The laughter stops when I pause. Three women are standing in what looks to be the kitchen that hangs off the patio. It’s higher than the entrance to the actual clubhouse below. As if they wanted the kitchen to be separate from whatever goes on underneath.

Tony and Val stand behind me, Papa right beside. I can see movement from the side, as I’m guessing all of the bikers who were in the barn walked down.

“Oh, hi,” one girl says. She has black hair, bright green eyes, and a smile that’s way too bright this time of day. “You must be Victor’s daughter, right?” One of the other girls comes up beside her. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and the complete opposite of her friend. “I’m Jade, this is Sloane and Silver.” They all look at me with a mixture of emotions on their faces. Jade seems genuinely happy to meet me, Sloane is curious, and Silver, I can see is just happy to be here.

“Girls, yes, this is my daughter.” Papa enters, and I step backward, betrayal wrapping itself around my body and unwilling to let go. For years, I stepped into his shoes and took on everything he left me. I sacrificed my family, my life, to take capo and handle the family business as I was supposed to upon his death, but all along he’s been alive, what? Living with his favorite fucking son.

I bang into a hard wall, my foot faltering, and I spin around to say sorry when I see it’s Wicked, staring down at me with hard eyes. “Get in the fucking house, Ruby.” The bite of my name makes me flinch. I don’t bother to look at Tony or Val, who have never really seen me around Wicked. I mean, they don’t count. At least for Tony. He was too busy with Papa to watch my dumb teen angst.

“You were hiding him?” I straighten my shoulders and bend my neck to look up at him anyway. And after all this time, it’s still only him who can force my power to its knees.

“So what if I was?” Wicked murmurs, brushing closer to me. “What the fuck you gonna do about it, hmmm?” My eyes narrow as he sidesteps and makes his way into the kitchen, scooping up a bottle of beer. He lowers himself down onto the barstool, his arm hooking around the blonde girl’s belly as he pulls her between his legs, taking a swig of his beer while his eyes remain on mine.

“You just gonna let that shit slide?” Val mumbles beneath his breath, a half-smirk on his face, just as one of the other bikers from earlier climbs the steps, jumping on Val’s back like a toddler. He’s the younger one with a pretty smile.

“I missed you. You miss me?”