Chapter 1
CHAPTER
ONE
Haze
Present day
I stare across at the woman who used to be mine as applause breaks out around us. They awarded her a Medal of Valor for extraordinary courage at a recent shootout. That’s my girl, always in the thick of it.
When I say she used to be mine, I mean that loosely. Willow Sinclair will always be the only woman for me, but you could say we’ve had our share of differences over the years.
The last five in particular. Well, she disowned me for a short time, but she forgets she’s married to me still. Granted, I won’t sign the divorce papers, so here we are.
My wife.
Despite what my mighty little warrior may think of me, I’m always gonna be here.
We got married on a whim to piss off her strict parents, not that they’re such geniuses at marriage because they’re divorced and her dad is onto his third wife.
They never liked me much. Willow’s always had something to prove to her dad, who’s also a cop, but she’ll never win in his eyes.
Her younger brother, Max, was always the golden boy of the family. That was until he went off the rails.
“You think she appreciates us bein’ here?” My older brother, Brew, whispers.
I may be estranged from my wife, but our family still remembers their own.
We’ll always be here to support her in all that she does, even when her loyalties aren’t within the MC or to me.
Being the newly appointed captain at her precinct probably wouldn’t get even an eyebrow raise from her father, a retired commissioner.
He wanted Max to go into the force, but he dropped out of college to start a band.
I still laugh about it now. Max possessed a big heart, but had absolutely no love for the law, especially being a cop.
“Probably not, but she knew what she signed up for when we said our vows, till death do us part,” I reply. “Her memory may be a little foggy, we were drunk after all…”
Sawyer, our hacking whiz, and a kinda jack-of-all trades in our security business, snorts. “If she sees you here, she’s gonna split your lip, not from a punch, though, from that death stare laser she throws your way every time you meet.”
I turn to look at him. “What fuckin’ death stare laser?”
Brew shakes his head. “Don’t you tire of living in a constant state of denial every day?”
I fold my arms over my chest. “Willow just needs remindin’ of what we had, that’s all,” I say. “I just need to reason with her.”
“Right, so when is the reasoning part kickin’ in?” my brother grunts.
He is the one who cops most of my grumbling about Willow but he’s used to it. I am very much like a broken record, after all.
“Hasn’t it been five years?” Sawyer questions, observant little fucker.
I open my mouth and close it again. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, that much I know.
Casually, as if his comment doesn’t affect me, I say, “We were different people then, we’re older now, we know what we want.”
“Right, and she doesn’t want you,” Brew grunts. “So just get it into your thick skull and move on already. We’re all sick of hearin’ about it every day.”
“I don’t talk about her every day,” I interject, watching my girl smile at the crowd.
“Yes, you do,” they both say in unison.
Yet I don’t hear a thing because Willow’s eyes suddenly meet mine from across the room. She has the prettiest soft green and hazel eyes I have ever seen. I swear to god they’re like one of those mood rings — they change color, depending on the day.
Today, however, they look more black onyx than a pretty shade of jade, narrowed in my direction as she slowly shakes her head.
Okay, so maybe she doesn’t like me being here, but it’s for her own protection.
She may be the ‘captain’ now but that doesn’t mean I’ll ease my vigilance when it comes to her safety. Far from it.
Willow is a precious commodity that must be protected at all costs. I wasn’t asleep during our marriage vows. I meant every word, and frankly? Enough time has passed.
We made a pact after all, and I might just remind her of that.
I jiggle my eyebrows at her, grinning — a move I know will only infuriate her further.
Of course she looks sexy as fuck, nothing new there.
Her hair is long but tied back neatly into a bun, her ample rack shielded by her uniform, and I know for a fact she has an ass.
There’s nothing hotter than a woman in uniform, and Willow wears it well.
Standing at just five feet tall, she’s tiny, and kind of sweet looking if I’m being honest. But what she lacks in height she makes up for in everything else.
Attitude.
Snark.
A smart mouth.
If you ask me, Willow usually has too much to say for herself, but she also has the knack of being in the right place at the right time. Unlike our wedding. She may not have very fond memories of that auspicious occasion, but I certainly do.
After homecoming, we hung out as friends, not hooking up until we got to college, and even then it was casual. Willow was a scholar, I was anything but.
Where she excelled in everything she put her mind to, I struggled. I wasn’t a dumb kid, I just didn’t enjoy studying. I preferred to get my hands dirty rather than sitting in class, bored out of my mind.
Needless to say, I dropped out and learned a skill, trying my hand at mechanics and metalwork. On the side, I became a fighter in underworld boxing. It paid well, and I enjoyed using my fists, but Willow didn’t enjoy seeing me beat up all the time.
What are you doing here? Willow mouths.
I shrug.
Someone steals her attention away, and she averts her gaze, smiling at them.
That familiar smile? I know it only too well.
It’s polite. The one she reserves for work, colleagues or parents.
Willow hates crowds. She’s never been one for praise either.
Well, only in the bedroom, but that’s another matter.
“I think she hates your guts,” Sawyer tells me helpfully.
Before he can deflect, I elbow him in the ribs and he doubles over, groaning.
“You always go for the cheap shot,” Brew says. “Are we done here?”
I ignore him. “When you’ve had a relationship for longer than five minutes, come back and talk to me, until then, shut the fuck up.”
Sawyer likes to think that he is the world’s leading expert on women and relationships, but he doesn’t know shit.
Nova, our cousin who works for us, has taken a shining to him but there’s no way Sawyer is gonna act on it and keep his balls intact.
Not. Gonna. Happen. Even though Nova’s a fully grown consenting adult, that doesn’t mean she knows what’s best for her.
I wish my wife knew what was best for her…
You look great. I mouth when Willow’s gaze finds me again.
Another eye roll. Some things never change.
My wife may be teeny, but she scares the living shit out of people. I could see how that could happen. Being beautiful and sharp doesn’t mean she has to have long legs, not when she can kill a man at ten paces just with her glare.
Fuck me, be still my beating heart.
It’s always been her. Despite our separation, I know now it was a mistake to let her go.
Our relationship is complicated, but I have kept an eye on her since she moved to New Orleans for her new job.
Two fucking years of watching her. Making sure she’s okay.
I wouldn’t exactly call it stalking, we are married after all, but for a cop, you’d think she’d be quicker on her feet.
I smirk when I think about saying something like that to her out loud. My little firecracker.
Nobody goes off like Willow does. I remember the hate sex very well, and at this point in time, I’ll take that over nothing at all. I’ve had blue balls for… well, let’s just say a very long time. Not that I’d admit that aloud to any of my MC brothers, let alone my real ones. They’d die laughing.
I watch her converse with her peers, and every so often, she steals a glance over at me.
“You know she’s just makin’ sure she doesn’t have to shoot you, right?” Sawyer says after he’s recovered from my elbow.
“She wouldn’t, too many witnesses,” I reply, feeling smug. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a wife to congratulate.”
“Jesus, fuck,” Brew mutters.
“Uh, not sure that’s a great idea, you’re in your cut.”
I wear my MC leather cut with pride, along with my patch. I may be a Nomad brother and run the security company with my brothers, but I’ll always be a Rebel before anything else.
I shrug. “So what? You think I give a fuck what people think?”
“No, but she might.”
He has a point, but I don’t give a shit. I’m proud of who I am, of the club I belong to, and I really don’t care how it looks. I don’t blow smoke up anybody’s asses. Even hers. “Well, that’s her problem.” I stand, straightening out myself. “Don’t wait up.”
“You wish,” Brew hollers after me.
Zoning in on Willow, I watch her watching me. Confusion crosses her face when she realizes I’m headed her way.
She’s never been ashamed of me, but I know how it looks in front of the entire police department.
I also don’t give a fuck. Cops don’t like bikers, and the feeling’s mutual.
Oh, they do make an exception when my Prez, Cash, orchestrates drug busts and blows apart human trafficking rings, then they wanna play nice to get all the praise.
I’ve lost count how many times that’s happened, yet the MC is still frowned upon.
She’s still surrounded by people, and I almost reach her when a man approaches, then slides an arm around her waist. I stop in my tracks, focusing on his hand. He says something in her ear and she laughs.
So this fuckface — whoever he is — is allowed to touch her? When did this happen? Is this her date? I hope the fuck not. I didn’t plan on getting my hands dirty out in the bayou anytime soon, but I will if he doesn’t take his grubby paws off her.
I steel my jaw, and she knows I’m watching. This is what this little minx does to me, and she knows it, too.
I continue, my hands flexing into fists. Oh, I’ll be knocking that smile right off this weasel’s face gladly.
My eyes shift to his and he’s got no idea that I’m almost there, ready to rip his arm out of its socket when Willow shifts and his arm falls. Sucker.
“Willow,” I say, coming to a halt right in front of her. “How you doin’?” Her posture changes, she’s rigid as she shrugs off this dickhead’s advances. “Haze. What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you, of course.” I flick my eyes to the dude staring at me, his eyes lowering to my patch.
“Babe?” he says to her. “Who is this?”
Babe?
Is this guy her date?
I don’t fucking think so, he looks like he’s just stepped off Wall Street in his navy pants, collared shirt and silk tie.
She turns to answer him, but I beat him to it. “She’s my wife, fucker, now beat it.” My eyes land back on her. I swear I see steam about to billow out of her nostrils like a fire-breathing dragon.
“I’m sorry, Connor.” She actually smiles at this asshole. “I’ll be right back.”
She tugs me by the sleeve of my cut and I go willingly, hollering over my shoulder at Connor. “Don’t wait up, sunshine.”
I’d have half an inch of respect if he tried to intervene, but he just stands there looking really uncomfortable, his mouth gaping. Fuck it. I flip him the bird.
I guess I never did grow up after all.