Page 2 of Stone

I’d been thinking about this day for two fucking years and had done everything I could to prepare for it. But nothing had worked out the way I’d planned.

It was her birthday.

She was eighteen.

Finally, I could make her mine.

Except the shit that took her away from me hadn’t been resolved.

Britta Hughes had been barely sixteen when she and her mother came to the Iron Rogues for help.

Motorcycle Clubs were secretive by nature, but there were a few things the public knew. No one could say that we lived on the right side of the law…we had blood on our hands, dealt in shady shit, and had our own brand of justice. But we also had honor, loyalty, and limits. We even worked with the local law enforcement from time to time—outside of Old Bridge, becausewe basically owned the small town and our own laws were the only ones enforced there.

When it came to certain things, we were the judge, jury, and even executioner. We didn’t tolerate drugs anywhere near our territory, and human traffickers had a habit of disappearing when brought to our attention.

But in the right circles, people also knew we would protect those who needed it. They knew they could come to us for help, even in the event that they needed to disappear. Unlike the government who tossed people into WITSEC—and attempted to handle the problem legally—we simply eliminated the fucking threat.

Britta’s mother, Marylin, had been unknowingly working as a bartender for one of the biggest crime bosses in Chicago, and she also happened to be in a relationship with one of his enforcers. She confronted him when she overheard him talking to an associate about a shipment of girls.

He beat the shit out of her and told her to keep her mouth shut. Then he threatened Britta to keep Marylin in the relationship.

He’d never touched her in anger before that incident, but he must have gotten a taste for it because the beatings continued, the frequency and intensity increasing.

We had an Iron Rogues chapter just north of the city. One of the officers had a daughter who went to school with Britta. They had become good friends, and the next time Marylin ended up in the hospital, the girl went to her dad.

He contacted Fox, who agreed to help the mother and daughter hide until we could handle the issue and allow them to come out of hiding.

When they arrived at our clubhouse, I’d taken one look at Britta with her wavy blond hair, jade-green eyes, and incredible curves and knew she would be mine someday. But despite thefact that she had the body of a woman and had clearly been forced to grow up too fucking fast, she was only sixteen.

She was too fucking young for me. Even if she had been legal, there were still fourteen years between us. But that wasn’t going to stop me when the time came.

I had to ignore the sparks between us and keep my distance until she was of age, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t watch over her. I protected what was mine.

But then the choice was taken away from me.

Fox had made all the arrangements and refused to tell me anything. No matter how many times I petitioned him to give me the details and let me protect her.

Fox didn’t want my presence bringing attention to them or risking that Britta would notice me and blow her cover trying to see me.

His decision was logical, but when it came to Britta, I wasn’t in a rational frame of mind.

I’d always been a laid-back guy. Quick with a smile and a joke, even though I was torn up and broken inside. An incident in my past had left deep wounds, but I kept them to myself and only let the anger and sorrow out when we were interrogating scum or delivering justice to people who didn’t deserve to live.

However, since Fox first denied my request to keep watch over Britta, I’d slowly lost the ability to pretend. The closer I got to her birthday, the fouler my mood was. Every time Fox denied me access to my woman, it got even worse.

Lately, I was basically in a constant state of asshole. I just didn’t have the emotional capacity to give a fuck.

My phone vibrated on the small table next to my bed, and I scowled as I grabbed it. The text was from Fox, telling me we needed to meet about club business in thirty minutes.

I’d lived at the clubhouse the past five years, ever since I’d patched in at twenty-seven. Although, I’d been looking for a new place recently because I wasn’t gonna live here with Britta.

I decided to hurry and get ready so I could hopefully have a few minutes with Prez before everyone else arrived.

Fox was reading a document when I entered, but he lowered it to the desk when I approached.

He took one look at my face and shook his head. “No.”

“She’s eighteen today,” I stated, even though I knew he was perfectly aware of what day it was.

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