop off all those old ass cots our folks used to keep around
here. Make sure Phish scrubs them clean and gets them in the sun to dry before people start showin’
up.”

I don’t respond because my brother knows I’ll make sure it happens. We’re a bunch of animals
around here, but we aren’t about to make people sleep on the fuckin’ ground. We will all need a good
amount of rest so we’re all fuckin’ focused. Our brothers will get trashed, sleep, and be up as long as
the women get breakfast going, and if we don’t have proper places for them to sleep, they’ll be bigger
assholes than they already are.

If it were me, I wouldn’t be sleeping on the cots. Fuck, they are thirty-something-years old, and who
the hell knows what went down on those things. I’ll fuck on surfaces and shit, but something that old,
being in storage where god knows what climbed or produced offspring on them. I don’t fucking think
so.

“Hey there, stranger.” Luce, the sexy as sin sergeant-at-arms for our Lady charter, comes up to me.
I’ve stuck my cock in her many times, and it never gets old.

“Hey baby, how ya been,” I ask while wrapping her in my arms for a hug. Sweetest piece of pie, but
fuck if she isn’t deadly with a gun.

When we drop from our embrace, I take a moment to look her over. Her short, cropped brown hair is
longer than it was the last time I fucked her, and she’s added a Monroe piercing along with the stud in
her nose. Her brown eyes twinkle when she smiles at me, and her tits move in and out as she breathes.
Small little thing. I forget she’s so tiny and short.

“Checkin’ me out as always, babe.”

“You know it, Luce.”

“I’ve been good, to answer your question. Besides shackin’ up with you assholes. It’s been pretty
tame.”

I forgot how easy it is to talk to this woman.

“Sniper…”

Piper. I turn around, and she clucks her tongue at me as she walks up to us. “Hi, I’m Piper,” she says
to Luce.

Besides Piper, Luce is another close friend. Not as close as Piper and me, but close, and I have a gut
feeling I will sense jealousy soon.

“Luce,” Lucy replies.

“Sniper, Berry is wantin’ to know how many people we should cook for? She’s been cookin’ and
freezin’ food for hours, I hear.” Piper moves her attention back to me.

In my head, I try to tally all the people, but I can’t give her a direct count.

“You guys need to cook for about around a hundred people or so. The lady charter will help. They
usually do when we have lockdowns like this. Tell Berry to give them some food, and they’ll bring it
over and use this kitchen while you guys use the live-in kitchen.”

Piper’s eyes widen. “That many fuckin’ people? Does Berry know I’m comin’ back with a number
that high?”

I chuckle. “Darlin’… this isn’t Berry’s first rodeo.”

She doesn’t say anything else to me, and I know she can tell I have chemistry and a past with Luce. I
should have told her about Lucy long ago, but I honestly forgot all about her. I’m going to hear about
this for a long time to come.

I watch as she walks away from me without even saying a goodbye. Yeah, I am in big ass trouble.

“You’ve replaced me.”

Jesus fuck. “Luce, you’ve never been the jealous type. Don’t start now. Go help Berry, please.” I tack
on the please to get her out of my hair quicker. I need to figure out why I haven’t told Piper about
Lucy and to do that, I have to get away from her.

“Fine. Whatever.”

No clue why Lucy is acting the way she is. She knows I’ll fuck her if she wants. She’s still a good
friend. I need to stop getting close to women if the end result is jealousy. I won’t deal with that shit.

My gut is screaming we’re about to experience the worst damn lockdown we have ever seen.

Goddamnit!

***

Chapter Nine

It’s a Breakneck Chapter

Piper

“How close to Sniper are you?” Luce asks as we walk into the live-in.

Hell if I want to get friendly with her.

“He’s one of my good friends.” That is all she is getting out of me. If she can question me, I sure the
fuck can question her as well. “How close are you?”

She giggles. A fucking biker chick that giggles. A migraine is already forming in my skull. Great.

“We’ve been fuck buddies for years.”

And there it is.

Is she only a fuck buddy and toy to him?

I can deal with a simple fuck buddy, but if he is closer to her than that, it will eat me up inside. I don’t
mind sharing his affection with whores.

“We’ve also been good friends for years as well.”

And the jealousy monster rears its ugly head. I excuse myself from her as quick as I can, rattle off the
number to Berry as I pass the kitchen, and flee upstairs.

I am the convenient friend, the one replacing the bitch downstairs because I live here. My stomach
ties itself in knots as I land face first into my mattress. The only person who truly knows about my
past and knows more details than I have told anyone else is a fraud of a friend. A friend I love and
who apparently conveniently loves me.

This will be the worst lockdown.

***

Winter

Staring into the eyes of a woman who has fucked my husband on multiple occasions isn’t fun. At first,
I wanted to strangle her. She is lucky as fuck I cannot get out of this bed and cause her bodily harm.
The club is about to become overrun, and I am stuck in this bed and away from it all. But even though
I want to be down there and to be helping, I have to think about Braxx and my child.

“So, we gonna be cool?” she asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

“You plannin’ on tryin’ to seduce my husband while you’re here,” I question.

She crosses her arms as my husband walks in. “I don’t try to fuck married men. I don’t have many
morals, but that is one that I pride myself in.”

Yeah, we will see, you slutty cunt.

“Everything okay in here,” he asks.

“Am I stressed, yes, but not about this.” I point to Dizzy. “I hope she stays true to her word. I’m
stressed about not bein’ able to help, and it gets lonely as hell up here.” I tell him the truth.

“Hell, I can have the ladies take shifts visitin’ ya so that you can get to know everyone, if ya want,”
Dizzy offers.

For the first time, I actually enjoy the words that come from her mouth. “I’d like that.”

She uncrosses her arms and ignores my husband as she leaves the room. I think she might actually try
to get me to like her.

“You won’t have a short amount of company at least,” he tries to joke and I can see the stress rolling
around on his shoulders.

“It’ll be okay, babe. We’ll get through this shit. We always do. Maybe not unscathed, but we do get
out of it.”

He sits down next to me on the bed. “Angel, any other time I would be itching for somethin’ to
happen, but when you’re pregnant and on bed rest…”

I scoot further onto the bed and pat for him to lie down next to me.

“How about I let you tell everyone the sex of the baby,” I offer.

Braxxon lies down next to me and runs his fingers through my hair. “Naw, that’s somethin’ we should
do together.”

“I’ll tell the women, you can tell the men,” I say, sighing.

He chuckles. “No, how about I carry you downstairs for dinner and fix you up a nice spot on the sofa
and we can announce it together?”

Get out of this bed? “Yes!” I shout, and he gives me a frown to warn me to be careful.

I cup his cheek with one hand and use my thumb to rub his double lip piercing back and forth. “Can
you give me a bath though? I don’t want to sit up here all day in my filth, and then eat dinner smellin’
awful around strangers.”

“Yeah,” he answers as he sits back up. “Come here, Angel.”

He picks me up and walks me to our bathroom, to love me as my husband, and not a stressed out
biker. I love my man.

***

Somewhere across the lands

Tatiana

I say I love you to my dad and hang up the phone. I peer over at Shadow who is texting crazily on his
phone. “You’re not gonna believe this shit.”

Shadow breaks from his phone and gives me his attention. “What?”

“My dad and Storm are headin’ back to Nevada early because the club is on lockdown, and you’re to
keep me far from the action that is about to take place.”

He does not let me say another word before he is dialing a number on his phone.

“What the fuck is going on?” he screams into the phone. None of the brothers approves of being left in
the dark, and us being gone is leaving Shadow in the dark. “You’re not fuckin’ with me?”

If they want me to stay gone and not be around, it is bad. My dad never wants me away from the MC
when the shit hits the fan.

“No brother, we got here a few hours ago,” he says to whomever he is talking. “Fuck, dude, it takes
time to drive across the country, and you think I was gonna let your niece drive? Fuck no. We stopped
so I could sleep at night.”

“I want updates on this shit. I hate I’m not there.”

Great. He’s going to be a real asshole on this trip. I understand we aren’t away on vacation, and we
are here to help his friend, but hell if he isn’t going to be extra douchey while we are here.

A knock sounds at our hotel door, and Shadow groans into the line. “Danick’s here, man. I gotta go.
Keep in touch.”

Shadow tosses his phone on the dresser and strolls over to answer the door. When it opens, I am
transferred from real life into fiction because there is no way in hell he is real. I gulp loudly enough
for Shadow to hear, and he laughs. Glad he thinks it is funny.

When Danick comes in and Shadow slams the door shut, they enter into a bro hug.

“Long time no see, Tavis. Thanks for comin’, my man.”

Dammit! Even his voice is deliciously sexy.

“A little square for you, ain’t she?”

I try to say hey out loud, but nothing comes out. He’s stolen my voice. How in the heck did he do that?

“You have no idea. But she has the tightest pussy, and she’s a curious little thang,” Shadow says, and
his southern drawl comes out thick.

I guess it is true, the closer you are to your roots, the heavier your accent will come back.

“Stand up, peach. I wanna get a good look atcha,” Danick orders.

What the hell!

“How about no, and why don’t you stand there and let me objectify you?”

He brings out his arms. “Go ahead, sweetness. I like pretty ladies staring at me.”

Damn, he’s a dick. I stand and walk over to him. I trail my eyes up and down. “How tall are ya?”

He smirks at me. “6’6”, love. Anything else?”

I bring my finger up to my chin and tap. “Yeah, how big is your package?”

Shadow snorts and takes a seat on the cheap hotel sofa.

“How is that any of your concern?” Danick responds.

“Can’t take the heat in the kitchen, get the fuck out,” I reply.

Danick brings his hand up to mine and jerks it to his dick. Me and my big fucking mouth, always
getting me in trouble. My hand rests on the largest damn cock ever, and I jerk my hand back when I
realize I’m squeezing it. “That is not normal, dude.”

Shadow and Danick erupt in laughter.

“I assure you, it works as if it is.”

Lord, have mercy.

“You wearing contacts?” I ask him.

“No, baby, my eyes are truly this blue. Anything else?”

“Nationality?”

“A little bit of everything. My skin tone comes from the Native American bit. I imagine my height
does as well.”

Hmm… that explains the coal black hair that mirrors Shadow’s.

“Is Shadow gonna be safe with you?”

He chuckles and gazes over at Shadow. “Where did you find this one?”

“She’s one of my brothers’ kids.”

“No shit, and he ain’t killed ya yet?”

I’m right damn here!

“Nope,” Shadow says and pops his p. Cocky little fucker.

With all that aside, I move in front of Danick, wrap my small arms around him, and squeeze as tight as
I can. The man deserves a hug. He lost his wife and unborn child.

“Tavis… what the fuck is this?”

I squeeze tighter. “You need a hug.”

“I repeat, she’s a little square for you, Tavis. I don’t know how I feel about this.”

I let him go and huff. “I was showing compassion, you asshole.”

“I told her a little bit,” Shadow answers. “She’s got a huge heart.”

Not now I don’t. See if I share any more of my hugs with this fucker.

“Well, lady whose name I don’t know, thank you for the compassion.”

I smile because he won me back over. “It’s Tatiana, but Shadow started callin’ me Tea, and everyone
sorta followed.”

“She’s also a little quirky. Tavis… you gonna fall in love with this one?”

And he lost me. Again.

“Danick. Cut the shit. You’re hurtin’ her feelings, and I kinda wanna play tonight before we get
started. Don’t fuck that up.”

Jesus. Asshole.

“I’m taking a shower,” I announce and take off.

***

Shadow

“You’re going to ruin her,” Danick says to me as he sits down. “She’s going to fall in love with you,
and you’re going to break her.”

Jesus fuck. Why is everyone so fucking serious?

“Tea and I have already gone over this.”

He drops his head, disappointed in me. He trained me to avoid situations like I am in with Tea.

“Danick, look man, I’m here to help, but Tea is different. She’s got a huge heart, sure, but the girl is a
firecracker when it comes to learnin’. If she can’t handle it, she knows it will be over as quickly as it
started.” I pat him on the back. “I’m still Tavis, dude. I happen to have my first regular is all. You
ain’t ever seen that, and you ain’t ever seen me trainin’ someone either. You know I don’t want a
submissive, but you know I love a curious kitten, and that is what Tea is. A curious, tight pussycat
willing to learn and she gets off on pain. It helps that she has the body of a goddess and looks the way
she does.”

“Don’t make me disown your ass, Tavis.”

The worst words a prodigy can hear from their mentor are those words.

“Man, that kinda hurts.” I respond.

“Truth. Always the truth with me,” he says.

“All right, so get me informed on what’s goin’ on,” I say while I lean back, cross my ankles, and
prepare to listen intently.

“It will be bloody.”

“I was counting on it,” I reply.

I will bleed this town dry to capture the fuckers responsible for killing his wife and unborn child.

***

Chapter Ten

Sniper

The Missouri charter, our quiet brothers, rolls in first. They are the only charter whose members roll
with the flow and keep the peace in their state. The quiet doesn’t last long because New Mexico rides
in after Missouri. They are the rowdiest, horniest, and most careless charter we have and never have
a plan unless we force one on them. Braxxon lets them get away with their bullshit because they bring
a massive cut amount for the Breakneck patch charter dues. South Carolina, Indiana, and Texas arrive
together.

“Sniper, do inventory on all brothers’ ammo, and if they require more, get it at your cost, not theirs.
We’ll supply everything,” my brother commands.

An ammo count should be a chore for a prospect, but I can’t say that to my brother and undermine his
authority in front of all the guys. I’ll argue with my blood brother at another time in private.

“Did you get that, brother,” he asks when I don’t acknowledge his order.

A growl almost escapes my throat when I respond. “I did.”

I know if he didn’t have his glasses on, I would see the aggravation in his gaze. I’m not trying to be an
asshole. I woke up this way yesterday, and ever since, my mood has been on the none-too-friendly
side.

I could blame it on how overcrowded the club is with brothers wall to wall, but the truth is it all has
to do with Piper and her all of a sudden cold shoulder towards me.

This is what has me bothered at the moment, and with the cartel on town, I have got to get my mind
straight and focused.

When I make my way around with a notepad to get the counts for ammo, I run into Piper as she stocks
the bar. She doesn’t even peek in my direction.

I click the pen closed, shove it and the notepad into my back pocket, and demand attention from Piper.
I slam my fist down on the bar. “What the fuck is wrong with you,” I growl. I don’t like things left
unresolved.

“I’m busy. Can’t you see I’m busting my ass, catering to your brothers?”

Jesus. What the shit?

“Piper… I can’t fix what I did wrong if I don’t know what the fuck I did!”

She jerks an empty whiskey bottle off the shelf, slams it into the trashcan, and flinches as it shatters. “I
don’t have time for this.”

Well, she’ll make time for me. I’m her fucking best friend, for fuck sakes.

“Goddamit, Piper! Make time.”

She turns around and stocks the top shelf with the premium alcohol. It’s further proof she is an
excellent bartender and why she does an exceptional job at Club Sated.

I cross my arms and glare at her as I continue to wait until she finishes with her restock. When she
turns around, the water that sits in her eyes proves she is upset with me.

“You know… I will tell you what is wrong with me,” she whisper yells as she tosses the empty box
to the ground and stomps on it. “You made me believe that we had a special friendship. A special
fucking bond, Sniper.” She swipes the tears away. “But you have the same ‘bond’,” she air quotes,
“with one of the Red Ladies, Lucy. Do you know what that makes me think?”

I shake my head in disbelief.

“I’m a fill in!”

What? She is crazy.

“You’re being fuckin’ stupid,” I say with a laugh. Piper is nothing like Lucy. Never has been and
never will be. Piper means more to me than some bitch from our female chapter whom I fuck.

“Am I? I don’t think I am. Right now, there is nothing you can say. I want space from you to get my
head on straight,” she says before she leaves me to stand there confused.

How did I screw up her head?

All of this is because of Lucy. She had to have said something to Piper to cause her to act like this. I
won’t stand for this bullshit. No way in hell.

“Piper, stop!” The rough, edgy growl ripping its way from my throat causes her to halt in place.

I stomp towards her, grab her elbow, and drag her outside to the parking lot for some sort of privacy.
Piper tries to dig her feet into the ground to stop my tug, but she is no match for me. I swing open the
door, move us beyond the threshold to the outdoors, and kick the wooden door shut behind us. Some
brothers linger outside, and sensing the tension, they walk with casual movements to leave us alone.

“What the fuck is goin’ on with you, Pipe. This fuckin’ behavior is not you!” I roar as I let loose of
her arm to grant her freedom.

She stands tall, moves smack dab in front of me, and stands on her tiptoes. “You made me believe I
was the only female you have ever let in! You fuckin’ lied to me! All along, you’ve had bitches like
Lucy,” she yells and shoves at my chest with both palms. “I can’t even look at you. I feel betrayed. I
told you things I haven’t told anyone else,” she sobs. “I thought we were real, our friendship was real,
and it wasn’t.”

I’m stunned to silence as I gaze at her retreating body as she rushes into the live-in building. All of the
things she has accused me of are false, and I don’t see why she sees the truth as lies. I’ve been nothing

but honest with Piper, at all costs. The only thing I don’t share with her is club business, so why does
she think I betrayed her? There is far more to it than Lucy being here.

“Piper—”

How the fuck do I fix something I don’t goddamn understand?

I hear the sound of a door open behind me, and I think maybe Piper has come back to chew me out,
but here comes Lucy. As if her presence hasn’t caused enough fucking problems. Any other time, I
would be more than happy to shoot the shit with Luce, but she has upset Piper.

“Everythin’ all right?” Lucy smiles at me.

Dammit, she is the one that got me into this mess with Piper, and she is the last person I want to
discuss shit with.

“Lucy, go do somethin’ female. I can’t deal with your shit right now,” I growl and stalk off, leaving
her with a disbelieving look on her face.

The Prez is throwing a ‘Welcome to the Master Chapter’ party before we get down to business, and
I’m getting fucking drunk tonight before shit gets real. Fuck clear headspace. I want to forget for the
night.

***

The Red Ladies are the life of the party as usual when they are here. Dizzy commands the room with
her presence. The fact that she is one of the very few I have not fucked from the lady chapter astounds
me. She is gorgeous. Anyone with eyes can see that, but my brother had her one too many times for my
liking. Lucy and Salt are two of my main repeats. Salt, damn that girl can fuck, but Lucy is more
passionate whereas Salt is straight hardcore, rough sex fucking. No connection with her. I’m always
down for a good fuck, but with Salt, it is sex and only sex. I like a little emotion and feeling to my
sexcapades. Meaningless isn’t something I enjoy.

“Sniper, what’s up, brother.” Rowdy slaps me on the back and snatches my bottle of whisky.

Rowdy is as his name says. He is the rowdiest motherfucker in the charter and he happens to be from
our New Mexico chapter. He smells like ass, looks like ass, and his behavior is that of an asshole.
His name should be ass. Straightforward fucking ass.

“Not much, Rowdy,” I slur. Maybe if I act too drunk he will go the hell away and bother someone
else. I don’t want company. I am not sitting by my fucking self for the hell of it. I want to get wasted
and fucking go to sleep without thinking. That is all I goddamn want. Is that so hard for some of these
fuckers to understand?

“Not talkative, eh?” He chuckles.

Oh for the love of all my guns, go the fuck away!

“He’s moody today, Rowdy. Come visit with me.” Dizzy laughs. “I might spray ya down with my
perfume, but I’ll be a friend for ya.”

Take the bait, dude, or I’m afraid I might put a bullet into your knee, brother.

Dizzy’s looks win him over and he walks away to go be with the lovely little black swan. I am able to
save a bullet. Dizzy has always been pretty good at reading signals. She must have spotted my ‘I am
gonna shoot him’ expression from across the room.

“Yo, you ain’t gonna give me a kiss, man?”

You got to be kidding me. Now I have to deal with Roger? I don’t fucking think so.

“Hey man, I got some shit I gotta do. Catch up later, yeah?” I trudge my way over to bar for another
bottle before making my way to my room to drown and pass the hell out.

***

Chapter Eleven

Sniper

“All right, listen the fuck up,” my brother shouts and my hands fling up to cover my ears. I’m fucking
hung-over and not ready to be on my bike all day to scout for Hispanics.

“Red Ladies, you’re here to help guard the compound with the older members of Breakneck. Got it?”
he orders.

Great. Just what I need. Lucy around to stir up more shit for my friendship with Piper. Fanfucktastic.

I fucked myself by drinking too much, and even though I know it won’t screw up my game while
we’re out looking for these fuckers, I will be a miserable fucking bastard to be around. Godspeed to
my brothers left dealing with my ass.

“Got it, Prez.” Dizzy salutes.

The bitch isn’t in the military. The women of our charter are great, and any other day I would find that
shit funny as hell, but not right now. It annoys the fuck out of me. My age has caught up with me, and
my tolerance for hangovers gets worse by the day.

“Great…” My brother trails off, and it is apparent I am not the only one sick of our present company.
“Brothers, each of my men are assigned with a group of you, and you guys will be heading to a
different section of town to look for these fucktards who pose a threat to my club and my goddamn
town.”

For the first time in my life, I am fucking grateful to be my brother’s sergeant-at-arms. His group will
no doubt be a quieter group because these brothers of ours, when they are in town, love to kiss ass.
All chapters want to kiss the ass of the President of the entire Breakneck in hopes of one day getting
transferred or to lower their dues. The Master Charter rules all of the chapters, and even though each
chapter may have their own set of rules, they still have to follow The Original Charter’s beforehand.

“You see anyone who looks like a Cartel member, you shoot the motherfucker in the head without
fuckin’ blinkin’. Understood?” my brother growls. “I want this problem fuckin’ eradicated.”

The sound of magazines clicking into chambers echoes around the room, and Braxxon progresses with
his orders as the brothers prep and listen at the same time.

“My wife has to be left undisturbed by this bullshit. She’s on bed rest, and the women, and that
includes the Red Ladies, are the only ones that are to go and talk with Winter. She’s got a whole list
of instructions she has to follow, and this bullshit is one of the many things that can cause a
miscarriage. Don’t make me regret callin’ you fuckers for help. Got it?” he threatens.

Lord, let’s get this shit over and done with. I want to shoot some idiots and get my life back under
control.

“Let’s roll,” he finishes and we make our way outside towards our bikes. When I climb onto my lady,
I see Piper and Jinx at one of the picnic tables. Piper turns her head and gazes at me. The look on her
face hits me with an invisible brick to the stomach.

I don’t wave because it would be pointless. She is too angry with me to even care to wave back if I
did. Being one of the members with a heart fucking sucks during times like these, and when most of
your brothers know you wear your heart on your sleeve, it makes it harder to hide shit that you are
feeling.

“Earth to Sniper, my brother, you good?”

I turn my head to look at Braxxon and straddle my bike, while I give him the look that says, ‘fuck off’.
He knows what the hell is wrong with me. He is my brother by blood. He likes to give me shit, and
now is not the time to give me fucking shit.

“Fuckin’ chill out.” He laughs.

How can he laugh when our compound is overrun with people, our privacy is gone, and our town is in
harm’s way? We have got to gain control over the situation before anything fucked up happens.

I will never understand the inner workings of my brother’s brain and its messed up thought process.
Sometimes, the man is not sane.

As I wait for him to throttle forward, I pull up beside him and wait for the gate to open so he can
leave. My job is to keep him safe. Because I’m the sergeant-at-arms, my brother’s life comes before
my own. I forfeited the right to my own life when our dying father granted me my position in the club.
So my gun is cocked, loaded, and rests in my saddlebag. I also have one strapped to my leg and
another in the back of my jeans.

Braxxon wants to head back to Petra’s place to see if the Cartel members stayed behind at the
property of our deceased drug dealer. When we arrive, Pyro pulls up to Braxxon’s side. I pull back,
turn my bike off, and grabbing my gun out of my bag, take high ground so I can cover my brother from
all vantage points. With my scope, I will be able to see all areas surrounding Petra’s place with
perfect vision. I’ll also be able to take out anyone that may be hiding, and they won’t see it coming. I
will already have a bullet soaring through their skulls.

I walk up a dirt hill and hide behind a giant boulder. My stand clicks as I open it, and positioning
myself on one knee, I peer through the scope, adjust my focus, and set my sites. When I am satisfied, I
grab my fold up binoculars out of my pocket and survey the premises. It is a ghost town. I refold my
binoculars, tuck them away, and return to my rifle. Pyro and Smokey make hand gestures to signal no
one is around, and they get back on their ladies and ride towards me. I pack up my baby and head
back to my bike and await my next orders.

“Let’s ride around, and we’ll stop to check on all of the others—”

He is interrupted by the ring of his prepay. We watch as he answers, and when my brother’s hand
starts to turn white from his tight grip on his phone, my senses go on full alert.

“Back to the compound,” he roars as he hangs up his phone. “Juan says there are Hispanics heading

straight towards Breakneck!”

Motherfuck! We throttle and ride as fast as we can towards home. I pray we get there in time.

***

Chapter Twelve

Piper

I am overwhelmed with the amount of people here at the compound, and Jinx and I are sick of being
cooped up, and we’re only on the second day. So we offer to take over gate duty, and when the gate
opens, we get to see outside and remember we won’t always be trapped here. There is an outside
world. It has only been a few days, but it seems like a lifetime.

“Is it me, or when the gate opens, does it seem like I can hear the sound of music?” Jinx laughs.

Definitely not only her.

“Nope, I’ve imagined it, too.”

We sit in the office building we cleaned out not long ago and wait for the buzzer to sound so we can
get our next peek out of the compound. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but when you are stuck with
this many people around you and all the chaotic sounds that come with them, your head gets a little
foggy. The noises are almost too much to bear.

“How much longer do you think we’ll be stuck here?”

Question of the hour. “There’s no tellin’,” I answer.

We spin around as fast as we can in the roller chairs. Nothing but the squeak of the chairs fills the air
around us as we twirl over and over again.

“I’m beyond bored,” Jinx grumbles.

The word bored is nowhere close to being a good enough word.

“When I walked in to Club Sated for the interview, this is not how I saw my week going.” Jinx
chuckles, as she tries to make light of the situation.

I snort. Hell, I have been through lockdowns with the club before, and I didn’t even see my week
heading in this direction. With the other charters here, as well as the Red Ladies, I would give my left
boob to get the hell out of here for at least an hour. It is as if I am suffocating. I have been sharing my
small apartment in the live-in with Jinx, which isn’t bad, but I can’t find one room in this compound
where I can escape contact with at least one other person. The bathroom doesn’t even count because
Jinx will want in there if I am in there too long.

“Me neither,” I respond.

The bell rings and we jump up, walk out of the office building, and hit the gate control. When it opens
a quarter of the way, we see Frank the prospect on his knees, staring up at us. Three giant men stand
around him, and before I hit the button for the gate to close, one uses a gun with a silencer attached to
shoot Frank in the head. One guy grabs Jinx and the third grabs me. My brain is slow, and before I can

call out for help, a rag covers my mouth, muffling my screams. My eyes flutter shut and I lose
consciousness.

***

The sound of trickling water beside my face wakes me. The pounding in my head worsens as I attempt
to sit, but when I attempt to stretch my legs in front of me, my ankle jerks and stops me. I look down
and notice a shackle on one foot chained to the wall. My vision is still blurry, my mind foggy, and my
brain struggles to process what happened and how I got here. I hear sniffles beside me and I spot Jinx
as she holds her face and cries. I can’t reach her, and when I try to say her name, no words come out.
I peer around the dark, damp room and decide we are in a basement of some sort.

My butt cheeks are chilled, and I already know I’m in my t-shirt and bra, but my jeans, socks, and
shoes have been removed, and Jinx’s, too.

I have to gain control over this. I cannot freak out.

You’ve been in this situation before, Piper. Keep calm.

“Jinx,” I whisper in as low a voice as I can. “You have to stop cryin’. Look at me.”

More sniffles. I remind myself to stay calm because if we both are a sniffling mess, it won’t do us any
good.

“Jinxie. Look at me, girl.”

All I can see is her silhouette from a little bit of light that streams down through the cracks in the
ceiling above us.

“The more noise you make, the more they’ll come and check on us. And when I say check on us, it
isn’t in a friendly way, okay?”

She says nothing and I suspect she won’t for a long time to come. If I had time to analyze myself over
my calmness, I would, but I don’t have time to freak out. If we are able to figure out how to get out of
the situation we are in, at least one of us must stay sane.

“I’m not going to lie to you and say things are gonna be okay. Because I don’t know if they will be,
but I can do my best at gettin’ us through this the best I can,” I choke out. “I’ve been through something
similar before. First rule, we can talk, but it has to be quiet. Please don’t be loud. If you have to cry,
muffle it with your arm.”

Jinx shakes her head back and forth in disbelief as the tears still garble from her throat. I hear voices
above us. My head tilts on its own accord, and I strain to listen. Spanish. They are speaking Spanish.
So the men who kidnapped us are Hispanic like they looked. I should have learned Spanish, but the
people who trafficked me were Russians.

“Jinx,” I whisper yell, and my hand flies to my mouth to quiet myself. When I have my heartbeat back
to normal and I am sure I can quiet myself down, I remove my shaky hand. “This situation will not be
any better if you draw their attention to us more than it has to be.”

As quiet as I can manage, I stretch as far as the chain on my ankle will allow and wave my hand for
Jinx to follow my movement. We meet in the middle of the wet, damp concrete floor with the leaky
pipe above us, which continues to drip water.

“Jinx…,” I say quietly as I grab one of her hands in mine and squeeze. “If they feed us, don’t scarf it
down, okay? They will starve us. We need to prep our bodies the best we can. Follow my lead with
the food, if we get any, okay?”

She says not one word, but the white peaks of her eyes show me she heard me. “If they rape us—”

Jinx cuts me off with a gasp, and I use my free hand to cover her mouth. “Shh…”

When her sobs quiet, I remove my hand.

“They most likely will, and I need you to remember the best memory you’ve ever had and put it on
repeat in your mind, okay? It’s important. You can cry about it later, but the more you struggle and the
more noise you make… the worse it makes it on you, okay?”

My stomach twists into knots as I recall the past I have done so well at forgetting. I know deep down
in my heart that I have people looking for me this time around. Sniper won’t stop until he finds me, no
matter if we left things with unresolved issues. He won’t stop. I have to believe with everything in me
that he won’t stop until he finds me.

“They’ll come for us. You have to believe that. Sniper won’t stop until he has me back safe, and you,
too. When they come in here, don’t struggle. Go with it. It sounds idiotic, but people like the ones that
have us chained at the ankle, they feed off of the struggle.”

Her blue eyes are bloodshot red, and the tears continue to stream down her face. “They’re gonna rape
us,” she squeaks.

This poor woman should never have had to be in this situation. I shouldn’t either, but you don’t
always get what you want.

“Quiet down, Jinx.” I shush her.

She is going to bring them down here faster than I am prepared to deal with them. They want
something from the Club, so they’ll keep us alive as long as they can and then kill us when they get
what they want. I pray that Sniper and the guys find us before that point comes.

“My ankle hurts,” she whispers as one of her hands pulls at the metal band. “It’s cold, and we’re
going to end up sick with infection.”

Infection is the least of our worries, but I do not have the heart to tell her so. Life is unfair. It is
positively unfair.

“Jinx, listen to me. Infection is the last thing that should be on your mind. Within the next twenty-four
hours, we’ll most likely be drugged and raped. You need to promise me you’ll stay calm. I can’t bear
to watch what will happen if you don’t.” I grab both of her arms to shake some sense of reality into
her. “Take all your happy moments and use those to survive. Whatever happens to me, close your

eyes, and remember I am strong enough to get past it, and I will do the same for you. If we don’t anger
them further, it’ll be easier on us. Do you understand?”

Her arms shake and her body starts to convulse underneath my fingertips. “That right there needs to
stop,” I screech way too loud and scold myself mentally afterwards. “Calm is your best friend. You
need to remember that.”

The situation is going to be tough enough, and her spazzing out is going to worsen our ordeal if she
can’t get a grip. I understand she has no idea how to handle this situation. If this was my first time
being kidnapped, I’d be freaking out as well, but it isn’t. I know from experience that the key to
survival is to stay calm. Calm is and will be your savior if you want to make it out alive.

The tremble from my own fear is invisible, buried deep down underneath my exterior, waiting until
the right moment to unleash.

“You’re too calm. It’s messing with my head. Why the hell aren’t you screaming and shouting to be
released,” she exclaims.

Has she not listened to a word I have said?

“You’re not gonna make this easier on us,” I whisper as I let go of her arms. “Stay in your corner and
don’t say a word if they come down here. Just follow my lead. If one comes down to touch you, don’t
scream. Hold your tongue, and think of a happy moment.”

That is all I can say, and I am not going to repeat myself again.

“Sit in the corner and pray,” I order under my breath as I scoot back against the cold cement wall and
listen to the trickle of water hit the concrete floor. The chain around my ankle chafes the skin under
the metal ring.

***

Chapter Thirteen

Sniper

“What do you mean, she’s fucking gone!” I grit through my teeth and kick the chair nearest to me
across the room. This can’t be happening. I can’t have this shit. I won’t. I can’t. Goddamn, what the
fuck were they thinking?

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! is on repeat in my head.

“They fuckin’ shot Frank dead and kidnapped Piper and Jinx,” Braxx says in a calm voice.

How the fuck can he be so chill about this? Those motherfuckers have Piper! My chest heaves in and
out, and before I can stop myself, my fist flies through the frame of the clubhouse door. Wood
splinters in the air all around me. My blood boils beneath my skin, and I let out a roar like an angry
lion. They let those motherfuckers take my best friend.

“Why the fuck were Piper and Jinx on gate duty in the first place?” I roar as I whirl around and slam
my fist into the wall. Plaster scatters all over the room, and my knuckles bleed.

Words. There are no words to describe the anger raging inside of me.

“They were bored,” Rap says from beside me.

“Son of a bitch! They were bored? They were fucking bored, so you fucktards let them watch over the
gate? How could you be so goddamn stupid?” I grit, and by accident, I bite my tongue in anger, and it
bleeds inside my mouth. All this blood dripping from my mouth and roaring through my veins should
be oozing from these fucking idiots.

Oh god. Nothing better happen to her. I can’t handle anything happening to Piper. I just can’t. It’s
not an option.

“Winter isn’t to hear about this,” my brother says in a whisper as he dials a number on his phone.

“Winter better not hear about this?” I question him in shock.

He can’t be fucking serious. Why are they all so goddamn idiotic?

We should not even have to be dealing with this, but no, they let Piper and Jinx watch the fucking gate
like the idiots they are. We are on fucking lockdown. As if that word alone doesn’t describe the threat
that looms.

“You guys will get her back,” Storm says in a soft, broken voice beside me.

I try not to lash out on her. I do, but fuck, she, of all people, knows the severity of the situation.

“Get her back? Get her back,” I scream an animalistic growl. “What if she’s already fuckin’ dead?”

Piper can’t be dead. She fucking can’t be. I grab at my chest and recall her last words to me.

“I thought we were real, our friendship was real, and it wasn’t.”

What if she is lying somewhere, thinking I don’t care about her? What if she thinks we aren’t going to
look for her? I can’t, fuck, I can’t do it. What if she has the same things happening to her as she did all
those years before we saved her? All these what ifs are too much for me.

“Storm… tell me she can handle it until we find her. I need you to tell me she’s gonna be alive, and
she’s gonna be okay, until I find her,” I plead with a hoarse voice.

Storm reaches for my arm, digs her fingertips into my skin, and answers me. “She’s alive. I feel it,
and I know that Piper is one of the strongest people I have ever met. She got through this once before,
and she’ll get through it again. You guys need to be fast. Be deadly and fast, you hear me. Feel that
blood rage throughout your veins and use that, use that to fuel you!”

I close my eyes. My body shakes at the thought of what Piper is dealing with at this moment.

“Storm, stop. You don’t need to be filling his head with promises you can’t keep,” ZZ chastises.

“It isn’t false hope. If they are going to traffic them, you don’t have much fuckin’ time,” she screeches,
her hands dancing in frantic movement in the air around her. “You don’t have fuckin’ time!”

Oh god!

“You don’t know if they will sell them! You’re only fuckin’ makin’ matters worse for him!” ZZ yells.

I run all the accounts with the Mexican Cartel through my head. They took them to make a point
because of the threat we issued against them. They mean business. They don’t want us getting the
women back because that proves them weak and us strong. They will get rid of them. It is the smart
thing to do in their position.

“They’re tryin’ to make a point,” I choke out. “They took them, and they’re gonna make Piper and Jinx
disappear to prove it.”

All of this is because Petra was killed, and now his bosses are here to stay. This is fucked up!

“Storm, you keep your cool around Winter. If she gets wind of this, she’ll go into premature labor,”
Berry says as she walks up to us. God! Everyone is worried about my pregnant sister-in-law, but not
my best friend who means the world to me or some innocent girl that was thrown into this because of
a ten-minute association?

What the fuck is wrong with them?

“If I hear one more person worried about just Winer, I’m gonna start fuckin’ tearin’ heads off. That is
a motherfuckin’ promise!” I rage with an anger unlike any I have ever felt before in my entire life.

I understand Winter is in a delicate situation and I care about my niece or nephew, but that is not what
is important at this very moment.

“It’s the truth,” Berry replies.

“Ma! That’s enough! Go back to the live-in,” ZZ orders.

Berry says not another word as she turns around and stomps out of the clubhouse with a fitful attitude.
She has no reason to be in a shit mood. It’s my best friend, a woman I love, that is fucking gone!

“Brother,” I seethe. “If anything happens to her…”

He puts his phone up to his ear. “Juan, Piper and a redhead named Jinx were fuckin’ taken by the
Mexicans. Do what you can, no cost spared,” he orders and then hangs up the phone.

“Brother, it’s Piper. As long as she can keep her smart mouth in check, she’ll make it through this.”
ZZ tries to reassure me.

Yeah, if she can keep her mouth shut. My entire body has not stopped shaking since I got the news that
a woman I cherish was taken. She was supposed to be safe here, on the compound, and she wasn’t. I
walk out of the clubhouse to the office building and flop down in the chair that sits next to the desk
where Piper’s gun rests. Why wasn’t it strapped to her? She knows better. God, if one hair on her is
harmed, there is no telling what I will do.

And for the first time in my entire life, I’m scared. I am downright fucking petrified. That girl means
everything to me. She is my ALL.

“Sniper…”

I tilt my head to the side as Storm walks in and sits in the other chair. “I’m sorry. But if they want to
make sure we know they mean business, the window to find Piper and Jinx is very short,” she chokes.
“The window is short. Do you understand?”

Do I? Of course I fucking do! My beautiful, snarky best friend will disappear, and I will never see her
again if we do not hurry and find her.

“Forty eight hours. That’s pushing it, Sniper. She’s been gone for six hours…”

Is that all we have? Jamaica isn’t that big of a town, but it is big enough to hide two people for two
days and even longer.

“Storm, transport. How will they do it?”

Any other time I would hate asking questions that would bring up her past, but we have two women’s
lives on the line here.

“The cameras showed the chloroform that made them pass out. She’s probably just now waking up, if,
and that’s a big if, they dosed her with enough.”

God dammit!

“Where would they keep her? What type of room?”

I need details. The more knowledge I have, the more my brain can start to map out all the possible
places I need to start turning over and burning to the ground.

“Basements, attics, and blacked out rooms. Those kinds of areas would be the first places to look.
Oh, and warehouses. Ones with hardly any attention drawn to them.”

My mind is working overtime, and I have already lost track of the number of places my brain is
throwing at me.

“If anything happens to her, Storm… I can’t deal, babe, I fuckin’ can’t,” I choke. “We didn’t leave off
on good terms.”

I hope she knows I will come for her. I won’t stop until I find her.

“Sniper, look at me. You need to calm the fuck down, I’m freaking out too, but you do her no good if
you can’t get your fuckin’ head together, all right?”

I bring my hands up to my face and scrub at my eyes as Piper smiles, and the first time I met her filters
in my memory.

I throttle my lady down, kick the stand, and climb off. As I make my way to the house that shelters
all these new women in our lives, I adjust my cock.

“It can’t be that big to where you need to grab yourself,” a woman says to me.

Well, ain’t she a beautiful little smartass. “Oh, darlin’, it’s big enough. Want to find out?”

Oh hell. Me and my mouth. She was just rescued from a sex club, and I’m making sex jokes. What
the hell is wrong with me?

“Oh, get your boxers out of wad. I’m Piper, by the way,” she says with a sweet smile that could
light up the sky.

Well, if she has a sense of humor…

“Babe, I go commando. My junk barely fits in my jeans,” I tease her.

“Put your money wear your mouth is. Drop ‘em,” she dares me.

Is she for real?

“I can read minds, ya know,” she jokes. “I am for real.”

I give her a dumbfounded look of disbelief.

“I’m jokin’, but that’d be cool. But seriously, don’t say you can barely fit your jeans and not show
proof. C’mon, drop ‘em.”

She asked for it. I undo my belt, unbutton my pants, unzip my zipper, and drop my pants.

“Well…” She coughs. “That’s a really large dick. You can… you can put it away now.”

I chuckle and pull my pants back up, redo my buckle, and walk towards the little woman. Her
beautiful green eyes laugh at me as I stand in front of her and she looks up at me.

Her little hands go to her hips, and she makes a tough little stance. “Your big size doesn’t

intimidate me.”

“Which size, darlin’? My build or my cock?”

She giggles. “Both.”

Oh, she is good!

“I’m Sniper, darlin’,” I introduce myself.

“I know. I remember your name from the other day. Well, I told you I’m Piper,” she says in a quiet
voice as she lifts one hand off her hip and sticks it out for me to shake.

I look down at it and grin. Where did this little peach grow up? Bikers don’t shake hands.

“Sniper,” someone says, snapping a finger in my face.

I shake the fog out of my mind and look over at Storm.

I’ve got to get her back.

“I think I love her, Storm,” I confess.

Shit! Where did that come from?

“Of course you do. You two are best friends,” Storm says with an implied ‘duh’ in her tone.

That is not at all what I mean. Oh fuck, this is so messed up. She’s gone, and that’s when I think I
might fucking be in love with her?

“No… I want to be with her.”

I do, right? That’s what I’m feeling deep inside of my gut.

“You’re in love with her.” Her loud scream hurts my ears.

My heart speeds up and my palm sweat, and with my already boiling blood, this can’t be good for a
person’s health.

“I don’t know if I’m in love with her, but I know I love her and I want to be with her. Isn’t that
enough?”

Fuck! We have to find her. There can be no other outcome.

“Yeah, Sniper, it’s enough. Now get back in there with the brothers and find our girl!”

I jump up, light a smoke, and do my fucking best at calming my nerves so I can find my woman.

***

Chapter Fourteen

Piper

I tear off a small piece of my t-shirt at the bottom rim and do my best to shove it between the metal
around my ankle. I think we’ve been here for a day or so, and my skin is already bleeding. At least I
think it’s been a day or so. I rip another small piece off and gesture for Jinx to hand me her foot. She
scoots as far as she can and stretches her leg, and I shove the fabric down inside the best I can.

Jinx stopped the waterworks a few hours ago. When we hear footsteps above us moving towards the
door to the basement, my hands begin to shake.

“Act like you’re sleepin’. Do it now, and don’t make any noise,” I hiss in a strangled voice.

I turn around, lie down on the cold, damp floor, and close my eyes as tight as they will close. The
door squeaks open, and footsteps pound against the wooden steps. I listen, concentrating to see if
more than one set of footsteps descend.

“Despierta de una puta vez, perra,” he screams and the sound of his foot connecting with Jinx’s flesh
causes me to jump. “Wake the fuck up, bitch!”

Jinx screams in agony, and I’m helpless at the onslaught of what happens next. With slow, cautious
movements, I turn over and squint my eyes to gain some sort of insight.

“Déjame ver si eres pelirroja todo,” he chuckles with sick intent. “Let me see if you are redheaded
all over!”

This does not sound good. His chuckle forces goose bumps to breakout all over my arms. Her
screams grow louder as his punches echo around the cemented walls and floor. I can no longer hear
the small trickle of water that drips down from the leaky pipe. All I can hear is the sound of Jinx’s
screams as he rapes her. I decide right there and then that this will be the only time it happens to her. I
will make myself known, and I will take the rest of the abuse and the rape. I’ll make sure their
attention is on me.

“Vete a la mierda como un pez muerto!” The guy roars in a fit of rage. “You fuck like a dead fish!”

“Yous a fuckin’ fish!” he repeats in English.

Her screams grow louder and louder until they are deafening. I want to scream, to force him to direct
his attention to me, but I fear it will only result in his assault being worse for her.

He finishes, and her screams become muffled sobs into the ground as he turns her over and pushes her
face forward into the cemented ground. When I see the shadow of his head turn towards me, I close
my eyes and pray with all my might that he did not notice me watching him.

When he kicks Jinx one more time and spits on her, the urge to scream almost overpowers me, but I
stuff it down deep inside of me and save it for later, for when it will be of some use.

His footsteps proceed up the stairs, and I listen for the sound of the door to click shut.

“Why didn’t you stop him,” she cries out.

I have no answer for her because the state her mind is in, she wouldn’t understand anything I say. I
have dealt with such situations in my past, and I know that I would have only made matters worse. All
I can do is console her and tell what I plan to do. Anything else she won’t stand to hear. She will
think I was only saving myself, when in fact I am about to save her, and I can only hope that it will
work.

“Listen to me very carefully. I’m not gonna give you answers because you won’t believe them. This is
what you will do from here on out.” I take a deep breath and sit up to move as close as I can towards
her. “When they come back down, you roll yourself in a ball and you breathe evenly. Make sure they
think you are asleep. I will be alert, awake, and very mouthy.”

My heart pounds with the knowledge of what this will cause for me, but I can’t let her go through
anymore of what happened to her moments ago.

“I am gonna direct all the attention to me. I won’t be screaming, pleading, or begging them to stop. I
won’t even be fighting it when the time comes, do you understand? He referred to you as a fish. That
means that guy wants a willing participant. I’m gonna give it to him, and you are gonna lay in your
ball and not say a goddamn word. Got it?”

I hate to sound cruel, but she doesn’t realize what I am about to give her. She is going to be getting
peace of mind while she is trapped here. He didn’t like her laying there screaming and crying, so I
know what this particular asshole wants.

“You’re just gonna take it? Are you out of your mind?”

I hope one day she will come to see what I plan to do for her, but I can’t explain it to her right now.
She is hurt, scared, and violated in a way no woman should ever be.

“You’ll understand one day, when we get out of this.”

She snorts in between her sobs. “You’re fucking stupid. We’re not getting out of this.”

I want to disagree with her, but if Sniper can’t find us, we are as good as dead. So I say the only
words that I can. “I can hope.”

***

Chapter Fifteen

Sniper

“All the women, and yes, even you Red Ladies, you’re not to leave the fuckin’ live-in. Do I make
myself fuckin’ clear?” Braxxon roars, his voice rippling with anger.

I ignore everything, even the noise and chaos of the brothers as they rustle around me. I have two
concerns right now. My first is to clean and prep all of my guns, and my second is to kill every last
motherfucker responsible for Piper getting snatched. Those fucking prick sons of bitches signed their
own death warrants when they took her, and I cannot wait to issue that motherfucker.

When I am satisfied that my barrels are as clean as possible, I inspect the firing pins and all my
mechanisms to ensure they are working properly.

“You about done?” my brother questions.

“Never. Them fucks are dead,” I growl as I blow in the barrel, peer inside, and lay it down when I
see that my favorite baby is ready to kill. “I love that girl, and they fuckin’ took her.”

If so much as a hair on her pretty little head is harmed… FUCK!

“I’m seein’ red, brother, blood fuckin’ red,” I growl.

Sweet, snarky beautiful Piper was kidnapped, and god knows what is happening to her again. The
promise I made to her last year rushes back into my mind.

Piper and I sip our beers as we lay on the picnic tables and stare up at the sky. The sound of night
filters all around us.

“You asked what my biggest fear was the other night. Do you remember askin’ me that,” she
questions.

Of course I asked her that. I always ask her things that take her out of her comfort zone. It’s my
way of getting to know her on a level that no one else does. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment,
or maybe I really want to be close to this woman because she lives life so fucking freely after all
the shit she went through.

“I do,” I say as I gulp down half of my beer.

“My fear is that I’ll get taken again. Deep down I know that it’s almost a once in a lifetime thing
and that the odds are good in my favor…” She trails off as she sits up and looms over me with a
lone tear streaming down her face. “But I don’t think I’d come out of it alive or unscathed next
time, Sniper.”

I sit up and she scoots a little further away. Is this her automatic reaction to being close to a man?
I don’t know. I do know I don’t want her to fear me.

“Piper, we don’t know one another that well yet, but have you not learned anythin’ ‘bout my club?
You’re in. Darlin’, we ain’t gonna let anythin’ happen to you, all right?”

Her green eyes stare at me, like really stare. The sort of gaze that peers beyond your soul to see if
you’re telling the truth or not, and it should freak me the hell out but it doesn’t.

“I want to believe you’re tellin’ me the truth, I do. It would make fallin’ asleep so much easier,”
she whispers and looks away.

I toss my bottle into the trashcan next to the table, use both hands to grasps her face, and turn her
attention back to me.

“Hey, look, I promise to protect you, always, no matter what. I have a feelin’ we’re gonna be good
friends, babe. And I protect what’s mine, and bein’ my friend makes you mine to protect.”

The grip my palms have on her face makes her lips puff up as she responds. “Don’t make promises
you can’t keep, Sniper.”

I laugh. “I don’t darlin’. Hell, I think you’re my first promise, and I’ll be damn sure to keep it,
yeah?”

Piper brings her tiny little hands up to my wrists and squeezes gently. “Yeah, okay.”

“I promised her I wouldn’t let anythin’ happen to her again,” I say under my breath for only my
brother to hear. “I fuckin’ promised, Braxx.”

He pats me on the shoulder twice to let me know that he hears me, that he gets it. Before I pick up
Piper’s gun to clean it, I look over at my blood brother. “She was my first promise, my only
promise.”

My brother lifts his shades to the top of his head and takes a seat next to me.

“This waitin’ on Juan to call back is fuckin’ killin’ me. I don’t know how much longer I can hold out
before I rip this town apart.” My anger has me in a chokehold.

Braxxon turns his body towards mine. “I’ll help you find her, but we have to do this with caution. You
know this shit, brother.”

I slam my hands down onto the table. “I fuckin’ know, okay.”

Now I am lashing out on my brother when it isn’t his fault. Shit!

Piper has that beautiful spark in her eyes. The one that says, I’ve been through hell and made it back
unscathed and I’m still living my life. That special spark. It lights up her face. I’m afraid that, when I
find her, her special spark will be gone, and I won’t know how to get it back for her. The human mind
takes a lot to heal from tragedy, and she made it back by herself in one piece after years in captivity.
What if this finally breaks her?

“You think you love her, huh?”

I do love her. I have for a long time. Do I know if it is the once in a lifetime love I’ve always been

looking for? No, I don’t know that. I do know it’s a love I want to explore beyond friendship.

“I’ve always loved her in a way,” I say quietly. I’m not ashamed of my feelings. I’ve always been the
more open brother of the club, but I don’t need anyone knowing my personal fucking business. “Am I
in love with her? I don’t know, but I know it’s a love I want the chance at. Does that make sense?”

Over a year ago, I wouldn’t even be asking my brother this question, but he is married now with a
baby on the way. For the first time, he is in love and would lay down his life for his wife.

“It makes sense. Now, if you said some shit like that before I met Angel, I’d laugh in your face,
brother, you fuckin’ know it, but now, I’d die for that woman like I’d die for one of you.”

Everything is messed up in my head. The what ifs and what I might not be able to say to Piper if we
don’t find her push every other thought from my mind.

Shit! That isn’t an option I am willing to explore.

“I’m losing my shit here, Prez. Losing my fuckin’ shit.” I light a smoke, take a large drag inward, and
allow the smoke to fill my empty lungs. It calms the shakes the rack my body from the anger.

“Honestly, you’re doin’ a fuckin’ bang up job keepin’ it held together.” Braxxon sighs. “I suspect that
means you’re gonna turn into a fuckin’ hurricane soon enough.”

A fucking hurricane won’t have shit on me if I don’t find my girl soon. I’m going to rip through
Jamaica, Nevada like a fucking exploding volcano if I don’t start getting answers or clues as to where
Piper is.

“Juan needs to hurry the fuck up,” I growl and stub out my cigarette. Fucking stupid ass nicotine isn’t
doing the job now that my mind is thinking of all the possible outcomes. “I don’t know how much
longer I can sit here and do absolutely fuckin’ nothin’, brother. I don’t.”

Pyro takes a seat on the other side of me, and Braxxon lowers his shades over his eyes, gives me one
more bro pat, stands, and walks off.

“I have no doubt in my mind that Piper will make it out of this. Her friend, on the other hand…” Pyro
trails off, shaking his head back and forth. We all seem to be doing that a lot lately.

I want to lash out at my patch brother and ask how the fuck does he know she’ll make it out of this
okay. They don’t know Piper like I do. None of them do. She struggled and dug deep to get past the
shit that happened to her, but as a human, I am trying to think about the girl, Jinx, as well. She is as
straight as they come, an honest to god good girl, and her only hope for survival is to be as strong as I
pray Piper is being.

“Pyro, this shit is so fucked up. She was taken right from our fuckin’ gates with over two hundred
motherfuckers here!” I pick up my girl’s gun and start to clean it, hoping it cools me down some.

“That’s part of why this is burnin’ you up, brother. She was stolen right out from under our noses. I
get it,” he says.

He gets it? He doesn’t get fucking shit. He lost Lana, yeah, I understand that much, but they fought

back. Piper and Jinx couldn’t fight back. They had rags over their faces in the matter of seconds. My
girl would have kicked and screamed for help if she had been granted only a few more milliseconds.

“I can’t talk about this anymore, brother. I can’t,” I grit through my teeth as I scrub the barrel of
Piper’s gun.

They have only a few more hours before I paint this fucking city blood red.

***

Chapter Sixteen

Piper

My stomach grumbles, and I know we’re beyond the full day mark now. Our bodies are becoming
slack of energy, and I know dehydration is close by. If we do not get some liquids in us, we are going
to be in some trouble. They have not brought us anything to eat, either. This tells me they don’t care if
we live or die. It also means we were a warning of what is to come if the brothers don’t give these
guys whatever it is that they want. This is a further example of why I wish Sniper would be more
forthright with me when it comes down to club business.

My bladder feels full, but it isn’t. I am not peeing, so it could either be from the stress, or we have
been here longer than my body and brain can process.

“Piper…” Jinx whispers. “Are you awake?”

I roll over to my other side and face her in the dark room. “I am,” I whisper back.

“I’m really cold,” she says with her teeth chattering together.

It is sad that I am cold, too, but I respond to it as if I am used to it, proof of how long I went
mistreated in captivity.

“You’re wearin’ a T-shirt. Roll up into a ball and tuck your knees and arms inside your shirt,” I say
softly. I listen to her rustle about and get situated. “It won’t help much, but it will some.”

Assholes had to take our pants. They want us cold, miserable, and fucking dying.

“You think the guys are looking for us,” she questions.

Deep down in my gut, I believe they are. At least I want that thought to be true, so I answer the same
question she has asked a dozen times. “They are.”

The loud laughter above us quiets down, and I know we are about to get our second visit from one or
more of the men upstairs. I hurry and demand that Jinx follows my directions.

“Roll over in your ball, and no matter what, don’t say a word. I am gonna take the attention off of you
and put it onto me,” I hiss.

All right, Piper. Time to get an academy award for best acting. Game face on, Piper. Game face.

When the light floods the basement as the man opens the door, I use it to check on Jinx to see if she
has followed my directions. I sigh quietly when I see her rolled up in a ball, facing towards the wall.

The door shuts, my light disappears, and the man stomps down the steps.

“Are you a fish?” he asks with a thick accent.

I’m glad I won’t have to look into his face. At least the darkness of this basement has one advantage
to it.

“No! I’m not a goddamned fish. So if you expect a struggle, you ain’t gonna get it, motherfucker!”

There you go, girl. Make him angry. Keep his attention solely on you and away from Jinx.

The footsteps get closer to me, and before I can brace myself for what is to come, a boot lands on my
rib cage and the breath escapes my lungs. I wheeze as another blow lands on my head. I cannot
scream because the air has been forced out of me. The chain around my ankle pulls as I writhe around
in pain.

My tormentor drops to his knees and rips my panties clean off me. I hear Jinx whimper. I want to yell
that I am not doing this for my health and she needs to shut the hell up, but I can’t make a sound as the
man wraps his hands around my neck and rams his cock into me. No sounds escape from me. I am far
beyond that.

I fight back because he doesn’t want someone to lay there. He gets his kicks from the struggle. Jinx
may have screamed, but she didn’t use her strength to fight back. Even though the pain from my ribs
sears inside me and my head weighs a ton from the blow, I kick and scream, and the chain rips the
skin on my ankle.

“You got bite, lady.” He chuckles as if he is funny.

I’ve got bite? I’ll show him bite. I turn my head and bite with all my might. My teeth tear at his flesh.
He roars and punches me in the jaw, ripping my mouth from his skin. Tears gush from my eyes, and I
grip the side of my face where the bone is cracked under the skin of my cheek. It’s time I take my own
advice to Jinx and check out. I’m going to die here in this basement. I won’t survive another round of
this, I know that.

Oh god! I am not going to be able to force a happy moment. Not with him tearing into me. I remove my
hands from my face and start to scratch at his chest. I claw and claw and I can feel the blood drip
down my fingers from the skin scraped from his body.

His dick grinds into me. A blood-curdling scream rips from my throat, and my jaw aches from the
stretch of my roar. I count the thrusts in my head over and over again. I repeat numbers because I can’t
hold a steady count. I give up at pump number thirty-four. When being sexually assaulted, I have
learned it best to think of something else, happy memories, counting, anything else. But it is not
working this time around for me. I don’t know why, and the tears continue to flow down my face.

“Yeah, baby. Oh, your pussy is tight. It squeezin’ me.”

Bile rises in my throat with his words. I am forever soiled now. There is no way I will ever be able
to forget this moment. I do my best to block out his grunts and the sound of my skin as it rips. The
scars I once put behind me are open, and the rips that were once healed are no longer. My past has
come back to haunt me as this man brings memories back that I once had hidden in the depths of my
brain.

How will I survive this time around? I do not think I will able to. There is no way. I am forever

damaged now. A person can only take so much, and this, this is my too much. No man will ever want
me after this. I am forever ruined. Even if I could get past this, my mental state might not allow it.

“Yous fuckin’ dry bitch!” he roars and wraps his hands in my hair and jerks.

My mouth hurts too much to respond or yell that I am dry because I am being raped.

My entire body aches with pain, and deep down, I am angry he has ruined all that I have repaired in
myself. I do the only thing I can do as he continues to rip me to shreds. I close my eyes and start to
count the minutes that go by.

***

Chapter Seventeen

Sniper

Night of the Ecstasy

“C’mon, Snipe, give me what I want, please,” she begs as she wraps her legs around my waist and
her ass scoots along the green felt of the pool table.

Fuck, do I ever want to give her want she wants. I have wanted to fuck my best friend for almost a
year. And that is a long time to have a set of goddamn blue balls from one woman. But I am afraid
if we cross that line, there will be no going back. Shit will change between us, and that is not
something I am willing to risk, and as if she can read my thoughts, she pleads more.

“Please, Sniper, just tonight. Fuck, just give me tonight,” she pleads again.

She is fucking killing me. My best friend wants me to fuck her, and hell if I don’t want to do just
that when she rubs her sweet pussy against the bulge in my jeans. I am so fucking done for. My
mind is no longer thinking about our friendship being ruined at all. It is purely focused on giving
us both what we want.

“Hold on tight, darlin’,” I growl as I lift her in my arms and ignore everyone else in the room.

My hands grip her ass so tight that I can almost feel the bare skin beneath my fingertips as I walk
us out to the parking lot.

Once I sit her down on the picnic table, I unfasten my jeans, and free myself. Piper is staring at my
cock, and I enjoy her eyes being on fire for me. It does something strange to me. I can’t figure out
what yet, and I don’t want to.

“Let’s get these pants off of you, darlin’. They’re in my way, and shit do I want to eat that pussy
I’ve been fantasizing about!”

In my half drunken state, I drag her pants down to her ankles and throw her legs over my
shoulders so that she is secured around me. I then lower my body down, let my knees hold me up,
and move my mouth to her center.

With two of my fingers, I spread her lips open and blow on her clit. She moans, and I do it again.
When she is writhing around, I stop teasing and bring my mouth down onto her. My name sings
from her lips as I lick and suck on her pussy. I have never tasted anything like her before, and shit
if I don’t want more and more.

I shove two fingers inside and pump as I clamp my teeth down on her clit and gently pull. A small
gasp escapes her, and the man inside of me roars to life.

“Sing for me some more, Pipe,” I mumble against her skin. “Let me hear you.”

And hell if my darlin’ doesn’t follow my orders.

When she begins to come undone and her creamy thighs squeeze my face, it is more than I can
handle. I stand, grab my cock in my hand, and shove inside of her. Piper’s pussy squeezes my dick
so hard that I think that I will lose it right there on the spot, and I will waste what might be my
only chance with her. No way will this night have a repeat performance.

“God, Sniper, right there. God, please, please don’t stop,” she cries as I pound into her.

The slapping sound caused by her juices only hardens my dick more. I have never fucked such a
wet pussy in all my life.

“Damn, I have seen your dick, baby, but, fuck!” she yells.

Goddamn, her pussy is milking me. “Show me those gorgeous tits, babe. Now,” I roar through
clenched teeth. I have to see all of her, and this fucking picnic table is not going to allow that.

When she lifts her shirt and pushes her bra out of the way, the moonlight streams down onto her
pierced nipples, and I am done for even more.

“Fuck, babe, when you get that done?” I hiss as I pump harder into her sweet, tight little pussy.

She giggles as I lift her into my arms.

“We’re taking this somewhere inside. I need you all the way naked, darlin’, like all the fuckin’
way.”

I don’t stop fucking her as I walk us to the live-in. Okay, more like run our asses in there, and
when Piper scratches my back, I let out a lion roar. I am so fucking turned on by her, it is fucking
goddamn unreal.

The door slams behind us and my jeans are hanging by a thread at my knees as we traipse up the
steps and into my room. When I kick the door shut, I walk us over to my dresser and sit her down,
lift her legs from over my head, and pull her jeans completely off as she tugs her shirt over her
head. When her bra hits my carpet, all is fucking lost. Those silver barbells glistening at me are
my new Kryptonite. I lift a finger and gesture for her to sit up, and when she does, I bring my
mouth down on her right tit and suck that pretty little pierced nipple into my mouth as my cock
beats inside of her like a drum.

“Sniper, harder!” she pleads, and without lifting my mouth from her delicious flesh, I do as she
begs.

I have never felt something so good. I peek at her face as I suck on her and I have never seen such
a beautiful site in all my life. She looks gorgeous. Her eyes sparkle and her mouth smirks upwards.
Best feeling in the world.

I lift my lips and bring them to hers. I shove my tongue inside and fuck her with my mouth. “Taste
yourself,” I mumble.

When her tongue tangles with mine, it is unlike anything I have ever felt before. It is as if our

bodies are made to connect in every single, fucking away. The feeling is so intense that I jerk away
from her mouth and I continue to fuck her relentlessly.

No sex should ever be this fucking good. God fucking dammit!

“We’re moving to my bed, darlin’,” I growl as I jerk her upwards and into my body.

When she is secure around my waist, I stop and ram into her hard. I repeat the process when her
sweet little moans urge me to continue. It has never felt this good fucking standing up. Why does
everything about her have to be so fucking perfect? This shit is killing me. I move us over to the
bed, toss her to the mattress, and make a gesture with my hands for her to flip around.

I need to see that luscious ass in the air. I have to slap it. No, I need to slap it as I fuck her so hard
she sees black.

“I want that ass up, darlin’. I want it touchin’ the motherfuckin’ sky,” I hiss through gritted teeth
as I yank on my cock. I can’t seem to help it. Seeing Piper completely naked and at my mercy
makes me want to do shit I never do, like fucking jerk my chicken.

“Look at that,” I tease and slap at her beautiful round ass. “So fuckin’ pretty and I can see your
pussy peekin’ at me, too.”

Without warning, I ram into her, and she sings my praises as I pound my cock inside of her. Her
pussy milks me for everything I got.

“Fuck me harder, Sniper, fucking harder.” She tries to yell but it comes out garbled from her face
being smashed into my mattress. The site nearly undoes me.

I reach under her and start rubbing her clit with my thumb as my dick continues to assault her. I
have to grit my teeth together and force myself not to come. Piper with her ass in my hips and my
cock buried in her pussy is almost more than I can handle for much longer. I chant her name as
loud as I can, over and over again. I can’t seem to fucking stop myself from roaring her name.

She is an aphrodisiac to my cock.

I will never be able to get over her cunt. I know it. Deep down, I fucking know it.

“Sniper, I’m gonna come,” she mumbles underneath me.

Thank fuck. I don’t know how much longer I can hold out with her pussy squeezing my dick as if
it’s the end of the fuckin’ world.

“Now,” I yell and my nuts release into her as her walls spasm around my dick.

We don’t move. We pant until we can’t hold our position any longer, and that’s when I pull out
and collapse beside her.

“Well…” she mumbles as she tosses over.

Well. We just fucked shit up.

***

Chapter Eighteen

Sniper

We get a call from Juan about where some of the Cartel members are hiding out. And I itch to kill
those sick fuckers after I find Piper and her friend Jinx. One way or another, I will get my revenge,
and it will be anything but a kind way to die. Those fuckers will regret the day they took my best
friend from me. A woman I fucking love.

“Sniper, brother, you gotta keep your head while we’re out there.” ZZ sits down and warns me.

Fucking easy for him to say. He is not the one who has a woman out there, having god knows what the
fuck done to her. I am sick of my brothers saying shit that makes it sound like all is right in my
goddamn world. All is not right. It is all kinds of fucked up.

When you steal from me, you better damn well make sure your ass hides because when I get a hold of
you, you are fucking done for.

“I swear on my fuckin’ patch, if someone says somethin’ about my head one more time, I will fuckin’
put a bullet in ‘em, and yes, that includes you, too, ZZ. Yeah,” I hiss through my gritted teeth.

How could they be so fucking stupid? I am being perfectly rational, all things considered. I will be
damned if the only chance I have at falling in love with a woman is ruined because she was taken
from me. Do my brothers really know that little about me? Even if my love for Piper was not one I am
willing to explore, they know better than to expect me to sit here and do fucking nothing. I make jokes,
I play around, but I am not playing around with this shit.

“I get it. You care about her, but if you don’t think shit through, you might ruin your chance at findin’
her alive,” he says to me.

I jump up, grab him by the throat, and seethe with this new anger that has invaded me. “Do not fuckin’
suggest anythin’ about her bein’ dead to me ever fuckin’ again,” I roar and shove his body away.
“Brother or not, I don’t give a fuck.”

Zig Zag shakes his head but does not lash back out at me. He gets up and walks away.

“That was uncalled for, Perseus.”

She did not fucking call me by my given name. “You aren’t supposed to be in here, Luce. Go the fuck
away and don’t ever fuckin’ use my name again.”

I am beyond the limit that I can handle. I cannot take any more bullshit from anyone. I never knew
caring about someone as much as I care about Piper would be this fucking stressful. It doesn’t help
that, in my gut, it feels like I won’t see her again, or if I do, she won’t be the same when I get her
back. None of those is options. There is no if. I have to keep reminding myself of that. And I will do

everything in my power to make sure I help her get her normal self back. She has done it before, so I
know she can do it again.

Of course, I understand that she will be forever changed by what has happened, but I will do my best
at helping her heal and get her life back. Fuck. I am so conflicted about all of this. She healed on her
own the last time, but our friendship wasn’t there then.

“Lighten the hell up. You’ll get her back,” Lucy snorts.

It takes all my might not to swing around and lash out at her. If I did not have a sexual past with her or
a friendship with her, I would treat her as if she were a one night stand when she said that to me.
Instead, I am going to take the high road and walk away. Our Prez is giving us the eye that it is time to
go anyways.

I lower my shades before I open the door and wait beside my bike for the rest of the guys. I packed
my guns hours ago. Now I want to shoot them. Well, I want to kill some fuckers. Shoot my guns means
I want target practice and I don’t fucking need target practice. I am called Sniper for a reason.

“Ready for blood, brother,” Braxx asks as he straddles his bike.

“Fuck yeah I am.”

Let’s do this fucking shit.

And motorcycle after motorcycle roars out of the compound and down the streets that surround the
compound. Not all the bikes could fit in the parking lot, and it is a bloody miracle no bikes have been
harmed. The Cartel didn’t mess with the bikes because it is child’s play compared to taking people
from us.

When we pull up to the first stop on Juan’s list, the quiet lets us know something is up at this location.
We shut our bikes off at the same time and the eerie silence is a giant red flag. These guys make shitty
criminals.

“ZZ and Pyro,” Braxxon says and motions with two fingers for them to go in first. “Sniper gets first
dibs. Only wound. He has to work out some aggression and torture these fucks for some answers.”

Damn right I do.

Pyro stands to the side and ZZ kicks in the door and then pushes back against the wall to clear the
doorway. When no gunshots are fired, he goes in first with his pistol aimed. Still no gunfire and
whoever is in there waits for us to enter. We line the walls with our backs and scoot along the
hallway of the old abandoned restaurant. I am calm before the storm. My mind is clear and my focus
is on the kill, and even though I have not laid eyes my prey, I am clear as crystal.

Pyro whistles low and points to the glass wall of a booth. A reflection of two men glares back at us.
A bullet whizzes past ZZ’s head, and I laugh out loud. If the idiot is going to use a silencer, he should
at least know how to use the damn thing. ZZ isn’t even mad they shot at him. He chuckles alongside
the rest of us. Braxxon aims at the booth and shoots low to wound them. Their pussy ass cries echo
around the room. Pyro and I round the corner and aim at their heads. They drop their weapons and

grab at the bullet holes in their bodies as they speak Spanish to one another.

I really have to learn fucking Spanish. This is ridiculous.

“Get the fuck up,” I say with an even tone. “Now. Don’t make me fuckin’ repeat myself.” I shove my
silencer into one temple. “Up!”

Pyro does not need to repeat my words. The one he has his gun pointed at follows my orders and his
buddy’s movements. They make this too easy. What a shame. I guess I will have to torture them even
more for making my job too fucking easy.

“My show, Prez?” I ask my brother.

He snaps his fingers at ZZ to pull up two chairs from a nearby table, and Pyro and I shove the two
fuckwads down. They beg and plead in a language we don’t fucking understand. All of us look at one
another and our thoughts are the same. These fuckers are the pussy members. The weak little fuckers.
The diversions.

We are being stalled for some reason.

“You think they are having trouble getting Piper and Jinx out in time and these idiots are to distract us
and keep us here longer?” Pyro shakes his gun at the two of them.

I believe he is on to something. The Cartel knows we have this town under lock and key and we run
this shit. What if they are worried that Juan and other people are on our payroll and are afraid we
will catch them moving the women?

I know it is a tough needle in a haystack idea, but fuck, we have a handful of chapters here. All roads
are being monitored.

“Kill them fast. We gotta get back and fuckin’ figure this shit out,” Braxxon orders.

Pyro and I shrug and pull our triggers at the same time. When blood splatters my leather cut, I look up
towards the ceiling and vow that I will slice someone’s arms off for the mess this caused my fucking
clothing. I fear I am losing touch with my humanity. Losing someone you care about will do that to
you, I suppose.

“Sniper… my man, your head’s all fucked up,” ZZ coaxes.

No shit. I have not felt anger like this in my entire life. Something has to be said for it. I guess you
really don’t know what you have until it is gone. When she was taken, the very thin good graces I held
were stolen right along with her.

“I’m gonna get her back,” I mumble as I walk out the door into the sun while I lower my shades over
my eyes. Berry is going to be pissed that she has to clean this blood out of mine and Pyro’s clothes.
ZZ says one day she is going to up and leave us all.

“Looky what I found,” ZZ says as he marches outside. “The little fuckheads had a half of kilo on them.
I wonder if they robbed their boss?”

Fucking drugs. I love blow just as much as the next person, but I will never be a tweaker.

“Good, we’ll use it as payoffs for info.” Braxxon snatches it from him and shoves it into his saddle
bag and then turns around to smack ZZ in the shoulder. “Wave it around in the air for all to see,
brother. As if the blood on Pyro and Sniper ain’t enough,” he laughs.

“My bad.” ZZ chuckles.

The sound of ZZ laughing after his loss is another hill he has defeated. If only I had my reason to laugh
again. Time is ticking by too fast, and if I don’t get her back soon, she’ll be gone forever. When the
reality of that hits me, my eyes do something they have never done before. They threaten to spill
droplets of salt water.

***

Chapter Nineteen

Sniper

I sit at the bar of the clubhouse and twirl this stupid strip of photos in my hands. Well, I used to think
it was ignorant, but now that I think about it, deep down I know it isn’t. I wouldn’t have shoved it in
my wallet to begin with if it was. I stare at the beautiful, goofy face Piper was making in the photo
and then I look at myself. I was full on laughing in the three photos on this strip. It was during one of
the lockdowns, and Piper insisted I get her off of the compound, so I did. She dragged my biker ass
all over the Jamaica Mall. I admit, at the time, I acted miserable but I wasn’t. I was actually having
fun that day, but I wasn’t about to let her know. I slide my thumb over her face and slump further
down on the barstool. If I don’t get her back, there is no telling what I will do or what I may become
without my best friend, a woman I love, a woman I very much want to explore love with.

“Sniper,” a voice behind me whispers.

I don’t bother to hide the strip of photos when Lucy sits down next to me. She isn’t supposed to be in
the clubhouse. She is supposed to be over at the live-in, but by her tone, I assume she wants to
apologize to me. So I let her sit down and wait for her to speak.

“She’s really pretty,” she says as she stretches her hand towards the snapshot. I jerk it out of her
reach. This may be all I have left of Piper if something does happen. I will be damned if I let anyone
touch it.

“I have to tell you somethin’, and you might very well kill me for it,” she sighs.

Her statement gets my attention. The word kill coming from Luce has my curiosity piqued. “Go on,” I
say as I tuck the mall members into my wallet and my wallet into my back pocket.

“I… shit, Sniper! Don’t look at me that way. Your face already spells you want to blow my head off,
and this is hard enough to tell you.”

I suspect she is going to own up to what she might have said to Piper. And it is about fucking time.
Piper has never truly cut me off before.

“Spit it the fuck out, Luce,” I growl and tilt my shades to the top of my head. I want her to see the
anger in my eyes.

“I may have led her to believe that we are closer than what we really are and that maybe we sleep
together on a regular basis—”

I jump up and the bar stool makes a screeching sound as it flies across the floor. “You fucking did
what?” I roar.

My hands fly to my head and I pull my hair. It finally makes sense. Piper kept going on and on about
how our friendship was a fraud and how she thought she didn’t mean more to me than what she really

does.

“You have no fuckin’ idea what you did. That girl is the fuckin’ sun in my eyes! The shit she’s been
through and the smile she still has is a fuckin’ bloody miracle. Our friendship is nothing, and I mean
not a fuckin’ inch to the miles long that Piper’s and my friendship is. Do you know she is the first girl
I have ever cared about?” I growl and pace at the same time.

Lucy stands up and directs my attention back to her. “You cared about Christina…”

Christina! Fuck that bitch. I thought I cared about her. Big fucking difference. That was all false. My
brain tricked me into something I desperately wanted.

“Are you really that fuckin’ idiotic, Luce? Really?”

This isn’t happening. Piper is not laid up somewhere thinking she means jack shit to me. This fucking
cannot be happening.

“You said so yourself,” Luce exclaims.

What the fuck. Anyone with eyes can see the difference between the shit I had with Chris and the
connection I have with Piper. It is on an entirely different playing field.

I stop pacing and push up right into Lucy’s body with my chest and peer down at her. “You better
hope I find her, alive, because if I don’t, our past won’t save you from my motherfuckin’ wrath,” I
seethe.

Lucy’s mouth opens and closes as if she is this little lost guppie who can’t find her goddamn words.

“I’m sorry,” she yells as I retreat before I fucking kill her.

I don’t bother to swing back around, and I don’t waste words accepting or denying her apology. It
means little to me.

“She’ll be reprimanded, Sniper. I’m sorry,” Dizzy says quietly as she passes me.

I snort. Why the fuck aren’t these bitches over in the other building? Times have changed. Braxxon
has ordered them to the live-in, and yet, here they are all up in my motherfucking space.

I stomp into the Chapel, shut the door behind me, and wait for my brother to get off of the phone. He
holds his hand up and nods into the phone. Why do people fucking do that? The person on the other
line can’t fucking see your dumbass. Another human flaw. Proves we are all just a bunch of
dumbfucks living until we aren’t living anymore.

By the time I sit down, Braxx hangs up the phone.

He holds his hand back up to stop me before I can say a word while he lights a smoke, inhales, and
then lowers his hand.

“What’s the news?”

My brother points down at the map. I didn’t see on the table when I came in the room. Big, red circles

mark six locations.

“Pipe and Jinx are at one of these locations,” he reveals.

“We have the man power. Why aren’t we out there getting her?” I clench my hands into tight fists.

“I already know what you’re askin’. The brothers are splittin’ up. Some are stayin’ at their posts. The
rest will meet us back here and then I will assign locations for each group. If we hit them at different
times lookin’ for her, brother, they will move her. We have to hit every place at the same time.
Yeah?” he questions.

I exhale a sharp breath, lean against the back of my chair, and tilt my head up. I am aggravated,
worried, and fucking angry. My girl is more than likely starving, and who knows what the fuck she
has gone through.

“Don’t let what I’m about to say piss you off.”

Oh great. Those words don’t reassure me at fucking all. I tilt my head to the side in a motion to tell
him go on, spit it out.

“See those two small bags right there?” He points to two duffel bags.

My face has to read confused because that is what I am. Straight up confused.

“They have clothes in it for Piper and Jinx.”

Okay, now I am fucking stupefied.

“Pyro is taking Jinx to Berry’s house, and you’re taking Piper to your house,” he instructs.

Why would we fucking split them up? They will need one another after whatever it is they have gone
through.

“Pyro will have Akela and Ripley escorted over there when he calls them. You, on the other hand,
know Piper the best, so you’ll be alone with her. I will be sending the Doc to both locations. That’s
who I was on the phone with. Asshole raised his rate. He said he’s sick of doing house calls for hurt
women, and frankly, so am I. This shit has to stop, bro. Women didn’t get hurt around us before last
year.” He sighs as he taps his Zippo against the wooden table.

“We didn’t really care about women until last year, so maybe we didn’t notice women were getting
hurt.” I offer up the truth to him.

My brother gives me a rare look, and I know I am only to witness it because no one is around, but the
look is sad and laced with regret.

“I have shit here under control. When, and I ain’t saying if, because we are getting them back, tonight
in fact, but when we do, you take all the time you need with her. Understood?”

I bite my lip. What is my brother’s meaning? She’s Piper. She’ll bounce back from this quicker than
Winter did after her kidnapping. But hell if I say that to my brother. He would have my balls cut off if
I said anything about Winter. I guess it goes to say I’d do the same for Piper, too.

“Now go make sure you have all the guns and ammo you will need for this raid and for protection
once you get to your house,” he directs.

When I stand, my brother says something I have never heard him say to me. “And Sniper?” I look over
at him. “I love ya, brother,” he says with a serious tone.

I walk over to him, clasp his outstretched hand, and jerk him out of his chair. I hug my brother in the
first family hug we have ever shared. When we pat each other twice on the back, we loosen our
embrace, and I say the same words to him. “I love ya, too, blood brother.”

He nods his head and sitting back down in his chair, he studies the map while I head to my room to
gather my fire power.

***

Chapter Twenty

Piper

I lost all the sensation in my face when I took that blow from the guy who raped me. I know the
feeling will come back and that it will take time, but it is scary. I think we have been here for three
days, four tops, because my body is crying out for food. The pain in my ribs has not lessoned any.
Nothing can be done for broken ribs but to wrap them, so my concern is my face, and if my jaw needs
to be wired shut or not, and if I will require corrective surgery. This is what worries me the most.

“Piper, I’m worried about my kidneys,” Jinx whispers.

Whispering has been our only form of communication. When and if we get out of this, it will be a long
time before we both stop with the whispers. Feeling threatened does that to you. Afraid if you speak
too loud, it will result in another beating or rape. We’ve been lucky. We haven’t been touched
sexually for a few days. I assume they are too busy trying to get whatever they want from Breakneck. I
have been strong up until this point, but my mental stability is threatened more with each passing
moment.

“Faith, Jinx.”

I have little left to give her and telling her to have a little faith makes me feel like a dirty liar. And I
hate lying, and false hope is just that, lying.

“I ran out of faith the second day.”

I turn over on the cold concrete and sob my fears out in silence so she doesn’t stress out even more. I
thought I would be able to come out of this, but this time is different. The first time I was drugged so
much that I could barely remember anything, but this time, I am completely sober, and every second
that goes by that we are down in this basement is burned into my memory.

Everyone thinks I am this easy going person and I was. I can no longer say I still am. This time I will
be forever changed. It does not make me weak. It makes me human. I was easy going and lived life to
the fullest because of the years I lost. Not being able to remember is the one thing that made it easy to
move on with my life.

I pray Sniper loves me enough and isn’t so angry he is not out there looking for us. I regret our last
conversation and the things we did not resolve. I guess, deep down, a part of me knows he is doing
everything he can to bring me home, but when you have been through all the things I have, you learn to
doubt everything and everyone.

It is all about self-preservation.

If he happens to save my miserable sorry ass once again, I am going to kiss him on the lips, say thank
you, and then I will sleep forever.

“Piper?”

“Yeah, Jinxie,” I mumble.

I hear her stir about. “If we get out of this, I want the biggest, fattest steak ever, and I’m a vegetarian.”

I giggle for the first time in days. “You aren’t anymore, huh?”

“Hell no,” she whispers. “I understand the food chain now.”

I don’t laugh because being in a position such as ours, you learn to appreciate the stupidest things.

“I’ll buy an entire cow for you,” I say.

Jinx says nothing back and I assume she is falling asleep. Rest is key to our survival now.

I close my eyes and picture my badass biker best friend who, now that I am fucking dying of thirst and
starvation, I realize I may be in love with. Our photo booth fun flashes in my mind and tears form in
my eyes. That was one of the best days of my life. I had that giant biker laughing, smiling, and
enjoying life that day. His beautiful sun bleached hair spiked up, his gray eyes twinkling, and his
straight white teeth smiling into the camera as I made faces. The screen on the photo booth reflected
our images back at us and counted down the seconds each time it went to snap the picture, and I
would do something crazy stupid like always.

“Piper, you’re a fuckin’ nut job,” he teases.

I fake hurt until he falls for it, and when he goes to embrace me in a hug, I reach up and run my
tongue along his cheek.

“Darlin’, if you’re gonna run that tongue on somethin’, it needs to be below the belt line,” he
growls playfully.

“Shut up and take pictures with me, Snipe.”

He wraps his large, muscular arms around me and laughs into the camera. “Better?”

I squeeze him back. “Yes, thank you.”

He leans down and kisses the top of my head. “Anythin’ for you, darlin’,” he whispers into my
hair.

With that memory, I sit up and reach for Jinx’s chain to wiggle it. “Jinx, wake up,” I whisper.

She startles, sits up, and whispers, “What?”

I gulp and shake as I form a plan and voice it to her. “I can’t stay here. I have a man to get back to. We
have gotta get out of here.”

The sound of her sitting up echoes. “Tell me,” she whispers back with excitement.

“We’re in a basement. Start feeling around the ground and walls for something sharp and small
enough for me to pick these locks.”

She gasps. “You know how to do that?”

No, but I remember Winter telling me if it is quiet enough, you can hear the mechanism click. “Yes,” I
lie. I want her motivated.

I listen to the sounds upstairs as we search as far as our chains will allow. I have only noticed two
sets of footsteps over the past day. If I am hearing correctly, I can take them both out or sneak me and
Jinx out while they aren’t paying attention.

“How will we get out of the basement?”

I will myself not to get aggravated with her because she has been too frightened to pay attention to
anything.

“They haven’t been locking the door. We’re chained up. They think we’re stuck down here.”

If you could hear smiles, I am sure I would be hearing one from her right now.

***

Hours fly by and we take turns holding up the chains so they don’t rattle and make noise. When I think
all hope is lost, Jinx saves the day with an item angels had to bestow upon us.

“A wrench. Can you believe it,” she whispers with a hiss.

We have been stuck down here for days, raped, starved, and thirsty, and there was a damn wrench
down here the entire time. I will not be upset, I repeat over and over in my head. She found it, and
now I can get us the hell out of here.

“How will we use a wrench?”

This is where surfing the web with Tatiana for information on dungeons, chains, and other BDSM shit
comes in handy for us.

“Stand up, but be quiet. Hold your chain up and walk to where the chain meets the wall,” I say quietly
while I do the same. “Now, feel the metal bracket that is bolted to the wall. You feel the nuts?”

My fingers graze four nuts, one on each corner of the metal piece. They stick out enough for me to be
able to work them. “Jinx, listen to me with care. I am going to concentrate on loosening my bolts, and
you have got to listen to the footsteps upstairs. If you hear someone nearing the basement door, stop
me, and we have to act as we have been, okay?”

The wrench slides across the floor, and I reach down and feel for it.

“You best believe I’ll be paying attention. Get us the hell out of here,” she says with glee.

I take quiet steps back to the wall and work to loosen the first bolt. These chains are new, and I
believe whoever installed them left tools lying around on accident, and their stupidity might have
saved me and Jinx. There is no rust or decay around the nuts so they ease out without a fight. I bend
down and set the bracket and bolt on the floor and wrap the chain around one arm as if it is a hose I
am winding up.

Once I reach Jinx, she hugs me and I squeeze her back.

“Now get me loose, please. I’m unnerved.”

I smile. “Keep listening, Jinxie.”

I believe in guardian angels after this experience. The bolts on Jinx’s plate come out even easier than
my own did. After I help her roll her chain around her arm, I remove the cardboard covering the
basement window. Light pours in, and when Jinx looks at me, tears stream down her face. I bring my
free hand to my face. “That bad, huh?”

She brings her hand up to cover mine and says something that breaks my heart. “It’s just a face,
Piper,” she whispers and moves her hand to my heart. “It’s what’s in here that matters.”

“Thank you.” It takes everything in me not to start sobbing. “When I open that basement door, Jinx,
you take off running and find an exit. Don’t wait for me. If I don’t make it out, you keep going, and you
get help, all right?”

She shakes her head in disbelief. “I am not fucking leaving you. Are you nuts!”

I put my hand over her mouth. “Shh… my poor language is rubbing off on you, Jinxie,” I try to joke.
“Do you think I have a best friend who is a trained sniper and he hasn’t taught me how to defend
myself? I will be fine. I promise.”

“I’ll run until my body won’t allow it.”

I take a deep breath. “Let’s do this. I’m ready to go home.”

Our footsteps are quiet as we near the stairs. This is where we have to be careful. The steps are
creaky. We know this from the visits from the guy who raped and beat us. “When I open that door, I
want them to think I am the only one loose. I am going to distract whoever is up there, and you find an
exit and get the hell out.”

She sucks in air. “I promise.”

“This is it. Stay behind me and don’t drop your chain. I know it’s heavy, but our lives depend on it.
Stay on the edge of the steps. Don’t step in the middle of them.”

I don’t wait for her to say anything else. It’s time to do this thing. When I reach the top and I am sure
Jinx is right behind me, I take a deep breath and fling the door open.

Curses erupt and footsteps pound through the house.

“Run Jinxie,” I yell.

She runs past me down a hallway while a Hispanic man tries to wrap his hands around my throat. I
kick his knee cap as hard as I can. I wish I knew Spanish because another one is screaming at me as
he comes into the room. When the one drops to his knees, I turn and run into the one cursing in
Spanish. I use the arm loaded down with the chain and swing with all my might towards his head.
When the metal meets his face, blood flies out of his nose and mouth, and he falls to the floor,

unconscious. I don’t wait. I turn to run away, but the first guy is getting back up, and I know if I don’t
hurt him, he’ll be right back on my tail. I kick him in the balls to make sure he stays down. I stoop
down behind him, wrap the chain around his neck, and tighten it with all my might. His fingers claw at
the metal links, attempting to ease between it and his neck. When his smell hits my nostrils, I realize
this is the same one that raped me and Jinx. I use that anger as my strength.

“You sick fuck,” I scream and twist the chain so much, the cuff at my ankle jerks and pulls as he
struggles. “I told you I would kill you!”

In that moment, I have an outer body experience. I float, and it is like I am staring down at myself as I
kill this man. I keep going even when his face and body go slack and he falls to the ground, taking me
with him. Something inside of me won’t let me stop. Anger. Red blooded anger.

It isn’t until arms wrap around me that I am jerked back to reality. I start screaming and struggling.
No! I was almost away. I kick and scream at the top of my lungs at the person who has me in a tight
bear grip.

“Piper,” the voice says. I don’t recognize it, but his voice saying my name settles me. Something
about it makes me feel safe.

“Who are you?” I sob as I stop fighting the stranger.

His arms loosen and he turns me around, and I am greeted by the most beautiful older man I have ever
seen. “I’m Juan.”

The cries grow stronger and pour from my body. Breakneck’s informant. “I’m safe, I’m safe,” I cry.
Oh my god. “Jinx!”

Juan picks me up as I cry out and carries me outside to a black SUV. “There she is,” he says as he
places me inside the backseat.

“Piper! You made it!” she screams and wraps me into her arms, and we cry together as Juan gets into
the front seat.

“We gotta go ladies. Others will be here any minute. I’ve been scoping this place out for days. The
guys should be making their rounds anytime now.”

“Thank you!” Jinx cries into my shoulder, and I know it is directed at me and Juan.

“Piper… I imagine you want to call, Sniper, yeah?”

Oh god, do I!

“Please!”

Jinx loosens her grip and allows me to take the phone from Juan. I dial the last known prepay number
of his and pray he hasn’t disposed of it yet.

***

Chapter Twenty One

Sniper

I am loading my guns into my saddlebag along with boxes of ammo when my phone rings. I dig it out
of my pocket but don’t recognize the number.

“Breaker,” I grumble into the phone.

A sweet sounding gasp comes through the line.

“Darlin’?”

It can’t be. It fucking can’t be her. Is it her? Please say something!

“Snipe… oh god. Say it again,” she pleads.

“Braxxon,” I scream at the top of my lungs to signal my brother. “God, darlin’, where are you? Tell
me,” I plead.

She exhales. “Jinx and I are in Juan’s SUV. He’s taking us somewhere safe.”

I have never been gladder to know that motherfucking ghost.

“Thank fuck, baby. Are you in one piece?”

Please say yes, say yes!

A sob escapes her, and my grip tightens around my phone.

“You should talk to Juan now,” she says when she gets control of her emotions.

I don’t want to talk to Juan. Fuck!

“Sniper, man,” Juan says into the phone, but it isn’t Juan’s voice. What the fuck is going on?

“This ain’t fucking Juan. Juan has a goddamn accent. Who the fuck has my girl?” I seethe into the
phone.

“Sniper, chill,” he says in the accent I am familiar with. “Better. It’s fake man. I am going to text you
an address. Meet us there and bring the Doc and his son.”

When my brother comes running up to me, my face explains it all, and he snaps his fingers to our
brothers standing around the compound parking lot.

“Juan… how bad? One to ten for wounds,” I question.

“Nine,” he says without hesitation.

I close my eyes and scream curses. When I am in control again, I ask my next question. “And my

Piper’s mental state, same scale?”

Juan is smart, and I trust his answers.

“Twenty, man,” he sighs without his fake accent.

I bring my free hand up to the bridge of my nose and squeeze. “She’s being tough and trying to mask it,
isn’t she?”

He doesn’t know her, but Juan hasn’t stayed a ghost all of these years without some smarts about him.

“For a matter of time. Don’t know for how long,” he says vaguely.

“Text me the address, and Juan, I can’t thank you enough, man.”

He doesn’t respond. He does what Juan always does. He hangs up, and I follow, staring at my screen,
waiting for the address to come so I can get to my girl.

“Call the Doc and his son. Juan said it's bad. I don’t know about Jinx. Fuck. I forgot.”

My brother starts ordering people around, and Pyro calls up the Doc. ZZ orders Storm to let Berry
know and to keep the commotion quiet for fear of Winter finding out.

When my address is the one that comes through, I tilt my phone up so my brother can see.

“If he wasn’t so fucking useful, I’d say this shit is a problem.” He chuckles.

I honestly don’t care. He has my woman, and I am going to her.

“Pyro, load up Ripley and Akela and follow behind us. Plans are still the same. They can’t heal with
one another. They will feed off of each other’s emotions, and I want them to deal with this shit in their
own ways,” my brother orders.

“Go get my best friend, Sniper,” Storm says while handing me Piper’s phone. “When the time is right,
I want a call from her, please.”

I agree, take the phone, and tuck it in my back pocket.

***

When everyone pulls into my drive way, I am the first one up my sidewalk and through the door. The
sight of the person standing in front of me halts me right in the doorway which causes Braxxon to slam
into my back. He lets out a curse.

“Pop,” we both say in unison with a strong tone of total disbelief.

This can’t be. We watched him die from an infection. We fucking have his ashes.

“I went ghost, I guess you could say. The originals know who I am.”

You mean to tell me that our older members fucking watched us grieve over our father and knew
all along the fucker was alive?

“What in the fuck,” ZZ shouts. “Uncle Breaker?”

Our father shrugs. “Get over the shock. I’ve dosed the girls with hot tea and a little sleepy time drug.
They’re asleep on your bed, son. Now if you motherfucking slackers could help me get these chains
off their ankles, that’d be great.”

Chains?

I take off running to my room and growl as I see my best friend's face when I reach the bed.

“Oh my gosh,” Akela says and pushes me out of the way. “Ripley, babe, get over here,” Akela calls
and then looks at me. “She’s a nurse. Now get out of the way!”

I turn around to punch my wall, but my fist is caught midair in my pop’s hand. “Uh, no. You’ll wake
them.” He hands me a lock pick set and my mind is set on freeing my darling.

I scurry over to the bed, and with gentle ease, lean at the foot while my father sits on the other side to
work on Jinx’s ankle. Blood is caked all over the metal that graces her beautiful, slender ankle, and
when I hear the mechanism click and the shackle falls away, I can’t stop the tear that slides down my
face. Biker or not, my heart is breaking.

“Thank you, Pop,” I say, chocked up.

When Jinx’s anklet falls away, he slaps a hand on my shoulder and forces me to look at him. “She
makes my son smile. I’d give up hiding for that any day. I almost had to do it with your sister-in-law.”

I shake my head. “No, Pop, we’re not like that.”

My father gives me a sad smile. “She makes you laugh. It doesn’t matter.” He looks over to Pyro.
“Get rid of these fucking chains. These girls don’t need to see this shit when they wake up.”

When I look behind me, Pyro has a scowl the size of the Grand Canyon lacing his face. “You ain’t my
President.”

Before my father can respond, Akela rips him a new asshole. “Don’t talk to him like that. He fucking
saved their lives. My sister would slap the tar out of you,” she hisses. “You can be pissed at him all
you want, but you will help these girls. And if that help comes in the form of being a trash man, you’ll
fucking do it!”

And with that, I see Lana through her sister.

“Low blow, Kela. Low fuckin’ blow,” he grumbles.

She eyes him with hatred. “Good. Go cry about it as you dispose of this atrocious shit.”

It’s a lesbian version of Lana. Akela has bite. Ripley smacks her on the arm when I am about to say
something.

“You be nice.” She then looks at me. “I need you to hold her head still in case she wakes up when I
open her mouth slightly.”

Oh fuck. Half of Piper’s face is swollen, and she wants to try to open her mouth? Like my darling
isn’t in enough pain as it is. The only reason she is even sleeping is because my father drugged her.
“Maybe we should wait for the Doc.”

Ripley looks at me with disgust. “Who the hell do you think doctors rely on for research and for most
of their diagnoses?”

Clearly I have offended her. I walk to the headboard, bend down and kiss Piper’s forehead before I
bring my hands up to her head, and press firmly to hold her in place. When Ripley opens Piper’s
mouth, her eyes fly open and she starts screaming.

“Don’t, don’t, don’t.” she repeats trying to shut her mouth.

My arms are jerked around as Piper flings herself back and forth. Ripley stops and drops her hands.
“Baby girl, you have a slight fracture. God news is you won’t need surgery to have your jaw wired
shut. You’ll require a wrap around your head that goes under your chin until your jaw heels.”

Tears flow down Piper’s cheeks and she goes to speak, but Ripley stops her by holding up her hand.
“Don’t talk unless absolutely necessary. You need to keep the talking to a minimum. I’m going to ask
them to leave the room so I can ask you some personal questions, okay?”

Fuck if I am leaving this room. This bitch has me fucked up. I doubt I will ever let Piper out of my
sight again.

Piper shakes her head no. “Family,” she says, and my fucking biker heart breaks all over again.

Nothing in this fucking universe can prepare me for the question she asks Piper, and nothing can take
away the blind rage when Piper answers her.

“Were you sexually assaulted in any way?” Ripley asks.

My fists ball at my side as I stare down at Piper, and she nods a yes and closes her eyes.

I trail my eyes down her body, and when I see the blood stained panties for the first time, I growl,
turn, and leave the room. When I am in the hallway, I press my back against the wall, slide down, and
burrow my head in my hands and I cry like a fucking baby.

I cry and cry and cry. The tears don’t stop. My heart shatters over and over again as my blood pumps
against my veins in anger, sadness, and all these other emotions I am not used to having.

How the fuck can people be so goddamn cruel? I’m no fucking saint, but you do not take from a
woman what she isn’t willing to give. And knowing Piper’s past like I do, makes the tears heavier as
they slide down my cheeks and into the palms of my hands.

I told myself that I wouldn’t let her out of my sight just moments ago, but if she saw me like this, it
would rip her to shreds more than she already is. She would be more concerned about me than herself
because that is who she is. She is sweet, caring, funny, loving, everything else a good woman can
possess. That is Piper.

A body slides down the wall beside me, and I recognize the hand that squeezes the back of my neck.

My father. And I don’t even care if he knows I’m bawling my fucking eyes out. I’m gutted. Simply
fucking gutted.

“I found her as quick as I could, son. I’m truly sorry it wasn’t quick enough,” he says quiet enough for
only my ears to hear.

I don’t take my face out of my hands when I answer him with a chocked response. “You found her
before she was dead.”

It could be so much worse. I could have lost her forever. The emotions I feel right now are ones of
pure agony, and I can’t even think about the hell I would be living if she weren’t found alive.

“That is what matters.” I choke.

We sit in silence and I don’t even get up when the Doc and his son arrive. I can’t. I have to get my
bearings straight before I can face her. She is going to need me to be the strong, deadly biker she
counts on. I will not disappoint her.

***

Chapter Twenty Two

Sniper

Her first cut is not the deepest

It is my job to assign someone of my choosing to protect my brother while I stay here with Piper
while she heals. The choice is not an easy one to make. I pick someone I am not happy with right now,
but she is also the best person for the job because she is as deadly with a gun as I am. Lucy, I am sure,
is stoked to be out of the live-in doing female shit and back into the game of war.

Jinx must have been be drugged more than Piper because she did not move a muscle when they
transported her with Pyro, Akela, and Ripley.

All my brothers have said they are taking a few days to rest before they begin to push out the Cartel
members. I have been promised the Cartel Lord. I know my best friend won’t come out of this today
and not tomorrow, but she will pull through it, and I will get my fucking revenge for her and Jinx.

When the Doc and his son found out I would be the one taking care of Piper, they almost had heart
attacks. God, I still want to punch the shit out of them. My head still hurts from their ramblings.

Almost all of her ribs are broken, her jaw has a slight fracture, her ankle needs minding for infection,
and she has small tears inside her from where she was raped. All fucking horrible, but nothing I can’t
handle when it comes to taking care of her. A sigh of relief escapes me when I finally get rid of the
doctor and his son.

And when everyone, including my pop, leaves and it is just me and Piper like the days before this shit
went down, I become nervous. Me, a trained goddamn sniper, a killer, fucking nervous.

When I come back into my bedroom where Piper is supposed to be sleeping, I found her awake and
her pills still next to her on the bed side table. I tsk her and walk over, take the pills and hold them out
for her.

“If you won’t get some rest for yourself, get some for me, Piper. I’m fuckin’ exhausted, and baby, I
haven’t slept in days. While you sleep, I want to sleep, yeah?”

All she can do was nod because she isn’t supposed to say anything.

When I kick off my boots, undo my jeans, and prepare to get ready for bed, she holds up her right
hand, puts her ring and middle fingers down, and makes the sign, ‘I love you’. I give her a sideways
grin and follow her gesture. When she can talk, I’ll tell her how I feel and that I want to try things out
with her. I can’t tell her now because that would be selfish of me. She needs to mend physically and
emotionally, and me admitting how I feel will only further confuse her, and I am afraid it will halt her
healing.

When I am covered up in bed next to her, I watch her down her sleeping pills Doc gave her. She can’t

turn over because of her ribs, so she is stuck sleeping on her back and she fucking hates that. Piper
sleeps on her left side facing me when we do our drunken, talk out sleepovers.

But I don’t have to worry for too long because ten minutes later, her breathing evens out and she is out
like the light on my bedside table when I flip the switch. Sleep. God, how I have missed fucking
sleep. It comes easily to me now that Piper is next to me again.

***

Her morning is my deepest cut

I wake up, smoke a joint, make some coffee, and open my fridge to find it loaded down with
groceries. I slept so good last night, I almost forgot some of the guys coming by and dropping this shit
off in the dead of night. I pick up the little list on the counter the Doctor made me and make the worst
face when I see that Piper’s breakfast will be a yogurt. She fucking hates this shit, but the Doctor said
to shove it in the blender with some vanilla ice cream and make a thin smoothie with it. So I blend it,
pour it into a glass, and open the bag of straws the guys brought over and walk my coffee and her
breakfast to her.

When I enter the room, she is scratching at the bandage around her head. And I smack at her hands
after I set the cups down.

“Piper don’t, babe. I’m no doctor, but I know you’re not supposed to fucking do that,” I warn her. “If
you promise not to talk though, I’ll take it off for a little while. You need a bath. They could only
sponge you yesterday, and I know my Piper. She wants a bath.” I chuckle and hand her the nasty ass
smoothie and begin to unwrap the cloth from around her head.

My heart cracks wide open when she whimpers around the straw. She can’t even eat a proper
goddamn meal and just sucking on a straw kills her.

When she is finished, I run her bath water and sit her up as slow as I can. With a gentle hand, I lift my
long T-shirt over her head. She didn’t want to be confined so she slept in one of my shirts. This isn’t
uncommon for us. I pick her up to carry her to the tub and set her slowly in the warm bath water.

“Shake your head if it’s warm enough, darlin’.”

She signals that it is. When I help her lean backwards against the back of the tub and I am sure she
won’t slide down into the water and scream from her ribs, I grab her shampoo and conditioner out of
the bag Storm packed for her. If I even tried to use my guy shampoo on her, I’d wake up with my own
gun pointed at my head. It would be a prank, but Piper doesn’t joke about her hair. It is one of the
things I love about her. Her creamy brunette hair reaches down to the middle of her back.

“The Doc gave me some bubble shit that’s supposed to ease your muscles,” I say and reach up to the
sink to grab the bottle. “It is some antibacterial shit.”

I don’t know why the fuck I am talking. She can’t talk back, and her small grunts tell me it aggravates
her.

“Okay, baby, let’s get you good and clean.”

***

Chapter Twenty Three

Piper

I say it best, when I say nothing at all

He laughs when I choke on my Jello. It has been a rough few days. I know Sniper is restless and
itching for payback. He would not be Sniper if he did not want to exact revenge, but even though I
know him and he knows me, we still have not talked about the elephant in the room… our fight before
I was kidnapped. The last few hours in the basement, I fought to get back to him, and now I am
speechless and have no idea what to do. I watch as he moves around his kitchen. His tall frame
towers over his own counters, and his height almost reaches his own ceiling. If he was not my best
friend, I would be intimidated by his size.

“About your argument, darlin’. We gotta discuss that shit.” He slams his fist down onto the sink and
peers out the window.

Sniper knows I can’t respond to him.

“I know you can’t talk, so stop sayin’ shit in that pretty little head.” He turns to look at me.

I want to yell and say my head isn’t pretty right now. My face is all kinds of fucked up, but he’d flip
out and say my face will heal and there is more important shit to worry about. Which he is right, but I
do worry about my looks. I have had so much stolen from me and deep down inside, I am dirtied,
soiled, and not pretty at all. All I have is my looks on the outside.

He goes to the fridge, grabs a beer, and sits down in front of me. “Now about this shit where you said
our friendship wasn’t real and was all fake,” he growls. “You fuckin’ know better. What the fuck
were you thinkin’?”

Before I have time to shake my head at him, he holds up his hand for me to wait a moment and gets up
to grab a piece of paper and a pen.

“Now, write what the fuck you were thinkin’ on this piece of paper,” he orders as he shoves it to me.

Is he for real? He can’t be serious. This is some sort of joke. He wants to discuss it when I cannot
even speak? I push the paper back towards him and shake my head. My feelings will not go down on
fucking paper. I am barely holding myself together as it is, and he wants me to put my damn thoughts
on paper?

I do not think so.

“Darlin, you’re not gettin’ out of this,” he says as he sits back down. “You have no idea the thoughts
runnin’ around in my head when you were missin’ and the way things were left between us like to
drove me mad. We fight, we argue, but we never leave things unsaid. I never want us to be that way
again, yeah?”

He cannot make me cry right now. This isn’t fair. I am the one who should be calling all the shots, and
to be honest, my mental state cannot take a reprimand from the man I love right at this moment.

“Babe… hey, why are you cryin’?” he asks as he moves into the chair beside me, reaches up, and
smoothes the hair away from my eyes. “I didn’t mean to upset you, Piper. That isn’t what this is
about.”

Then what is he trying to do? Him being upset with me or wanting to fight about what happened
before I was taken isn’t something I can deal with or ever want to process. I want to forget we ever
went through that and move on to how we are. I need normalcy from him. He doesn’t understand that
he will be what keeps me here mentally. He will be the reason that I heal, not anyone else.

“You’re breakin’ me here, darlin’. This was supposed to be a good talk, and I fucked it up, like I
always fuck shit up,” he growls and goes to stand. I stop him by reaching for his hand and shaking my
head no, and lift my free hand up to gesture him to keep going.

A good talk? I am in desperate need to hear one of those from him.

“It got me thinkin’, ya know? That there is a reason me and you are so fuckin’ close. That our
chemistry is there. It isn’t forced. It’s just there. We don’t need to create it, because we already
fuckin’ have it.” He smirks at me.

Damn that beautiful, crooked smile he has melts me every time.

Okay. So maybe I do need a piece of paper. I grab it and scribble my question down and pass it over
to him. He removes his hand from mine, picks up the pad and reads aloud.

“So, what are you saying?” He reads my note and chuckles, sets the pad back in front of me and gives
me all of his attention. “I’m sayin’, I want to give me and you a shot.” He pauses and then continues.
“Why the hell not? We get along, I love you, you love me, and our sex is unfuckingbelievable.”

My ears can’t be teasing me right now. This is what I wanted. This is what I fought for when breaking
out of that basement. A chance with my best friend. A chance to be truly happy.

I scurry and write down something else. I have to know the answer to this.

“Is this so you can keep a better eye on me?” he reads and caveman grunts. “Piper, seriously? Baby, I
know after this, your gun isn’t leavin’ the holster on your body. This has nothin’ to do with wantin’ to
keep a better eye on you. Grant you, tomorrow, when Storm comes to sit with you, I’ll be a nervous
wreck leavin’ you, but I know you can handle yourself. You’re fuckin’ Piper,” he taunts. “My badass
best friend that weathers anythin’ thrown at her.”

If he only knew how close I was to giving up, he wouldn’t be saying these nice things to me. He
would be so disappointed, but I don’t dare say a word. He would be beyond hurt.

“This, between me,” his hands ghost between us, “and you, has everythin’ to do with me wantin’ you
to be mine.”

Come again? He is not suggesting what I think he is. He wants to date? He wants to be boyfriend and

girlfriend? What the hell is he saying? I don’t speak guy language.

“I see the confusion on your face, beautiful. I want to be with you, and more than just friends. We’re
both looking for love while we live so carelessly, so why not look for that love together? With one
another?”

Oh, sweet baby Jesus. The tears begin to roll down my face. I fought like hell to survive for him, and
maybe deep down, this is what I really wanted. To be with him. To be his and him be mine. Maybe I
am dreaming, and I am still in that god awful basement. Sniper wanting to be with me is too good to
be true. It is like the heavens are finally pouring the light that I crave down on me.

“I know you can’t say anythin’ because it’ll mess up your jaw more, but I expect some sort of
response here, babe.”

I snatch up the pad and scribble my words as fast as I can. It takes me forever, but my best friend is
patient with me and understands. Another reason I love him. When I hand the paper over, he again
reads out loud.

“When I was down in that basement and going through my past all over again,” he chokes out, “I
wanted to give up.” He reads my honest words. “I wanted to give up so bad, but during those last few
hours, I thought about our photo booth fun at the mall. You know the day,” he strangles out while he
lays the pad down, reaches into his back pocket for his wallet, and hands me our photos before going
back to finish reading my true words.

“Your face was all that replayed in my mind. Your gray eyes, your crooked smile, your boisterous
laugh, the way you are with me, and the night we were together that you begged me forget. It was
there, stuck in my mind, and it made me fight, fight like hell, because I deserve someone like you.
Someone who cares about me. Someone who would die for me,” he whispers those last few words,
“I know deep down that you, Perseus… that person is you.”

Sniper takes a deep breath to regain control of himself and continues. “I believe there is a reason you
and I click so well together. Everything about us is in sync, in fine tune together. You know that song
you hate that I play over and over again.” He chuckles and nods his head as he reads more. “I am your
lighter to your cigarette. You wouldn’t burn without me and vice versa for me.”

He sets the pad down, goes to his liquor cabinet to pour a shot, and returns to his seat after he downs
it.

“I have been through a place far worse than hell in my life. I deserve happy, and I want that happy to
be with you. So what I am saying is that if you are serious, and you want to see where we can end up,
I’m here. I will always be right here with you, forever and always,” he says quietly as he reads my
last words.

He scoots his chair closer to mine, lays down the paper, and gently takes my swollen face into his
hands to peer directly into my eyes. “I’m right here, are you?” he says with the most caring tone I have
ever heard from him. And when I nod my head, he brings his mouth down to mine, and gives me the
most sensual, soft, slow kiss I have ever had in all my life.

When he lifts his lips away from mine, my toes still curl and the butterflies in my stomach still flail
about as he leans his forehead with care against mine. “We were looking for love in the wrong
places. Wanna bet it was right here all along?” His voice cracks and he gives a nervous laugh. I’ve
never seen my best friend so emotional.

I reach a shaky hand up to his face and caress his cheek to force him to look into my eyes again. It may
be selfish, but I know this special moment between us is just that, between us. I won’t get this Sniper
when others are around, and I will cherish every bit of him when I do get these small glimpses.

“You called me Perseus.” He laughs under his breath. “You, and only you, could ever get away with
that. I fuckin’ hate that name.”

I secretly love it. It is a very strong name. The only reason I even know it is because we trade one
secret for another, and that is a secret he gave me in return. This is the first time I have used it.

“So we’re gonna do this, Pipe? Huh, darlin’?”

I nod my head and he brings his lips down to mine once more. When our mouths touch, we both sigh.
It is as though our hearts are meshed together as one, and we have finally found what we have been
looking for all along.

Each other.

***

Chapter Twenty Four

Sniper

My brother calls me to tell me that him, ZZ, and Storm are on their way and that I will get the start to
extract my revenge. Can’t say I am not beyond fucking thrilled, but I don’t want to leave Piper just yet.
I know she can take care of herself and she doesn’t need me, but I want to spend every moment I can
with her. I want to explore what we have and I can’t do that when I need to fucking kill motherfuckers
for hurting my best friend. This is a perfect example of a rock and a hard place. But if I don’t take this
opportunity for revenge, my brothers will, and it is not their fucking job. Protecting Piper is my job,
no one else’s. She is my girl, not theirs.

“Storm is on her way. She’s gonna stay with you while I go shoot some lead,” I say to her as I sit next
to her on my sofa. She is watching reruns of some girly show. I gaze at her, and even with her bruises,
wrapped up face, and slow movements, she is still the most beautiful woman in this fucking world
and I am goddamn lucky we are going to try this out. She reaches for her notepad, scribbles quickly,
and hands it over to me.

Piper can talk, but we both don’t want her to risk her jaw to the point where she might need to have
surgery. The Doc says she only has a week or two left until the swelling should be down enough to
where she can talk a little each day. Not a lot, but enough to where I can hear her sweet voice and
giggle.

God, I can’t wait for that fucking day.

I take the notepad from her and read it out loud. She likes when I do that. She says my voice sends
shivers down her spine. And being the man that I am, I love making a woman happy, especially when
that woman is mine.

“Shoot some lead, my ass. You’re gonna go kill some people,” I read and laugh so loud, it echoes
around my living room. “Shoot some lead is killin’ people, darlin’. You know that.”

She does her best to smile at me and takes the notepad from me to write something else. I tap my
fingers on my knee while I wait. I have learned to be patient because for her, it counts. It matters.
Waiting for her means everything.

“Kiss a bullet for me?” I read. God, I fucking love this chick. “Of course I will, darlin’. Do you even
need to ask?”

I taught her that phrase. Kissing a bullet means marking it with a name to exact revenge for the one
that was harmed.

I read the rest of her note. “My gun, where is it?”

That right there breaks my heart, because no matter my love for guns, or my obsession with them, it
sucks she feels she needs it all the time. And my woman should not feel that way at all, at any fucking

moment. “The shotgun is loaded next to the door, and the handgun I gave you is in the drawer in the
bedroom beside our bed.”

The smile that spreads should look ridiculous, what with the white gaze wrapped around her head,
but it doesn’t. She has doe eyes and love shines through them while her mouth sings to me.

“What?” I ask.

She hasn’t smiled this big since before she was kidnapped.

She jerks the paper away playful like, writes something underneath the part I haven’t finished reading,
and hands it back.

“You said our bed.” I read.

Silly woman, I have her now. If she thinks she is going anywhere while we see if this connection of
ours is the forever kind, she is fucking wrong. I finish reading what she wrote above that line before I
answer her. “I have another gun with the safety off in the drawer beside this couch. Do you not know
me at all, darlin’?”

A small giggle escapes her and she groans. I hate her sweet giggle causes her pain, but deep down, I
am fucking thrilled to know it is still in there.

“And yes, it is our bed. Baby, I wouldn’t risk you and me if I weren’t serious, yeah?”

Piper once again takes the paper from me and scribbles so fast my eyes cross.

“I’ll be okay,” I read over her shoulder as I wrap my arm around her. “Continue to write, darlin’. I’m
quite comfy.” I chuckle in her ear and sniff her hair. Fuck, I love the way she smells.

“I know you’ll be okay. You’re Piper.”

She huffs and writes some more. “I want them all dead,” I read with a growl to my words. “I don’t
want them to do to anyone else what they did to me and Jinx. Kill them. Kill all of them,” I seethe out.

I unwrap my arm and turn her to look at me. When her green eyes are staring back at me, I speak.
“They’re all gonna be six feet under, yeah? They hurt you, the woman who has been my best friend for
over a year and now the woman that I’m pretty fuckin’ sure I’m in love with. So yeah, baby, they’re
fuckin’ dead,” I say a tad louder than I should.

Piper gasps and tries to write, but with a gentle ease, I move her face back towards mine. “Yes, I
think I’m in love with you. I’ve never been in love, but I’m fuckin’ damn sure this is what it feels like.
I want to kill every last motherfucker that has put a hand on you, and I know I for damn sure don’t
want any other man havin’ what’s mine. So yeah, darlin’, I think I’m in love with you.”

I watch a single tear slide down her face, and this time when she reaches for the paper, she stops
herself and holds up the I love you sign. And for the first time in all my years, I say those three words
to a woman besides my mother, and mean it with every fiber of my being. “I love you, too, darlin’.”

I kiss her on the forehead because, now that she is mine, I want her healed quickly, and I don’t want to

fuck that up. When I lift my mouth from her, she pens something and I look down to read it. “Sniper,
my heart is happy.”

God, how can five words cause my heart to speed up and my palms to sweat in a good way?

“I’m glad, darlin’. You deserve all the happy in the world,” I respond and wrap her in my arms.

I can’t believe I waited this long to make her mine. Hell, I can’t believe it took me this fucking long to
figure it all out, but now that I have, I am not letting her go. I’ll have to stop breathing before that
happens.

***

I am a nervous fucking wreck when I leave Piper alone with Storm and Phish. Phish replaced Rap
when he was patched in. And, Phish passed Russian Roulette so I know he will put his life on the line
for the club and whomever we tell him. It still does not ease my nerves in the least. But it is what it is,
and if I want my revenge, I have no choice but to leave my girl. I have discovered it is one of the
hardest fucking things I have ever had to do in my life.

“Sucks, doesn’t it, brother,” Braxxon says as we straddle our ladies.

“What?” I ask, as I throttle upwards and kick my kickstand up.

“Bein’ in love,” he replies, and ZZ laughs from beside us.

Does my own brother not know me at all? He knows I have been looking for love, and I think I have
fucking found it. My leather clad ass is sitting on cloud nine.

“Maybe for you,” I snort. “But… this feelin’, fuck this feelin’ I got is somethin’ else.”

ZZ chuckles again and we all pull out. A row of us travel down the desert highway to the location our
pop gave us. We have me, ZZ, Lucy, Pyro, Braxxon, Smokey, and Rap. All of us are deadly as a
motherfucker with our guns, but more so, me and Lucy are ready to fucking lay some lead. I think deep
down Lucy begged to be here because she feels like shit for the things she said to my girl. And she
should. It was some fucked up shit. She had no right to interfere with mine and Piper’s friendship.

I would have told Braxxon no when he told me she was coming, but the girl can work her metal and
lead, and even though I am fucking deadly as sin with my guns, the more the fucking merrier in these
situations.

When we reach our destination, we stop around the corner and throttle down our bikes. The element
of surprise will cost them their lives, but they forfeited their right to breathe when they took my girl.

“You ready, Sniper?” Lucy asks as we climb off of our bikes.

I pull her to me in a bear hug and squeeze. I do this to let her know all is forgiven so she will have a
clear head when we go in. She may have fucked up, but she is doing her best to fix it, and hell if I
want her getting killed over the thought of me still being pissed.

I’m an asshole but not that big of one.

“I’m ready, Luce. Cock your pipe, babe.” I chuckle as I do the same.

“All right ZZ, lets round ‘em up,” my brother says, while he holds his gun in the air with his finger on
the trigger.

ZZ goes in front of the door, motions for us to line the concrete wall of the old, beaten down building,
and when he kicks the door open, I move in first. In seconds, bullets are zooming in our direction, and
my arm flies behind me to shove my brother against the wall of the entryway. “Stay the fuck there,” I
growl. He is not getting wounded on my watch. When I am sure my brother is against the wall, I reach
for Lucy and grab her wrist to jerk her behind me. “Stay on him,” I order and start moving towards the
fuckers trying to kill us. ZZ, Pyro, Smokey, and Rap are on my ass and firing around me. I’m not
wasting bullets until I can see these motherfuckers. And, besides, I don’t waste. I aim to kill. I never
miss, and I don’t plan on missing this time around either.

These fuckers are dead. The rat fucking bastards.

Again, I curse myself for not knowing Spanish. It would come in handy right about now. These
fuckers are yammering in a language we don’t understand, but then I realize something. Lucy’s dad is
Hispanic.

“What the fuck are they sayin’?” I yell over the gun fire.

She laughs. “They are tryin’ to figure out how the hell we found them. Stupid fuckers.”

All of us roar with belly laughter as the gunfire continues. I still have not fired my metal. I am waiting
until I get closer. My stealth towards them will be my reckoning.

But as our fucked up luck has it, we run out of wall to walk along, and now we are in an open room
with nothing but pillars all around. We run towards them and duck behind them. Lucy is on my
brother’s ass, and I am cursing him silently for trying to get away from her. He knows better than that.
I helped train the bitch. She will take a bullet for him.

My brother can be the dumbest fuck ever.

My prepay rings, and on instinct, I dig for it because of Piper being at the house, and of course I have
a fear that something else might happen. When I look at the number, I see it belongs to my pop. I hit
the on button and chin it with my shoulder blade.

“Kinda busy, Pop,” I roar over the gunfire.

“The drug lord isn’t there. He’s with about eleven or so men back at Petra’s place. Kill them fuckers
and rest up while I keep an eye on these fuckers.”

I don’t say anything as I hang up, and I don’t let my brothers know what is up because these assholes
might call and warn their boss man we know he is back at Petra’s.

A bullet wings by my head, and I curse under my breath for letting my pop sidetrack me. I never get
distracted from a gun war. Dammit!

“Luce, shoot that one over in the right corner. He keeps wingin’ at me when I peek around,” I roar.

Lucy shoves Braxxon against the pillar and moves around the side of it, takes aim, and fires. When I
hear a body slump, I look around and see the fucker bleeding from his forehead. “Thanks, doll,” I
holler.

“I learned from the best.” She giggles an evil laugh.

I chuckle. She sure the fuck did.

“Dammit, call off your girl. She ain’t lettin’ me fire,” my brother screams.

One, she isn’t my girl. My girl is laid up at home, waiting for me. Two, he is fucked up if he thinks we
are letting him fire. He ain’t shooting off his gun until we have at least half of these fuckers out.

“Shit! I’m hit,” Pyro roars. “My leg, again! Goddammit!”

This pisses me off. He was shot in the leg last year, and now he has another gunshot wound. Oh, hell
no, these fucking Mexicans are pissing me off. Another reason my brother better follow Lucy’s
fucking orders.

“Dammit, Lucy!” Braxxon roars.

I’d be ten times worse than her and he knows it. “Would you rather have me on your six?” I holler.

As expected, he says nothing in return, just as I thought. She is going easy on him. He would still be
back by the door where we entered if he were with me.

I am over this shit.

I signal to Lucy, who by instinct looks in my direction. She nods and takes aim to cover me. When she
is in place, I fling myself against the concrete floor and slide across it while my bullets fly through the
air. I nail four guys as I skid, and Lucy takes a few more out. When I am safely behind another
column, I stand to reload, peer around the corner, and with accurate precision, wound two guys. I
want to torture someone, and I can’t do that unless they are alive.

“Let ‘em go, Lucy,” I yell over the sound of fireworks. It is time to let my brother have a little fun as
well.

“Go check on, Pyro, ZZ,” Braxxon orders as he finally takes his first aim. “Smokey, Rap, you good?”

“Prez,” ZZ says in acknowledgment, and Smokey and Rap grunt to let us know they are fine and not
hit.

When all guys are dead but the two I wounded, we come out from behind the posts and my brothers
stand back. They know these bastards are mine, but first.

“Pyro, you want a hand at these fuckers for shootin’ ya,” I holler over my shoulder as I stop in front of
them, bend at my knees, and fling their guns away from where they have fallen.

He grunts. “Jokes on them bastards. I got two hot lesbians back home to take care of my ass. Have at
it,” he responds.

One tries to kick at me and fails miserably. It would almost be sad if I wasn’t so goddamn furious.

“Luce, bring me your huntin’ knife,” I order, snapping my fingers for her to hurry with quickness. Lucy
never goes anywhere without that fucking thing.

“Here ya go,” she says as she putters over to me and hands me the ‘gutter’. We all name our weapons.
It is a part of who we are. “Kiss it first for Piper,” she growls.

Thank fuck I ain’t the only one angry over what happened to my girl. Lucy and Piper may never get
along, but females stick up for other females when one of them is raped. Shit isn’t right.

I stick the long jagged blade up to my mouth to kiss it for my girl, and when I lower it, one man tries
to scurry away. Lucy steps on his stomach with her riding boots and presses down onto his wound. I
grin the biggest fucking grin as I take one hand and press it against the other’s forehead and push his
body down on the ground. When his body is flat and he is writhing underneath my hands, I take the
knife, jam it into his cut, and tear upwards. Blood curdling screams reverberate from his garbled
throat. He coughs and sputters up tons of crimson before passing out.

“Well, ain’t he a pussy?” Lucy giggles and lifts her foot off the other guy so I can gut him like the
nasty ass fucking fish that he is.

When she kicks him towards me and he grunts, I snort. The fucker is dying. He should be begging me
for mercy, but he doesn’t. This one, I want to have a little more fun with. I am about to pull a Winter
and watch this motherfucker bleed out a little bit before I ice him.

“Luce, be a doll and step on his right hand,” I order.

She does as I ask, and I laugh when the guy’s eyes widen to the size of the Grand Canyon. He should
be fucking scared. I’m about to let him bleed out for a few seconds, let him feel his body weakening
and know death is coming for his fucking nasty ass. When Lucy places her boot on his hand, I take the
blade of her knife and slice from his wrist up to his elbow. Red flows freely from his arm, and Lucy,
knowing how I roll, removes her boot and maneuvers herself to his other side for a repeat
performance.

“Pop says to wait for his call,” my brother hollers, and I give a slight nod that I heard him. This
means I can go clean up and spend some time with my girl for a few days, I hope.

When I cut his other arm, I watch as the crimson red pours from his open wounds, and blood gushes
from his nose and mouth. Good, the motherfucker is bleeding out.

Luce squats down, puts two fingers up to his neck, and feels his pulse. “All right, he’s dyin’. Can we
go now?” she asks.

I stand and hand her knife back to her. “Yeah, and Luce?” I say as she straightens up from her crouch.

“Yeah?” she replies.

“Thanks. Piper will appreciate your help,” I say sincerely.

“It was nothing,” she growls. “Wait until we find the other motherfuckers. I’ll teach ‘em to ever fuck a

woman without her permission ever again.

I wrap my arm around my friend and walk towards my brothers. My blood boils as I watch Pyro limp
in front of us. He is always the one that gets shot. That shit is fucked up.

***

Chapter Twenty Five

Piper

Sitting here waiting for Sniper to return is fucking torture. I don’t want him out of my sight right now. I
miss him already and we just now got together. Some strange feelings loom inside of me. I want him
so bad, and I am glad my tearing is minimal because I don’t know how long I can go without being
with him. Us being final has me yearning for him. And, in the back of my mind, I want, no, I need his
touch to erase what was done to me and I know it can. It has before. Sniper is the only male I have
been with since my first kidnapping.

“Hey babe, forgot to tell you what Winter and Braxxon are havin’,” Storm says as she sits beside me
and hands me my nasty shake.

I gesture for her to go on because I can’t talk for at least another day or so. The bruising to my
muscles and the crack to my jawbone make it too risky to use my voice.

“They’re having a girl. Can you believe it!”

I try to smile around my straw but it still hurts. I am happy for them. They have known for a while
what the sex of the baby is, but they have been keeping it a secret. I think they feared if they got too
excited about it, something bad might happen. I am glad Winter is okay and the birth isn’t far away.
We need happy in our world and this baby of theirs is exactly that. Happiness.

“Braxxon is gonna go nuts. She is gonna have Winter’s beauty and attitude and Braxxon’s bad assery.
Good god, can you imagine?”

I shake my head. I watch as she dazes off to stare at the wall. I know she wants a baby, hell, I even do
in the future, but to get pregnant and lose one shortly after finding out is sad. She deserves her happy,
too.

I look at the old cuckoo clock on Sniper’s wall and sigh. He should be getting back. I hope to hell I
don’t become one of those clingy girlfriends.

Storm’s phone rings and draws her attention from her thoughts. She looks at it and then at me, and her
smile is blinding. “It’s your new man,” she teases as she answers.

“Hello.” She giggles and I know she does it to irritate me. I hate gigglers. I only do it every so often
and it isn’t an uncalled for, like the ones where I want to scream and say why the fuck are you tittering
at something not funny? Yeah, those are the ones I hate, and hell if I don’t want to poke her with my
straw. “She’s fine.”

She keeps her eyes on me as she listens to him talk. “I’ll tell her. Yeah, okay. Later.” And she hangs
up the phone. “He’s on his way. He said to tell my girl I’m on my way home. He also said me and
Phish better be ready to clear the fuck out when he gets here.”

If I was a squealer, I’d be doing that and jumping up and down.

I hurry to suck my lunch through my straw the best I can, and Storm helps me clean up, brush my hair,
and change out of my sweats before he gets home. By the time she puts my socks on my feet, he is
walking in the door.

“Darlin’,” he calls out.

Storm and I look at one another. “God, he’s sweet, isn’t he?” she asks.

I don’t answer her. Sniper has always been this way with me. Joking and caring. This is us, just with
a new twist to our us.

“Guess it is time for me to clear out,” she says as she pulls me into a gentle hug, careful not to
squeeze my ribs.

“Storm, you, ZZ, and Phish are gonna run and get me some stuff, yeah?” Sniper says as he walks over
to me, bends down, and kisses me softly on the lips before bringing his gray eyes to my green. “Miss
me?” he whispers against my lips as he stares at me. I nod my head and tilt my eyes back down to his
lips, wanting another small, soft kiss. He chuckles and gives in. When he lifts away from my lips, he
says, “Me too, darling, me fuckin’ too.”

God, I’m in love. Fuck, who knew I was truly in love with him?

“You guys need to clear out,” he growls playfully at all of them watching the two of us together. “I
need to clean up, and I want my girl to watch. Go get the shit I asked for, please.”

I push away from him, scribble on my paper, and hand him my note.

“I am making them go get you some decent fucking food. The softest fuckin’ chocolate cake they can
find so I can blend it with some vanilla ice cream.” He chuckles as he tosses the paper on the coffee
table, and then with ease, lifts me into his arms and carries me to the bathroom.

Sniper kicks the door shut, and with gentle care, sits me down on the closed toilet lid, and begins to
strip. Oh dear god, he is trying to kill me.

When his cut hits the floor, I gulp and continue to watch my man tease me. When his arms flex as he
drags his shirt off, I want to lick every inch of his muscled, eight pack chest. Give each and every
bulge the love it deserves. He twists his shirt in his hands and teasingly snaps me in the leg with it but
gently. Could he be even more perfect?

When his shirt drops to the floor and I hear the zipper of his jeans, my eyes follow it downwards. I
slump and sigh as his cock comes into view. It is such a large, beautiful dick, and it is standing
straight up. Hell if I don’t want to touch it. He must read it in my eyes because he says no with a tsk
sound and shuffles out of his jeans after kicking off his boots and socks. Goddamn, if he got any
hotter, I would melt right here in the bathroom on this toilet seat.

He leans over the tub and starts the water, but he doesn’t climb into the shower. He stands there,
wraps one hand around his cock, and leans against the wall.

Is he seriously doing this to me?

“Watch me stroke my cock for you, darlin’,” he says with a silky tone.

Oh, I am watching. How the hell could I not?

He brings one hand up to his mouth, spits in his palm, and drops it down to wet his dick. His
movements become faster and harder with each stroke. Precum leaks from the head, and I want so
very badly to lick it off him. When his breathing picks up, mine does, too. I could get off just watching
this man make himself cum.

He grunts, grips it so tight it turns bright red, and his cum shoots out, but his hand doesn’t stop. It
keeps going until each drop releases from his beautiful cock.

“It takes me seconds just by lookin’ at you,” he huffs, trying to catch his breath. “Fuckin’seconds.”

He always knows how to make me feel better. His words are not something others might find
endearing, but they are to me. When Sniper knows I am satisfied with his quick show, he leans down,
kisses my forehead, and climbs into the shower and I slump against the back of the toilet.

I am in so deep. So deep, that even if I wanted, I couldn’t escape to the surface if I tried.

***

Chapter Twenty Six

Sniper

One week later

We’ve been scouting out Petra’s place, watching how many men enter and leave. It is fucking
exhausting, this wait to exact my revenge and end the pain and the suffering they caused Piper and
Jinx. It is also torture to watch my girl walk around in barely there clothes and not be able to fuck her.
Speaking of my girl, where the fuck did she go? I hate when she disappears and she knows this. I start
searching the house. When she isn’t in the kitchen, living room, or hallway bathroom, I make my way
to our bedroom. I open the door slowly because sounds seem to still spook her, and what I find is
unfuckingbelievable. Candles are lit all over our fucking bedroom.

“Darlin’,” I say with a crook when I see her on the bed with not an inch of clothing on her beautiful
body. “What’s goin’ on?” I choke out.

She can’t do this shit to me. I’m a caged fucking animal, and it has taken everything in me not to
fucking pounce on her, as it is.

“Sniper,” she whispers low.

Oh fuck me, she is speaking. I shake my head no and start to back away. She isn’t ready for sex yet,
and she shouldn’t be talking. This shit isn’t fair to either of us.

“Stop,” she orders with another whisper. “I can talk, just not a lot, okay? And you just have to be
careful, is all.”

“You’re not ready. It’s too soon, Pipe. Too fuckin’ soon,” I whisper with a hoarse voice.

“You’re my one and only. The only man I have ever allowed to have me.” She sighs. “Do you get
that? The only man allowed. I want you, and only you. We just need to be careful, all right? Please,
for me?”

Me, be careful, after thinking I lost her and now knowing that I fucking love her? She wants me to be
careful? And, I’m it for her? No pressure there at fucking all. None.

Fuck, I want to throw her against a wall and pound us through the sheetrock. How the fuck is that in
any way careful? Especially after hearing those sweet words from my girl.

“No, baby, I’ll hurt you,” I say, holding up my hands and closing my eyes to shield my vision from her
naked form. I want to strangle my girl right now. I can’t believe she is doing this to me. This shit is
unfair.

“Please,” she begs lightly. “I only want to feel you.”

My eyes fling open. What does she mean she wants to feel me? What the fuck? Is she still thinking
about what they did to her? I growl, look behind me, and contemplate an exit, but when I turn back
towards her, the look on her face almost takes me to my knees.

“I won’t last long, darlin’, not with you lookin’ at me like that,” I choke out as I strip from my clothes.

“That’s okay, neither will I,” she replies sweetly.

Fuck if it is okay. “No, no, it isn’t. You deserve forever.”

She does her best to sit up with her hurt ribs and cocks her finger at me, and when I am shuffled out of
my clothes, I slowly make my way over to her.

How the fuck am I going to be gentle with her doe eyes looking at me like I am the man of her fucking
dreams? Shit is fucked up.

I get up on our bed and crawl over her on my knees, place one arm behind her back, and gently lay her
back down. I know I will have to take care with her, and it will take all my strength to be slow and
not to hurt her.

“God, Pipe, you sure, baby?”

She says not one word, but her smile lights up her face, and I take that as my go ahead. I spread her
legs and take in her sweet cunt staring at me. How in the hell am I supposed to go gentle with her
when her pussy is already glistening and her pierced tits are bared for me to see? This is sweet
torture and I am being punished.

“Any day now,” she whispers.

I take a deep breath and move between her delicious thighs. I exhale as I enter her, and as soon as her
wet walls suck at my cock, it takes every ounce of willpower I have inside of myself not to pound
into her.

“Slow, Perseus, slow,” she coaxes.

And she had to use my name. Fuck, I am so fucked! I grunt and move in and out so slowly that my own
dick wants to tear itself off and start ramming itself inside of her.

“Piper, fuck baby, I can’t,” I choke.

Shit. Fuck. Jesus all mighty!

“Shhh…”

She wants me to stop talking but I can’t. I move in and out with ease and grunt when she starts making
the sweetest fucking sounds I have ever heard come from a woman. She keeps getting better and better
and she’s mine. All. Fucking. Mine.

“Darlin’,” I whisper as I softly thrust inside of her, and she smiles at me. “I’m so in love with you, to
the point to where there is no one else.”

Tears form in her eyes as she smiles and says the words I have been searching my whole life to hear.
“I’m so in love with you, too.”

And just like that. I’m gone. I’m done. There is no one else for me. Ever.

She. Is. It.

I lay my body over hers without hurting her ribs and kiss her lips softly, and we both cum together. It
is the most fucking satisfying feeling I have ever felt. We’re panting and breathing in one another’s air
as we recover from our release.

“It was right there,” she whispers.

I pull my head out of the crook of her shoulder and look into her eyes when I have caught my breath.
“What was?”

She sighs happily. “Our love.”

I look at her, like really look at my girl, and I respond. “We only had to discover it.”

She smiles. “Yeah.”

“Yeah,” I grin back at her. “I discovered you, darlin’, and you discovered me. We discovered each
other.”

***

Chapter Twenty Seven

Sniper

“What? You thought I was gonna let your dumbass get away with kidnappin’ my girl and raping her?”
I growl and punch the drug lord in the jaw, slinging blood across the room. “You fucked with the
wrong man’s girl, you stupid fuck!”

My pop hands me a chain, and I wrap it around the motherfucker’s stomach as my brother and ZZ hold
him to the chair. Lucy undoes the fuckers pants as I bind the chain tight enough to where the
motherfucker can’t move.

“Here’s the thing. You played with somethin’ that wasn’t yours to play with, and now it’s time you
have somethin’ of yours played with as well,” I growl as I lean down to his ear and lower my voice.
“Your life.”

I take the bolt lock Smokey hands me and snap it in place so the chain won’t move in inch while I let
Lucy do what she is about to do. She has been angry since she saw the aftermath of Piper and Jinx,
and she is hell bent on making the last motherfucker pay. My revenge will be watching another female
take something from him. Something that doesn’t belong to us, but he didn’t give a shit when he took
something that did belong to us.

When his pants are around his ankles, I cackle and all of us brothers step back as our pop checks to
make sure the drug lord won’t be able to jerk free while Lucy tortures him.

“Guys like you make me fuckin’ sick, ya know,” she seethes through her teeth. “You take what isn’t
yours, and you don’t give a fuck about the cost of it.”

I dig out my phone and start recording so Piper can see firsthand what happens to someone when they
fuck with her.

She circles around him as if he is her prey and drags her blade around his neck, but the fucker isn’t
getting off so lucky. He will wish he was in a few more seconds though.

“Better wrap this up. My wife went into labor early,” Braxxon hollers out.

“Look at that,” I hiss. “A man not worthy of breath is leavin’ this world as a child is born. One less
motherfucker we have to worry about hurtin’ one of our own. Get this shit over with, Luce.”

She sticks the knife between her legs, jerks on two pairs of plastic gloves, and leans over. “You’re
about to leave this world without your manhood,” she growls and sticks the knife in the base of his
dick and slices upwards, splitting it right in half. The screams coming from this man are hilarious. He
deserves the pain he is feeling. “Look at that. You still have your balls… but not for much longer,”
she snarls as she drops to her knees and cuts into them as if trimming the fat off the edge of a steak.
The blood pouring from him is unfucking real, but fucking deserved. When Lucy severs off one of his
balls, she tosses it behind her shoulder as if she does this every goddamn day and starts to work on

the other one as the drug lord passes out from blood loss. She grunts as she slashes through the last
piece of skin and throws the other one over her shoulder before standing. But she isn’t done. She
knows I have my gloves on for a reason. She places the knife in my free hand, takes her gloves off,
and puts them in the bag Phish holds out to her. When her hands are empty, she takes the phone and
records the rest.

I step over his right hand man’s body, move behind the bleeding out fool, bend down, and look
directly into the camera on my phone. “This is how deep my love is for you,” I growl as I rip the
blade across his throat. “No one will ever love you like I fuckin’ do,” I hiss.

Luce turns off the phone and shakes her head when I try to hand her back the knife. She nods to the bag
Phish holds, and I dump it in there along with my bloody gloves.

“Now, let’s go get my girl and go watch my niece be born, yeah.” I wrap an arm around Braxxon’s
shoulders. “I do have a question though, brother,” I say as we walk out of the building, which, by
coincidence, is the same building where Winter exacted her revenge.

“What’s that, brother?” Braxx replies as we reach our bikes.

“What’re we gonna do about the pipelines?” I ask.

My brother flashes a sadistic smile and responds. “They’re ours now. Fuck this shit. I’m done fuckin’
with people. It’s time we own every goddamn, motherfuckin’ thing.”

***

Piper

“How’s she doin’?” Sniper asks as he hands me a coke with a straw in it. My jaw is still a little sore,
and he is taking care of me the best way he knows.

“She was pushin’ right after you left,” I answer and take a sip.

Sniper wraps an arm around me and pulls me closer on the sofa in the hospital waiting room. Any
sane person would have run if they saw the video that I saw, but not me. I have a man that will kill
anyone who dares lay a finger on me. I no longer have to hide in the shadows or be scared that
someone from my past will show up and take me away. I have Sniper, and he is all I will ever want
nor need.

“How about you, babe?” he asks, breaking me from my thoughts.

Hmm… I say to myself and turn to look at him.

“You want kids one day?” He throws me that crooked smile I love.

Kids? Is he for real? The look on his beautiful, squared jawed face says he is. I take a deep breath in
and speak the truth.

“Before you, no. But now, I’d have them for you,” I say, feeling a little shy.

He chuckles and gives me a noogie like he always has. The best part of being in love with Sniper is

that he is still my best friend in every way. This goes to show you that you can fall in love with your
best friend, and it can be the best thing in your life when it happens.

“I want a girl and a boy, so you’re gonna give me two,” he says after a few moments of silence.

“Is that so?” I tease him.

He pinches my arm and chuckles. “Yeah, and when I marry your ass, because I will and it’ll be soon,
your name is gonna be Piper Breaker.” He snorts a sharp laugh.

Oh, for all the love of god. “Pipe Breaker,” I choke. No way. No way in fucking hell. “I’ll keep my
last name, ‘kay.”

He growls and when he shakes his head, I know I have already lost this argument. At the same time,
my heart warms, knowing I have found a man who knows all my dirty secrets and still wants to spend
the rest of his life with me. He doesn’t care that I used to think I was ruined or soiled. He loves me
for me and what I have been through is what makes me, well, me.

“I love you,” I whisper.

Sniper leans into me and puts his chin on the top of my head. “God, darlin’, I love you, too.”

And just when life can’t get any better, the sound of a baby crying bounces down the hallways, and a
Breakneck baby by the name of Lana is born.

***

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HERE WITH ME

THE ARCHER BROTHERS #1

Chapter 1

Ryley

Each step I take is painful. Not in the sense that I’ve been physically injured — unless you can count
my heart being torn out and ripped to shreds, twice, as being physically hurt — but in the sense that
my body aches with any type of movement. I’m sore all over from too much crying and a lack of
eating. Withering away to nothing, as my best friend, Lois has been saying for the past two weeks.

The fact that it’s been two weeks since my life has been turned upside down flipped inside out and
run through the ringer stops me mid-step. Lois smashes into my back, no doubt looking at her phone,
texting someone she shouldn’t be and meddling in my affairs. Even though I love her, I want her to
stop. I want to wake up from this nightmare and have my life go back to the way it was six years ago.

Lois places her hand on my back, urging me silently to take the next step, and the next one and the next
one after that. She’s been my rock for as long as I can remember, and surprisingly there was a time
when I didn’t need her as much, but that’s all changed.

At the top of the staircase sits a table with a small bouquet of freshly picked flowers, a nice touch to
the drab location. When Lois pulled in front of the building, I recoiled in my seat. The brick building,
old and worn with age, shows no sign of being welcoming. The sidewalk is cracked and weeds grow
in between the slabs. The only saving grace is the park across the street, and while it’s empty, it looks
inviting, if not a place to escape.

Lois opens the door before I can raise my hand to knock. She’s impatient with me and I understand
why. I know deep down she’s afraid I’m going to turn and run. Believe me the thought has crossed my
mind a time or two. I know it’s not the answer, but it makes the most sense. If I can’t be found, I can’t
be hurt, and I’ve had far too much hurt in my life to last me until my last breath. With her hand on my
back, she gives me a gentle nudge to step into the office. The woman behind the glass wall looks up
briefly and gives us a half smile. She probably feels the same way I do about the building. It’s lacking
in life, much like I am right now.

After giving her my name, I sit down next to Lois. Her face is now stuffed in a magazine, and she’s
ignoring me. This is her idea of tough love. I’ve been down this path with her before so I know what
to expect. You’d think by now I’d be a pro and can deal with whatever is thrown my way, but I’m not.
It seems that every few years my idea of happiness turns into a weak excuse for life.

My name is called, and I’m directed through an open door. The room I step into is lackluster and
cold. I cross my arms to ward off an impending shiver and chastise Lois for making me wear a dress
today. My cardigan is resting in the backseat of her car when it should be on my shoulders.

“Good morning. What’s your name?”

It’s in the chart on your desk, I want to yell out, but refrain. Lois would likely hear me and scold me
like a child. I’d take it though because she’d be right. The lady behind the desk doesn’t ask me to sit
down or guide me to the chair or couch in her office. She doesn’t even look at me. This meeting is
feeling a bit too impersonal for my taste, and as I reach for the door, I hear her clear her throat.

“Ryley, I like to ask my patients to say their names so that their identities aren’t forgotten when we
start discussing why you’re here.”

It makes sense, I think. I opt to sit on the couch, but only on the edge. I don’t want to be comfortable or
complacent.

“Ryley Clarke,” I answer, letting my name flow easily from my lips.

“Tell me, Ryley, what brings you in today?”

Of course she wastes no time punching me in the gut. If it weren’t figuratively, I’d flinch and let her
know that it’s not okay to hit, but instead I straighten my back and ponder the question that seems to
have brought me to this point in my life. A point where I’m required, no begged, to enter therapy to
help figure out the rest of my life. Maybe not even the rest, but the next step. Either step I take leads
me down a path of love, pain and irreparable hurt.

Most importantly, I don’t want to be here. I don’t think talking to a third party with a psyche degree is
the answer. Sadly, I’m the only one who feels that way. I’ve been told therapy will help, but I’m not
so sure it will. You can’t fix something that has been destroyed for years. We aren’t a family of teddy
bears with missing eyes or ears that can be sewn back on making us look somewhat new. We’re a
damaged bunch, destined for nothing but heartache.

I pick at the threadbare couch that I chose to sit on. It looked more comfortable than the chair in front
of her. It’s royal blue, or at least it used to be. I think at one time it was probably soft, plush and very
comfortable, and people didn’t have a problem lying back, closing their eyes and letting all their
worries flow from their mouths. You would think that with the many people that come through the
door, a new couch could be purchased. I may be wrong in my assumption. I likely am. This couch
holds secrets that no one ever wants out, and it’s about to know mine too. Maybe that’s why she keeps
it this way.

“Why am I here today?” the words are a whisper on my lips. I can barely hear them myself and know
she can’t hear me. Clearing my throat, I keep my eyes downcast and away from her face. The last
thing I want is for her to see the pain in my eyes. That’s for me and me alone when I stare in the
mirror, asking myself how and why.

“I’m here so you can fix… this.” The words are bitter and angry. I spread my arms out wide, and my
knuckles scrape the side of the worn out armrest. I pull my right hand to me, examining my fingers for
any signs of damage. A sliver maybe, something to cause pain, anything to make me feel. I have
nothing.

I lean forward, determined not to cry. I don’t know why I’m here. I healed. I moved on. We moved
on. Life was good, not better, but manageable. We were happy. We laughed and loved and we missed
him terribly, but we woke up each day determined to make a new happy memory. But then life — no,

I take that back — the military made that all change.

If I were a conspiracy theorist, I’d say this was all planned, but honestly, what do they care about my
life? Nothing, that’s for damn sure. They don’t care that they’ve ruined the last six years of my life
because of some clerical error. “Sorry,” is all they could be bothered to say.

They’re sorry.

I realize now that I’ve spoken, the floodgates are open, and I can’t get my words out fast enough. She,
the one who sits behind a desk taking notes, doesn’t have a clue as to what I’ve been through, but I’m
about to tell her.

“I don’t know why I’m here. I’m not sure a session or a million sessions can fix my life right now.
People have told me that time heals all wounds, but they’re full of shit. I think when that saying was
coined, they meant a scratch or a bump, not a hole in the middle of your chest that you’d have to put
back together piece by piece. A hole so big that when you breathe in, it burns and makes you ache all
over. One that makes you beg for someone to show you mercy, even if no one will because they all
feel the same way as you. And was I ever really healed, or did I wake-up one morning and decide that
I needed to move on?”

“It does take time to heal, Ryley, and everyone has to do it at their own pace.”

I laugh out loud and adjust the way I’m sitting. I wish I hadn’t worn a dress today, but Lois insisted,
and I’m at a point in my life where I just do as she says, so I put on a yellow sundress and pulled my
hair into a blue ribbon. That’s as good as it gets for me right now. But sitting here, I want to be in
sweats. I want my white socks covering my bare toes, and I want to be buried under an oversized
sweatshirt. I want to hide.

“Time is my enemy. Time is the one thing I don’t have and can’t afford to lose. Time…” I shake my
head and look toward the window. I bite my lip and close my eyes. My mind is blank. I refuse to see
their images. I don’t want to look, or remember. “I need to find a way to stop time or reverse it.” I
nod. “Reversing time would be ideal. If I could do that, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now. My
life… it’d be on the path that I created, that I worked hard for, but it’s not. I’m standing in the center
of the Interstate with traffic coming at me from both directions waiting… desperately waiting for
someone or something to change everything that has happened in the last six years. So no, time doesn’t
heal anything. It just prolongs the hurt and pain.

“It sounds like you’ve had a lot to deal with, maybe more than others. Do you find solace in your
friends?”

I shake my head. “I have two very close friends. One is from high school, she and her husband moved
down here once the twins where stationed here. The other is a military wife. Any other friends I had
bailed. I’m sure they didn’t bail because of me, but because of the military. You move on, ya know?
They don’t want to associate…” I stop and think about that word. “Associate isn’t the correct word;
it’s fear. They see what I went through and fear rips through their bodies, and they do what their
bodies tell them: fight or flight. They all chose flight because they’re all afraid they’ll go through the
same thing one day.”

“What else do you experience from your friends and family?”

Easy question. “Pity. I got so sick and tired of the hugs and the pats on the shoulder. The looks —
those were never-ending. I didn’t need to see the pity in their eyes as they went from looking at me to
looking at my belly. Everyone is sorry, but what exactly are they sorry for? Are they sorry that they
voted for the people who sent our military to war? Are they sorry that their children aren’t out
defending our country? What are they sorry for?” My voice rises with my last question. I want to
know. What goes through someone’s mind when they tell you they’re sorry that your loved one has
died?

“I always want to ask why. Why are you sorry? Did you do something that I’m not aware of? Did you
pull the trigger or supply the enemy with equipment to do harm? No, I didn’t think so. Thing is, all the
pity looks are back and each one brings me to my knees because guess what? They’re all sorry again,
and this time it’s not going to matter what decision I make. Someone will be hurt. For that, they can be
sorry.”

“Ryley, I’m going to ask you again why are you here today?”

For the first time since I walked in the door, I look at the therapist. Her hair is cut short, framing her
face. It’s brown, but muted. There’s no vibrancy to her color. It’s dull and outdated, much like her
couch. Her white, long-sleeved shirt is buttoned high, as if it wants to choke the life out of her. Her
cat-like glasses perch on the edge of her nose, and she reclines in her chair with her pad of paper
resting on her lap, her pen poised to write down my words at a moment’s notice.

“I’m here because six years ago I lost the love of my life, but now he’s back from the dead, and in a
few weeks I’m set to marry my best friend. His brother.”

Click the link to purchase your own copy of Here With Me

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OP2EF0K

***

Scandalous Charges

By Eliana S. Peters

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23556755-scandalous-charges

****Warning****

Lube and batteries are not included with the purchase of this book, but for your pleasure, those things

might be nice to have on hand.

If asked to describe herself in three words, author Samantha Daley would say dry, barren land. She
wanted, no, craved the feel of a man above her, beneath her, hell, behind her. She really wasn’t picky.
Her only problem? Having lived with the verbal vomit of an emotionally abusive man, Samantha’s
self confidence was smaller than a gnat’s G-string. Enter The Pipe Cleaners, a male escort service.

Sebastiano Russo was done, finished, finito. Waiting for Samantha to realize the depths of his
affections left him tired of holding back. Not to mention, a perpetual and severe case of blue balls. As
her financial adviser, he reconciled her accounts and when he found charges for an escort service,
Sebastiano decided to take matters into his own hands. Her matters, that is, which included those
luscious tits and curvy hips that he’d fantasized about every night. Hell, who was he kidding? He’d
pictured her in his head every time he took his cock in his hand.

As Samantha began writing her fantasy, Sebastiano decided she needed to change from past to present
and he demanded a staring role. Follow the wordsmith and number cruncher on a journey to sexual
bliss. But remember, no trip is ever simply smooth sailings. Some bumps in the road may appear.

Chapter One

Scout slammed the door so hard the decorative plates hanging on the wall rattled. “Sadie, you know
can’t run from me. I’ll follow you to the ends of the world.”

Huge crocodile tears left trails of mascara down her cheeks as Sadie crumbled before his eyes. “I just
couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you because of me.” She threw herself in his arms,
and he held her tight as sobs shook her body. “I love you, Scout. And that’s why I have to go.”

“Son of a bitch. Is that the best you can come up with?”

Samantha Daley looked around her office, hoping that inspiration would somehow find her in the hot,
cramped room. Instead, her attention fell on the darkness that had somehow consumed the daylight.
How long had she sat in this spot, struggling to put words into sentences? The kinks in her shoulders
told her she needed to just give in to another endless bout of writer’s block. The rumble in her
stomach said she needed food, but damn if she had much of an appetite.

Her lifelong goal of becoming a writer had come true when she’d published her first novel six years
ago, but her success had come with a steep price. The sparkle and shine of her dream career had
diminished over the last two years and the fun had become more of a chore than an adventure. She
found herself divorced, discouraged, and depressed, but she knew the only person who could change
any of that was her.

Change. That one word excited her and gave her hope of escape. Escape from her boring, dreary life.
Escape towards fulfillment, even if it was only a temporary fling.

Earlier in the week, Samantha had delivered papers to her investment adviser’s office, and his
secretary, Jillian, insisted on taking her to lunch. Over grilled chicken Caesar salads, Sam’s quiet
friend suggested she try MakeMyDate.com. Jillian insisted Samantha would get her long awaited
release with no strings attached. Besides, it seemed Samantha couldn’t be convinced to make a move
on Sebastiano Russo. Prim and proper described her to a T.

Because he was her financial planner, Samantha ignored his hot, heavy looks and attempted to keep
their transactions strictly business. In the years since Samantha’s divorce, loneliness was her
bedfellow and her only action came with batteries. She’d lost count of the number of ways she had
fantasized about being taken by Russo. His nightly visits to her dreams would have to suffice for now
because Sam lacked the confidence to act on those dreams.

Knowing that the very thought of Russo would keep her from writing any more that night, she took her
laptop to her room. After thinking long and hard, and spending time giggling about thoughts of long
and hard, she decided it was past time for her to do something about her wants and needs. She was
tired of taking matters into her own hands, so it was time to look for alternatives and find a solution.
Laid back in her bed, trusty vibrator waiting beside her, she flipped through late night programming
on the television while logging into the dating place where her friend had pressured her into creating
a profile. The flashing number six beside her inbox shocked Samantha.

Excited, she clicked her way through the pages of available men, hoping to find the next man to fuck
her senseless. Her toughest decision would be to choose the beach where they would meet. The
Florida Keys would only be a short flight from her hometown of Savannah, so of course, the beautiful
Southern beaches made perfect sense. Never once had she ever considered taking the drastic step of
meeting a stranger for sex. But she was a woman, and she had needs that she was unable to fulfill on
her own any longer. It seemed much simpler than she would have imagined.

The dating site promised complete confidentiality, and the website stated all charges were billed
under a dummy company called The Pipe Cleaners. No way would Russo figure out her plans, and
besides, weeks would pass before he saw the charge on her Visa statement. Though he reconciled her
monthly bills, this purchase would definitely fall under the ‘personal’ heading, and she would be able
to escape his questions.

The more pages she scrolled through, the more her frustration grew as she glanced over the profiles.

“Blond, surfer boy. So nineties. Next!”

“Hmm, the shaved head is nice, but I want something to grab. Next!”

She was glad no one could hear her talking to herself as her fingers clicked one profile after another.

“Too short.”

“Too young.”

“Too, just, UGGHHH!!!! Too everything.”

Samantha looked at her vibrator in disgust. Tired of the damn thing didn’t even come close to her true
feelings. So much time had passed since she’d had sex with a real, live man that her usual fantasies
took longer to get her juices flowing. To make matters worse, she was certain her ex was being
fucked on a regular basis. After all, he married his personal trainer the same day their divorce papers
hit the courthouse.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt the magic friction of a cock stretching and pounding
away at her, and she felt certain cobwebs had grown over her pussy. She hadn’t had sex in over two
years, but memories of Jasper’s complaints about her less than stellar performance still haunted and
taunted her. Years of his abusive verbal vomit had eroded her once vibrant personality, and now,
she’d become a hollow shell.

At thirty-seven, it scared Samantha that she’d had sex with only one man in her life. Left bitter and
broken, she struggled to put any effort into building another relationship. She felt too old and out of
shape to compete with skinny twenty-somethings in a club or bar. She enjoyed quiet wine tastings and
dinners, and keg parties were far from fun unless she wanted to fuck frat boys. Samantha didn’t.

Seriously, the internet and phone call were a whole lot easier than the bar scene. At least this way,
she knew that the man she chose would be disease free because the site guaranteed it. And she would
get to skip the whole dance floor, grope each other, and then stumble away for a drunken wham-bam,
thank you, ma’am.

No thanks. I’ll pass.

She did know that she wanted her brains fucked out by a living, breathing man before she died from
sexual frustration and worn out batteries, but it didn’t look like that was going to come from this site.

And then it happened. A profile caught her attention.

Jaxx. Twenty-four years old. Six feet, seven inches tall. Two hundred seventy pounds of muscle.
Tattoos, oh, that definitely goes in the plus column.

He was breathtaking, and painfully so. Of all the choices, she knew this was the man for her.

Oh. My. God. He’s a younger version of Sebastiano Russo! Sex on a stick. Yum. I can finally pretend
I have my dreams in my hands.

His olive skin tone, dark, wavy hair, and deep, green eyes caught her attention, but the outline of the
long, thick cock in his pants promised that her years of fantasies would be brought to life. She wanted
nothing more than to climb under the covers with her dreams and never crawl out again.

The imagine in her mind caused her pulse to race, and imagining his dick, she slid a finger under the
elastic band of her undies, down between her soft folds, and firmly rubbed her clit. Her panties
caught the first drops of cum as her pussy began to weep. She skimmed a finger deep inside, rubbing
her walls, and when that caused more frustration than satisfaction, she grabbed her rabbit. With the
vibrator moving in and out of her pussy and its ears circling her clit, her free hand reached under and
massaged her flowing juices into her ass. After her tiny bud was well lubed, she pushed a finger past
the tight ring of muscles and imagined his stiff tongue rimming her. The dart of sinful pleasure had her

back bowing and her knees spreading wider to give her better access. Soon, a second finger joined
the first in her forbidden channel, and the thrust of the rabbit increased in speed. Picturing his deep
green eyes worked magic, and she moaned long and loud with her orgasm.

As her breathing evened out, she finalized her decision to order her date. One simple phone call
completed the transaction with no hard work or effort on her part. And for two thousand dollars, a
weekend of all the pleasure and fulfillment she could stand would be hers. Samantha felt certain that
this would be good for several orgasms, and if her luck held, maybe even two in a row. Though she’d
often heard her friends brag about a mythical creature called the Double O, it had always proven
itself to be a rumor as far as she knew, but she was more than willing to try, and try again, if any hope
of bragging rights were within her reach.

At least this way, Samantha was in control. And this time, she was doing the using instead of being
used. So what if she was paying for it. This time, she knew exactly what she was getting for her
money.

Too excited to sleep, she jumped out of bed to pack for her weekend away with her boy toy. A sense
of shame washed over her as she threw her bathing suit and cover-up in the suitcase on her bed. This
move was definitely out of her comfort zone.

What will people think if they find out what I’ve done? Does this make me a whore for buying a man
for the weekend?

This whole idea was so unlike her. She had always thought of herself as private, proper, and
sensible. She always said and did the right thing. She made sure, even in the worst of situations,
people only saw her best, and never did she discuss any of her problems.

Just the very thought of her proper, sensible nature brought a smirk to her face and pushed her to pack
faster. When she finished, her clothes were jumbled together inside her luggage, and from what she
could tell, there wasn’t one complete outfit, only lots of separate pieces. The unusable, unwearable
mess on her bed made her laugh.

Fuck it.

She grabbed a tote bag and threw sunscreen, makeup, a bikini, and toiletries inside, and then
Samantha dumped the pile of clothes on the floor of her closet. She’d sort the mess when she got
home. Anything she needed while she was there, she would just buy. After all, this weekend was
about indulging herself. It had been a while since she’d been spoiled, and now was the time to change
that.

***

“What the hell does that woman think she’s doing? I swear she’s trying to kill me.”

Sebastiano Russo ran his hands over his face. Exhaustion seeped through his bones. After another
sleepless night, he had given up the tossing and turning, and had come downstairs to check over
Samantha’s account. He blinked his eyes several times, and then focused on his monitor again. Nope,
I didn’t read that wrong. The words on his screen knocked him for a loop, but not in a good way.

Fongool! He wondered what in the hell kind of game Samantha was playing. As soon as he saw The
Pipe Cleaners on her credit card statement, he knew what sort of plumbing services she had ordered.
He’d seen similar charges on too many other clients’ accounts, and after wanting her for so long, he
would be putting an immediate stop to her half-baked plans.

When he first met her, his accounting agency was in a period of strong, steady growth, and because he
refused to trust his clients’ money matters to other people, he’d kept a tight rein on each account
handled by his firm. This ensured his clients received the quality they deserved and gave him the
control that he needed. The only two reasons he took Samantha on as a client was because one of his
best accounts had asked it of him as a favor, and at that time, the size of her finances amounted to only
a small fraction of what it was today, requiring minimal commitment on his part. Of course, after the
international success of several of her novels and one series, TV and movie executives took notice,
and her growth then evolved her portfolio into what became one of his largest accounts.

The first time she walked into his office, he saw that she was beautiful, but he had no idea of the
genius that lived in her brain. He envisioned her thick cascade of black curls wrapped tight in his fist
and imagined the silky smoothness of her creamy skin against his tongue. Her petite frame matched
her quiet spirit, but Sebastiano felt certain she harbored a storm behind all that calm. He knew she
had fire buried inside her, and her frustration was bringing it to the surface. His cock had hardened at
the thought of tasting her as she burned. His hands longed to skim her curves.

The moment her beautiful hazel eyes met his, he was a lost cause, until he realized the man behind her
was her husband. He respected the fact that she was married. Okay, that was a lie. He knew her
husband was a sanctimonious prick who preyed on women when Samantha wasn’t looking, but who
was Sebastiano to tell her the truth about her spouse.

At that first meeting, her husband followed her around like a puppy, but he couldn’t be bothered to
open the door for her or pull a chair out for her before he sat. As Samantha organized her papers, her
husband had stared at the secretary’s ass until Sebastiano had finally shut his office door to block the
view. One thing he knew for sure was, if her husband’s eyes wandered while she was there, his hand
would follow when she wasn’t in the room.

The thing that irritated Sebastiano the most was how oblivious Samantha seemed to be of her
spouse’s shortcomings. At least she was willing to take Sebastiano’s financial advice to heart, and
for that simple reason, he was able to help her assets and money grow until her economic situation
left her more than comfortable.

Sebastiano made an extra effort to control himself around her. He never pushed himself on her in any
way, even though every time they met, he always ended up excusing himself mid-meeting to slip into
his office bathroom to relieve his urges. She left such a deep mark on him that all it took was the
sound of her voice to make him hard. He knew his gruff behavior and ill-tempered attitude often left
her confused and thinking that he didn’t like her, but he was afraid if he was nice to her, she would
realize that he was so completely lost in her. He didn’t want her to feel pressured, and he knew from
her quiet manner that she wasn’t ready to put herself out there yet.

Sebastiano watched her wither away and withdraw from the world around her until he worried she

would never recover from the damage that he saw in her eyes. Sure, she remained kind and sweet on
the outside, but the fact remained that anyone who encountered her could tell that his abuse left deep
cuts in her soul.

For far too many years, he waited, worried that she might run if she knew the directions his feeling
had gone. Over time, what started as lust for her had evolved into so much more, and if the depths of
his feelings shocked him, he could only imagine Samantha’s reactions. He kept his desire, his need
for her, locked tight inside, because she was just as closed off today as she was the day that bastard
served her divorce papers.

Sebastiano wanted so much more than sex. He wanted the whole package: her in his bed, her in his
house, her in his life as his wife. And he had no doubt that what he desired was similar to what she
was looking for in her own life. She should feel the sensation of a child moving in her belly or have
the chance to spoon feed oatmeal to a toddler. But the sad fact was, she was alone, all by herself, and
none of these things would happen for them if Sebastiano didn’t place himself in her big picture.

It was time to make his move.

He was tired of waiting for her to see him as the man who could fulfill her every want, every need,
every desire. She deserved to be loved, and he was more than willing to show her how things should
be. When he saw the charge on her credit card for an escort service, he decided that he would make
sure that she understood that they were meant to be together. Sebastiano would make sure that she had
no doubt he was the man she had waited for all her life. After years of watching from afar and waiting
for her to get rid of that jackass of a husband, he was ready to reveal himself to the woman of his
dreams.

La Dolce Vita!

His obsession with her had grown painful, and he refused to feel guilty for interfering with her plans.
One quick call to the fraud department accomplished just what he hoped it would. Her Visa was
frozen until the matter was resolved. With that minor task completed, he raced upstairs to his room,
threw random clothing and toiletries in a bag, and then rushed out to his car. Seemed someone would
be getting a visit this morning.

***

About Crystal Spears

Crystal Spears has always had a passion for literature. She fell in love with reading at an early age.

After spending a decade in business management, she began blogging and book reviewing, only to

find that that didn't satisfy her craving. So, she began to write. Like any Indie out there, she had goals

and dreams. She wrote Talania - a trip down memory lane, a beautiful, contemporary romance novel.

It almost made it to the top, just almost. Someone told Crystal to write what she knew. She gave

serious thought to that advice.

For many years, her father had been CEO of a well-known gun and surplus store in Texas. He then

bought a tattoo shop where Crystal found herself surrounded by bikers. Hardcore bikers. The

Bestselling Breakneck Series was born when Crystal decided to write what she knows. Don't get the

wrong idea. Her Breakneck series is completely fictional, but based on things seen and heard, she

now had a place to start writing from that knowledge. Seize Me was hardcore, and Crystal became

the writer known as the chick with no boundaries. She took the critics the wrong way and made her

next bestseller Withstanding Me a little tamer. Readers were quick to point out that they did not like

that and demanded that Crystal return to gritty writing. When asked if she would write gritty from now

on, her only answer was... "I'll write what my readers want me to write, and I'll also write what I

feel."

Crystal resides in Indiana with her soon-to-be husband and their two children. They have a pit named

Dozer, two fish, and one fancy rat. They enjoy the outdoors, and camp, fish, and go boating as much

as possible. But, while the soon-to-be husband is out hunting this winter, Crystal will be writing three

novels and planning her wedding.

Crystal is a perfect example of never giving up on a dream or a goal. Her goal was to publish a book;

her dream was to become a bestseller. She did both of these, and now, she feels that she'll never

regret leaving business management to become a writer. She stays humble, loves meeting new people,

and is extremely excited to be a part of so many signings in 2014 with some top notch Authors.

A special thanks to my readers for naming some of my characters.

Heather Wynne for Jinx

Sandy Borrero for Everlee

And stay tuned in Damaged me for a pop-up character from

Jennifer Watkins. I fell in love with the character so

much, she will be a series regular in Club Sated.

Document Outline

Table of Contents
Discovering Me
A letter from the author,
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Chapter Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty Four
Chapter Twenty Five
Chapter Twenty Six
Chapter Twenty Seven
Want more Sniper and Piper? Follow the link and click yes. Once Crystal reaches 5,000 yeses, she'll write a novella for them.
Sneak Peek's
About Crystal Spears
A special thanks to my readers for naming some of my characters.

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