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  “You better release me before my men find me and fuck you up.” Alan struggled against the restraints holding him.

  “Good. The moment they get here, find you, I’ll kill you.” Lucas pulled out the two guns and placed them on the tray he’d set up with all of his instruments. “It’s amazing really. You’re not a very liked person. The people I spoke to were more than happy to give me everything I needed. You made a lot of enemies.”

  “Being king to the commoners means making enemies,” Alan said, spitting onto the ground.

  “You’re king?”

  “Someone needs to take care of the whores, the drugs, and the shit-heads.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure with your pretty face all the women come to you for help, and instead of getting heaven, you throw them into hell.” Standing up, Lucas grabbed his knife from the back of his pocket. He walked behind Alan, grabbed him by the head, and slid the blade down Alan’s face. “Let’s see how many women want you near them when you look like a fucking monster.”

  For the next hour, Lucas worked over Alan’s face. When he was done, he gripped the blade and slammed it into Alan’s back, twisting the knife. The screams gave him little pleasure. It didn’t matter how much Alan screamed. He wouldn’t be getting Trevor back and Alan wasn’t going to get his looks back.

  Half way through the torture, Alan pissed himself. Not caring, Lucas pulled out the envelope Trevor left him.

  Dear Lucas and Prue,

  I fucked up big. I’m not going to make it through the night. I’m so sorry to you both for letting you down. I thought I was doing the right thing. I fucked up my delivery, and the others went back to Alan. They were working for him trying to get more money. Alan shot me, and now I’m fucking dying.

  Lucas stopped reading as he saw the bloodstains. The writing was all over the place, the ink showing the pain Trevor had been in.

  “Fuck, I can’t feel my legs.” Alan’s voice was disjointed, showing his pain. His face was a fucking mess.

  “Maybe I cut a nerve. Don’t worry, it’ll be years of physical therapy if you make it out of here alive,” he said. Lucas shrugged, no longer giving a shit.

  “What did I do to you?”

  Ignoring the man, he went back to the letter.

  Lucas, you were my brother. I have no choice but to beg you to take care of Prue. She needs you now more than ever. I’ve let you down as a friend, and now I’ve let you down as a brother. I’m so sorry. She needs to be looked after. I’ve kept her away from all this shit. If Alan ever finds out about her, it will be you and her he’s after.

  There’s a rumor about him. When he goes after the people someone cares about he works out the number, and each time he marks one off, he reevaluates the number. There are three of us, so one down, two to go.

  Please, be safe. I love you both, and I wish it could be different.

  Love to you both,

  Trevor

  Folding up the letter, Lucas stared at Alan. The man was drooling from the mouth. “Trevor, he worked for you.”

  “I have a lot of Trevors working for me.”

  “Did you put a lot of bullets in men’s guts in the last week?” Lucas asked.

  “Ah, Trevor Lawson. He’s got a sister and a best friend. I’ve been looking for them.”

  Slamming his fist into Alan’s face, Lucas watched the other man crash to the floor. The chair held him in place. Ramming his foot into the man’s stomach, Lucas lashed out, letting all the anger and rage out.

  “You’re meeting the friend now.”

  Lucas didn’t stop until Alan was gasping for breath and trying to get him to stop. The man couldn’t move. When he was done, he took the last of the petrol and doused Alan’s body, the chair, and the fabric around him.

  Lighting a match, he stared down at Alan.

  “No one fucks with my family.” Dropping the match, he didn’t look back and left the building. He left the truck outside, climbed on his bike and headed back to Fort Wills to live his life.

  Three weeks later he and Prue stood at an empty graveside with Trevor’s name on it. She didn’t live near Fort Wills, and it had taken him time to get to her.

  “I can’t believe he’s dead,” she said.

  To him she would always be Prue Lawson. To the outside world, she was Lilly Masters, a student preparing for a life of teaching youngsters.

  “Neither can I,” he said. He took hold of her hand, and together they would mourn for the loss of their friend. There was no one else to take care of them.

  Prue was his responsibility, and he wasn’t going to let her get hurt again.

  Chapter One

  Present day

  “Fuck, what are you doing? We need to get you to the hospital,” Zero said, pressing his hands to the blood-soaked wound. Prue’s eyes were wide as she looked at him, panicking. How the fuck was Alan back? He couldn’t think about the other man. The only person he needed to care about was dying in his lap. No, he wouldn’t accept it. Prue was not going to die. He’d already lost Trevor, and he wasn’t going to lose Prue in the same way.

  No more dying on his watch. He’d promised Trevor he’d care for her.

  “What the fuck happened?” he asked, turning to Butch. The other man was covered in her blood.

  “She was walking inside the compound. I was watching her. I recognized her but didn’t know where from.”

  Tiny was barking out orders. Steven was on the phone. The sirens of an ambulance could be heard in the background. Sandy had stayed with Stink away from the clubhouse, and she wasn’t on hand to help them. Fuck, why did they always need Sandy when she wasn’t around?

  “Come on, Prue. Don’t fucking die on me.”

  “Someone fired a gun. No one else is hurt. None of us were close enough to the gate. Whoever was firing was aiming for her,” Steven said, kneeling beside him.

  “He … knows…” Prue gasped, and tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes.

  “No, you’re not going to die on me, do you hear? You don’t get to fucking die on me.” He couldn’t think about Alan being back. The other man was supposed to be gone and dead.

  “What the fuck is going on, Zero?” Tiny asked, glaring down at them.

  He opened his mouth ready to spill everything, but the ambulance arrived. There was no time to tell him about the past. Later there would be more than enough time to bring Tiny and the others up to date. The only person who needed his attention right now was Prue. They loaded her onto a bed and carried her into the back.

  “I’ll tell you everything, but I need to be with her.” He climbed in the back of the ambulance, not waiting for his brothers to say anything. Grabbing her hand, he watched the paramedic do what he needed to do.

  Alan Lynch was alive. The only man who would leave a message like that was Alan. One night on the anniversary of Alan’s death, Zero had gone to Prue, and in drink, he had told her everything about the past. She hated being kept in the dark, but she knew everything. He told her the truth from then on, never keeping anything from her. Prue was the first woman he was ever open and honest with, and not even Sophia made him feel that secure. Zero had told Prue what he did to Alan, the torture he’d inflicted on another person. She’d not judged him. Sophia was nothing like Prue.

  Fuck, he’d almost kissed Sophia and gone over that line. Resting his head back against the truck, he kept hold of Prue’s hand. The sudden commotion at the clubhouse had taken him away from Sophia. Part of him was pleased at the interruption. He didn’t want to fuck up his place in the club.

  They arrived at the hospital in ten minutes, breaking every speed limit. He followed them inside. A nurse pressed a hand to his chest, holding him back.

  “Sir, you cannot go into the operating theater. You’ve got to stay in the waiting room.”

  “She needs me.”

  “You’re not a doctor or a surgeon. You will kill her if you don’t do as I ask.”

  Nodding, he watched the blonde disappear through the clear doo
rs, keeping him away. Heading back to the main reception, he signed in getting the necessary paperwork for Prue. He knew all of her details off by heart, both as Prue and as Lilly.

  Staring down at his hands he saw they were covered in blood, Prue’s blood. Memories of Trevor lying in his arms and his cutting off Trevor’s air filled his mind. Shit, he was going to be sick.

  Running to the bathroom, he spilled all the contents out of his stomach into the bottom of the toilet. Once he was done, he went to the sink, washing the blood, scrubbing his hands.

  Butch walked in seconds later. Glancing at the door, Zero saw his friend was angry. His arms were folded over his chest. “You’ve got a lot of fucking explaining to do. I’m so fucking pissed right now.”

  “None of the club was killed. We’re good.” Zero scrubbed his hands, eyes going blurry at whose blood he was washing off. Torturing Alan, he’d gotten a lot of blood on his hands and hadn’t cared.

  Prue was not a criminal who deserved to die. She was a woman, a precious woman who should be left alone. He shouldn’t be removing her blood from his hands. It was too much for him to take in.

  “The boys are all outside. Tiny is outside waiting for an explanation. You’re not going to get out of it, Zero. This shit is not how this works,” Butch said. “The girl means something to you, doesn’t she?”

  “Yes, she does.”

  “Who is she? What is she to you, and why do I recognize her?”

  Scrubbing his hands clean, he stared at Butch, wiping his hands dry on towel. “She’s my best friend’s sister. I’m the one who is supposed to be taking care of her.”

  “None of this is making sense. You’ve never mentioned shit about her.” Butch was not buying anything.

  “I fucked up big.”

  “Why? How?” Butch asked.

  “He’ll not be telling you on your own,” Tiny said, entering the bathroom. The other man was large, dominating, and brimming with rage. “We find out she is safe, and then we’re having a meeting, and you’re telling us everything.”

  “I can’t leave her alone. She’s in danger.”

  “Far as the person is concerned, she’s dead,” Tiny said.

  “I can’t risk it. I promised I’d keep her safe, and I’ve already fucked up.”

  “Then Blaine can stay behind. He’s working on his shit with Emily and Darcy. It’s time for him to do something for the club. Don’t fucking question me again.” Tiny left the bathroom, giving him no choice but to follow instruction.

  Following behind the two men, Zero watched Tiny talk to Blaine, who nodded. His brothers were there, looking out for him. Running fingers through his hair he felt guilt swamp him as he looked at Nash. Fuck. He’d been about to kiss his wife.

  Shit, fuck, shit. Killer was there as well. They were going to wait for the doctor to let them know how she was doing before leaving. He took a seat, staring at the clear doors, begging for the doctor to enter and give him some good news and to put him out of his misery. He couldn’t accept bad news right now.

  Two down, one to go.

  What the fuck was Alan even doing alive? Zero had left him for dead.

  You didn’t wait to see if he was dead.

  Fuck.

  Once he climbed on his bike, he hadn’t waited to see if Alan died or not. He didn’t care if he died himself or not, so long as Alan was no more. Once he’d set the match down, his thoughts had been directed toward Prue. For years afterward he kept returning to the city to see who was taking over from Alan. It was a surprise to see how many men came out of the woodwork to take over his place. None of the men were working for Alan or trying to take look for the man who got rid of Alan. Zero had fucked up, seeing as Alan was in fact alive.

  Running a hand down his face, he looked toward the door. No one was coming, and he heard the chaos coming over the line as the hospital was taking in more emergency cases.

  None of the brothers talked to him. Butch stayed sat beside him playing some game on his cell phone.

  “I’m sorry,” Zero said.

  “I don’t care. We’ll handle whatever you’ve got to throw at us.”

  Closing his eyes, he rubbed at his temple, needing to know Prue was okay. This was going to take time. She needed to make a full recovery, as otherwise he failed Trevor.

  Four hours later, the doctor appeared to give him the news.

  “She’s a lucky woman. The bullet didn’t penetrate her heart or sever any major arteries. I extracted the bullet with ease. We’ll keep an eye on her for the next couple of days in case of infection.” The doctor nodded at all of them before leaving. Zero had already filled all the paperwork for her. Relief swamped him at the news. He wasn’t going to lose her like he’d lost Trevor.

  “Do you want to see her?” the nurse asked.

  He nodded, following her down to the ICU. “Why is she here?”

  “To keep her under observation. We’ll keep an eye on her all through the night and move her to a ward tomorrow morning.”

  Zero moved to her bedside. There was a tube inside her mouth, and she was hooked up to other tubes and drips. He didn’t know what all the machines did, but they must be helping her in some way. She was breathing on her own, which he was thankful for.

  The nurse left him alone as he stared down into Prue’s pale face. Reaching out he stroked her red hair away from her face. She was such a beautiful woman. He’d always found her striking, and he struggled to look away from her whenever he was in her company. Why was he suddenly thinking about her beauty? It was wrong with her lying in a hospital bed. “Hey, honey. You’ve got to fight this and live. Live for me. I promise, I will not fail you again. You’re not going anywhere. I’ll take care of you and love you.”

  He leaned down, kissing her temple.

  She didn’t respond. Her face pale making her red hair stand out even more, Prue was a beautiful woman, and he was surprised she wasn’t taken. Any man with any sense would snatch her right up. He would, given half a chance.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, brushing his lips against her temple once again.

  Prue stayed silent, sleeping.

  She’s only sleeping.

  He needed to remember she was only sleeping and there was nothing else wrong with her.

  Staring around the hospital room, Zero didn’t know what he was going to do. After a few minutes he left her side going back toward the main reception of the hospital. He was tired of being near the hospital. In the last few years he felt he’d lived more at the hospital than the clubhouse. The Skulls had dealt with their fair share of enemies, each one hurting a member at one point. They had even lost some of their own men because of those enemies. What was Alan going to do to him or The Skulls? Cutting the thoughts off, he made his way out of the hospital. He hadn’t brought his bike and ended up climbing on the back of Butch’s bike. Blaine was staying at the hospital to take care of Prue while Zero was due back at the clubhouse for the meeting. Butch waited outside, standing beside his bike. Nash and a few others had stayed behind.

  “Don’t get any fucking ideas. My ass is my own,” Butch said, pointing at his bike.

  Rolling his eyes, Zero held onto his friend while his thoughts were with Prue. She was a teacher and took care of young children, first grade he believed. Shit, what the fuck was he going to do? Prue shouldn’t be dead or even fighting for her life.

  They arrived at the clubhouse. On the way inside he saw Sophia waiting up with her daughter. Her gaze landed on him then turned to Nash. He saw her cheeks were heated, but her smile held all the warmth for her husband, not for him. Once Nash was inside, Sophia didn’t look back toward him. She didn’t give him any clue as to what she thought.

  She’s not looking at you because she doesn’t want you. This is her answer.

  Hating the kick to the gut he experienced he entered Tiny’s office, sitting at the table in the middle of the room. The other members made their way into the room.

  His thoughts returned to Trevor’s death te
n years ago. No matter how hard he tried, Zero never got away from the memories. They haunted him wherever he went. No man should have to take his friend’s life. If Alan lived, why did he wait ten years to take him out?

  Two down, one to go.

  Zero wasn’t afraid of death and hadn’t been for a long time. Providing he took Alan out with him, Zero would welcome death with open fucking arms.

  The door slammed closed. He didn’t respond staring at the center of the table.

  “Start fucking talking,” Tiny said.

  Zero blinked as his thoughts collided into one. “Ten years ago I got a call from my best friend. He wasn’t part of The Skulls, but he was my family. He’d been working for a man known as Alan Lynch.” Zero stopped as the pain returned once again. Trevor should have lived. Burying his best friend should never have happened, and neither should have holding him in those last moments with no way to help him.

  For the next thirty minutes he told all of The Skulls what he had done. He didn’t leave a single detail out from the torture and finally walking away after setting Alan on fire.

  “He was supposed to be dead,” Zero said.

  “Then what makes you think he’s alive?”

  Pulling out the card Prue gave to him, he placed it in the center of the table. He listened as they all read it. “Trevor told me it was his signal. Alan goes after all the family. Prue and myself are all that remains for Trevor. He was young and didn’t have the time to create a family. It has been ten years, but Alan’s picking up where he left off, and he won’t stop until Prue and I stop breathing.”

  Gritting his teeth, Zero forced the tears back. He wouldn’t cry in front of his brothers. They needed him to be strong. The tears were not for fear of his death; they were for what he’d lost and the woman lying in the hospital.

  “Why wait ten years?” Steven asked, hands folded over his chest.

  “That’s what I want to know,” Tiny said.

  “I fucked him up big. He wouldn’t have gotten out of there easily. There has to have been something I overlooked.”