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“Will the defendant please rise,” Judge Carter orders.

I’m broken out of my scathing glare towards Dan at that moment and look around at my surroundings. Everyone in the courtroom is staring back at me and I start to feel the four walls closing in on me. I’m not given a second to react before I feel an iron grip of a hand on my arm as I’m yanked up by the guard.

“The court finds the defendant, Rhett Miller, on the two counts of murder… guilty,” Judge Carter rings out in the room and my stomach drops.

I knew this was the only outcome after the way things have been handled from the beginning, but it doesn’t make it any less real now. He continues to read off the rest of the trumped-up charges they pinned on me, but the buzzing in my ears drowns them out. My breath comes out in short, shallow pants as the weight of what I’m facing starts to sink in.

“Is there any reason why sentencing should not be imposed at this time?” I hear being called out.

“No, your Honor,” Dan from beside me responds.

“In that case, it is the judgment and sentence of this court that Rhett Miller be imprisoned for a term of twenty-five years to life in the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.”

My knees physically buckle and the iron grip on my arm is the only thing keeping me upright. The sound of a gavel resounds against the walls and then a flurry of activity happens. I find myself being shoved into a white van and being shackled and strapped down. All I can do is put my face in my palms with the chained cuffs around my wrists and try to reconcile what my life has just become.

Present Day

It’s been about eight months since we stormed the farm and saved Sutton from her deranged cult-leader father. The club has been extremely busy sectioning off the land and building businesses to bring in more income for our chapter. The strip club, The Velvet Palace, is almost complete and will be open in the next few weeks. The place is classy on the inside and looks more like walking into a spa rather than the usual strip joints around here. Somehow Riot, Diesel and I have been pulled from the auto shop and put in charge of it. We’ve got a rally up north with our Montana Chapter and when I get back the auditions begin to find the talent.

The tattoo parlor is ready and Hawk is looking for artists to fill the rooms. Brass has the gun range up and going. It’s been pulling in a lot of legit money for the club and Prez couldn’t be happier.

A few months ago, Prez and his Ol’ Lady, Raegan, had their baby boy, Jett, and expanded our family by one. Prez has been antsy about our cartel problem with not hearing a peep from Juan José. We’d killed his only living heir to the Colombian drug empire and taken back his chance to steal Sutton for a revenge scheme. Retaliation is going to happen, but when that day will be is up in the air and we hate having to look over our shoulders all the time.

“You packed for the rally?” Havoc, our VP, asks when he saddles up on a stool at the bar in the clubhouse. Little Rocky is strapped to his chest in one of those baby carriers sound asleep. The baby got his name from the Prez’s younger brother who was killed when he discovered Sutton was kidnapped. Our brother lost his life trying to save Sutton during that time. She was pregnant at the time she was taken by her crazy cult father and the cartel. They named him after our fallen brother. Havoc also has another son from a previous relationship named Zane.

The prospect slides over a beer and Havoc has to angle his head so the bottle doesn’t drip or knock the baby in the head. The entire scene is hilarious. Two years ago, if one of the brothers had mentioned something like this happening in our club, he’d be laughed straight outta his leather cut.

I shake my head and chuckle. “I’m always packed,” I say, and it’s true. I’m ready to go at a moment’s notice. If my club needs to send someone to ride out, I’ve got everything I need in my saddlebags. “Bet you take a little longer these days.” I nod down at his second son.

Havoc’s hand starts to pat little Rocky’s ass. “Thought Zane was gonna be my one and only, but having Sutton walking around the house with my boys makes me want to fill this clubhouse up with more of them.”

Over the last few weeks, I’ve watched from a distance the way Stone and Havoc are with their sons and an ache pulses in my chest. It sends me back to when I was a teenager and all the dreams Remi and I had planned out after college. We had so many plans and backup plans. She had it all written down in a journal. We’d spent a whole day planning out our summer and what we wanted to do each day. Remi was such a planner and I was the complete opposite. It was probably why we fit so well together. There was so much promise and hope when I was with her that it drowned out all the bad that had seeped in growing up. She was the bright light that lit my dark corner up. Now it feels as though a dark rain cloud follows me everywhere.

Jerking my head away from the soft moment, I focus my eyes behind the bar on the shelf of liquor. Tilting the beer up I finish the rest of the contents as Candy, a sweetbutt, slides up next to me. “Need some company?” she asks, barely letting her arm graze mine.

My thoughts are turning dark again. It’s taken me months to get out of the rut after learning that Remi had vanished fourteen years ago. After giving one last look at Havoc and little Rocky, I sever all the hope I have of ever having a family and kids. If the mother of my kids can’t be Remi, then it’s not going to be an option for me. Period.

“Catch you later, brother.” I knock my knuckles on the bar top.

I start to head towards the hall where the rooms are but stop in the alcove. I never take the club girls in my room or bed. Never let them think this is more than a release for me as I fuck them from behind every time. Remi ruined me for all other women. When I’m inside a woman the only face and body I think about is hers. Even after all this time she has a pull on me that I hope to never break.

The gates open to our Montana Chapter and our bikes glide into the compound here in Great Falls. Bulldog has the welcoming committee waiting outside their clubhouse for us. The compound sits on the outskirts of the city, right before Emerson Junction. The layout is almost the same as ours with a huge clubhouse that houses the brothers and several buildings set on over twenty acres.

The music is blaring and women are everywhere as the chapter greets us. Stone backs in and we all line up the same way. My body and muscles let me know how displeased they are as I dismount and stand to my full height. I can hear all the groans from my brothers as they do the same.

“Stone, good to see you brother.” Bulldog comes over to us and both presidents clap each other’s back. “What can I get you for the long ride?”

“I’ll take a beer and woman,” Brass, our road captain pipes up, eyeing the women.

“We’ve got plenty of both,” Bulldog states, then gestures for us to follow him towards the doors of the clubhouse.

We follow him in and the layout of the main room is almost exactly like ours in Sweetwater. They have a large bar along one of the walls with tables, chairs, and couches scattered throughout. Pool tables take up the other side by the stage where several poles are so the women can entertain the men.

Stone, Havoc, and myself take a seat at a table with Bulldog, Hammer, his VP, and Dagger, his Sergeant at Arms. A prospect brings over a case of cold beer and sets it on the table. As we all take a long pull from the cool liquid, I start to relax my muscles from the hard ride.

“Surprised you left home to come to the rally this year after everything your club’s been through,” Bulldog says as we all settle in at the table, the music playing softly in the background. “Don’t think I’d be able to leave my woman for more than a day.”

Stone sets his beer down and levels Bulldog with a hard look. “Never said I left my woman.”