Mother?

   “Anne?” I guess.

   It must be. Jean spoke of her college-age daughter, which fits the woman in front of me. In an alternate universe, Anne could have been my stepsister. Yet here she is, trying to hurt me and my family.

   But I’m not going to stand for it.

   I’ve been through too much and fought so hard to be where I am right now, and there is no way in hell I’m going to give that up.

   “So you know who I am.” She smirks, starting to pace up and down. “She was all that I had, you know. Her and Jasper. He wasn’t a perfect dad, but he was there for me. And now because of you, she is gone forever, and my dad is rotting behind bars.”

   “Your mom made her own decision. It had nothing to do with me,” I say, brows drawing together. “And Jasper is a criminal who killed my father. Behind bars is where he’s meant to be.”

   She starts yelling at me. “This is all your fault! And you can’t just get away with this! If I have to suffer, then so should you.”

   Her eyes are wide, and her fists are clenched. She basically has steam coming out of her ears. I don’t know how she has justified blaming this all on me when it was her parents’ own decisions that led them to where they are now. I guess everyone needs someone else to blame, but this is taking it to a whole new level. She’s going to be following Jasper’s footsteps and heading straight to prison.

   The man who I assume is her boyfriend tries to calm her down. I’m hoping he has more sense than her, but she’s obviously gotten him to go along with this whole thing, so maybe not. “It’s okay, Anne. You will get your revenge. Don’t let her get to you.”

   “Imagine the amount of people who are going to come after you if you harm me, or especially my daughter,” I say, gritting my teeth. “The Knights of Fury MC won’t give up until you’re both dead. And do you even know who my uncle is? I also have a powerful family. Have you thought any of this through?” I don’t care that I’m spilling secrets. They need to know the people who will come after them.

   Do I feel bad her mom committed suicide? Sure. It’s not nice for anyone to lose a parent and their support system. However, this blood is not on my hands.

   I know it won’t be long until Crow is here. I just need to make sure these two don’t freak out and do something rash, like hurt me and Quinn. I slowly look around for a weapon of some kind, or anything I can use to defend myself.

   I’m just thankful Quinn went back to sleep. Her cries definitely wouldn’t have helped the situation any.

   Anne shows no emotion, like she doesn’t care who the Knights are, and I wonder just how well researched this whole thing was. She’s obviously not thinking rationally, and she just wants to lash out at me not caring about the consequences. That makes her dangerous. “You have no idea what you’ve done, do you?”

   The man starts looking a little nervous. He obviously isn’t here for personal revenge—he just wants to support his girlfriend. “I know who the Knights are. Fucking hell, Anne, you didn’t tell me that she was with one of them.”

   Hope fills me.

   “I didn’t know, but who cares? It doesn’t change anything. She is still the reason I’ve lost my mom. It doesn’t matter who she knows,” she says, scowling. “And if you love me and want to be with me, you’ll stick to the plan. Now watch her while I go and get the gun. I’ll make it fast and painless.”

   How kind of her.

   She leaves and I start in on the weakest link here. With my daughter in my arms I can’t physically fight, but words can be a weapon, too.

   “If you hurt us, they’re going to kill you both. Is that worth it for you? This isn’t even your battle. You said you’ve heard of the Knights, then you’ll know how severe the repercussions will be. My daughter’s father is a club member. What do you think they will do to you both if either of us are harmed?”

   He shifts on his feet, eyes darting all over the place. “My older brother, he just started prospecting for the Knights. He’s going to kill me if he knows I’m involved in this. I don’t know what to do. He already thinks I’m a fucking disappointment.”

   Shit. I didn’t see that one coming.

   I’ve met the three new prospects, and what are the chances that his brother ended up being one of them?

   If this were my brother, I would be highly unimpressed too.

   “You need to get us out of here unharmed,” I whisper-yell to him. “Do you realize they will be on their way now and your brother could be with them? Don’t ruin your life for a woman you won’t even end up being with.”

   “Fuck,” he curses, covering his ears with his hands, like that is going to help the situation. “Okay, I need to think. Fuck. Come on then, I just want this over with now.”

   I stand and follow him to the front door, glancing behind me to make sure Anne isn’t there with her gun. The last thing I want is to be shot in the back.

   We reach the door and he pulls it open, and to my surprise and happiness, there stand Crow, Temper, Saint, Renny and Dee, guns in their hands, ready to fuck shit up.

   “Fucking hell,” Crow whispers as he pulls me into his arms, and turns around, covering us with his body.

   “Take her,” I tell him, passing him Quinn, needing to breathe and calm down. I brace myself on my knees for a moment. My daughter is going to be fine. I’m going to be fine.

   We did it.

   Temper grabs the boy and points a gun at his back.

   “She’s in there. Anne. She’s Jean’s daughter,” I say to them. “She has a gun. And him. He was going to let me go. Don’t hurt him. His brother is one of your new prospects.”

   I feel like I’m going to faint, my breath catching, as the reality of the situation hits me at full force.

   I almost lost my daughter today.

   And it wasn’t because of the Knights, or my drug king uncle. It was because of me.

   Crow holds on to me by one arm and pulls me to the car. “Are you okay? You’re both safe now.”

   “I will be. My car is in the garage,” I say, and he nods. “What are they going to do with them?”

   “I don’t know,” he replies, buckling us both in the car. He grabs my face and looks into my eyes. “I fucking love you. They’re lucky that you’re okay, because if not...”

   “I love you too. I knew you’d come for me.”

   “I’ll always come for you.”

   “What’s going to happen to the boy?” I ask.

   “Don’t worry, Bronte, we will sort it,” he promises, getting in the front seat, and driving us away.