Punch. Kick. Punch. Punch.

Sweat rolled down my face and body as I repeatedly landed harsh blows on the punching bag in front of me.

It was helping me to get rid of some of the pent up tension in my body.

Punch. Punch. Kick.

Why couldn't we just have a normal year? Why now are all of these people coming after us? Nothing made sense about it.

Kick. Punch.

Fuck and I would do anything to keep Lilly safe. I wasn't able to for basically her whole life and I will never be able to forgive myself for that. And I know Ripper would sacrifice his own life as well to protect her but when his mother is in the mix he needs to be protected as well.

His mental state is going to crash as soon as he sees her.

Punch. Kick. Kick.

Fuck. And then there was Scarlett.

Punch.

I was not going to lose her after just getting her. She's not even officially my woman and yet I'm so attached to her.

Punch.

I took a deep breath and stepped away from the punching bag. My arms were tired, sore, and going numb. A sign that I needed to stop before I hurt myself.

I panted as I walked over to the bench to grab my bottle of water.

People love to play mind games, but I'm done being a pawn.

_____________________

"Hey, you alright?" I turned my head to the side from where I was laying and saw Scarlett walking towards me.

I was still in the little gym that the club had, but I was laying on a bench staring at the ceiling. My body felt too exhausted to really do anything.

I smiled and sat up. She sat down next to me in the now open space and leaned against me.

"Are you alright?" She asked again.

I put an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "I'm just stressed is all. After this I want to take a vacation to my bedroom and never leave," I joked.

She laughed and shook her head at me.

"You know that would never happen."

"If I stepped down than it wouldn't matter."

She snapped her head up and looked at me. I could see the shock in her eyes.

"You're thinking about stepping down?" She asked.

I nodded slowly. "After all of this is done yeah. I've thought about it on multiple occasions."

"Who would take your spot?"

"Ripper probably. He knows the ins and the outs of the club and he's one of my most trusted members. Plus he's basically my son-in-law. It's only fitting that he'd be the one to take over."

She sat in silence for a minute or two before looking up at me. "I say do whatever would make you happy."

I grinned.

"Does that mean I can kiss you again?"

Her laughter as she rolled her eyes at me caused me to let out a small laugh as well.

"You're such a flirt Bryan," she teased as she placed a hand on my chest.

I shrugged and wrapped my arms around her waist. She squealed as I pulled her onto my lap so she was straddling me.

"Is that a yes?" I muttered as I got closer and closer to her lips.

She smirked and leaned down to where our lips were almost touching.

"Maybe," she whispered and she leaned slightly more against me. "Maybe not."

As soon as the words left her mouth she was somehow out of my arms and running across the room away from me.

I chuckled as I ran out after her.

I realized for the first time in a long time the empty feeling that was in my chest felt less than what it has for years. As I chased after Scarlett as other people on the club watched us with smiles on their faces, I felt complete.

I could get used to this.

____________________

"I outran you," Scarlett panted.

We were sitting at the bar, each drinking out of a large glass of water. Us both were sweating profusely after running around for about thirty minutes non-stop.

"I was working out beforehand. You had an advantage," I said breathless as I tried to get my heart rate under control.

She rolled her eyes. "You just don't want to admit that you just got outran by a girl old man."

I chuckled. "I'm not much older than you. Matter of fact I think I see some grey hairs," I teased as I reached out and twirled some of her hair around my fingers. Of course she didn't have any grey hair, but she didn't need to know that.

She rolled her eyes and smacked my hand away from her.

"Enjoy yourselves lovebirds?" Lilly asked as she sat down next to me. Ripper sat down on her other side.

This time it was the both of us who rolled our eyes.

"Although," Smiles chimes in as he leaned over the bar. "I don't think Scarlett's the one with grey hairs Alpha. You got a little white showing," he smirked.

Lilly laughed and touched the hair on top of my head. "Yeah dad, I think he's right! I see some grey hairs too."

I laughed and rolled my eyes as I playfully shoved her lightly.

"Still good looking though," Scarlett whispered in my ear as she leaned closer so no one heard her.

"Alpha," Hacker said as he came up to me. I stood up when I heard the urgency in his voice even though he was masking the emotions on his face. Ripper and Smiles moved closer as well, knowing that whenever Hacker has been urgent about something it has never turned out good.

The three of us said our goodbyes to the others and made sure another member was around them before we followed Hacker into his little office area.

As soon as Hacker joined the club and was patched in I gave him a little room full of any gadgets he would ever need to do what he does. He spends a lot of his time in the room just because it's where he's in his element and where he said he feels most comfortable.

I think it's cause maybe he has a Tinder account and doesn't want anyone else to know.

He sat down at his desk and started typing on his main computer, pulling up different documents.

"Read this."

I glanced at home before moving over and leaning against the table. I could hear Smiles and Ripper doing the same from behind me.

"The fuck is this?" Ripper asked as we all kept reading.

"From what I've gathered from the article, Scarlett and Spider's parents were illegal drug and weapon dealers to different gangs across the country. As for the criminal part, look at this," Hacker told us. He put his hand on the mouse and scrolled down the news article before stopping on a different section of the story.

I leaned forward.

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were seen with criminals out on an illegal ban. The couple had apparently tipped off Judge Myers with one million dollars in order for him to sign a card saying that a bail for the three men had been granted. Police have never questioned whether or not bail grants from Myers have been legit or not until now. How many criminals are out there on an illegal ban? Police and FBI agents are working to figure that out.

As for Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, the couple was detailed late last night at 2:37am after a drug deal gone bad. The two are facing several charges being put against them, and could face up to life in prison.

After I finished the article, I didn't know what to think.

On one hand, it was a miracle. But on the other, it seemed almost too good to be true.

"Can you contact someone and tell them that we have more files we could put towards this case against them?" I asked as I turned towards Hacker.

He nodded. "I figured you would say that and I've already contacted the Minneapolis courthouse. We're due there in two weeks to bring our documents for them to see if they're legit or not. After that they just have to set up a date for the actual court hearing."

I turned to my right and looked at Ripper. "Can you get Spider and the girls in here for me?" I asked. He nodded and walked out quickly.

"This doesn't clear up Ripper's mother though. She is still out there right? So she's going to be pissed and go crazy when she hears about this," Smiles asked. I nodded slowly.

"I know. But what we do have against that woman is that the club and anyone associated with it has a restraining order against her. She's already violated it twice and if she does it a third time our contact says that he can get her locked up for good, especially considering her drug record and the fact that she's violating her probation as we speak," I explained. Hacked and Smiles nodded and we stood there for only a minute longer before Ripper walked in followed by the girls, Spider, Ace and Key.

"What's this about?" Scarlett and Spider asked at the same time.

I didn't say anything and just motioned for them to read the article as I stepped back.

The only reaction I was able to get out of them the whole time is when Scarlett gasped and Spider furrowed his brows and moved closer. Other than that, no one really showed any reaction to the news.

"Could..." Jessie started as she crossed her arms in thought. "Could the business deal that they wanted you to at the house for, the day they kicked you two out, could it have involved something to do with their drug business?" She asked.

We all stood around and you could practically hear and see the gears turning in everyone's heads.

Spider sighed. "It would make sense, and if that's the case then that's probably why they've been trying to contact us again because it probably has something to do with another deal. I just want to know why it should involved us and how much it would actually benefit them for them to be going through all of this trouble."

"There's more," Hacker blurted as he pulled up another article.

We all moved closer so we could see the heading.

Earlier this morning, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, a rich couple in Minneapolis, were detained for drug dealing, illegal weapons, and getting criminals out on illegal bails.

The three criminals were detained by police as they were leaving the Johnson household at 2:34am, and the Johnsons were arrested at 2:37am.

All were being taken to a holding center for all of the documents of their arrest to be processed, but they managed to escape the police.

The officers in charge of the criminals say that while they were caught off guard, the three teamed up to knock them out by kicking. When the officers woke up their keys were missing and so were their police cruisers.

The names of the criminals are Adam Fletcher, Kyle Collins, and Johnathan Graham. Below are pictures of the three. If you see them, report it immediately.

Below were the pictures and just looking at them have me chills. It was their mugshots but you could see the messed up look in their eyes as they stared at the camera. You could tell that they didn't regret a single thing and would do it all again without thinking twice about it.

"They're loose..." Scarlett whispered brokenly.

I stepped up next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me and I could see her struggling to keep her composure.

"We will get them," I whispered. I pulled her in for a hug, ignoring the ones around us. "I promise."

I was going to make those men regret ever even thinking about getting close to this club.

And that was a promise.