Page 1 of Memphis

Prologue

Life is tough.

It can throw punches that can cripple a man.

Each hit, whether it's a betrayal or a tragedy, can tear away at a man’s spirit.

It will either break a man or show him his true strength—not just in surviving pain, but in finding the courage to rise above it.

It’s not easy, but you gotta hold onto the hope that you’ll get through it.

Because sometimes, hope is all you have to hold onto.

It certainly was for me.

Memphis

“Jenna usedmy razorto shaveher legs.”

“Yeah and?”

“It was my razor, and she used it on her legs! That damn blade got dull as hell. It was like using a fucking butter knife.” I was sitting in the backseat of Grim’s truck with Ghost and Seven, and we were all listening as Grim complained. “Haven’t had razor burn like that since I was a kid.”

“Aw, damn,” Ghost chuckled. “That’s gotta suck.”

“It does, and to top it off, I went to the store and bought her a brand-new razor of her own. It was pink and everything, but she still used mine. What the hell is that about?”

“Might have to start stashing your shit somewhere.”

“Stashing my shit?” Grim’s brows furrowed. “That’s a thing?”

“Hell, yeah, it’s a thing,” Seven answered. “I dated this girl once that was obsessed with my shit, even my deodorant.”

“Jenna uses mine all the time, and I got no idea why. She’s got tons of smell-good shit. Soaps, shampoos, and sprays. You name it.” Grim shook his head. “But I gotta tell ya, my ass has never smelled so good.”

“You better watch it, brother,” Ghost chuckled. “Wouldn’t want you going soft on us.”

Grim was the club’s enforcer, and he was anything but soft. The man had done things that would make the devil shake in his boots. He cocked his brow as he replied, “You know better than that.”

“Grim going soft?” Creed was the club’s VP and knew Grim better than anyone, so I wasn’t surprised when he scoffed, “Not a chance. Hell, you saw what he did to Delgado. There ain’t nothing soft about that.”

“Yeah.” Ghost winced. “That was pretty rough.”

Delgado made the mistake of kidnapping Luna, Jenna’s young daughter, over money that was owed to him by Jenna’s brother and his gang. It was a mistake that ended up costing Delgado his life in the most gruesome of ways. None of us were surprised that Grim had gone to such an extreme. He was crazy about Luna, and he was distraught when he discovered she was in danger.

But with Delgado out of the picture, we were left without a distributor.

That was a problem—a big problem.

Our club gained a great deal of income from our marijuana sales, so we were left with no choice but to find someone new—which is why we were in Grim’s truck and headed to Nashville.

We were going to check out a possible new distributor that was run by the Ruthless Sinners and one of their ol’ ladies. They were supposed to have the best marijuana this side of the border, and we were all eager to find out if it was worth all the hype. We’d first learned about them through Gus, the president of the Memphis chapter. He’d assured us that they were the real deal, and that’s all we needed to know.

We asked for a meet, and Gus set it up.

It was about a five-hour drive from Little Rock to Nashville, and the guys were growing restless—which led them to start talking. One thing led to another, and Grim started opening upabout having a new woman in his home. He was usually pretty tight-lipped, so he had our full attention as he said, “Delgado had it coming. And if I had it to do again, I wouldn’t take it so easy on him.”

“Hell yeah, he did. Dude was a real piece of shit.” When Grim turned down an old winding road, Ghost leaned forward and asked, “We getting close?”

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