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“Listen, boy. I don’t owe you shit. Don’t think I haven’t noticed that since my girl gave it up to you three bastards, you’ve avoided her like the fucking plague.”
Eightball jumps in. “Not because we don’t want her.”
“No, because she hurt your feelings somehow. Knowing what I do now, I’m guessing she accepted the prospecting patch without discussing it with you first?” When none of us answer, he snorts. “Rex is right. You are a bunch of idiots. You fucked her six ways from Sunday, and then what?”
“What do you mean, then what?” Splinter growls.
“Did you offer her your patch or your undying love? Did you offer her monogamy, fidelity, any kind of security at all?”
“Well, no, but you guys turned up before—”
Rex holds up his hand to shut us down. “She doesn’t owe you shit. If your relationship had been further along, it would be different. But it wasn’t. You having your feelings hurt is on you, not her.” He cocks his head to the side, contemplating, before shaking his head. “I bet she did it on purpose. Our girl can be damn prickly when she wants to be, and she has a reason. The men who have come in and out of her life have been useless wastes of space. I think she saw more in you—wanted more in you—and was scared of you rejecting her if she laid her cards on the table.”
Nico nods, agreeing with Rex. “She’d rather you be mad for something she’s done than reject her for being true to who she is.”
“Are you seriously telling me you’re okay with her prospecting?” Splinter looks skeptical.
“No. I’m not okay with it, but it wasn’t my decision to make. Jinx will never be like other women. You can try to shape her into whatever ideal you have. Put her in whatever box you deem acceptable, but all she’ll do is blow the box up. She won’t change. She can’t change. She is who she was always meant to be. Passionate, fierce, loyal, brave as fuck, with just enough crazy in her to get the job done.”
“Our club will never agree to patch her in,” I tell them quietly, feeling like an asshole but knowing it’s the truth regardless.
He nods. “She would have considered that. She’s not dumb, and she’s not blind to the misogyny of the MC world. She’s proving a point to herself more than anything.”
“Well, if you are all okay with it, then why the fuck did you seem so pissed when we told you? Wait, your old club? They’re not enemies of ours, are they?”
“No, but that doesn’t matter. There is no more club.”
“They disbanded?” That’s not unheard of, especially with smaller clubs.
“No. There are just no members left.” I open my mouth to ask him what the fuck he’s talking about when Rex reaches over and grabs his hand in comfort. “The reason we’re surprised that Jinx is prospecting for the Chaos Demons is because not too long ago, she wanted nothing to do with the MC lifestyle ever again.”
“Why?”
“Because the last time she was a part of a club, someone killed everyone she loved and tried to take her out too.”
“What?” I jump up as if there’s a current threat.
“Wait, are you talking about the Savage Hearts massacre?” I look at Splinter as the name registers, and the pieces fall into place.
“Holy fuck,” Eightball curses as I sink back into my chair.
“She would have been just a kid when that happened,” I choke out, but I know better than to think the Reaper has favorites. Death doesn’t care who it comes for.
“It was a club family day barbecue. We might have been one-percenters, but most still had old ladies and kids. Our president, Lynch, was no different. He was Jinx’s dad,” Rex tells us quietly.
We all sit in silence, letting his words hit their intended target. The impact nearly knocks me off my chair.
“I was a prospect. I’d been behind the bar when the first explosion hit and was thrown into the wall and knocked out cold. I woke up on the floor behind the bar. It had acted as a shield from the worst of it. The others weren’t so lucky.” Nico squeezes his hand, dragging him out of his memories. Rex shakes his head and offers me a forced smile.
“I was on a run. Should have been two of us, but Rusty ended up with food poisoning.” Nico bites his lip and looks at Rex. “Rex called me. He knew I was the only brother not on-site. The barbecue was mandatory for everyone but me. Lynch wanted to announce that he was stepping down as president to spend more time with his family. It’s the only reason Jinx was there.”
Rex picks up the story. “I couldn’t hear anything at first. My ears were ringing. The explosion blew my eardrums. Nico had me search for survivors. He knew I needed something to focus on. I was alive, so there had to be others, right?
“I searched for what felt like hours, but I knew it wasn’t. Fires had broken out and were making everything ten times harder. It was by pure chance I found Jinx when I did. She must have been coming out of the bathroom when the explosion hit. The hallway had caved in, pinning her in place. I could see the fire raging behind her, and I knew we were out of time.”
His eyes get wet as he picks up his juice and takes a sip, his hand shaking slightly. Nico looks at him with sadness in his eyes. “He dug her out with his bare hands and dragged her clear of the building minutes before the whole place came tumbling down.”
“Her legs…” Rex blows out a breath before continuing. “They were crushed. I shouldn’t have moved her, but—”
