My eyes flicked about the room, taking in the scene. I was always on alert. It was a hard habit to break, I’d saved my own ass more than a few times by keeping a close eye on my surroundings.
The front doors swung open with force, the heavy wood banging against the solid walls and cracking with a finality that seemed like some rabid harbinger of death. I immediately recognized the guys who entered. Their leathers bore the Satan’s Outlaw's emblem.
“Edge,” R.J. whispered, ticking his head in their direction so slightly I might have missed it if I wasn’t already clued in.
“Chill, let them make the first move.”
Ghost was next to me on my right only a few seconds later. R.J. stayed on my left, but I saw his hand hover over his shirt ready to lift and grab his gun at the first sign of trouble. Valan and Jake kept to their game of pool. GQ stayed just slightly to my six, his arms around two hot blondes, one of which had been fondling his junk all night. I swear that fucker gets laid ten times more than any of the rest of us, but I saw him stiffen slightly, so I knew he had seen the Outlaws too. In all outward appearance you’d never know we were ready to rumble, but that was how that shit was supposed to look.
The next five minutes would be forever ingrained in my memory.
The seven members of the Outlaws strode forward with purpose in our direction at the exact same moment the front doors of the bar opened again. I blinked. What I saw next defied logic. My beer halfway to my lips, I froze. In total disbelief and shock, I didn’t move a muscle.
Are you shitting me? How is this happening? Where did she come from?
What the fuck was she doing here!?
My girl, my lost love and my deepest regret stood next to a group of girlfriends fully oblivious to my presence or reaction and in total and complete danger.
I hadn’t seen her in four years.
“Fuck,” I whispered, the beer slipping through my fingers and falling to the floor with a shatter.
R.J. saw her next, his own jaw dropping open and gaping like a fish out of water. “Rae.”
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her, that was my first mistake, but it certainly wouldn’t be my last. Had I been watching I would have seen the knife that withdrew from my nemesis’s hand and his quickened steps. I’d been at odds with Bryce ‘Killer’ Hutchinson since middle school (yeah, he has a stupid name and nickname). We hated each other, but the roots of that hatred had much more to do with how bad we fucked with each other more than anything else.
He was a dick.
I was shoved to the side as Ghost blocked Bryce’s intentional attempt to gut me with his knife. The blade sliced into Ghost’s forearm but wasn’t deep enough to make him pause. Without hesitating, his elbow met Bryce’s chin the same moment I snapped into action. Before I could think it through, the five of us ended up in a brawl with the seven of them.
I always liked low odds. Maybe I was just the underdog, but I liked proving people wrong, and I enjoyed shocking them when they found out how strong and fast I was, like in the ring. Boxing had lots of perks. Not many fucked with me once they saw I could kick some serious ass, even less when they found out I was a member of the RRMC. Toss in the fact that I was smart and educated, I was lethal.
Right in the thick of things, throwing kicks and punches, I noticed Bryce recognize Rae and a devilish smile curved his lips. Only a second later my eyes met her startled brown irises, wide with shock.
Baby.
With that one look, so intense and heated, I knew I still owned her heart.
Tonight, she’d know she still owned mine too.
Bryce broke free of Jake’s hold and ran in her direction. I wasn’t sure how I made it to her before he did, but my only thought was that I had to reach her first. I moved so fast I hardly registered the motion. There was something odd about the way my body jolted forward, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. In a split-second decision, I tackled Bryce to the floor, raising my fist and punching him as hard as I could hoping to knock him out.
While we grappled on the floor, the entire bar erupted in chaos.
Fights were breaking out all over as my brothers tried not to involve any citizens, but it was near impossible. The Outlaws were brutal, using more than fists and heavily booted feet in their attacks. I witnessed several sharp blades flying through the air. I heard a grunt and then a scream and lifted my eyes as one of the Outlaws grabbed Rae, a blade pressed to her slender throat.
I couldn’t really say what happened next.
I think I roared like a wild fucking animal and shoved through nearby bodies, using every ounce of strength I possessed to reach her, charging like a goddamn bull. Her frightened whimper increased my rage, and I felt the feral beast inside me thirst for fuckin’ blood.
I saw red.
Nobody was going to hurt my ol’ lady.
The next thing I knew I was on the ground, the stupid fucker beneath me as I let loose. Rae was huddled with her friends, crying and calling my name but I couldn’t stop.
“Pete!”