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I stand to my full height and step between Remi and Bulldog.
“Fucking hell,” Stone says.
Just as Havoc mumbles, “Shit.”
“Remi and I have some catching up to do,” I grit. “I’ve got it from here.”
“Listen Reaper, I’ve had just about enough of you running your mouth,” Bulldog seethes, stepping up to me.
I snort because it’s laughable that he’d think I’d bow out or be afraid of him. They don’t call me the motherfucking Reaper for shits and giggles.
“Do you know each other?” I hear Remi ask behind me and watch as she comes around to the side of Bulldog and me. Stone and Havoc, along with Hammer, are close by with Dagger and Brass next to the door of the office. “Wait…” she looks down at my cut around her body and then at Bulldog’s cut. Her eyes widen and her face is full of terror, “Are you brothers?”
“Yes,” Bulldog states.
Remi gasps at his answer and her hand comes up cupping her mouth. “I think I might be sick.” She cuts her eyes to Bulldog and I want nothing more than to smash his face in so she won’t look at him. “Did you know this whole time? Is that why you helped me in Butte because… because you’re brothers?”
She shoves both hands up into her hair, panicking for some reason, and my cut starts to slip off her shoulders. I quickly snag it before it hits the floor but now her body is on full display again and I hate it. Reaching back, I grab the nape of the collar of my tee and yank it over my head. In one swift move I’ve maneuvered my shirt over her head and around her body so she’s covered from the mid-thigh up to her neck.
“Holy shit, Rhett,” Remi utters when she takes in my naked upper body. I’m covered in tattoos and barely have any room left of blank skin.
“I didn’t know that you knew Reaper until earlier tonight,” Bulldog says, pulling her attention back to him. “Let’s get you home, then we can talk about everything.”
Her eyes dart over to the clock on the wall. The time reads twelve-thirty in the morning. She brings her palms up to her eyes and rubs them before dragging them down her face.
“This is crazy,” she mumbles to herself, but I can hear her words. She looks around the room for a moment then exits towards the door. My feet are on the move to follow her but Stone puts a hand on my chest, stopping my motion.
“Give her a moment,” Prez says. The room starts to empty and then he asks, “What’s she to you?”
“Her family is the reason I was sent to prison,” I say.
Both Stone and Havoc know my story about being falsely convicted for a murder I didn’t commit. When I was shipped down to Arizona from the Montana prison I met Blaze, Stone’s brother. I saved Blaze’s life when a riot broke out in the yard after a few months of being in the new joint. We became friends and when I was released, Dead Road MC was waiting for me as I walked out of that hellhole. I became part of their family and haven’t looked back since.
“This is fucking messy,” Stone states, scratching his jaw. “Need you to rein in your shit and not provoke Bulldog anymore. Last thing I need is to be killing one of my close friends and taking out an entire chapter up here.”
I grunt in acknowledgement, but make no promises.
“Let’s go see what the damage is out there and find out whether our club still has a place to stay tonight,” Havoc jokes but all I can think about is finding out what’s been going on with Remi and why she’s stripping in the middle of Montana.
I stand in the hall and wait until Remi comes out of her dressing room. She’s wearing black sweats but I can see she still has on my white tee underneath.
“I’ll follow you out—” I start to say.
“Can you just come by in a few hours?” she interrupts. “I need some sleep and I have a feeling this conversation is going to take a while.” I start to protest. “I’ll send you my address. Come over around nine.”
The urge to argue is on the tip of my tongue. It’s been fourteen years since we’ve been in the same room together and now, she wants to wait even more.
“A lot has happened tonight and with everything happening lately I was not expecting this. I just need some sleep and a few hours to gather my thoughts,” she continues. “Please, Rhett.”
She doesn’t realize it but she still has a hold on me that I thought was severed over a decade ago.
“Give me your phone,” I demand.
She pulls her device from the pocket of her sweat bottoms and hands it over freely after opening the lock screen. I plug in my number and then call myself. My phone buzzes from inside my jeans and I breathe a little easier.
“Send me your address and I’ll see you at nine,” I tell her.
She saves my name and then texts me her address. After I’ve secured the location, I walk her out to her blue Bronco in the back parking lot. I keep checking the surroundings for any threats. After I’m satisfied that she’s good, I stop her car door from closing.
