Page 34 of Property of Kevlar

“No!” a woman shouted from behind them.

All three men whirled.

“Absolutely not,” Vanessa, Jerry’s niece and the widowed old lady of one of Kevlar’s former club brothers, came barreling toward them. “We did the biker thing once. We don’t want it again.”

The petite blond woman, with massive fake tits and far too much makeup for the middle of the afternoon, placed her hands on her hips defiantly and glared at the two of them.

“We may be a place where bikers frequent, but we aren’t partnering again. That ship has sailed.”

This was a hurdle Kevlar hadn’t expected.

“It’s okay,” Jerry reassured her.

She shook her head. “You’re more than welcome to come drink here, but leave your cuts at home. We aren’t that kind of place anymore.”

Kid laughed.

She glared.

Kevlar sighed. Why were the women of Oklahoma City, and his past, pissed that he had come home? Wasn’t anyone happy to see him?

Then again, his family hadn’t been the only ones to lose someone when the Roughneck Riders fell. Her old man, the father of her kids, died. That was a hard pill to swallow.

“Us coming home is not going to be the same.” He’d be telling a lot of people that.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“The Royal Bastards aren’t the Roughneck Riders,” Kevlar clarified. “They’re better.”

“How’s Gunnar?” Kid asked about her son.

Her chin lifted. “Don’t—”

“Does he still draw?” Kid continued.

“This isn’t about—”

“We were once family.” Kid scooted closer to her and took her hand.

Her throat bobbed with a swallow, and the tough exterior softened ever so slightly.

Kevlar studied Kid. Had he missed something all those years ago? Entirely possible. He had his head pretty far up his own ass at the time.

As an old lady, she would’ve been off-limits to the brothers. She was essentially married, though not legally, to Diesel, the man who had fucked everything up and tried to have Harper killed while conducting a coup. He was the reason the Roughneck Riders were gone.

None of that was Vanessa’s fault. There was a lot of baggage to unpack.

Kid held her gaze. “We’re back,” he whispered.

Kevlar and Jerry exchanged looks. The bar owner shrugged.

What the hell was going on? Kevlar didn’t dare ask because he didn’t want to ruin it. Instead, he let his brother work his magic.

“For good.” Kid smiled warmly.

“The arrangement won’t be like last time?” Vanessa asked.

Kid shook his head. “It’ll be better.”