Page 2 of Butcher's Honor

He glances at my cut, at the patches that mark me as VP of the Iron & Blood MC. I see the moment reality sinks in, the way his face goes from red to pale.

"This is none of your business," he says, but his voice wavers. "This is between me and my girlfriend."

"Ex-girlfriend," the woman speaks up, her voice shaky but determined. "I told you it's over, Derek. You need to leave."

Derek's face twists ugly again. "Shut up, you—"

My hand closes around his throat before he can finish that sentence. I lift him easily, watching his feet dangle an inch off the floor as he chokes.

"Here's what's going to happen," I tell him, keeping my voice low. "You're going to walk out that door and never come back. If I see you around here again, if I hear you've tried to contact her, if I even catch a whisper of your name in this neighborhood..." I squeeze harder, watching his face turn purple. "Well, let's just say they won't find enough of you to bury."

I drop him. He falls to his knees, gasping and coughing.

"You have thirty seconds to get out of my sight."

He scrambles to his feet and runs, not even stopping to close the front door behind him. His car starts with a screech of tires on the pavement, and then he's gone.

The woman is still pressed against the wall, but her son has stopped crying, now watching me with wide eyes over his mother's shoulder.

"Thank you," she whispers, her voice breaking. "I've been trying to get him to leave for days, but he wouldn't... he kept coming back..."

"He won't now." I look around the messy room, noting the broken lamp on the floor and the upturned coffee table. "You got somewhere else you can stay?"

She shakes her head. "No, I... we just moved here from Oregon. I don't know anyone yet."

Of course not. That's probably why the bastard feels so confident to hunt her and hurt her—isolated, vulnerable.

"I'm Ruby," she offers, finally stepping away from the wall. "This is Tommy."

The kid gives me a shy wave, and something in my chest tightens. He's got his mother's dark hair and big eyes, currently red from crying.

"Joey," I grunt in response. "I live next door with my mother."

"The lady with the roses?" Tommy pipes up. "She gave me a cookie yesterday."

That sounds like Mom. Always feeding strays, always trying to help. It must be where I get it from.

I eye the broken door.

"I'll fix that for you tomorrow. For now..." I pull out my phone and scroll through my contacts. "I know someone who can install better locks tonight. You okay with that?"

Ruby nods, relief washing over her face. "Yes, please. I can pay—"

I wave her off. "Don't worry about it. Just keep the noise down from now on. My mother needs her rest."

"Of course." She sets Tommy down and starts picking up the scattered toys. "I'm so sorry about all this. I never meant to cause trouble for anyone."

"You didn't. He did." I watch her for a moment, noting the slight tremor in her hands, the way she winces when she bends down. "You hurt?"

"Just bruises," she says quickly. Too quickly.

I grunt, unconvinced, but don't push it. Instead, I send a quick text to our club's handyman about the locks, thenanother to some of our prospects about keeping an eye on the neighborhood.

"Someone will come by in an hour with the locks," I tell her. "If Derek ever comes back, call this number." I write my burner phone number on a piece of paper from my pocket and hand it to her.

She takes it with a small smile, and for the first time, I notice how beautiful she is when she's not terrified.

"Thank you. Really."

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