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?”

I made a face, staring at the rest of the crew who were, for some fucking reason, sitting all in front of me like I did something.

Did someone see? They did, didn't they? Fucking hell. Doesn't matter. I'm not letting Decker go. No way in hell.

“So…” I drawled, trying to flash my brightest smile at them. “How's the weather—?”

“Stay silent, Remy Lou.” Not a full name. I'm alive. I'm free!

The door opened, and Decker Kane walked in. He didn't look like I'd attempted to break his balls, but that's also probably because he barely showed any emotions to begin with.

My father didn't seem to notice that he looked a little disheveled though. He turned his attention back to me, his eyes cold. He slid a file to me. “Did you know about this?”

I raised an eyebrow and looked down. I opened it. I looked back up. “Why the fuck is Travis Benson with the President of the Serpents Club?”

“That's his baby brother.”

I blinked. Laughed. “That's cute. I know Travis. He's a pussy. A coward. No backbone. Baby brother of a president? He couldn't even pick which restaurant to eat at without having a full-blown panic attack.”

“We didn't say he was a plant, Remy,” Wolf sounded sad. “He's just—”

The sound of my father's hands banging on the table had me jolting as he snapped, “Why don't you ever fucking stay out of trouble?! For once in your entire life, why can't you just stay away from shit that could kill you?!”

I snorted. “This was me staying away from shit that could kill me! I chose him even if I didn't fucking like him! I had to do missionary for months before he even knew there were other positions! I sacrificed my sex life for this!”

Someone tried to muffle a laugh in the background, but Cole Calloway didn't seem to be in the mood. “You think I'm joking? You think this is funny? You know who the Serpents are, don't you?”

I clenched my jaw. “Of course I know who the Serpents are. I'm not stupid, Daddy.”

“Could've fooled me.”

The words came from the asshole behind me.

Something cracked inside my chest that made my vision go red at the edges. “You know what, Kane? You're right. I should have known. I should have done a background check on every person who was nice to me while I was pretending to be normal because your president wanted me to have a real life.”

“Remy Lou—”

“Fuck my vagina too for not having a beacon,” I cut in, glaring at Decker before facing my father. “I'm not sorry that I broke him in though. I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I must.”

My father sighed. “That's the problem. Because Travis is in a coma and his brother, Blake—look, we've had territory disputes, but we agreed not to touch each other. This… this complicates things.”

A… coma…

My chest hummed for a second. Oh. Oh, I didn't… I didn't think that would…

I never loved him.

But he knew how hard I worked to become this version of myself.

And he made me feel stupid for trying.

No. Fuck him. He deserved it. I hope he doesn't wake up. “So what? You want me to leave?”

“Would have asked you to apologize, but you aren't good at that, are you?”

I swear to God, Decker Kane, I will murder you in your sleep.

“You are the beating heart of the Iron Clad Kings. Of my soul. You are… all I have after—” Cole's eyes softened. Only for a moment before he sighed. “It's why he and I had an agreement.”

My blood turned cold. “What fucking agreement?”

“The Serpents are involved in some… good businesses. It's relatively far more safe with them than here. Remy Lou, before you fucking say anything, listen—”

“Over my dead body.”

“Look, the only fucking reason you aren't excited about this engagement is because I'm telling you to be with Blake. To piss me off, you'd be with him anyway.”

“I put his brother in a fucking coma!”

“And he's a business man! We've talked about this. The last thing we need or want is this turning into a full-blown war that we are ill prepared for. Plus, Blake has agreed that this would satisfy him enough not to retaliate, and if you wanna join his club—”

I stood up from my chair. “You know what? You win. I'm fucking leaving. I'm going back to my 'normal' life—”

Hands suddenly pushed me down to the table, forcing both of my arms behind my back as something clamped over them.

“You're gonna be staying with your sponsor in his cabin, and hopefully, he'll talk some sense into you before we meet Blake.” Cole Calloway said in front of me.

I laughed, cranking my head so I could look at my side. “Expected this shit from my father but not from you, Kane. Not like my feelings matter, though, yeah? I'm just a fucking dumb slut without my own wants and desires.”

The word tasted bitter in my mouth. But I said it anyway. Because it was easier to say it first than to hear someone else say it.

The bastard handcuffed me and pulled me upwards. “You talk too much.”

“And you're as bland as a fucking wall. We all have our things.” I faced my father. “My six months are still up. I'm gonna stay here and prove I belong here. If I do, then we're all good. And if I don't, then you can ship me off to whatever snake pit you've arranged for me. Deal?”

I had no fucking plans on leaving this place ever. But what I did know was the moment Decker Kane realized how madly in love he was with me, he'd fight to the death to keep me.

Six months. I had six months.

Cole Calloway's jaw worked, then he said, “Don't fuck it up then.”

I grinned. “Oh, I won't.”

Let the games begin.