I may be young, but I know I’ve never had that ache in my chest before: the errant pulse in my veins that beats like a run of wild horses, and such a nuclear temper when it comes to a girl.
My theatrics may have been a smokescreen to mask what I truly want deep down.
I want Willow Sinclair.
Hell or high water, I’ll prove to her that I’m not just a thug. I have many layers. They may not be all vanilla, but we can work on that.
I smile to myself on a job well done.
Nothing is going to keep me away from what I want in my life.
And what I want is a five foot tall, brown-haired, hazel eyed stunner sitting in the cafeteria probably cursing my name right now.
All in good time.
That’s how I roll.
CHAPTER
ONE
Haze
Present day
I stare across at the woman who used to be mine as applause breaks out around us. They awarded her a Medal of Valor for extraordinary courage at a recent shootout. That’s my girl, always in the thick of it.
When I say she used to be mine, I mean that loosely. Willow Sinclair will always be the only woman for me, but you could say we’ve had our share of differences over the years.
The last five in particular. Well, she disowned me for a short time, but she forgets she’s married to me still. Granted, I won’t sign the divorce papers, so here we are.
My wife.
Despite what my mighty little warrior may think of me, I’m always gonna be here.
We got married on a whim to piss off her strict parents, not that they’re such geniuses at marriage because they’re divorced and her dad is onto his third wife. They never liked me much. Willow’s always had something to prove to her dad, who’s also acop, but she’ll never win in his eyes. Her younger brother, Max, was always the golden boy of the family. That was until he went off the rails.
“You think she appreciates us bein’ here?” My older brother, Brew, whispers.
I may be estranged from my wife, but our family still remembers their own.
We’ll always be here to support her in all that she does, even when her loyalties aren’t within the MC or to me. Being the newly appointed captain at her precinct probably wouldn’t get even an eyebrow raise from her father, a retired commissioner. He wanted Max to go into the force, but he dropped out of college to start a band. I still laugh about it now. Max possessed a big heart, but had absolutely no love for the law, especially being a cop.
“Probably not, but she knew what she signed up for when we said our vows, till death do us part,” I reply. “Her memory may be a little foggy, we were drunk after all…”
Sawyer, our hacking whiz, and a kinda jack-of-all trades in our security business, snorts. “If she sees you here, she’s gonna split your lip, not from a punch, though, from that death stare laser she throws your way every time you meet.”
I turn to look at him. “What fuckin’ death stare laser?”
Brew shakes his head. “Don’t you tire of living in a constant state of denial every day?”
I fold my arms over my chest. “Willow just needs remindin’ of what we had, that’s all,” I say. “I just need to reason with her.”
“Right, so when is the reasoning part kickin’ in?” my brother grunts.
He is the one who cops most of my grumbling about Willow but he’s used to it. I am very much like a broken record, after all.
“Hasn’t it been five years?” Sawyer questions, observant little fucker.
