Chapter One

L oud banging followed by a deep shout penetrated the Havlin Motorcycle Club clubhouse bedroom door. Ruger rubbed the rag over the oil filter while watching Rachel sit cross-legged on the bed.

For the last couple of months, after escaping Los Li, he'd let Rachel stay in the clubhouse with him. She had no one at home because her brother was incarcerated at the state prison, and she needed time to heal from all the injuries she obtained at the hands of Los Li.

He rarely left the room and joined his MC brothers because Rachel panicked whenever he stepped into the hallway or went outside to smoke. It was easier to stay inside. When it was only the two of them, she relaxed and played games on his phone.

She seemed to know how to use the device, which was more than he could do with it. He knew how to make calls by finding names and could swipe to answer a call, but all the other things on the screen were foreign and went unused.

He held up the oil filter and inspected it for damage. He thought Shady would've contacted him by now, letting him know it was safe to take Rachel home.

Shady mentioned he and his sister had a house in Offshore, about forty minutes from Seaglass Cove. Whenever he mentioned taking her home, Rachel threw her arms around him and refused to let go.

He had better things to do than stay inside the room and babysit Shady's little sister. His confinement came at the wrong time. His daughter married his best friend since he returned to the clubhouse. He struggled to accept that the man he called brother and had asked to watch over Katrina eighteen years ago was now her husband.

As far as he knew, while he was in prison, Katrina hadn't even taken the time to date and hang out with kids her age. She'd stuck by Jagger's side for years, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do from inside his cell.

Because Jagger had broken the bylaws by getting involved with Katrina, Ruger set the punishment the moment he recovered from dealing with Los Li.

The president of Havlin had put his life up as a bargaining chip and was willing to die for Ruger's daughter. He set the filter down. Because of Jagger's sacrifice, Katrina's love, and Rachel freaking out when the punishment was going down, he let Jagger live.

"I'm going out." He straightened from the chair. "You coming?"

"No." She turned her head, letting her black hair curtain her face.

He left her in the room. For understandable reasons, she always stayed in the room. Everyone was a stranger to her. The only person she knew was him. She trusted the wrong man. Just because they spent time together while he saved her from her kidnappers didn't mean she knew him.

He wasn't looking to add another person to his life. Katrina adding Jagger to the family was enough. He also had a newly discovered little sister popping into his life. Cora caused him all kinds of hell, always wanting to bring up the past he'd buried long ago.

Rachel needed to go home. The sooner, the better.

She was getting too attached. In the end, she was going to get hurt if she depended on him.

He walked through the clubhouse, ignoring the other Havlin members, and pushed out the back door. Lighting a cigarette, he carried the oil filter he'd cleaned to his Harley. While he smoked, he reinstalled the part.

Every day, stuck in the room, got longer. He wanted to get out and ride. But until he received word back from Shady, he could do little with Rachel. It wasn't like he could dump her in the driveway of her house and ride away.

Los Li knew where she lived. It was no longer safe unless her brother got released from prison and protected her.

Maverick, an MC brother, approached and stood beside Ruger's bike. He glanced up and kept tightening the filter down. Maverick was the closest to Ruger's size out of all the Havlin members.

"How long are you staying around?" Maverick squatted and looked at the bike.

"I put a transfer in with the Mother Chapter to ride under Jagger." He dropped the wrench into the roll-up pouch and stood. "Problem?"

"Nope."

He glanced at Maverick again. Usually, his MC brother coughed and cleared his throat constantly when he spoke. He hadn't heard him cough once.

He knew Maverick from inside prison. They recognized each other's dragon tattoos but had never ridden side by side because they'd both served long sentences. But on the inside, they'd often share information, and they always had each other's backs from different ends of the prison.

"I'm supposed to give this to you." Maverick held out a slip of paper.

He opened the folded paper. There was a local phone number written down. Nothing else.

"What's this?" he asked.

"I got a call this morning from an acquaintance in the state pen. He had a message from Shady that he wanted to pass on to you. He's—"

"I know who he is." He held the info in his hand. "What's the number for?"

He'd rather know what the hell Shady was doing contacting someone else. If he had a free phone call from prison, Rachel's brother should've called him and asked about his sister.

"You're supposed to set up a place and time to return the girl."

His gut tightened. Shady expected him to hand her over to some fucker off the street?

"How'd you get involved?"

Maverick cleared his throat. "Hell if I know."

"Do me a favor and use your phone to call that number." He narrowed his eyes, prepared for the backlash of the order.

"Still haven't figured out how to use the cell?" Maverick pulled out his phone.

He gritted his teeth and handed the paper back to Maverick. It was the simplest things that frustrated him. The phone. Debit cards. Pumping his gas because the laws had changed while he was incarcerated, and now no one was at the pump ready to do the job for him. Even finding out how to turn on the television took an instruction manual. He still needed to figure out where and how to listen to music. Nobody had a stereo anymore. He felt stupid and angry.

He'd rather walk through life alone than feel the constant pressure of living in a society that had outgrown him.

Rachel needed to go back to wherever she belonged. She could surround herself with her people, who could care for her. All he could do was keep her in a bedroom, and that was no life to live for a young woman.

Maverick tapped the screen and then handed Ruger the phone. The call connected.

"Yeah?" answered a male.

"I got your number." He wasn't going to give him a name. That's not how he played the game. If the guy wanted more information, he'd have to volunteer some of his own. As far as he knew, the person on the other side of the call could be a Los Li member, ready to finish off the job and kill him.

"You need to bring Rachel to Offshore. There's public parking lot near the marina. I'll expect you there at three o'clock today."

"Who is this?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter."

He gazed around the area. "I won't hand her off to anyone unless I know she's safe."

"Shady's got a dent in his skull because of you," said the man on the other end of the call.

Ruger's suspicions fell away. Shady had tripped over Ruger's feet in the pen and knocked his head into the toilet. It took six stitches to hold the skin together, and he was left with a dent on his head. No one could see it through his hair, but Shady had a good time blaming Ruger for the damage.

No one would know about that incident unless Shady had told them. The information eased his concern that Los Li had tracked him down already.

"Does she have somewhere safe to go?" he asked.

"She'll be taken care of."

"That's not what I asked." He paused. "Will she be safe?"

"She'll be safe."

He disconnected the call and handed the phone back to Maverick. There was nothing more for him to do. At three o'clock, he'd hand over Rachel to someone else to take care of. When he'd gone after her, he'd done so as a favor to Shady. Now, his debt was paid.

Jagger rode to the back of the building and parked his Harley. Ruger walked over to the man he'd thought of as a brother until Jagger got involved with Katrina. The reminder of their relationship was one more thing that had changed in his life that he had no control over.

"Got a second?" he asked.

Jagger set the helmet down on the seat of his bike. "Shoot."

"I'll be riding out later." He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket. "It's time for Rachel to leave."

"Do you need riders?"

He shook his head. "I can handle it."

The back door opened. Ruger turned, seeing Katrina. He watched her go straight to Jagger's side and not him. Damn, that burned.

She was his whole world. Even though he wasn't with her for eighteen years, she was the constant in his head. His dreams. His nightmares. They all centered around her.

Jagger had Katrina her whole life. All he'd had was the first four years with her, and he wanted more time. Just the two of them. They were family. He owed Katrina for all the years he was gone.

He walked off and tossed his smoke in the sand-filled bucket by the door.

"Hey," yelled Jagger. "Call if you change your mind."

He waved his hand, letting Jagger know he heard, and walked into the clubhouse. There wasn't much to do to get Rachel ready to leave. She had no belongings. Most days, she wore one of his t-shirts. He stopped, turned around, and went back outside.

"Katrina?" He walked up to his daughter. "Rachel needs clothes. She's leaving today. Can you get her something to wear?"

If he tried putting his clothes on her small frame, the clothes would whip off in the wind.

"Okay." Katrina raised her brows. "I'll find something for her to wear."

It was obvious Katrina wanted Rachel gone. Maybe now, his daughter would get rid of the attitude toward him, and they could work on having some kind of father/daughter relationship. She was going to have his grandchild in a few months. He'd like to have a part in his grandson's life.

"Thanks, baby." He went back inside and walked to the bedroom.

He wasn't going to bail on his family the way his parents stepped out of his life the moment their picture-perfect family got a little dirty.

He opened the door and checked the clock on the wall. He only had a half hour to get Rachel ready before they had to leave.

Having jumped up from the couch when the door opened, Rachel stilled and relaxed at the sight of him. He hated how fear always set in whenever he walked through the door.

Los Li had damaged her. It would take years for her to recover, if possible.