They missed me so much, it was almost unbelievable.

“Jesus Christ, did you get surgery? When did your ass get so big?!” Buggy said, his gold teeth gleaming at me.

“You look so fucking hot, Remy!” An old rookie and friend, Slink, chipped in.

“Hope you're staying forever this time. Almost got the entire pack looking for you. Can't trust those other weak men to treat our princess good, can we, boys?” Wolf Kane, baby brother of Decker Kane, raised his alcohol glass, his eyes glistening at me.

They all cheered loudly in return.

Decker Kane, on the other hand, was keeping his distance. The entire gang had been super excited to see me again and had taken me to their bar.

The women were usually never allowed in there except on rare occasions, so here I was, in my teeny shorts and tight top with all of these men who were drinking for my return.

He's lurking somewhere. I know it.

“But it's good to have you back, though. Not everyone knows how to fix a motorcycle the way you do,” Wolf slid another glass of alcohol to me.

I caught and downed it in seconds. “Glad to be back. Wasn't sure I could stay away any longer, honestly.”

“Not sure how your Father would feel knowing you're back, though.”

Cole Calloway. President of the Iron Clad Kings. My Father, who was so fucking smothering I was sure I'd kill myself.

He didn't want what happened with my Mother to happen to me, so he should have taught me things as protection. But he hid me away from everyone.

Decker Kane was the only reason I survived the real world.

“He missed you, but he really just wanted you to have a normal life, you know? Not being shot at, for once,” Slink said, then winked at the bat still in my hand. “But I guess Calloway's blood is stronger than he thinks, yeah?”

“By the way, how much damage did he get? Do we still need to rough him up?” Buggy asked.

Wolf's eyes lowered. “Buggy.”

“What? Everyone wants to know!”

My hand reached for Buggy's face as I leaned in, my breasts dangerously close to his face as I whispered, “I can even do you one better. Open your mouth.”

Buggy opened with the speed of light.

I picked up my glass and shot down the burning alcohol. Didn't swallow. I positioned my mouth right over his, but before I could spit it back, a rough hand grabbed my wrist and yanked me so hard I almost kissed the floor.

But I strategically let myself fall into his chest, a wide smile flashing across my lips. “Oops.”

Decker Kane was so much taller than I remembered. And larger. I felt like a tiny butterfly in front of a mountain. I wanted to have him pinning me down and on top of me right now. “Enough.”

My hands moved up his chest. “I know what it looks like, but I'm not the bad guy here. I'm the drunk weak one. I'm innocent.”

“Boss, she wasn't—” Slink started, but then he let out a groan, which I was sure came from Wolf elbowing him in his ribs.

Such a good wing man, honestly.

“But maybe I'm not drunk, and you could punish—”

I didn't get to finish the sentence. Decker dragged me like I weighed nothing away from the bar and the eyes of the other guys. We passed so many rooms, and then we were in an office.

He flung me in and shut the door.

I grinned and turned around. “Well, well, well. I didn't think you wanted me that badly, but if you're going to be so rough—”

“This is your Father's office. He'll be here in ten minutes.” So gruff. So cold. “Sit.”

I didn't. I moved even closer. “I promise you, a minute inside me, and you'd have the best orgasm of your—”

“Remy.”

That voice. He said it in that same tone that made me realize how madly obsessed with him I was at nineteen. Decker Kane was a quiet man, but for some reason, with me, he talked like I was his property. His to ruin and keep.

I liked the idea of it too much.

I scoffed and moved back to one of the seats there. “Whatever. Ruin my fun. See if I care.”

He said nothing.

“So what? You're gonna stand there brooding like a turkey? At the very least, get the fuck out and leave me alone if you're not gonna have a conversation with me—or take out your dick.”

“Is that all you learned outside? Sex? Is that all you care about now?” He cut in, his eyes hard. “The Remy I knew had dreams. She wasn't… this way.”

My heart stung. “Fuck. You. You don't know shit about me. You fucking abandoned me for three years. Didn't look for me. Didn't even fucking call. I'm sure you were as glad as my father was that I was gone, weren't you? Problem child finally out of your hands. Could take your early retirement now.”

He might have given you all of his attention as a kid, but you're grown now. No one wants you. No one gives a fuck about old Remy Calloway. She's just loud and silly and such a burden.

His eyes hardened into rocks. “Are you done?”

Hurt thrummed through my veins, but I knew better than showing it. “You can't win this, Decker, and you know it. You can avoid looking at my tits for as long as you want, or clenching your hands into fists, but you're gonna want me. And when you do, you're going to beg and crawl for it. I'm gonna make you pay for every single emotion I felt. Maybe not now. But so very soon. Hold me to that.”

Fortunately for me, I didn't have to hear his response because the door to the office slammed open and a too-familiar voice said, “Remus Lou Calloway.”

Fuck. Full name. Double homicide.

I winced. “Hi, Daddy.”

I looked much more like my father than I did my mom which wasn’t too disappointing especially since he was still a stud at fifty. Gray hair that made him like a silver fox in his prime. And those dark eyes that spelled trouble.

Made sense why mom fell for him.

Also made sense why I fell for Decker.

“Kane.” His voice was low. “Out.”

Mhm. Should not have run my big mouth to a certain man.

The second Kane left, my father spoke, “Sit.”

I crossed my arms. “No ‘baby girl, I missed you?’ Or ‘welcome home, there’s always a place for you in my court?’ Cause that’s what I need right now after what Travis—”

“Everyone knows you hated that coward so the pity party you desire won’t work.”

I sighed. “I’ll take my losses.”

The second I moved to sit, my father had reached me in three strides and wrapped me up in his arms. He smelled masculine, but with a mix of engine oil and the sun and all those things I liked about getting hugs from him when I was six. “You look like shit.”

I didn’t hug him back. “It’s because I look like you.”

When he pulled away, his dark eyes roamed my body. “Is the bastard dead?”

I shrugged. “Hopefully not. I got too mad to ask why he was fucking my best friend so I’ll need to ask later— and he needs to be alive, Daddy. Stop glaring at me like that. You can kill him later,”

He reached out and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “I never said I was gonna kill him.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. Sure.”

“Are you staying, Remy Lou?”

I wanted to. Fuck, I wanted to. But my father’s already staring at me like whatever answer I give will break him, and I… I don’t think I’ll stay too long if what I came for doesn’t work. “Who knows? I’m gonna test the waters. Hopefully return with a fish and shit,”

“You always had a way with words. Ever got that arts degree you wanted?”

“Yes, actually.” I said quite proudly. “Graduated with honors too.”

He made a face. “You didn’t invite me for graduation?”

“Pops, I didn’t do that shit. I was pretending to be normal but I couldn’t pretend for too long, that shits exhausting.”

“I see. So we are throwing you a party as soon as we can.”

“Dad—”

Cole Calloway made a face. It was something of a ‘dare me’ and ‘I will slap you hard across the face’, and if he hadn’t changed too much, then a slap was coming my way if I didn’t shut up. “Understood. Under one condition.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t see how you are in a position to have conditions,”

“You don’t have to see it.” I shrugged. “I wanna get patched in.”

Silence, then him walking to his leather seat. “No.”

“I’m twenty two years old—”

“And you could be fifty,” He cut in. Seeing my father in that leather swivel chair after these three years was a strange sight. I used to be so afraid of him on that thing but I wasn’t anymore. “You said you got your degree, you can—”

“With all due respect, I already lived a civilian life. I didn’t fucking like it. That’s the point.”

“You don’t have to like it. Look, you’re going to have to pick your poison. You stay here and you’re the princess as you’ve always been, or you can leave and I don’t imprison you—”

“I’m your kid. Yours, for crying out loud,” I cut in. “You gotta give me a chance. If it… if it doesn’t work, then you can… I don’t know, ground me or whatever, but we’re family. I know you want me here. When are you gonna stop being a big baby about it?”

The Cole Calloway I knew as a teenager would have had me counting rice seeds for my insolence… but this time, he stared at me with this same old look he’s had recently and said ever so quietly, “Alright. Six months. But you’re gonna have to earn your kutte like everybody else,”

“Six months? But I know the entire rule book already. I’m also a Calloway—”

“And that's exactly why it's six months.” My father leaned back in his chair. “You think I'm gonna let you waltz in here and get special treatment? You wanna be one of us, you earn it. No shortcuts. No daddy's girl privileges.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but he held up a hand.

“Six months, Remy. You follow orders. You keep your mouth shut when you're supposed to. You prove you can hang without me pulling strings. You’re also keeping the bat down,” His dark eyes pinned me in place. “And you stay away from Kane.”

“He's the VP. How am I supposed to—“

“Figure it out.”

“Fine. And my sponsor?”

“Decker Kane.”

“What in the actual fuck—?”

“Leave my office, prospect,” He flipped through the files on his table. “Some of us have real jobs,”

I wanted to scream at him, or at the very least, break his table, but I didn’t. Instead, I walked out of his office with a fire in my belly that threatened to turn into a full blown out rage party—

Until my face fell on Decker Kane who had apparently heard the entire conversation and was already looking like I had stolen his soul.

I grinned and walked up to him. “Well, hello—”

“You’ll regard me with respect, Prospect,” But he looked like he was using all of his might to hold back something.

I could push. I should push. But I wasn’t sure I would survive staring at the look on his face without taking my panties out and presenting it to him on a gold platter so I backed away. “Understood, sir. See you tomorrow,”

Then the moment I found my old room, bit hard on the headrest and rode my fingers thinking of him inside me instead.

“Never seen anyone look this pretty to unclog a toilet before. You seen it before, Slink?” Buggy asked.

Slink, the two-timing bastard, leaned backward into the cars. “Been in a rundown club with piss being sprayed in the air. Never a pretty woman going at it with shit.”

I stopped my momentary pounding, the mask on my face hiding my lips but not my eyes as I glared at them. They looked elsewhere immediately. Wolf was the only one still staring at me. “I'm sorry, Remy. I didn't… I didn't think he'd put you here.”

“Tell me how sorry you are one more time, and I will shove this plunger on your face.”

“Understood.”

Decker Kane appeared in my room by six a.m., claiming I'd already missed orientation with the other prospects and because of my lateness and my disappointing him, I was to do whatever the other members wanted.

Hell, I thought he was joking, so I did my hair and makeup, wore a flannel shirt, shorts, and high-heeled boots—but the bastard meant it.

I knew the rule book like the back of my hand. Some little handy jobs here and there, fix some bulbs, wash some cars, go on a few errands—but it didn't matter. As long as he could see me being hot and efficient. Fucking perfect combo.

But after cleaning the dishes and doing the laundry, I was doing this.

And he wasn't even here to witness it?!

“YES. YES. YES!” The sound of the flusher going down was music to my ears before I turned around, trying to hold back a scream. “I did it.”

“Yeah,” Buggy said, scrunching his face. “But could you stop moving that damn plunger around—”

I made a stabbing motion toward them with it. They all flinched. “Fuck. I'm so hungry. Is someone gonna—?”

“Well, hello, little lady. Never seen you around here before. A new club girl or something?”

I turned my head to the voice. New face. Faces. Three girls in blond, red, and black wigs. Club girls. I wondered which one Decker fucked. “Or something.”

Wolf made a face. Buggy stared at me, then back at them with a slightly confused look. Slink was staring at me like it was a soap opera.

“You gotta dress a tad bit respectfully, then,” said the girls, who were wearing practically nothing. “Makes you seem desperate if you're not covered properly and shit. We at least have men.”

“You at least have gonorrhea, but I'm not gonna attack you, sweetheart. We all gotta eat at the end of the day,” I said, placing the plunger down.

“Ha, you really shouldn't be talking to me like that. Can't you see the fucking jacket I have on? Can't you see the property of Reaper King patch on it?”

Bingo.

I lunged with the plunger before any of them could stop me, ready to shove their fucking face into the shit-covered thing before a human wall blocked me, grey eyes staring down at me in familiar disappointment. “Put it down, prospect.”

I had pulled back the plunger as quickly as I thought possible, but some of its… contents had managed to fall right on his chest. He didn't react to it though. Instead, he stared at me hard and serious.

I dropped it down.

“Apologize to her.”

My familiar anger returned. “But she fucking—”

He raised an eyebrow.

I bowed my head. “I… I apologize for my conduct. Please, forgive me—”

“Serves you right, whore—”

I jumped, ready to rip her hair out, but the moment I did, Decker lifted me up and placed me on his shoulder, dragging me away as I screamed at the idiots, then at him. “You taught me about sexual hygiene, but you're fucking the club girls?! Jesus Christ, if you're that desperate, you can call me over, and I'll spread my legs with no hesitation. And you can even guess what? No fucking disease!”

My ass met the concrete floor when he dropped me. We were in another garage. An abandoned one now. And as I stared up at him, he glared back down at me. “You don't touch anyone with a patch, do you understand? You are nothing. A rat. A speck of dust—”

“Do you fuck her?”

“Do you even want to be in Iron Clad or not?!” He yelled back.

Fear flashed through me, but then it settled into my belly as something darker. My middle pulsed as my heart raced, and I asked again, “Do you fuck her?”

Decker Kane stared at me like he was deciding whether to kill me or maim me. Then he raked a hand through his hair. “Chrissy has my kutte for safety purposes. She can be real desperate, and the guys… tend to take advantage of that, but now that she's mine, she has bragging rights. And bragging rights means she also maintains a distance with the guys.”

Relief flooded my being, but I didn't want him to know that. “Used a lot of words to say you're not fucking her, then.”

His jaw flexed. “What the fuck do you want from me?”

I rose from the floor and dusted my shorts. “A fucking honest response, maybe? I am hot and sexy and so fucking aware of the fact that you find me irresistible. This whole deal of you brooding around me is because you like me. But if you wanna reject me like you did last time, be a fucking man and—”

He pinned me to the wall, his lips hovering over mine as he stared into my eyes. “You talk too much instead of doing your fucking job.”

His breath was hot against my lips, and I could smell the whiskey underneath it. He didn't drink. He never did. Which meant something else. “Did you stop smoking?”

He didn't move away. I waited for him to answer, but his grey eyes dropped to my lips, his hand tightened on my wrists like he was fighting every instinct to pull me closer.

Then he stepped back. “I quit.”

My breath caught. I wanted to scream. I wanted to grab him by that stupid leather jacket and kiss him until he forgot his own name. But I had to maintain some useless form of decorum.

Learned that straight from 'society'.

“Because I told you to?”

He didn't answer.

I scoffed and made it three steps toward the door before his voice stopped me. “Remy.”

I turned, heart hammering.

“The rules of this club are not a suggestion.” His eyes hardened. “You step out of line again, and I'll have you scrubbing toilets for the next six months. And I won't be nice about it.”

“Wouldn't expect you to be,” I said, grinning despite myself. “Where's the fun in that?”

His jaw tightened. “Get out.”

I saluted him. “Sir, yes, sir.”

As I left, I practically skipped all the way back there—that was until I noticed the group standing in a circle back at the main house and my father saying, “We need to talk. And where the fuck is Decker?”