“What?”

She looks up at me and pouts a little. “That you’ve made Ivy your old lady?”

“Well, that’s up to her I guess, but yeah, I’ve staked my claim.”

“She’s a lucky girl.”

“What’s goin’ on, Brooke? You seem kinda shaken up.”

“I spent the morning with One Eye. He’s ah … a little rougher than usual these days and I thought being with a real man, you know, a man who doesn’t hurt women … well, I thought that … never mind. It’s not important.” She shifts in my lap, as if she’s about to get up and scurry away like a frightened little field mouse, but I hold her firmly to me. With my free hand I grab her chin and tilt her head to the side, and then back and forth in order to see all the angles of her face. I don’t see any bruises.

“He hurt you?”

She places her small hand over mine and wriggles out of my grasp. She stands and pulls up her skirt all the way until her panties are revealed. At first I wonder what the fuck she’s doin’, testin’ my willpower after I just told her no, but then I see the purple marks covering her upper thighs.

“Jesus, fuck. One Eye did that to you?” I have to ask, because it’s seems like more of a Kick thing to bruise and punish. I don’t trust One Eye, especially when it comes to my boy. He knows something about my past or Kick’s, or maybe he just suspects. Either way, the fucker can’t be trusted, and now this? “I’m gonna kill him.”

“No, don’t say anything. Please. I just … well, I guess now that Ivy’s gone, the boys who like to play rough don’t understand that we’re not all into being choked and beaten the way she is.”

Ouch. That stung like a motherfucker. Not that I wasn’t aware of Ivy’s penchant for taking it rough, but I still don’t like the thought of any of them having her, much less some fat fuck who thinks it’s okay to beat her. I’m going to deliver a whole world of pain to that dumb fuck when I see him next.

“I’ll sort him out, babe, but the next time he tries that shit, you tell Prez, you got me?”

“Okay.” She nods her head slowly, as if she’s afraid even that action will be too much and that One Eye’s gonna charge through the door and beat the shit outta her. He’s a dumb fuck, that’s for sure, but I seriously doubt he’d try anything with me here. Which just makes me hate him even more. Gutless wonder.

“Thanks, Tank,” she says, but she’s resigned, and I’m sure she thinks I’m not going to do shit about this. She’s dead wrong.

I follow her, and give her a playful smack on the arse as she walks down the hall ahead of me. I don’t want her feelin’ awkward about what just happened or didn’t happen. After all, it’s not her fault I’m a complete fuckin’ chump.

I walk past the threesome, which has turned into an all-out orgy now that Diesel and Squeals, our newest prospects have joined the fuckfest.

Brooke rolls her eyes at me and then she throws a wink over her shoulder as she addresses the room, “You boys are going to wear Neischa out.”

“You offering up yourself to the slaughter, sweet thing?” Diesel growls low in his throat, and I chuckle. Cocky bastard doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into. He walks over to Brooke, dick on full display for the entire room. You’d think being in a clubhouse of rough and bad-arse fucks that you’d never get to see another man’s cock. You’d be wrong. Between the time I’d spent on the inside, and the time I’ve been with the Saints, and the Angels before that, well … I’ve seen more than enough dick to last a lifetime. More than enough to know I earned my road name Tank in every sense of the word.

Instead of leavin’ like I’d planned, I head down the hall and talk to Prez about the way One Eye’s treating the girls.

I tell him he’s gotta sort that fucker out or I’ll be havin’ myself a little play date. The bastard gives me a humourless laugh, and says, “Don’t wanna bring Ivy back, do ya?” I fold my arms over my chest and just glare at him. “Yeah, yeah, she’s your old lady now, I got it.”

Twenty minutes later, I’m flying down the M4 on my bike. I pull off at the last fast food joint on my way home and pick up some dinner for Ivy. In a way, I’m dreading what I’ll find when I walk through that door. She’s had plenty of time to run, but I can’t keep her tied to a fucking chair forever. She was fool enough to fall for it once, but she won’t fall for it again. I took a huge fuckin’ risk leavin’ her unrestrained and to her own devices in that cabin, and I just hope it doesn’t come back to bite me in the arse.

Fear twists my gut when I pull into the garage and trudge up the stairs towards my house. I don’t know what I’ll find, and it scares the shit outta me. I’d expected the door to be flung wide, her shit gone and my house torn apart for any cash and pot she could find.

Ivy curled up on the couch, is not what I expected at all.

She glances up from her spot tucked in against the side of the sofa and I’m greeted with a small genuine smile, but then her gaze darts back to the TV and my happiness is short-lived. Her attention is fixated on some show with hot women in prison uniforms.

“Hey,” I say.

“Shh.” She puts a hand up to silence me and turns up the sound on the remote.

I grunt and throw the food on the table. “Dinner’s in the fuckin’ bag. You might wanna heat it up though. I’m going to bed.”

She glances up at me, and Jesus Christ I’m a pathetic excuse for a man because all I want is to lie at her feet and have her rub my belly like a fuckin’ worthless dog. I should be baring my teeth to this bitch and showing her what’s what. Instead, I’m a fuckin’ dejected puppy. “You’re not eating?”

“I ate already.”

“Real food, or pussy?”

If only she knew. I haven’t wanted to touch another fuckin’ bitch since I realised I was in love with her. I laugh and sit down next to her. “Nothing like a two-course meal.”

She whacks me hard, and then she moves closer. “You don’t smell like pussy.”

“What do I smell like?”

“Leather, exhaust, night air and a faint whiff of clubhouse.”

“So pussy then?” I laugh. She chuckles and lifts my arm, tucking herself beneath it and nestling into the crook of my shoulder.

“I’m glad you’re home. I was bored without you,” she murmurs. Home. My heart gives a pitiful little tug hearing her say that word.

“What did you do today?” I ask, tracing my fingertips along the pale flesh of her arm in lazy spirals.

“Laid around, watched bad daytime television,” she says, snuggling her head against my chest. “And I went outside.”

The hand that was stroking her arm stills, and tension coils within me. I clench my teeth and practically fuckin’ growl my disapproval.

“Butch isn’t a very good guard dog, you know?” she says, matter of fact. As if she’s talkin’ about the goddamned colour of the sky or some other shit you just drop into conversation. “He practically licked me to death.”

“I asked you specifically not to leave the house. Do I have to tie you to a fuckin’ chair again, or can you take a direct order—”

“You can tie me to a chair if you want,” she whispers. “As long as you eat me out afterwards.”

“I’m fuckin’ serious, bitch. How did you even get past the alarm?”

“I watched you enter it this morning, dumbarse,” she deadpans, and when I think back to earlier today, I realise she’s probably right. I’m a fuckin’ idiot. I was so caught up in those sexy little short shorts she was wearin’ that I didn’t have my fuckin’ head on straight.

“Tank, if I wanted to leave, I would have. I spent all day sitting in the sunshine with your dog. Tomorrow I’m going to get to work on your gardens. I’m bored. I can’t be cooped up in this house all day. And if you really want me to get better, then I need to push the boundaries. I need you to trust me … so I can trust me. I can’t promise it’s going to be easy. My first thought when I left the house today was that I could probably get to a pharmacy and back before you would even know I was gone. And then I felt the breeze in my hair, and the sun on my skin, and I decided I didn’t want to go anywhere. I need this.”