I stared at Derek's message until the screen blurred.

He knew. Somehow, he knew exactly where I was.

My hands shook so badly I nearly dropped the phone. I should tell Colt. Show him the message. But the thought of facing those cold gray eyes again made my stomach twist.

The door burst open.

I jumped, shoving the phone into my pocket.

A woman strode in-tall, blonde, curves poured into tight jeans and a leather vest. Her patch read "Property of Razor." She looked me up and down like I was something stuck to her boot.

"So you are the famous Jenna." She set a plate of food on the table. "The girl who broke our president's heart."

"I did not mean to-"

"Save it." She lit a cigarette, blowing smoke toward the ceiling. "I am Candy. I run the girls here. Colt says you are staying, so we need to establish some rules."

"Rules?"

"Rule one: You do not talk to the members without permission. Rule two: You do not leave the compound without an escort. Rule three:" Her eyes went hard. "You do not mess with Colt's head. He is finally over you. Finally running this club the way it should be run. You screw that up, and I will make your life hell."

"I am not trying to mess with anyone."

"Good. Keep it that way." She headed for the door, then paused. "The shower is upstairs. You look like you need it."

The door slammed behind her.

I sat there, frozen, until my stomach growled. The food was simple-burger and fries-but I could not remember the last time I ate. I forced down half before my ribs screamed in protest.

The phone buzzed again.

"I can see the fence from here. Nice place. Lots of security. Won't matter. -D"

Ice flooded my veins.

He was here. Outside. Watching.

I ran for the door, yanked it open, and nearly collided with a solid chest.

Colt.

His hands shot out, gripping my arms. "Where are you going?"

"He is here." My voice came out strangled. "Derek. He is outside. He sent me messages-"

"Show me."

I fumbled for the phone, hands shaking so hard I almost dropped it. Colt took it, read the messages, and his expression went deadly calm.

"Razor!" he barked.

The big man from earlier appeared within seconds. "Boss?"

"Double the guards. Lock down the compound. No one in or out without my authorization." Colt's voice was steel. "And find me a white pickup truck. Nevada plates. The driver is male, thirties, probably watching the fence line."

"On it." Razor disappeared.

Colt pulled me back inside, kicked the door shut. "Why did you not tell me the second you got that message?"

"I was going to-"

"Liar." He backed me against the wall, his body caging mine. "You were going to run again. Just like you always do."

"No, I just-" The words died when I saw his face. Fury. Raw and barely controlled.

"Do you have any idea what I went through that day?" His voice was quiet. Dangerous. "Standing in that church. Waiting. My mother is crying. Your friends are whispering. And you were just gone."

"My father threatened to kill you." Tears burned my eyes. "He showed me his gun. Told me exactly how he would do it. I could not let that happen."

"So you saved me by destroying me instead?" His laugh was bitter. "Real noble, Jenna."

"I was eighteen! I was terrified!"

"And now?" His thumb traced my jaw. "Are you still terrified of me?"

Yes. But not the way he thought.

I was terrified of how much I still wanted him. How much I still loved him, even after everything.

"Colt-"

Glass shattered somewhere outside. Shouting erupted. Gunfire cracked through the night-sharp, brutal, final.

Colt's entire body went rigid. "Stay here."

"What is happening?"

"Stay. Here." He pulled a gun from his waistband, checked the clip. "Lock this door behind me. Do not open it for anyone except me. Understand?"

"Colt, please-"

He kissed me. Hard. Desperate. Nothing like the sweet kisses we shared as teenagers. This was possession. Claim. Warning.

Then he was gone.

I locked the door with shaking hands and backed away from it. More gunfire. Shouting. The roar of engines.

My phone buzzed.

"Come outside, Jenna. Or I start killing your new friends. You have sixty seconds. -D"

No. No, no, no.

Another message.

"Fifty seconds."

I looked at the locked door. Heard more shots fired. Someone screamed.

This was my fault. Derek followed me here. He was hurting these people because of me.

"Thirty seconds. Your choice, baby. You or them."

My hand reached for the lock before I could think. Before I could stop myself.

I knew what would happen if I went out there. Knew what Derek would do to me.

But I could not let innocent people die because I was a coward.

The lock clicked open.

I stepped into the hallway just as an explosion rocked the compound. The lights went out. Emergency reds kicked on, bathing everything in blood.

And at the end of the hall, silhouetted against the red glow, stood a figure I knew too well.

Derek smiled.

"There is my girl," he said softly. "Did you miss me?"

Behind him, I saw Colt round the corner, gun raised.

Their eyes met.

And I realized with horrible clarity that tonight, one of them was going to die.

Time stopped.

Derek stood ten feet away, his smile cold and familiar. Behind him, Colt's gun was already aimed at Derek's head.

"Step away from her," Colt said. His voice was death itself.

Derek laughed. "Or what? You will shoot me in your own clubhouse? In front of your girl?" He looked at me, and I saw the madness in his eyes. "Tell him, Jenna. Tell him what happens when people try to protect you."

My mouth was too dry to speak.

"Jenna." Colt's voice cut through my terror. "Get behind me. Now."

"She is not going anywhere." Derek's hand moved to his waistband. "Are you, baby? Because if you do, I will kill everyone in this building. Starting with the blonde in the kitchen. Candy, right? Pretty name."

"You son of-" Colt started forward.

"Ah, ah." Derek pulled out a detonator. Small. Black. His thumb rested on the button. "See this? There are three more explosives planted around your compound. One near the garage. One by the dorms. One in the bar where all your brothers are having their little meeting."

My legs nearly gave out. "Derek, please-"

"Please?" His voice turned sharp. "You left me, Jenna. You stole my car. My money. You made me look weak." He took a step closer. "Do you know what happens to men who look weak? They lose everything."

"I am sorry." The words tasted like ash. "I am so sorry. Just do not hurt them. Please."

"Then come here." He held out his hand. "Come with me. Right now. And I will let your biker boyfriend and his crew live."

"Do not." Colt's voice was a command. "Jenna, do not move."

But Derek's thumb pressed down slightly on the button. Not enough to trigger it. Just enough to show he meant it.

"Ten seconds," Derek said. "Then I blow this place to hell."

I looked at Colt. Really looked at him. Saw the boy who kissed me under the bleachers after football games. Who held my hand through my mother's funeral. Who promised me forever in a voice that did not know how to lie.

And I saw the man he became. Hard. Dangerous. A king in leather and steel.

"I am sorry," I whispered to him. "For everything."

I took a step toward Derek.

"Jenna, no-"

Derek's hand shot out and grabbed my arm, yanking me against him. The detonator pressed into my side.

"Good girl." His breath was hot against my ear. "Now we are leaving. You try anything, biker boy, and everyone here dies."

Colt's gun never wavered. "Let her go."

"Not a chance." Derek started backing toward the exit, dragging me with him. "She is mine. She has always been mine. You were just a stupid kid with stupid dreams."

"Colt." My voice broke. "Please. Let us go."

His eyes met mine. Steel and fury and something that looked like heartbreak.

Then he lowered his gun.

Derek laughed, triumphant. "Smart man. See, Jenna? He does not really care. If he did, he would have fought harder."

We were almost to the door when Colt spoke again.

"You are right about one thing," he said quietly. "I was a stupid kid with stupid dreams. But that kid is dead." His smile was terrifying. "And you just made a mistake coming into my territory."

"Your territory?" Derek scoffed. "Your territory is about to be rubble."

"Is it?" Colt tilted his head. "See, while you were busy making your dramatic entrance, my VP was checking your explosives. Turns out, they are fake. Just road flares and duct tape. Real cute."

Derek's arm tightened around me. "You are bluffing."

"Am I?" Colt's phone buzzed. He glanced at it, then smiled. "Razor just confirmed. No explosives. No detonator. You are just a coward with a fake bomb and a death wish."

The world tilted.

Derek's hand shook against my side. "You are lying. You have to be-"

The door behind us exploded inward.

Razor and four other MC members poured in, guns drawn. Derek spun, jerking me in front of him like a shield.

"Stay back!" His voice cracked. "Stay back or I will kill her! I swear to God-"

"With what?" Colt walked forward slowly. Deliberately. "You have no explosives. No backup. No plan." He stopped five feet away. "You have nothing."

"I have her!" Derek's arm crushed my throat. "I have her, and you want her. So here is the deal. You let me walk out of here, or I snap her neck."

"Derek, please-" I choked out.

"Shut up!" He squeezed harder. Black spots danced across my vision. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

Colt's expression went blank. Empty. "You know what? Go ahead."

Everything stopped.

"What?" Derek's grip loosened slightly.

"Snap her neck." Colt shrugged. "She left me once. Destroyed me. Why would I care if you kill her? Go ahead. Do it."

"Colt-" My voice was barely a whisper.

"In fact, you would be doing me a favor." He looked at me, and his eyes were dead. Completely dead. "One less problem to deal with."

Derek laughed, but it sounded wrong. Uncertain. "You are bluffing."

"Try me."

For three seconds, nobody moved.

Then Derek made his choice.

His arm loosened completely, reaching for something in his jacket. A gun. A real one.

And Colt moved.

Fast. Brutal. Perfect.

His fist connected with Derek's jaw. Derek stumbled back, and I fell forward. Razor caught me as Colt descended on Derek like a wolf on wounded prey.

"You want to hurt her?" Colt's voice was inhuman. "You want to put your hands on what is mine?"

His fists rained down. Again. Again. Again.

"Colt, stop!" I screamed. "You are going to kill him!"

"That is the plan."

Derek's face was already pulp. Blood everywhere. He was not even fighting back anymore.

"Colt, please!" I broke free from Razor, grabbed Colt's arm. "Please stop!"

He froze. First raised. Blood dripping.

Slowly, he looked at me.

And what I saw in his eyes made my soul ache.

"You are defending him," he said softly. "After everything. You are defending the man who beat you."

"I am defending you." Tears streamed down my face. "If you kill him, you will go to prison. And I cannot lose you again. Not like this."

Something flickered in his eyes. Then died.

He stood, leaving Derek broken and bleeding on the floor.

"Lock her in the room upstairs," he told Razor. "Post two guards. She does not leave. She does not talk to anyone."

"Colt-"

"And get that trash out of my clubhouse." He looked down at Derek with pure disgust. "Take him to the warehouse. I will deal with him later."

"You cannot just-"

He turned on me so fast I flinched. "You made your choice ten years ago when you ran. You made your choice tonight when you went to him. You do not get to make choices anymore, Jenna. I do." He leaned in close. "And I choose to keep you alive. Whether you like it or not."

Razor's hand closed around my arm.

As they dragged me upstairs, I looked back at Colt one last time.

He stood in the blood-soaked hallway, looking more alone than any person I had ever seen.

And I realized that coming back to Redemption Creek was not a mistake.

It was a curse.

One that might destroy us both.

The room was small. Clean. A bed, a dresser, bars on the window.

A prison with decent furniture.

I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at my shaking hands. Derek's blood was still on my sleeve. Colt's words echoed in my head.

You do not get to make choices anymore.

The door opened. I expected guards. Instead, an older woman walked in carrying a first aid kit. She had gray hair pulled back tight and eyes that had seen too much.

"I am Mae," she said. "The club mom. Let me see your ribs."

"I am fine."

"That was not a request, honey." She sat beside me, opening the kit. "Lift your shirt."

I did. The bruises were worse now-purple and black, spreading across my left side like poison.

Mae's jaw tightened. "That man did this?"

"Derek. Yes."

"Colt should have killed him." Her hands were surprisingly gentle as she examined me. "Nothing broken, but you will hurt for a while. You need ice and rest."

"What will they do to Derek?"

"Does it matter?" She met my eyes. "He hurt you. In this world, that is a death sentence."

My stomach twisted. "I do not want anyone to die because of me."

"Too late for that." Mae started wrapping my ribs. "The second you walked back into Colt Richardson's life, people were going to bleed. The question is, whose blood do you want spilled? Your abuser's or your protector's?"

"Colt is not my protector. He hates me."

Mae laughed. It was not kind. "Honey, if he hated you, you would be dead already. Or thrown out on your ass." She finished wrapping and packed up the kit. "That boy loved you more than life itself. You broke him. And now you are back, and he does not know whether to save you or destroy you."

"I never wanted to hurt him."

"But you did." Mae stood, heading for the door. "Now you have to live with it. Same as he does."

She left, locking the door behind her.

I lay back on the bed, every breath hurting. Outside, I heard engines. Voices. The club is going back to normal.

But nothing was normal anymore.

Hours passed. Maybe days. I could not tell. No clock. No phone-Razor had taken it.

The door opened again around what I thought was midnight.

Colt.

He looked different. Cleaned up. Fresh clothes. But his knuckles were wrapped, blood seeping through.

"Get up," he said.

"Why?"

"Because I said so." He waited, and when I did not move, he crossed the room and hauled me to my feet. "You want answers? You want to know what happens next? Then move."

He dragged me downstairs, through the empty clubhouse, and out a back door I had not seen before. We walked in silence toward a building at the edge of the compound.

The warehouse.

My blood turned cold. "Colt, what are we doing here?"

"You are going to see what happens to men who touch what is mine." He pulled open the door. "After tonight, you will understand exactly what world you walked back into."

The inside was concrete and shadows. A single light hung from the ceiling, illuminating Derek.

He was tied to a chair. Face swollen. Blood everywhere. But alive.

Barely.

"Jenna." His voice was a croak. "Help me. Please."

I tried to pull away from Colt. He held me firm.

"Look at him," Colt said. "Really look."

"I do not want to-"

"Look." His voice was iron. "This is the man you defended. The man you tried to save."

Derek's eyes found mine. "Baby, please. Tell them to let me go. We can disappear. Start over. I will never hurt you again, I swear-"

"Like you swore the last ten times?" Colt walked forward, circling Derek like a predator. "How many times did you hit her? How many times did she beg you to stop?"

Derek's mouth opened. Closed.

"Answer me." Colt's fist slammed into the chair beside Derek's head. "How. Many. Times."

"I lost count." Derek's voice broke. "But she always came back. She always forgave me. Because she loves me."

I wanted to vomit.

"She does not love you." Colt leaned in close. "She is terrified of you. There is a difference."

"You do not know her like I do." Derek laughed, wet and broken. "You think you can save her? You think she will stay with you? She is weak. Broken. She needs someone to tell her what to do. What to think. That is why she came to me in the first place.

"Is that true?" Colt turned to me. "Is that why you left? Because you are weak?"

"I-" My voice failed.

"Answer the question, Jenna."

"I left because I was scared!" The words exploded out. "My father threatened to kill you. To burn down your family's garage with your mother inside. He showed me pictures. Plans. He said if I did not disappear, everyone I loved would die."

Colt went very still. "What?"

"He had it all planned out." Tears streamed down my face. "The fire. The accident. How he would make it look natural. So I ran. I ran because I thought if I was gone, you would be safe."

"And you never thought to tell me?"

"I was eighteen! I was alone! My mother was dead, and my father was a monster, and I did not know what to do!" I was sobbing now. "So I ran. I ran until I met Derek, and he seemed nice, and I was so tired of being alone that I did not see what he was until it was too late."

Silence.

Then Colt moved.

He crossed to me, his hands framing my face, forcing me to look at him.

"Your father is dead," he said quietly. "Whatever threats he made, whatever plans he had-they died with him. You understand? You have been running from a ghost."

The words hit like a physical blow.

Five years. I ran for five more years after my father died, and I did not even know he was gone.

"But Derek-"

"Derek is going to pay for every bruise. Every tear. Every sleepless night." Colt's thumb traced my cheek. "And then you are going to stop running. Because you are home now. Whether you want to be or not."

"Colt, please-"

A gunshot shattered the air.

I screamed, spinning around.

Razor stood in the doorway, gun smoking, his face grim.

But Derek was still alive. Still breathing.

The bullet had gone into the wall six inches from his head.

"Boss," Razor said. "We have a problem. The Serpents just rolled up to our gate. Twenty bikes. Fully armed."

Colt's expression went cold. "The Serpents? What do they want?"

"They are asking for Jenna." Razor's eyes found mine. "By name. They say she belongs to them now."

My heart stopped.

"What are you talking about?" Colt demanded. "She has nothing to do with the Serpents."

"Actually," Derek wheezed from his chair, blood bubbling on his lips, "she does." He smiled through broken teeth. "You think I worked alone? You think I did not have insurance?" He laughed. "I sold her, Richardson. Two days ago. The Serpents paid fifty grand for her. She is their property now. Legally and otherwise."

The room spun.

"You did what?" My voice was barely a whisper.

"I sold you, baby." Derek's smile widened. "And they have come to collect."

Colt's gun was in his hand before I could blink, pressed against Derek's forehead.

"You are lying."

"Am I?" Derek's eyes gleamed with madness. "Go check. They have the contract. Your signature, Jenna. I forged it real nice."

Razor's radio crackled. "Boss, they are getting impatient. What do you want us to do?"

Colt lowered his gun slowly. Look at me. And I saw something in his face I had never seen before.

Fear.

"Lock down the compound," he said. "Full alert. Nobody in or out." He grabbed my arm. "You are staying with me. Close. Understand?"

"Colt, what does he mean? What are the Serpents?"

His jaw clenched. "They are the most dangerous MC in three states. They deal in guns, drugs, and trafficking." He met my eyes. "And if they think you belong to them, they will burn this place to the ground to get you."

Outside, engines roared.

And I realized my nightmare was just beginning.