Oh, hell no. He was out of his fucking mind bringing that bitch around Trix, and she was out of hers if she thought she could glare at my girl that way. I made my way slowly and calmly through the clubhouse, trying in vain to get by unnoticed. I really didn’t need every member of the club seeing our little family drama unfold like a daytime soap opera. I should have known that they would be watching though, especially after the show outside.

As I reached where they were sitting, I could hear her voice. It was annoying, a little high-pitched and babyish, which was more than a little disturbing, but the words coming out of her mouth stopped me cold.

“Baby, she’s just precious. Look how beautiful she is! I can’t believe you have a daughter! Well, I guess we have a daughter, huh?” She glanced up through her eyelashes.

Was she fucking serious? I ignored her for the moment and walked directly to Dragon and Trix.

“Mama!”

Trix launched herself at me, and I caught her up in my arms, sniffing her hair that smelled like a mix of baby shampoo and Dragon, and feeling grateful after the scare I’d had when I first walked inside. I really shouldn’t have worried. I knew Vera would guard her like a lioness, but after all of that shit outside, I was feeling a little jumpy. I couldn’t imagine something happening to Trix. What would I do without her? She was my everything.

I set her down and pointed her in the direction of Pop on the other side of the room. “Go see Gramps, yeah? I’ll be over in a minute.” I gave her a little shove, and she went skipping happily over to Pops, completely unaware of the undercurrent flowing between the three adults she was leaving.

Once I saw her off, I didn’t even hesitate. I turned around, swung my left arm up, and caught Dragon’s old lady under her chin. Then, I swung with my right and busted my knuckles across her teeth. She went down easily. Obviously, the bitch wasn’t from around here. Dragon stood up as if to stop me, but he didn’t move when he saw the look on my face. He just tilted his head as if wondering what I would do next.

I stood above her, and she was lying on the ground with her mouth bleeding and a dazed look on her face. I crouched down close to her head, grabbed her hair, and told her in a low voice, “My daughter has a mother. She is not and never will be yours. You stay the fuck away from her. And if I ever see you look at her again the way you were earlier, I’ll fucking cut your eyes out with a dull spoon.” I dropped her head and stood up, looking around the room.

Everyone was watching. Most were looking at me with respect, some in surprise, and Vera had a big-ass grin on her face. I didn’t care. I just wanted to get the fuck out of there. I walked to Pop and grabbed Trix.

“Come on, baby girl, it’s nap time. Want Mama to lay with you for a bit?”

I walked toward Pop’s room, nodding along to Trix’s chatter, but I didn’t hear a thing. The whole time I thought, Shit—right back where I started.

I was the princess of the Aces MC, and I had the bloody knuckles to prove it.

The trip to Boise went pretty well. Thank God we didn’t have any problems because my head just wasn’t in it. I didn’t want to leave the compound, but I had a job to do. There wasn’t a whole lot that would stop Slider from sending me where I was needed, and having Brenna show up with my kid sure as fuck didn’t rate a day off. I understood it even if I didn’t like it.

It took us close to two weeks to get the shit loaded and moved—longer than usual, but not enough to cause any problems. The buyers would pick it up at the new warehouse after a sit down with Slider, but I didn’t deal with that shit. I just moved things and dealt with other problems as they came up. We didn’t shit where we lived, so I was always moving stuff from one place to another. Buyers never showed at our warehouses; we always found a neutral zone to make the drop. Slider had called a couple of times to get an update, and each time, I could tell there was something on his mind. At one point, I’d asked about it, but he’d made it clear that we would talk about it when I got back, so I dropped it. He’d tell me if it were important.

By the time I got back to the compound, I was sweaty, tired, and hungry. I wasn’t looking forward to talking to Brenna. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that she’d kept my kid from me. Who the fuck did that? I also wasn’t looking forward to the retaliation from Poet. It was going to fuckin’ hurt. I knew he wouldn’t kill me, but I’d probably wish he had by the time he was done. Fuck. I couldn’t wait to see my girl though. I hadn’t planned on having kids. I just didn’t see the point. Sure, with Brenna, I’d thought about it—during that one night we’d had. But since her? No way. I didn’t need that shit complicating my life.

Kendra, the bitch I’d been with for the last year, sure as hell wasn’t mother material. The chick could barely tie her fuckin’ shoes. She worked though. She had a banging body. She let me do whatever the fuck I wanted to her, never complained, and seemed completely ignorant to anything outside her little bubble. Plus, she was a freak in bed. Fuckin’ crazy.

About two months ago, she’d started bitching about a ring, so I’d bought her one. She’d wanted to think that meant I was going to marry her, but I wouldn’t. Only one woman ever had the chance of that, and she had taken off for parts unknown for five years.

As I pulled up to the gate, a guy in a dark gray sedan pulled up behind us and rolled down his window. He looked like some kind of businessman, but he had some heavy-duty guards with him.