Page 81 of Bits and Pieces

Chip staggers to his feet, reaching for his gun. Eagle rushes from the woods and crashes into the other man. They tumble to the rocky ground, sending Chip’s gun skidding toward the river.

Scrambling to his feet, the prison asshole slashes wildly at me with his switchblade.

Steel Berserkers don’t dance. We aren’t smooth operators. Our fighting style is wild and rough. Berserkers smash into people, pound bones until they shatter, and stomp hard until the blood flows.

That’s why I don’t waste time dodging the blade. I rush at the prison asshole, grabbing him by the head and slamming him into a tree. He swipes me with his blade, once across the cheek, another along my upper chest.

My large hands wrap around his face and press his head against the tree. His skull cracks under the pressure, sending him screaming in pain as he slashes at me. The knife cuts my hand before I release his face long enough to snap his wrist. The blade ends up on the ground as he claws at me.

I don’t think about what’s happening with Hobo, Eagle, and Chip. I only see the man before me. His punches aren’t weak like Neal Copper’s were. This asshole’s experienced real violence before. He tears at my hair and tries to rip out my eyes. The fucker even nails me in the balls. Nothing stops my big hands from crushing his skull.

Once he goes limp, I drop his corpse on the ground. Only then do I remember my club brothers.

I turn to find Hobo on top of a dead Chip. He’s gone wilding with a blade, stabbing the dead man over and over. Eagle stands back and texts on his phone.

Scanning the area, I consider if we should hide the bodies or leave them on display. Eagle strolls over and kicks my boot.

“He got you.”

“Just flesh wounds. He should have carried a better blade.”

Eagle smirks at my response before showing me the message from Ruin on his phone.

“Clean up and get home for dinner,” he replies.

Hobo stops stabbing the corpse and reaches for Chip’s phone.

“No passcode,” he mumbles as if shocked. “It’s a new phone. No messages worth noting.”

I get Hobo’s meaning. Nothing on Chip’s phone links the asshole’s presence to Todd Rogers.

Eagle returns with his supply bag and pulls out an ax. “Since you boys did most of the dirty work, allow me to do cleanup.”

Without saying another word, he goes to work chopping up the men. Once they’re in two tidy piles, we dump lye over the areas where I bled.

Eagle and I return to our hogs while Hobo plans to hang around and keep watch.

“I wasn’t planning on going home tonight anyway,” he assures us.

I realize Hobo’s hit the same point I did years ago. Pussy and partying have lost their allure. While I conjured up my dream woman and shoved Kati into that role, my club brother decided to embrace a more solitary life.

That’ll never be me again. I’m a family man now. Returning home as the sun sets, I find everyone fucking ecstatic to see me.

“You’re hurt, Silas,” Blair says as Landry stands frozen in fear.

As I hand Woodrow my supply bag, I explain to my new family, “Sometimes, you need to bleed to win a fight.”

Landry stares at me, unsure what to do. I notice she has Beckett in her arms and Brooklyn stuck to her side. Beau stands nearby, saying “mommy” until she looks at him. She had her hands full this afternoon. The last thing she needs is to worry about a bloodied biker.

Kati had no taste for my ugly days. That should have been my first tip-off about our long-term viability. Yet, even if Landry can’t handle me bloody after a fight, I still know she’s mine. With her, I’m not in love with a fantasy. The real flesh-and-blood Landry is everything I need.

Finding her voice, she looks at the kids. “We need to fix up Silas. Who wants to get the Band-Aids?”

Blair stands straighter. “I will.”

“Me,” Brooklyn adds.

“Come help me.”

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