Tatum's blue eyes took in the party-goers around her. In different parts of the room, she could see members of her graduating class, some kids that were now seniors, and a few college kids. God, this had never been her thing, she'd never found high school or college parties worth anything to her. She could see everything that went on at them and more, at the club parties. Plus, this was a mob mentality – everyone here went along with everyone else, and it was so boring. Nobody had any individuality. Normally, she'd have tossed the invitation in the trash can and not even thought twice about it. She would have spent the night at the club's New Year's party and have an actual good time with her friends and family.Tonight though, she was on a mission."Do you see anybody?" Addie asked as they surveyed the room.Tatum took a drink from the bottle of Strawberry Boone's Farm she carried in her hand. It was the bottom shelf stuff, guaranteed to get you loaded in the least amount of tim
Remy was in a piss-poor mood, had been since the night of the Christmas party and everything that had gone down with Tatum. He bit off the head of anyone foolish enough to ask if he was okay. He'd been eating lunch by himself, and overall had been a miserable fucking loner. Even right now, while everyone else was partying their asses off, his big date was being in the gym and beating the ever-loving shit out of a heavy bag. It was the only thing that seemed to calm him the last few days.Hearing his fists connect with the bag felt good, even if it was muted by the gloves he wore. His arms burned, his shoulders and back ached, his chest heaved, and sweat poured down his forehead and into his eyes; making them sting. The sting felt good though, because it distracted him from the guilt he felt for the way he'd treated Tatum. And that guilt was pressing down on him like he was trapped under a thousand-pound boulder.He'd felt every emotion on the spectrum since she'd walked out on him
Tatum's heart beat through her chest as she followed Gavin upstairs to a much quieter part of the house. Her mouth was dry – the result of her nerves, or the alcohol she'd consumed – she wasn't sure which. Her hand gripped Gavin's tightly, but she knew it wasn't because she was excited, it was because she wanted to yank on it, and stop him from leading her into the empty bedroom. Part of her wanted to put a stop to it, the other part wanted to go through with this so she could throw it in Remy's face. Those stubborn traits she'd inherited from her dad were alive and well tonight.She glanced over her shoulder, spotting Addie pulling out her phone and making a call. The worried look on her friend's face told her all she needed to know. Addie was probably calling in reinforcements and her time had suddenly become very limited."You feelin' good?" his deep voice questioned in her ear, causing her hair to stand up and goosebumps to appear on her arms. This time it was different than wh
The temperature in the cab of the truck was downright frigid as Remy drove to Tyler's house to drop off Addie first. Tatum refused to meet his gaze and that flat out pissed him off. If she was going to give herself to another man and then have the balls to sit in front of him like this, she should at least have the decency to meet his eyes when he looked at her."Am I going to have to explain to Tyler why I'm dropping you off at one in the fucking morning?" Remy glanced in the review mirror of the truck, looking back to where Addie sat in the extended cab."No," she shook her head, looking about as tired and unhappy as he felt. "He's at the clubhouse. He and Mom had planned to stay and they took Caelin with them."Well, thank God for small favors, because the one person besides Liam he didn't want to face off with tonight, was Tyler."You're lucky I don't call him and tell him where the hell you've been. How could you let her go up there with him?" he questioned her, the irrita
VOLUME ONE: MEANT TO BEDenise Cunningham pulled back the curtains covering the window pane in her front door with shaky hands. The knock that had sounded moments before wasn't the gentle knock of a friend over for a visit. Staring back at her through the glass, she saw two Warren County Sheriff's deputies holding papers. Dread rolled up in her throat as her stomach began to churn. She let the blinds fall and took two deep breaths before she unlocked the door and faced the men standing on the other side. As she stepped out, the brightness of the sun assaulted her eyes, the warmth of the summer day made it even more difficult to breathe past the lump in her throat."Denise Cunningham?" The taller of the two asked.Not trusting her voice, she could only nod her head in acknowledgement of who she was.With cold efficiency, he handed her the papers in his hands. "Denise Cunningham, I'm serving you with papers from Kentucky Housing." He produced a pen and requested her signature.In mi
Roni Walker sighed deeply as she stood outside the city jail. Unfortunately, in the past few months the employees had come to know her by name. Every time she turned around, someone in the MC was getting into trouble. Being a female, she wasn't privy to club information, so most of the time she flew in the dark and under the radar. This, however, was beginning to piss her off. Grabbing a peppermint from her pocket, she waited for the two members of the MC she'd been dispatched to bail out. This place gave her the heebie jeebies and she bit down hard on the candy, cursing as a sharp edge sliced her cheek.Trying to keep her mind off of what could possibly be going down inside the jail, she took in her surroundings. The beautiful South Central Kentucky day belied the butterflies in her stomach. The warmth of the sun beat down on her head, and the sky was a deep blue and cloudless. If she had been someone else, part of another family, she might be out on a picnic. She might be parked in
"We should use her."Liam ground his back teeth together. He didn't agree with this at all. In fact, he thought the idea was about the stupidest thing he had ever heard. "Denise did what she did for Roni, not because she wanted to get an 'in' with the club. She made that very clear to me when I tried to say thank you for her part in getting us out. We don't need to use somebody who doesn't want to be involved. That's dangerous.""I say we take a look at her financials. We might be able to persuade her," William Walker Sr. disagreed with his son. "Steele," he yelled. "I need you in here. Get me a credit report and everything else you can on Roni's friend, Denise Cunningham." He steepled his fingers together and rested his chin against them.Dread settled over Liam at those words. There was a reason she had so readily picked up an extra shift at work on what he had been told was her birthday. When he'd approached her, he could see weariness in her eyes. It wasn't weariness caused b
"I'm fucked," she said out loud. No one was there to hear her or to see her break down, but for the first time since this had started, she sobbed. Really sobbed. It was full body and it was ugly.Denise sat on her couch, her head in her hands. The last year and a half had taught her many things about herself and about life. She had come to some grim realizations and some new revelations.She wasn't as strong as she had once believed. When she had been a teenager having twins, she had taken the world by the balls and dared it to talk back to her. This time, when the economy had tanked and she had lost her job, she had cowered. For months she had sat on her living room couch, just knowing the factory would call her and tell her to come to work on Monday morning. When that hadn't happened, it had taken her a few weeks, but she dove headlong into looking for something else. It had taken months for her to find the minimum wage job she now worked at. Gone were most of their DVD's and any