I was pretty sure my jaw dropped. What the fuck? I knew she wasn’t talking to Tony. She only ever called him Daddy. She never made noise around Tony, especially when he was in a mood. She called my Pop Gramps. This was fucking weird, and even with everything going on around us, I was completely focused on her as she called out again.

“PAPA!”

Dragon finally pulled himself to a stop about two feet from Tony. Only his head turned when he glanced back at us. As soon as he made eye contact with Trix, she took off running. I tried to catch her, but she slipped past me and weaved her way through the bikers like they were obstacles on a jungle gym. The kid was fast, and I was practically chasing her through the bikes. Once Dragon saw what she was doing, he quickly turned and started toward her. Within seconds, he swung her up on his arm, and she buried her face in his neck. You couldn’t even see it behind his beard. I slowed to a stop a few feet from them, out of breath and freaking the fuck out. What the hell was that? All of a sudden I realized that Tony had seen the whole thing, and my head slowly turned to catch his reaction.

He was laughing, but it wasn’t genuine. It was sinister and mean, and I thought for a second my sandwich was going to force its way past my throat.

“Ah, so you finally told her who her daddy was. Interesting timing although I guess you really couldn’t help it, could you? The little spic looks just like him.”

I was shaking so badly I thought my knees were going to give out. Dragon strode over to stand next to me as I faced Tony, and he lightly rested his hand at the small of my back. I could feel his body thrumming with energy, and I knew that if he weren’t holding Trix, Tony would already be a dead man—goons or no goons. I wasn’t sure where to look, what to do, or if I should say something. Tony was here in my safe place, and I just wanted him gone. Why couldn’t he leave us the hell alone? He stood there with that arrogant grin on his face and called my daughter a spic. I couldn’t even wrap my head around it, not to mention the fact that she wasn’t even Hispanic. Dragon was Native American.

“Look at that, a perfect little family. You fucking him yet, Brenna?” His eyes turned to Dragon. “She’s really good once you’ve knocked her around a bit. All that moaning and groaning. She hardly ever makes noise otherwise. Boring as hell, really. I guess you already knew that though. It was so satisfying, you know? Fucking her after I knew she went slumming here. Knowing that I had her, and some white trash piece of garbage was waiting around for her. I didn’t know who she slept with when she came back here, and I really didn’t care. But the kid looks just like you, so you must have been the one. Unfortunately.”

Dragon slid Trix off his arm and handed her to me, never taking his eyes off Tony. “Take her inside, Brenna.”

“Dragon, don’t—“

“NOW, Brenna. Go now.” He gave me a little shove.

I wasn’t about to watch what Dragon was going to do, and I really didn’t want Trix to see it, so I did as he told me.

As I passed Pop, he grabbed my arm lightly. “Bring her to Vera and come back out here, lass. I don’t think we’ll be able to control the situation otherwise.”

Vera was right inside the door as I rushed in, and I almost didn’t see her. She stood at an angle facing Tony and the goons with a shotgun propped in a little notch in the doorframe. You couldn’t see her from outside, but I was surprised I didn’t remember where she would be standing. This was her place during anything that went down in the forecourt. She could easily shut and bolt the door from this position, but she would still be able to protect Slider’s back. Slider hated it, but eventually, he came to accept it. He was the one to notch the doorway, so she wouldn’t have to support the shotgun for long periods of time.

“Vera! Can you take Trix?”

“You goin’ back out there?”

“Yeah, Pop told me to come back out.”

“Sure. Come here, Trix. Let’s let your mama go bust some heads.”

I handed Trix off to Vera and took a deep breath before going outside. I wasn’t sure what Pop was expecting me to do once I got there. I had no control over either of the men in my life—obviously or I wouldn’t be in this damn position in the first place.

When I got outside, I glanced at my surroundings. Tony was still by the car, Dragon was still facing him with no expression on his face, Pop was standing closest to me by the doorway, and Slider was a few feet in front of Pop. He sounded like he was trying to diffuse the situation without freaking the fuck out. I couldn’t quite hear what he was saying. My ears seemed to be buzzing, but I had a pretty good idea. The fact that Tony had come onto Aces’ property uninvited was huge.

This fucking mess was getting worse by the minute. It wasn’t like the boys could just take Tony and his henchmen out. The Richards family had a lot of connections, probably not as many as the Aces, but definitely enough to cause them more trouble than the boys wanted to deal with. Police and FBI could be swarming all over the compound by the time the sun went down if Tony made one phone call. Slider was livid that Tony had come onto the property, but he was also in the very awkward position of harboring a Richards…even if it was just a wife.

While I tried to figure out what exactly Pop was expecting me to do, I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye and realized that another car was racing up the driveway. Who the hell was that? I was pretty sure that it was a woman. I couldn’t imagine one of the boys driving a little silver convertible. Why the hell was she driving so fast? I could see brown long hair flying around her face, but that was pretty much it. I was curious, but I needed to focus.