It was as if my words flipped a light switch inside her. Her sagging body instantly snapped straight as if her spine got its hardness back. Her face came eye to eye with mine and the fire that was inside before began to burn bright. “You do what you gotta do. But this,” her finger motioned pointing to her and then me, “is done. Won’t happen again. I fucked up last night. It won’t happen again.”

Princess’s legs began moving, but I wasn’t letting her fucking go. Grabbing her arm, she pulled as hard as she could, but I kept my grasp.

“I guaran-fucking-tee this will happen again. I’ll let you leave for now, but this shit is far from over.” She whipped her arm quickly, this time breaking free and she walked out of the door.

“I fucking told you not to do this shit. It’s the one thing she always said she’d never fucking do. You don’t think she knows what it looks like to be a whore around this club? And now… you open your fucking mouth… all these guys will know.”

“Dagger and Rhys saw us. I’m sure everyone already knows, and even if they didn’t, it will be known that Princess is mine.”

“Great, just fucking great.” G.T. began shaking his head in disbelief as he walked to the door.

“You know I’m not done with her.”

“I didn’t think you were,” was all he said as he continued out the door slamming it shut.

“Fuck,” I uttered to myself as I laid on the bed staring at the ceiling. This was not how I wanted to spend my fucking morning… I was supposed to be balls deep in Princess. Fuck!

Watching Princess sit at the bar joking with Buzz and Breaker has been getting under my skin the past hour, but I was supposed to be listening to Dagger and Rhys talk with the other chapter members, so I tried not letting it show. Too bad I was having a fuck of a time focusing on shit.

“I wanna see my boy!” Mel stomped her foot like a fucking little kid not getting her way as she approached me. It was fucking noon, and she was just rolling out of whoever’s bed she was in last night. I was tired of this fucking bitch. Growing up with just a mom, I knew how important she was in Cooper’s life. That’s why I let some shit slide. I knew I shouldn’t, but my mom’s words always rang in my head: a boy always needs his momma. I couldn’t forget that, even if she was a junkie.

“Cooper!” I called from the main room. Ma had him back in the kitchen helping her make sandwiches for everyone. He loved helping.

Cooper ran out of the kitchen, but instead of running to Mel or me, he veered towards Princess sitting at the bar laughing. “Pin… ess!” he screamed, holding his hands up in the air for her to pick him up, which she did without hesitation.

“Hey, Bud. How’s it going?” Her beautiful smile illuminated the entire fucking room, and it looked like Cooper was entranced with her.

“Good. I cookin’!”

“You are? Whatcha makin’?” she asked, just as their conversation was rudely interrupted by a very pissed off Mel. Personally, I had forgotten she was even in the fucking room.

Mel stormed over to where Princess was holding Cooper. “Give me my boy!”

Cooper clung to Princess, holding on as if she was his lifeline, and it was scaring the shit out of me. I’d known things weren’t perfect with Mel by any means, but seeing this really made me think.

Approaching them, I demanded, “What the fuck is going on?” Holding out my arms, I expected Cooper to jump into them, but he seemed to like where he was. I couldn’t blame him a damn bit.

“This woman won’t give me my boy.” Mel huffed, but honestly I thought she was more pissed off about the scene in front of everyone than Coop not wanting her.

“He doesn’t want you, if you can’t tell,” Princess clipped as she clutched Cooper tightly, this setting Mel off even more.

“You bitch. Give me my fucking kid, now!” Mel grabbed Cooper’s arm and began pulling him as he screamed. Wrapping my hand around Mel’s throat, I pulled her away from my boy and Princess. Her gasps for air didn’t register through the anger radiating through me.

“You never fucking touch him like that,” I barked out, my hands wanting to teach this fucking woman a lesson. But one thing I didn’t do, what most of us guys here at the club didn’t do, was hit women, but this needed to be hands on. “You leave here, now. Don’t fucking think of coming back.”

“I will not leave my boy here,” she had the audacity to argue.

I involuntarily began gripping her throat harder, pulling her against the wall. Her eyes widened; my voice turned menacing with the anger dripping off of me. “You will stay the fuck away from him, and if you don’t I’ll fucking kill you myself.” I needed her to understand that I wouldn’t tolerate her hands on my boy another minute.

Her words were lost. She couldn’t speak and when she did, all thoughts of not beating the shit out of her intensified. “What about the money you send me?” What the fuck? Money?

“Are you fucking kidding me right now, you stupid bitch? You’re worried about the fucking money!” My other fist made contact with the wall, crushing the drywall next to Mel’s head, causing her to gasp. “Get the fuck out of here! Now!”

Letting go of her throat, she began rubbing it over and over again, but didn’t say a word as she walked out the door. I never wanted to take Cooper away from his momma, and I sure as shit knew he’d never know the pain of not having a daddy around. But fuck it, she was toxic, and I’d be damned if I ever saw her lay a hand on my boy again.

Anger pulsated through me. I really needed to fucking punch something.

“Cruz?” Princess’s voice fell over me as I continued heaving.

“Yeah…” I clipped at her knowing it wasn’t her fault, but it was just a really bad time.

“I’m gonna take Cooper to the playroom, yeah?” Looking at Cooper curled up with Princess; my damn heart fell as the anger subsided a small bit. Shit. I didn’t want him to see me like this.

“Yeah, thanks.” I stalked off to the gym needing a release.

The afternoon went by quickly with more guys, and their families coming in and out of the clubhouse. Diamond set up the basement into several small rooms about a year and a half ago to accommodate all the people that came in and out. He also created a kid’s playroom. Thank God for that; at least everyone would be comfortable during this lockdown.

“Church!” Diamond yelled out with his arms crossed standing by the chapel doors.

As we took our seats, and the door shut, it was standing room only for all the chapter men that came. The large, rectangular oak table in the middle of the room housed several chairs where we spent many hours talking about business. Diamond sat at the head with the gavel. Pops was to his left, Dagger to his right. G.T. and Becs sat next to Pops, and Rhys and Zed next to Dagger. My spot was at the other end of the table facing Diamond.

One wall was covered in pictures of the brothers; anything from party shots to mug shots lined the wall. The other was the Ravage MC name with our symbol, a skull with fire coming out of the top, which was also on the back of each of our rags.

Diamond slammed the gavel down on the table. “Look. We know that it was Rabbit who shot up Pops place, and we just found out why.” Diamond’s stare turned deadly, “Princess.”

The words made my blood run cold even though my anger spiked. “What about her?” I asked, as all eyes around the table turned to me. “What? She’s mine, and I will protect her.”

“Not what she said this morning,” G.T.’s deep grumbled voice spat at me, but before I could answer, Diamond did.

“Son, she’s all of ours,” Diamond said, eyeing me. “Apparently, Rabbit has taken a liking to Babs. For those of you who don’t know, Babs was instrumental in getting our Princess locked up. She disappeared off the radar about a year ago and now has popped back up, with protection this time. They were sending us a message.”