Butcher’s hand slid absently along her hip while he listened to the chaos around the table. This was his club, and that reality hit him hard. It was weird that he was part of a club again. Not a bad weird, not anymore at least. For the first time in ten years, he didn’t feel alone.
The front door of the bar opened suddenly, cutting through the noise, and every biker in the room went still instantly. Eyes shifted toward the entrance automatically, and Butcher relaxed when Vengeance walked in first, with Chloe Savage right behind him.
Princess sat up straighter immediately in Butcher’s lap. The Huntsville Prez looked exactly like the kind of man people learned not to cross—tall, tattooed, carrying violence in every movement. But Chloe nearly blew his mind. Savage’s daughter looked so much like her old man that it nearly punched Butcher straight in the chest. She had his same dark eyes, same fearless expression, and the same energy that screamed she’d burn the world down while smiling if somebody threatened her people.
The entire bar went quiet as they approached the table, and Chloe stopped directly in front of Butcher and crossed her arms. “You look old.” Butcher barked out a laugh before he could stop himself.
“There’s the Savage I remember.” Her expression cracked instantly. Emotion flickered there briefly before she shoved at his shoulder.
“You disappeared for ten damn years,” Chloe said.
“Yeah, I did. Sorry about that, kid,” he said.
“You couldn’t call?” she asked. He could have, but there was no way that he was ready to crawl back to Savage and eat crow back then. He was a different man, but now, he’d do just about anything to get another five minutes with his old friend.
“I could have, but wasn’t ready to admit that I was fallible back then,” he said, giving her the honest truth. Chloe rolled her eyes like she wanted to stay mad at him, but couldn’t fully manage it.
Her attention shifted toward Princess, and softened immediately. “Well,” she muttered. “Okay, now I get it.”
Princess blinked, “What do you get?” she asked.
Chloe snorted. “Honey, this man hated everybody when I was growing up.” She pointed at Butcher. “He once threatened to stab a bartender because she played country music too loud.”
“It was bad country music,” Butcher insisted.
“That’s not the point,” Chloe muttered.
Vengeance dropped into a chair nearby, shaking his head slowly. “You’re definitely Savage’s Enforcer.” The title hit differently coming from another Bastard. Butcher didn’t feel like a painful jab this time. In fact, he felt pride at the mention of his old position. Butcher leaned back slightly, tightening his arm around Princess instinctively.
“So,” Vengeance said calmly, “let’s talk about the Romano problem.”
The room sobered immediately. They were getting right down to business. Princess stiffened slightly against Butcher, and he noticed instantly. His hand squeezed her hip gently. He was silently letting her know that he had her, and she seemed to relax a fraction.
Vengeance spread several papers across the table. “We’ve been digging since the bounty dropped.” His expression darkened. “Romano’s desperate.”
Chloe nodded, “The marriage alliance fell apart after Princess ran.”
Princess went still in Butcher’s lap. “You okay?” he murmured quietly. She nodded, but tension rolled through her anyway.
Vengeance continued. “The family Princess was supposed to marry into pulled support after she disappeared. Romano’s losing power in Chicago because it made him look weak.”
“Couldn’t happen to a nicer bastard,” Wade grumbled.
“He’s escalating because he needs control back,” Chloe added. “And right now, Princess is the symbol of him losing it. He wants her back so that he can make an example out of her.”Butcher’s jaw tightened immediately. Nobody was turning her into a damn example.
“She’s not going back,” he said flatly.
“Wasn’t suggesting she should,” Vengeance replied calmly. “But we got two choices here.”
The room quieted. “Either we wait for Romano to keep coming—” A dangerous smile spread slowly across Vengeance’s face. “or we end this now.” Princess’s breathing caught softly against Butcher’s chest, and he looked down at her immediately. Fear flickered in her eyes. He was sure that it wasn’t for herself, but for him. Christ. This woman was going to be the end of him.
“You’re talking about starting a war,” she whispered.
Chloe looked her dead in the eye. “No, honey.” Her expression turned cold. “We’re talking about sending a message. We’re going to finish a war that your father started when he promised you to another man as a business deal.”
The room went silent, and Butcher understood immediately. Savage used to say the same thing before retaliation runs. He said that they were sending messages to clubs that didn’t want to play nicely. That’s what clubs like the Royal Bastards specialized in. The terrifying part in all of this was that the old instincts came rushing back so naturally that it almost scared him. All of it was settling comfortably into place again, for exactly who he was.
Princess looked up at him slowly. “You already know what you’re going to do, don’t you?” she asked. She saw him too clearly now.
