Page 2 of Jigsaw
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He slammed his meaty palms down onto the desk, making her jump as he pushed out of his chair and stood. “What was the fucking rule, Willow?”
She folded her hands in front of herself as she lowered her gaze and admitted, “Phantom Renegades are off-limits.” Popeye went to speak, but she said something that made me want to choke her. “But he’s not a Phantom Renegades. He’s just a prospect, so I didn’t think it counted.”
“Are you fucking kidding me with that shit?” he yelled, and she jumped again.
Ghost stood off to the side, not saying anything. I was pissed at Willow, but Popeye was terrifying her with his screaming and slamming things, and I wondered why Ghost wasn’t saying anything to him about the way he was treating his sister.
My Pappy raised me to not treat women like Popeye was treating Willow, and I was starting to question if being a Phantom Renegades meant I had to stay silent when a womanwas being belittled, degraded, or verbally abused. I wouldn’t stand for physical abuse, and this was pushing my limits.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d find out,” she said. “I didn’t know he was a prospect in Minneapolis, and I thought St. Cloud was far enough away that it wouldn’t be an issue.”
“So, it’s acceptable to go to another chapter and spread your legs like a club whore?” he spat at her, and I saw her chin wobble as tears dripped down her cheeks. “If you’re going to be a whore like your mother, then you’re on your own.”
“Dad,” she rushed to say, and I saw Ghost’s posture crumple some, “be reasonable. It was one time, and I swear it won’t happen again.”
“I don’t believe you,” he yelled. “I can’t trust you around any of the brothers.”
I couldn’t let her be cast out on her own. During the hours at the bar, we did a lightning round of questions, only admitting the difficult things. Everyone always gives the good parts of themselves, so I suggested, since we’d be parting ways before too long, we should only discuss the heavy baggage.
Why not shed some issues with a stranger, then fuck to move past the pain?
It was learning how strong she was that made me want to fuck her, but her looks and banging body didn’t hurt either. Her mother was gone, and all she had left was her father, a half-brother, and their help with her education. They weren’t a close family, and she felt like she’d been a mistake or a burden to them. She’d explained she was looking to blow off some steam, and I was happy to be the relief valve.
Now, that action was going to cost her everything, so I made a rash decision. One that I hoped would take the heat off Willow and place it on me. I could take the pressure, and if Popeye chose to cast me out, it would hurt to lose the brotherhood, but I’d been on my own before, so I could do it again.
“It’s my fault,” I said loudly, speaking over Popeye and Willow. She snapped her head at me, and I looked at her, staring into the same blue eyes I’d looked into as she came apart on my cock. I didn’t give Popeye the respect he deserved when I said the next thing, but I wanted her to know what I was sacrificing for her selfish actions. “I formally renounce my oath to the Phantom Renegades MC and reject any statements about me made by this woman I knew as Jessica. I violated my oath as a prospect to have no contact with Willow, and I’ll leave the club before judgement is passed.”
I grabbed the front lapels of the leather cut, feeling the cool leather against my fingertips for a fleeting moment before I slipped it off my arms and laid it on the desk, covering Popeye’s gun. I finally looked him in the eyes and I saw understanding looking back at me, but when he blinked, it was gone.
“Dean Hamilton, you are now and forever cast out of the Phantom Renegades MC, and any association with the club or any of its associates is permanently severed. From this moment on, we will forget you ever existed.” I heard Popeye’s words and didn’t think they would cut so deeply.
He reached over, gripped my cut in his meaty fist, and lifted it from the desk before dropping it onto the dirty floor. It was sacrilegious for a cut to touch the floor or ground, so his silent statement was final.
I was out. To keep his daughter in.
I would disappear, and they would move on like I was never around. Turning, I looked at Willow, who was standing there crying, like she hadn’t blown up my world. When I stepped around her, I heard her whisper, “I’m sorry.”
There were no words for me to say to her, so I moved past her. Ghost caught my eye, and his lips pinched as he stepped to the side, letting me open the door and exit the office. Themechanics were all gone for the day as I walked through the shop and outside to my bike.
Lifting my leg over the bike, I cranked the machine and walked it out of the parking space. I briefly glanced in the rear-view mirror as I pulled out of the parking lot and saw Willow’s haunting blue eyes looking at me from the open bay of the shop.
Fucking bitch ruined my life with her selfish decision to pursue me.
I managed to slip into the bedroom I’d rented from one of the brothers and gathered the little bit of stuff I had. After securing the duffle bag to the back of my bike, I turned west and hit the road. As my bike ate up the miles to Pappy’s place back in Rapid City, I couldn’t help but think of what was going to happen next.
And the farther from Minneapolis I got, the more I thought about that night with Willow. It was the single best night of my life, and I had to will my cock down as I thought about how our kinks meshed so well that I thought she was a dream.
And now, that’s all she’ll ever be—a wet dream that would cost me my life if I tried to relive it again.
So, I decided to reinvent myself and forget she ever existed. At least, that was the plan.
Chapter 1
Jigsaw
Today
