Page 2 of Psycho

“I’ll make you a deal.” Crouching down to their level, I pulled a dirty rag from my back pocket. Then I scrubbed at their little fingers until they were covered with black grease. “Go play tag with Uncle Bruiser. For every handprint you leave on him, I’ll buy you a big, fat gumball from the gumball machine in the garage’s front office. How does that sound?”

Mia and Casey whooped with delight and ran off.

A moment later, Bruiser gave a shout of indignation.

When we needed an Enforcer for The Reckless Order, it was a no-brainer and the easiest unanimous decision we ever made to vote Bruiser into the position. With his history as a former Navy SEAL, he was a machine of brute strength and tactical intelligence. Pissing him off was a bad idea and no one made that mistake twice.

But he would lay down his life to protect his club and the people he cared about.

And he was the biggest pushover when it came to kids.

Bruiser dodged left and right as Mia and Casey chased him, their grubby little mitts reaching out. He caught Casey by the scruff of his shirt, lifting him off the ground until Casey’s legs were swinging. Then he placed a massive paw on top of Mia’s head, holding her at bay.

“You bastard,” he bellowed at me. “This was your idea.”

I cackled and waved.

Bruiser and I butted heads every now and then, pestering the shit out of each other. But when I was a young Prospect in need of a sponsor, he put his neck on the line to vouch for me. He might be an insensitive ass most of the time, but I owed my cut and my patches to his support. I wouldn’t be a member of The Reckless Order without his help.

Hades shook his head as he joined me.

“I hope you enjoy looking over your shoulder, because he’s going to kick your ass for that.”

I shrugged.

“Worth it. Those kids are having the time of their lives.”

Hades nodded, watching Mia and Casey with pride in his eyes. A bittersweet pang twisted in my chest. My father never looked at me like that. I hoped those kids realized how lucky they were.

I cleared my throat, pushing down memories of the past.

“So, I’m almost done fixing up Jenny’s van,” I said. “Her radiator was leaking like a sieve. And…I found this on the front seat.”

I held up a napkin scrawled with writing in black marker, turning it toward Hades. He frowned and grabbed it.

“Some fucker gave my Jenny his name and number?”

“You had to know she wasn’t going to stay single forever,” I pointed out.

Hades crumpled the napkin and flicked a scathing glance in my direction. He shoved it in the pocket of his cut with a growl.

Despite signing divorce papers over seven years ago, Hades couldn’t accept the separation. He didn’t even look at other women, let alone start dating again, because he still called his ex-wife my Jenny.

Their relationship gave me fucking whiplash—hot and cold, up and down, fighting like cats and dogs, then making out like teenagers.

“She didn’t tell me about this,” Hades grumbled.

“Probably because you’d make the son of a bitch mysteriously disappear,” I countered. “A decade later, his bones would be discovered, scattered across the mountainside as coyote chew toys.”

He huffed.

“If that’s what it takes to protect my wife.”

“Ex-wife,” I reminded him.

Hades waved me off, dismissing the correction.

“You wouldn’t understand what I have with my Jenny. The last woman you dated, she mentioned marriage once, and you ran for the goddamn hills.”