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The man, Reaper, shifts his body slightly and brings his face that was tucked in my neck up. A set of dark eyes come into view and for a moment I’m transported back to fourteen years ago to the same set of eyes that I fell in love with. The ones that I look into every day that match my son. I briefly close my eyes because there’s no way this man is Rhett and I’m starting to believe I hit my head harder than I thought.

Two sets of hands come down and yank the man up from his black leather vest but with the hold the guy has on me I’m lurched up with him. I screech from the shock the sudden movement upwards has on me and a dizziness makes my head wobble with the change of stance. I’m still in the man’s hold but feel another arm band around my waist. The arm tugs hard on my middle section, letting a whimper escape my throat. The action is fast but the hold the customer has on me is unrelenting and I feel like I’m being torn in two. An arm breaks through the tug-o-war and plants across the guy’s face, snapping the jaw to the opposite shoulder. The hold he has on me loosens slightly and it’s enough for me to be jerked around and passed off to Titus. He moves me down the stage towards the back where the curtains and back rooms are located.

The sound of glass breaking and flesh pounding flesh reaches my ears as I’m set on my feet.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” Titus asks as he steadies me.

I nod my head, not able to form proper words at the craziness that just occurred as my eyes cut to the crowd of men beating the shit out of each other. They all seem to be wearing the same black vest as they pummel into one another.

I focus on the four men on stage by the pole I was just dancing on. A large man with light brown hair and Cole’s friend, Nash, who I’ve met several times are circling each other as they take turns throwing jabs. Cole and the man who tackled me are locked in on each other with hits to the body of each other. I can hear the grunts as their punches connect to the opposing person.

When they turn positions, I start to get a better view of the man who started this entire mess. The stage lights zone in on his appearance and even though it’s been well over a decade since I saw his actual face I’d know him from anywhere. He’s gotten even bigger since high school. The muscles stretching across his body flex with each step and shift of his weight as he weaves and dodges Cole’s punches. Rhett’s arms are covered in ink and is such a contrast to the white undershirt he’s wearing. His hair is still the same, shaved closed to the scalp on both sides with it longer on top. He looks even more handsome than he did when we were kids.

Rhett and Cole continue to exchange shots to the face and body as my head clears slightly from the fuzziness. I need to stop them from this, from hurting each other. I’m sure there’s been some type of misunderstanding. As I go to take a step away from Titus and towards Rhett my body flushes and a tunnel forms in my vision. It’s like the closer I try to get to him the further away he becomes. My head starts to pound and little sparkles cover my sight.

Maybe I’m dreaming all this after everything I’ve learned today, I think, before I’m shoved into darkness.

Seeing Remi in the flesh sent a feeling of shock throughout my entire being. I’d finally come to accept the fact that she was gone, even though I hoped I was wrong. I’d had Hawk pull all that he could from the case file on her missing person cold case. It was as though the department didn’t put a lot of effort into a missing sixteen-year-old girl at all. Or it was her grandparents that made sure no one pursued the investigation.

To see her on stage at a strip club in Montana was not what I was prepared for. The moment she tossed the fedora off her head and looked out over the crowd it was like I was sent back almost fourteen years ago.

I flew out of my seat when I realized that she was about to flash the entire club with the perfect tits that I was once the first person to touch. Something primal in me unleashed and I acted. I’m not even sure how I managed to get on the stage so quickly but I made it before she had the chance to make that final motion. She seemed so little underneath me but still smelled like I remembered—home. She smelled like home. Something I haven’t felt in a long time.

Questions race through me as I cover her, making sure she doesn’t disappear on me. Then I feel the hard metal of a gun being pressed to my head and I lose all those thoughts. Fight mode is all I’ve become accustomed to since being tossed into hell at just sixteen years old. Prison changes people, especially when you are a kid put in there with grown-ass men.

Shaking those thoughts, I focus on the situation around me. When I’m pulled up by my cut I refuse to let go of Remi and instead bring her up with me. My thoughts are on getting her out of here and somewhere safe for us to talk, but when Bulldog wraps an arm around her body my eyes flash red. Seeing someone’s hands on her doesn’t look right, which has me unfocused and caught off guard at the fist that lands on my jaw and snaps my head to the side. That momentary lapse breaks the seal on the grip I have on her and she’s taken from me. All rational thought leaves me and I lurch forward without thinking.

“Oh fuck!” I hear Stone mumble, but don’t pay any attention as Bulldog and I square up.

I’m breaking all sorts of club rules by attacking another chapter’s Prez, but I’d battle an entire army to get to that woman, even after everything I’ve been through.

Stone is next to me going at Hammer as the rest of the Texas Chapter of Dead Road faces off with the Montana Chapter. Fighting isn’t something we shy away from as a club, in fact, we welcome it to let off stress and steam.

“You shouldn’t have touched her,” Bulldog spews, blood trickling down the cut on his lip where I just caught him with a left hook. I’m sure I don’t look much different.

I scoff. “You don’t know the story here. Stand down,” I growl.

His eyes widen slightly at my retort. Bulldog isn’t one to back down on anything and it seems to only rile him up more. The problem is that I feed off of other’s energy and then use it against them. I wait for the perfect opportunity before striking and finishing my opponent.

We lock in and stand toe to toe as we each throw punches. I’m ready to make my move when I spot Remi over Bulldog’s shoulder. She starts to take steps towards us but her legs wobble. I’ve seen this before and know she’s just a few seconds before passing out. In a quick second I sweep Bulldog’s legs out from under him, sending him onto his ass, then race over to Remi as she drops down towards the floor. Catching her in my arms, I pull her tiny body into mine and place her head on my shoulder where I can feel soft puffs of breaths on my neck.

The bouncer steps up to charge at me while I’m holding my unconscious girl, and I kick out my booted foot towards the side of his knee, snapping him down and on his side in pain. Survival mode isn’t something I’ve felt in a long time, probably since my early time in prison, but I’m on high alert and anyone who comes close is considered a danger now.

I’m looking around, trying to find an exit, when I see Prez approaching.

“Is she okay, Reaper?” he asks. His hands are up in a surrender and he must see the feral look on my face.

I nod, but hold her a little tighter to me.

“Fucking hell, brother! Haven’t had that good of a fight in a long time,” Brass pipes up, pocketing his brass knuckles.

“How ‘bout we get her checked out, yeah?” Havoc comes and stands next to Stone and Brass.

The room is starting to quiet down and more conversations are happening instead of things being broken.

Bulldog charges towards us but Stone catches him before he can break through my brother’s formation.

“Easy, Bulldog, he’s not gonna hurt her,” Stone appeases the other Prez. “Show us where we can lay her down and get her checked out.”