Duke (The Henchmen MC 5)

We got out of the SUV and I made my way inside as Reign got held up with one of Lo's guys.

I walked into the main room to find Renny sitting on the couch. If the smallness of his eyes and the dark circles beneath were any indication, he hadn't slept. That, added onto the fact that he had been the one to stay behind to deal with the death everywhere around him and the police after that and then, I imagined, the cleaning up since there wasn't any blood anywhere anymore, yeah... he wasn't in the best of moods.

And Renny in one of his shit moods, he was a real fuck.

I knew that from personal experience.

Back when we were probates, the fuck had sniffed something off about me and my history story. Then he had dug and dug and dug and dug until he found the kind of dirt he was looking for. I didn't know much about his family, but I knew they all kinds of fucked him up to make him so obsessed with finding answers and then using someone's past against them. He liked to stick his finger in wounds just to see if you screamed.

I had walked outside to do my rounds one night to find a giant Confederate flag with a swastika in the center hanging on the fence. When I walked up, he did a Nazi salute, eyes vacant and said, "I just had an interesting conversation with your father."

Shit spiraled.

And I fucking lost my mind.

Things came to blows only to be broken up by Maze in front of all the patched members.

I learned later that he had, absolutely, talked to my father. And that he may have even informed him that I was residing in Jersey.

I sat and waited and sweated it out for days, then weeks, then months before I finally hired someone to go see if they seemed like they were making a move to come and find me.

They weren't.

And they never did.

But mine and Renny's relationship had never mended.

I knew he couldn't, for the most part, help it.

I knew that he was just fucked up and couldn't find a way to stop himself from lashing out when he got a hold of something.

But that didn't make it okay.

And he was well aware that I, unlike the rest of the members, would not let that shit slide.

"Have fun being holed up with your little Aryan princess?" he asked.

I saw red.

He knew it was coming too because he slowly got to his feet as I charged.

No words were said.

They didn't need to be.

For the next fuck knows how long, we talked with our fists.

"Huh, interesting," a distinctly female voice said, making us both freeze, my bloodied hand just seconds from slamming into Renny's nose. Her voice was musical too, with a hint of an accent that I couldn't place at all.

We both turned to find her standing just inside the back door, head cocked to the side slightly, looking us over.

She was one of Lo's.

Her gently curved, tall, long-legged body was clad in green utility pants and a white tank top.

Her long brown hair was straight and shiny, falling around her shoulders and framing her round, feminine face. She had striking hazel eyes framed with a shitton of dark lashes. There was a distinct Asian-ness to her features, but it was understated like she was only part Asian. The other part was obviously some kind of white.

She was stunning in a perfectly exotic way.

Renny's hand rose, swiping blood from his nose with his wrist.

"Well now," he said, his personality changing like a flick of a switch. "I think I might have to get a job at Hailstorm."

"Sorry," she said, shaking her head. "The position for your particular set of skills is already filled."

"By who?" he pressed, giving her a charming smile despite the blood staining his teeth.

"By me," she said, surprising us both.

"Aw, come on now. You and me though," he went on, all silver tongue despite the shit situation, "we would make one hell of a team." He paused, moving closer to her and damn if she didn't do a very slow, very thorough inspection of him from his boots to the ends of his copper-red hair. "Professionally... personally..."

Her brow went up. "Renny, you might think you're the best at what you do, but let me tell you... I'm out of your league."

"But I do so love a challenge," he said, holding his heart dramatically as he continued to smile at her, close enough that he was almost at her side.

"Get accustomed to disappointment," she said, seemingly unaffected. "I'm here to work. Keep your dick in your pants and we won't have a problem."

"Renny, leave the fucking woman alone," Reign snapped as he walked in. "This is no time to try to get your dick wet."