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“Looking good, Flash.”
He grins and moves in and high fives me.
“Good to see you, Sam. How’s life treating you?”
I smile. “Very good as it happens.”
He laughs. “Yes, I heard you had one of our own staying with you. One of our finest.”
I frown and he laughs. “I’m happy for you, man. Kitty’s a good girl. You did well.”
I push down the anger I feel at the knowledge he knows her intimately as do most of them I’m guessing. I’ll have to reason with myself over her past life because I won’t let my petty jealousies stand in the way of our future.
He waves me inside. “I’m guessing you’re here to see Ryder. He’s through here.”
I follow him into the massive clubhouse. All around me are decent folks’ versions of Hell. Massive bikers sprawl everywhere, drinking or pressed against a woman. The TV is loud and challenging, and the air is thick with banter and expectation.
These men fight hard but party harder. I try not to picture Katherine here as I watch one of them fondle a willing girl nearby. I swallow hard as the rage eats me up inside. Her words echo around my head as she told me this image would follow us through our future, but I push it away. Our life begins tomorrow and everything that’s happened before ceases to exist.
I wish I could push away the images of my own sordid past so easily. They come back to visit during my nightmares, and work has always been my only salvation—until now.
Then I see him watching me approach. My arch rival and the one I love the most. My closest brother who saved my life and the reason I’m here today. He also sent me Katherine so any pain I feel evaporates at the realization that without him I wouldn’t have such a promising future ahead of me.
I look with interest at the beautiful woman sitting next to him. She has her hand in his and looks at me with a smile, and I can see why he fell so hard. She’s beautiful and has a softness to her that instantly attracts. Whereas Kitty is dark and wild, she’s blonde and sweet. She’s the antitheses of Ryder, but as they say - opposites attract and I see the truth before me. He looks relaxed and happy, and for the first time since I’ve known him, he looks content.
He nods as I approach. “Evening, Sam. What are you drinking?”
I smile. “Beer, if you’ve got a cold one.”
He raises his eyes. “Of course.” Ashton smiles as she stands.
“I’ll fetch it for you. It’s the least I can do after what we’ve put you through.”
She smiles sweetly, and it’s as if the sun lightens the darkest pit of hell. Ryder looks at her with such love I find myself smirking at the look in his eyes. He watches her walk toward the bar and then reluctantly tears his eyes away back to me. He frowns as he sees the amusement on my face and growls, “Don’t you have something for me?”
I push the file toward him and just for a second, I see him hesitate. I know why because what’s inside will bring a harsh reality to his wife’s past. This will harder for him than most because where Kitty was rescued in the nick of time, Ashton was not.
I can only imagine the hell she went through that night and know this will be a difficult time for them.
As she returns and hands me the beer, Ryder looks at her and smiles softly.
“I won’t be long, darlin’. I need to take Sam to the office to take care of business. You’ll be ok with the girls for a while?”
She presses her lips to his and then pulls back and smiles softly.
“Of course, go ahead. I need to discuss the remodeling of the nursery with Bonnie, anyway.”
I watch with fascination as Ryder’s eyes soften, and he looks at her with such love it stops me in my tracks. I know how he feels about the woman walking away because I have that same look on my face when Katherine’s with me.
Then he turns to me and growls, “Let’s do this.”
As he stands, he shouts, “Snake, put your woman down, we’ve got work to do.”
I watch as the huge beast of a man untangles himself from another beautiful woman and heads our way. I look with interest at the woman who has tamed him and laugh at the impish grin she throws my way. She winks and turns to Ashton, who takes the vacated seat.
Then I follow the two men out as we head toward the office. This is gonna be hard.
As soon as the door closes behind us, noise turns to silence. We hear nothing but the promise of a hard hour ahead heading our way. Ryder takes his seat behind his desk and Snake and I sit opposite him. I watch as he slides the contents from the envelope and studies them.
