Horse met my wide, frozen eyes and glared.

“What the fuck are you doing here? Thought this was ladies’ night.”

“Nothing,” I whispered, stepping back and very carefully shutting the door. I felt brittle, fragile, like I was going to break apart into a thousand pieces. I don’t know why. It wasn’t like we had a real relationship. I didn’t own him. But seeing him with another woman—that hurt me deep down inside. I bumped into Max, who caught my arms and steadied me. I looked up at him, devastated, and he wore an expression I couldn’t begin to describe.

“Did you know he was in there?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Max replied. His easy response, completely unapologetic, threw me.

“You set me up?” I whispered. “Why?”

“Because you’re living in a fucking dream world and the girls were filling your head with shit. I can be a dick, but not as big a dick as he’s being. Thought you had a right to know.”

I tried to think. Unfortunately, everything was spinning around me.

“I didn’t do it to hurt you, Marie,” Max said, pulling me in for a rough hug. I stiffened, then relaxed into him, needing the comfort. He rubbed my hair, combing it with his fingers.

“You’re a sweet kid and you’re in a really fucked-up situation,” he said, not unkindly. “You need to keep your head straight. Horse is not your old man, you’re not going to live happily ever after with him and your brother isn’t going to come through for you. The faster you figure that out, the better your life is going to be. That’s the truth.”

I pulled away from Max and glanced back at the door, willing Horse to open it, to come out and explain that this was all just some sort of mistake. He didn’t. The green light taunted me.

“You want a ride home?” Max asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Okay.”

He took my arm and went to the fire door, quickly punching a code into a keypad on the side. A tiny red light blinked green and he pushed through the door. I followed him across the parking lot to his bike. My phone started vibrating and I looked down to see Horse’s name on the screen.

I turned it off.

The ride seemed to last forever, and I was pretty much sober by the time we reached the house. Ariel ran out to greet us, smiling his big puppy grin, but I didn’t pet him so he whined and crawled under the porch. Max surprised me when he left his bike and followed me into the house. I guess I expected him to just drop me off or something. It felt strange and awkward with him there, and I wished I could be alone.

“You want a drink?” I asked, hoping he’d say no.

“Yeah, grab me a beer,” he replied, pulling out his phone. I left him fiddling with it while I found a beer for him and a glass of water for myself. As I came back down the hall he met me halfway, taking the drinks and walking into the dining room. He set them on the pool table and cocked his head to the side, studying me again.

“Why do you do that?” I asked.

“Do what?”

“Look at me like that?”

“Trying to decide what the fuck Horse is thinking,” he replied. “You don’t need to be with him, Marie. This is fucked up. You should let me help you.”

“Help me how?”

Instead of answering, he leaned down and threw me over his shoulder. I shrieked, hitting him on the back and kicking. Max ignored my struggles, carrying me back into the living room and throwing me down on to the couch. I hit hard and lost my breath. Before I could recover he was on me, thrusting a knee between my legs, covering my mouth with his. I struggled against him, but I shouldn’t have bothered. Way too strong for me. His legs pinned me, pelvis grinding into mine as his arms wrestled my own into the couch. His kiss wasn’t sensual, just a brutal attack. No tongue, no seduction. Just a crushing of his lips against my mouth. I seriously couldn’t breathe and my vision started going dark.

“Oh no fucking way. You’re a dead man.”

I heard Horse’s angry voice and felt a surge of hope. Then Max flew off me so hard I almost rolled off the couch. Horse threw him across the room into the wall, missing the TV by about six inches. I screamed as Horse leapt after him, hammering him with his fists. Max writhed under the onslaught, but he started laughing, the sound horrible and dark and oddly punctuated by the blows slamming his body. A loud, clicking noise cut through his laughter and I looked up to find Picnic aiming a gun at the two men.

Horse didn’t pause.

“Horse!” Picnic said. “Drop him or I’ll shoot you.”

Horse gave Max one last, vicious punch to the gut before he stepped back, chest heaving. Max rose to his feet unsteadily, grinning at Horse in a way that was truly unbalanced. Now I got the whole “Mad Max” thing…

“You got a problem, brother?” Max asked as he wiped the blood streaming from his nose with the back of his hand. “Your bitch didn’t seem to think so. Practically jumped into my arms at the Line. I’ll admit she’s a sweet cunt, but is she really worth fighting over?”

“Shut your mouth,” Picnic said, stepping forward. “You don’t talk to a brother that way. And you don’t fuck around with a fellow Reaper’s woman. We’ll deal with this at the armory tomorrow. You got that?”

Max laughed again. Then he turned to me and stuck two of his fingers in a “v” in front of his mouth, flicking his tongue between them at me.

“You asshole!” I yelled, filled with sudden rage. “You fucking asshole, you get out of here! Get the fuck out of here and don’t fucking come back or I’ll fucking shoot you myself!”

All three guys froze, looking at me in surprise.

I sneered back at them, disgusted.

“What, surprised that the bone you’re fighting over can talk? Well fuck all of you!”

With that I turned and stomped up the stairs to my room, slamming the door behind me. Moments later bikes roared to life outside. I paced my room for a minute, furious and full of energy, then threw my door open and headed back downstairs.

I had a few more things I wanted to get off my chest.

I found Horse standing in the center of the living room, running a hand through his hair, scowling at the splatters of blood staining his floor. He turned toward me, and we glared at each other across the room, neither of us giving an inch. I was still a little drunk, but I’d had it. Time to lay things out with Horse. I opened my mouth to let him have it, but he started in first.

“Who the fuck you do think you are, showing up at the Line like that?” he demanded. “And why did Max have his tongue down your throat?”

Oh, that really pissed me off.

“You don’t get to talk about tongues down throats, asshole,” I hissed. “And for your information, I was at the Line because your sister took me there. I guess it didn’t occur to her that you’d be screwing some slut in the back room!”

“I wasn’t screwing anyone. It was a lap dance. No big deal,” he said, eyes narrowing on me.

“So sorry I interrupted you before you got to the happy ending!” I yelled. I didn’t think I’d ever been this angry before in my life. The edges of my vision actually turned red. I felt like throwing things at him, and I glanced around, trying to find something with a good heft. Horse stalked over, looming over me as he yelled in my face, backing me toward the wall.

“Why the fuck shouldn’t I have a happy ending? It’s not like I have an old lady to worry about! No, not me!” he declared, throwing his arms wide, speaking to the room at large. “I don’t have an old lady, now do I? Nope, because you’re too fucking good to wear my patch, now aren’t you? What haven’t I done for you, Marie? I kept your brother alive. Didn’t come cheap, babe, you got no clue how pricey your ass is. And tonight? It’s not like you were around to take care of me, was it? We had plans and you blew me off. You can’t have it both ways, Marie. Either we’re together or we’re not, but if we’re not don’t expect me to sit around with my thumb up my ass while you’re out partying. And this bullshit with Max? In my own home? I should throw your ass out and call the hit on your brother myself. You can go fuck yourself, Marie. Seriously. I’m done with you.”