I stood frozen in the dim corner of the room, my fingers curled so tightly around a Lone Star beer bottle that my knuckles turned bone-white.
Around me, several Sweetbutts sitting at the corner booth nudged each other, snickering behind their manicured hands. "Look at her," one whispered loudly, wanting me to hear. "Thought she was the untouchable Old Lady. Now she's just Tucker's bed-warmer. Pathetic."
I slammed my beer bottle down on the wooden counter with a sharp, heavy thud. The sound instantly cut through the noise near the bar.
"You want me to be your personal Sweetbutt?" I asked, my voice deadly calm, carrying just enough ice to make the men around us quiet down. "You're delusional, Beau."
Beau's triumphant smile vanished. He shoved past a few patched members and marched toward me, his pale blue eyes flashing with irritation.
"Don't pull this passive-aggressive bullshit with me, Sloane," he demanded, his breath heavy with cheap whiskey. "I just secured the northern highway for this club. It was Farrah who fought side by side with me on the road. We have a bond you couldn't possibly understand. I'm allowing you to stay by my side, and you should be on your knees thanking me."
"Thanking you?" A bitter, mocking laugh escaped my throat. "For breaking the vow of a lifetime you swore on your Cut five years ago? Or for spending my dead father's money while I worked like a mule for your sick mother?"
Beau's face flushed instantly, twisted by pure, vicious fury. He leaned in close, dropping his voice into a cruel, venomous hiss meant to tear my soul apart.
"You think you're still some high-and-mighty biker princess?" he sneered, his words dripping with poison. "Wake up, Sloane! Your father and brothers died in a highway shootout long ago. And your mother, your sister-in-law, even your newborn nephew-they were butchered without mercy by the Vultures in that safe house! You're the only one left! You're a cursed orphan with a dead bloodline. Letting you stay as my plaything is the greatest mercy you'll ever get!"
The words hit me like a shotgun blast to the chest.
The memories of that blood-soaked floor, of my baby nephew's shattered cradle, ripped through my mind in a frantic, agonizing tear. This was the deepest, most devastating wound in my soul. And now, the man I once loved unconditionally was ripping it open in front of a cheering crowd, pouring salt on it just to break me. I bit the inside of my cheek so hard until I tasted copper. I refused to let him see me shatter.
"Beau's right, honey," Farrah drawled, her hip cocked as she strolled over. She linked her arm possessively through Beau's. "He needs a real woman by his side, but I'm not a jealous bitch. I'm totally fine with you staying to warm his bed when I'm tired, as long as you recognize your place. We can coexist."
"Coexist?" I stared at her heavy makeup and the victorious sneer hiding behind her fake sympathy. "I'd rather swallow glass."
"Sloane Keller, watch your attitude!"
Beau's mother, Judith Tucker, marched over, her face twisted in a severe scowl. "Farrah is a heroine. With her around, my heart condition feels so much better! You should be grateful we didn't throw you out to the wolves!"
A wave of sheer, absurd mockery washed over me. Heroine? Heart condition? Just last month, when Judith was dying of a severe heart spasm, it was me who begged the underground doctor, paying him with my secretly saved cash just to keep her breathing.
"You're right. You two are a perfect match," I said quietly, my voice eerily calm, stripped of all warmth. "So let's make it official. I'm done being your free maid, and I'm done letting you bleed my father's legacy dry. Our vows are dead. I'm walking away, Beau. Don't ever expect me to look back."
I didn't wait for their reaction. I turned on my heel, pushed the heavy timber exit doors open, and stormed out into the biting desert night. The tears I had fought so hard to hold back finally blurred my vision.
Suddenly, I slammed hard into a solid wall of muscle and leather.
A pair of massive, steady hands gripped my shoulders, keeping me from falling. A sharp, overwhelming scent of dark tobacco, gun oil, and something distinctly cold and wild washed over me.
"Watch your step," a deep, gravelly voice rumbled above my head, vibrating right through my chest.
I was too consumed by the suffocating agony of Beau's words to care. I didn't look up to see his face. My blurred vision only caught a fleeting glimpse of the heavy patch on his leather Cut-a unique insignia reserved strictly for the inner bloodline of the Redemption MC's National President. I just gently pulled away from his grip, muttered a low "Thank you," and hurried straight to Beau's spare Sportster. I kicked the starter, tearing out into the black night.