He told him about Nikki’s death, that it had been Danny who’d killed her trying to save his life. He told him his reasons for leaving, that it had been all for Danny.

And then he told Deuce about the pregnancy.

He told Deuce everything. And through it all, sitting behind his desk, watching him impassively, Deuce said nothing.

When Ripper finished recounting his fucked-up life, Deuce stood up and slowly crossed the room. Grabbing him by the collar of his T-shirt, Deuce got up in his face.

“What the fuck you want me to say, Ripper? You been fuckin’ my daughter behind my back for how long, I don’t fuckin’ know, and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know.”

“She was legal,” he said quickly.

“Yeah,” Deuce said. “How fuckin’ legal?”

“Legal enough,” Ripper muttered, looking down at his boots.

“Great. Fuckin’ great. Listen, fuckhead, you hurt her again, you do one goddamn thing that makes her even a little bit sad, and I’m gonna beat your fuckin’ ass. You do it a third time and I’m puttin’ you in the ground.”

Startled, Ripper looked up. “You’re cool with us bein’ together?”

“Fuck,” Deuce muttered. “Are you fuckin’ stupid? No, I’m not cool with it, I fuckin’ hate it, straight up, but what am I am gonna do about it? Kick you the fuck out? Took you in when you were nothin’ but a cocky-ass teenager who wanted to party more than he wanted to work, always gettin’ into trouble ’cause your whorin’ ass liked your women dirty and dirty women meant dirty business. And then you were a depressed, drunken, miserable shit after what happened with Frankie…but fuck, brother, you been with me for eighteen loyal years now and that means you’re family.”

Family. Jesus, he was about to break the fuck down in front of his prez.

“I love her,” Ripper said quietly.

Under-fucking-statement.

Yeah, he loved Danny, but that wasn’t even the half of it. She’d changed him in ways not even he could comprehend.

No longer angry, he’d slowly become a softer version of himself.

The old him, before Frankie, but even more so.

“Christ,” Deuce said. “I need a smoke. This shit is worse than gettin’ shot. First Z, now you.”

Ripper flinched. ZZ.

“I love her,” Ripper repeated, this time more forcefully. “And I ain’t gonna hurt her.”

Deuce’s nostrils flared. “You mean you ain’t gonna hurt her again. ’Cause you sure as fuck did a number on her already. And I’m thinkin’ that an asshole like you isn’t gonna be able to make good on that.”

“I will. If she’ll let me.”

Deuce’s hold on him tightened. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“Means if she lets me take her back to my bed, and she’s on the back of my bike, I ain’t never gonna let her outta my sight ever again.”

Deuce’s eyes narrowed.

Huh. Maybe mentioning Danny being in his bed wasn’t the best thing to say to her father.

“You gonna own that shit?”

Ripper’s eyes went wide. Was Deuce actually asking him if he’d marry Danny?

Marry? Danny?

Him?

“Yeah,” Ripper rasped. “Fuck yeah, I’m gonna own that shit.”

“Which means you’re patchin’ back in, Sergeant.”

He nearly choked on his surprise. Not only was Deuce telling him he could marry Danny, but he wanted him back as his right-hand man.

“Yeah,” he whispered.

“And ZZ?”

Ripper swallowed. That was going to be a hard one.

“Gonna try and make good on that too.”

And he would, he’d do everything he could to fix what he’d fucked up. If the brother ever came back.

“Good,” Deuce growled. “Now, you fuckin’ ready?”

Yeah. He loved getting his ass kicked. It was a great fucking time.

“Yeah, Prez, I’m ready. You do what you gotta do.”

Deuce stared at him.

“Goddamn Preacher,” Deuce muttered, breaking the silence, shaking his head. “Goddamn that motherfucker.”

Ripper didn’t have a clue what Preacher had to do with any of this, but he soon stopped wondering because Deuce had begun beating the ever-loving shit out of him. Twice. Then left him bleeding on the office floor while he stormed off, yelling for Eva. It had taken Ripper nearly three hours just to drag himself out of the office and onto this very couch. A couch he hadn’t left in two days. Aside from several broken fingers and some pretty nasty swelling all over his body, he was fairly certain he had a couple of cracked ribs and a mild concussion, all courtesy of Deuce’s steel-toed shit-kickers.

But all that weight he’d been carrying around, especially from the past three years, was gone.

Boom. Fucking gone.

And he wanted Danny back.

Fuck that, he was getting Danny back.

Cox stared at him. “Really? Damn.”

Ripper scowled. “Did you really think I’d let Cage beat the fuck outta me?”

Cox grinned. “Little fucker is almost as big as the big fucker.”

“Fuck that. Brother is more than ten years younger than me. I gotta rep to hold up.”

Laughing, Cox slapped him on the back. “You stayin’ this time, right? You gonna go claim that bitch of yours and patch back in?”

He was about to answer when the club’s front door banged open and a skinny redhead stormed inside. Cage came in next, looking a mixture of miserable and frightened. Danny was last, scowling as she dragged in two large floral bags.

“Holy shit,” Cox breathed. “Either we’ve been invaded by hippies or that’s…Tegen.”

Since there weren’t any other skinny redheads that Cage and Danny had been sent to collect, it had to be Tegen. But it sure as fuck didn’t look like the four-eyed, frizzy-haired, mouthy little shit he remembered her as.

“For the last time, Danny, I am not staying at your fucking house!” Tegen yelled as she disappeared inside the kitchen.

Ripper’s brow lifted. Okay. So she was still a mouthy little shit.

Blowing out a breath, Cage glanced their way, his eyes wide and pleading. “Help,” he whispered.

Cox snorted. “Fuck that. I got enough crazy bitches to deal with. Between Kami and Mary Catherine hittin’ me up for everything under the sun and, fuck me, Anna always askin’ for more money…”

Ripper stopped listening. Danny had given up on dragging Tegen’s luggage through the room and was now standing very still, watching him. Everything she was thinking, feeling, wanting, was showing plain as day on her face.

Are you going to leave?

His gaze never once left those beautiful blue eyes.

No.

Really?

Yeah, baby, really.

Why not?

He glanced down at himself. Can’t exactly get off the couch, can I?

He watched as she pressed her lips together, fighting a smile.

Fuuuuuck. He wanted to go to her. Touch her, smell her, fucking hold her right here in the middle of the club, in front of her brother, in front of Cox, in front of the whole fucking world. Then he wanted to take her to bed, fuck her half to death, fuck her some more, do some sleeping, fuck her some more.

Fuck, he had to adjust his cock.

Watching him, Danny’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink, whether she was flushed from arousal or embarrassed, either way it was a good sign.

Speaking of good signs, the sight of her nipples hardening under her white ribbed tank was ranking pretty high on his list.

Fuck it. He had to do something. He wanted her back in his bed. Tonight. Right now.

I want you, beautiful girl.

She sucked her bottom lip inside her mouth and bit down. For how long?

Holding her gaze with his, For fuckin’ ever.

“Oh my god, seriously?”

Tegen stood just outside the kitchen, a beer in one hand and a sandwich in the other, her narrowed gaze alternating between Danny and him.

She flashed Danny a nasty grin he didn’t much appreciate. “You and Ripper, huh? What happened to ZZ? You get sick of him?”

Danny, who’d gone stiff, turned to glare at Tegen. “Don’t talk about things you know nothing about.”

Tegen kept grinning. “Really? So you two weren’t just eye-fucking each other?”

“Tegen,” Danny said slowly, her teeth locked. “I know you’re hurting but—”

“Oh, shut up,” Tegen scoffed. “You know as well as I do these assholes can’t keep it in their pants. And he’s one of the worst. You know he fucked Kami back in the day, right? Tag-teamed her with Cox. He probably banged Eva too. Hope you plan on getting tested regularly.”

“I’m gonna knock her out,” Cox said.

Although Ripper resented being accused of fucking Eva, and was pissed the little bitch had brought up Kami, as well as implying that he had diseases, he didn’t say anything. Mainly because Tegen was right. He had been one of the worst. But Danny already knew that. And as far as female opinion went when it came to him, the only one he cared about was ready to throw down with Tegen for talking shit. She might not be speaking to him but she sure as shit still cared. That was a good sign. Now he just had to get her talking again.

“Don’t you need to go see your mom?” Cage growled.

Tegen’s expression turned ice cold. “Fucker,” she spat, “I thought I told you that you do not get to speak to me.”

Surprised, Ripper glanced over at Cage and, damn, the dude looked half crazed, a little bit confused, a whole lot angry, maybe a touch homicidal, and yeah, there was definitely a unhealthy amount of battle lust raging through him.

What the fuck was going on?

“Stop your bullshit,” Cage seethed, his fists clenching.

Tegen let out a loud, humorless laugh. “Why? What are you going to do, Cage?” She shook her head, smirking. “Nothing. You’re going to do nothing because you’re full of shit. In fact, you are shit. A big fat pile of steaming biker shit.”