This might make things easier. The others hate my guts.

“Sasha.” I don’t give him any more than my name. I don’t need to.

When he twists slightly to look in the direction of the clubhouse, I glimpse the back of his kutte, the leather vest all bikers wear, and I see the word ‘Prospect’.

I was right then. This guy is green as grass.

I trail a finger over the chain-link fence and sadness comes over me. It feels weird to be this side of the fence and not a good weird. I didn’t realise how much I’ve missed this place until now—even with the bad memories. There was a lot of good that happened here too.

“Don’t move,” the prospect warns, and I put my hands up in mock-surrender, rolling my eyes.

This gets me a glare as he pulls his phone out and dials before holding it to his ear. I don’t blame his suspicion. He doesn’t know me from Adam. Ironically, only a few short years ago keeping me out here would have cost this guy his kutte. How much things have changed because of one mistake I made—because I trusted the wrong man.

I swallow that down and slide my eyes in the direction of the clubhouse hoping, praying, that I don’t run into Sin. I don’t know that I’m strong enough to deal with seeing him yet, although I’ll need to get strong enough. I need that sample. I need to know if he’s a match for Lily-May. Nothing else matters right now. Not the past, not the future, not a damned thing.

Even so, I steel myself for the coming storm.

It comes sooner than anticipated.

“Bitch, you’re not welcome here,” a familiar voice declares, venom behind the words.

Nox.

Of all the brothers, I always liked him best. He was the most laid-back of the bunch, even with a body filled with artwork and an attitude that could rival a rattlesnake. He was always kind to me, but I hurt his president and these men are nothing if not loyal to each other. I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t gut me on the spot.

“Nox.” I sound bored and school my features before taking a look at him. This man could end me with a word and I’d disappear into the ether, never to be found again. The Sons are good at making things vanish.

What I get back from him is suspicion and outright hostility.

He shakes his head. “Ain’t happening.”

“Nox—”

“No chance, you ain’t seeing him, and if you’ve got any sense in that head of yours, you’ll get the fuck out of town before he sees you.”

I figured this might be his answer, but I’m not deterred. Fear for Lily-May makes me bolder than I might have been under other circumstances.

“Do you think I’d be here if I had a fucking choice?” I spit back at him, the anger of the past three years overtaking everything else.

Nox glares at me. It’s a look that would intimidate even the evillest of people, but I grew up in this world, around these men. I knew Nox from when we were little kids. I’m not scared of him.

Although Nox the boy is different from Nox the man.

Worlds apart.

He’s always been a big lad, even when we were teens he was pushing six foot. Now, he’s maybe six-three, around thirty-years-old, if memory serves, and has a thin layer of hair covering his head. His eyes, which used to be filled with life, are too shrewd, too hard. He looks like a man who has seen shit and done shit he can never take back. Probably, that’s true. I have no illusions that these men are Boy Scouts.

This Nox looks like he’s contemplating putting a bullet in my brain. I feel a tendril of fear work up my spine, even as I keep my external expression neutral.

“You’ve got some fucking nerve coming here, Sash.”

“Yeah,” I mutter, “that’s me. A ballsy bitch. Are you getting Rav or not?”

“Not.”

My eyes slide to the prospect who is finishing up the call. He shifts on his feet and then says a little hesitantly, “Uh, Rav’s on his way. Sin’s coming too.”

Ice fills my veins and my guard must momentarily lower, because Nox’s lip twitches as he raises his brow. He thinks it’s Rav that caused my reaction, but it’s not him who makes my skin crawl. It’s Sin.

My lips curl up into a snarl like I’m a trapped animal ready to come out and fight. I have to push my disgust down. I’m not here to put old demons to rest. I’m here for my daughter.

Nox glares at me, his big arms folding over his chest, rucking his kutte up. Unlike the prospect’s, his is filled with patches—including the one percent badge and the number thirteen.

I resist the urge to fidget as we wait. I don’t want to show any sign I’m on edge, even though I am. It’s hard to keep still with Nox’s eyes boring into my head like sharpened daggers, though.

“Why’d you come back, Sash?” he asks finally. “You have to know Rav’s going to lose his mind seeing you again.”

I open my mouth to answer, but the sound of a door slamming has my eyes straying past Nox and the prospect towards the main clubhouse. For the first time in three years, I get a look at the man who was once my everything.

My heart clenches painfully.

His dark hair is pulled into a tie at the nape of his neck and the thick beard covering his chin is a new addition. He usually wore a little scruff when we were together. This makes him seem harder. The leather kutte he’s wearing is as beat up as my jacket and moulded to his body like a second skin, covered in patches. Beneath it he has on a dark shirt and a pair of jeans that should be illegal, they’re so well fitted. My gaze trails up his sharp jaw, and come to rest on his eyes, which are colder than a glacier.

I swallow hard and my heart starts to pound.

Then I see Sin and my world stops. He looks like his brother, sans the beard and his eyes are not hard, but amused, as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. I hate him for that more than anything. I hate that he ruined my life and thinks this is a big joke.

Lily-May’s face dances in my consciousness, and it gives me the strength to face the man who may or may not be her father. It gives me the strength to stand in front of a man I’ve killed a thousand times in my dreams.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Sasha?” Tyler’s angry voice demands.

No, not Tyler, but Ravage. Tyler would never have spoken to me like that.

I have to remember the two men are not the same, and I am responsible for the man in front of me. I created Ravage when I left. I cemented the man he is now.

“I need to talk. Alone.” I eye Nox and Sin. I notice the prospect has made himself scarce. It’s probably a good idea. Prospects tend to be on the firing line when rage is going around.

And this is going to get messy.

“Why don’t you drag your arse off my property before I do something we’ll both regret.”

He’s barely keeping a rein on his temper, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides, as if it’s taking all his power to control his emotions. I don’t blame his anger, even if I’m not sure it’s justified. I had my reasons for leaving and if I had to do it again, I’d still leave because I needed that space between me, Rav and Sin.

I close my eyes, letting the first emotion slip through. When I reopen them, I see Sin is grinning at me.

I glance between the two men. Then I drop the bombshell.

“One of you has a daughter, and I need your help.”