Page 30 of Property of Legend

I set the glass down hard.“You think I don’t know that?I’ve buried brothers.Bled for less.I ain’t gonna let emotions cloud my aim.Sophie’s in danger.We’re the only line between her and a shallow grave.”

Bullet swirls his drink slow.“Just make sure you ain’t confusing protectin’ her with savin’ yourself.”

I stare him down.Not out of anger.Just honesty.“Maybe it’s both.”

“She want you?Or is she playing you again?”Knowing the score, he echoed Becki’s words.Fuck, I wouldn’t let another brother mention it, but my enforcer is charged with seeing danger I can’t.

Sophie’s burned me before.Told me she was running away with me only to rat me out for stealing her mama’s mare.

“You’re right.I need to get my head on straight.”

He nods once, slow and deliberate.“We’re ridin’ with you.Whatever comes.No matter the stakes, but I want to see the club survive, Prez.”

I clap his shoulder, grateful as hell for the loyalty.“Appreciate it.”

Then I turn, walk deeper into the clubhouse.

Time to end this shit.

One way or another.

I can’t be attached to Sophie like I am.She’s not mine.Said so herself.

The hallway’s dark, lit only by flickering bulbs that hum like hornets caught behind drywall.There are no windows back here.My boots echo down the cracked tile floor, each step a beat closer to a mistake I already know I’m gonna make.

I shove open the door to my room, my cell, and there she is.

Becki.

Laid out in my bed, legs bare, T-shirt too damn big and still not enough.Her black hair’s gone, chopped short and jagged, like a warning sign with teeth.

“You look like you picked a fight with a lawn mower,” I mutter, voice low and mean as I shut the door behind me.

She rolls onto her side, one brow cocked.“Still look better than that church girl you’re babysitting.”

“Church girl?You’re the only church girl I know.”

“I mean miss prim and proper.Derby girl.Horse Princess.”

“Don’t you dare,” I warn her, stalking to the dresser.I yank open the top drawer, grab a bottle of bourbon and twist the cap.I take a long pull.Burn’s good.Not good enough.

“I had Brenda over at Blow Me, clean it up into a pixie cut.She says it’s cute and feminine,” she says patting her hair.“Unlike the girl next door,” she adds under her breath.

“You really think that’s gonna keep Daddy from comin’ down on you?”I ask, tossing the bottle to the nightstand.“It’s a sin to him.”

She shrugs.“Let him try.He don’t own me.”

“He’ll try to own me.Again.”My voice is sharp now.

She sits up.“Then I know another sin.Take it out on me.”

I pause.

Her legs part, slow, deliberate.Eyes glinting like she knows I’m teetering on the edge and ready to fall.

“Use me, Legend,” she whispers.“Ain’t that what you want?You’re angry.Sophie’s in your head.Let me erase her.”

I cross the room in two strides.Grab her wrist.Pull her to her feet.We’re chest to chest, breath to breath.

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