“We’ve fallen so far,” Bear said. “We were brothers. We are brothers,” he said, closing his fist over his bare blood-splattered chest. “Family,” he said, looking down to the bodies of both of his parents. “Not the kind of family that donated to your fucking DNA, but the kind that would gladly take a fucking bullet for you.”

He cleared his throat like he’d made a decision, and I braced myself for what he was about to say. Although, good or bad, I knew Bear would do what was right for his family moving forward. Whether that meant that the men lived or died was completely up to him and either way, I’d support that decision. “You get one fucking pass. ONE,” Bear said, followed by sighs of relief and bursting out held breaths. “And it’s right the fuck now,” he said, pointing to the ground. “If any of you pussy ass motherfuckers want out, now is the time to take it. This is your one and only chance to walk out that gate without the threat of the club on your back. Ted and his boys will gladly step aside and let you walk out, but if you choose to stay, if you choose to be in this with me, then you are not choosing to be Beach Bastard anymore.” Again the crowd stirred but this time with ‘huhs’ and ‘whats’ of confusion. “That club is as dead as my old man. There is too much blood. Those stains are permanent. If you stay, you’re choosing to start over with me.” Bear paused while the crowd absorbed what he was saying. “So leave now while you have the chance.”

Not a single man moved. Instead they all stared up at Bear and waited for him to continue.

“Holy shit, I can’t believe he’s really giving them a pass,” King muttered.

“Did you really think he was going to kill all of them?” I asked out of the side of my mouth.

“Yep.”

“As a brother of our new MC you will no longer forget what brotherhood means. WE will no longer forget who our friends are. We got into this life to live by our own rules. The rules of the club and the rules of the road. We are lawless. We are free. We are FAMILY,” Bear said, pounding on his chest again. I’d never really known what pride was. I never had any major accomplishments of my own that I could boast about. But looking up at Bear there was no doubt that what I was feeling while watching him talk to his brothers was pure pride.

“Do you even know what is going on with your brothers outside this place anymore?” Bear continued. “Do you know if he’s making his bills this month? Do you know if his kid wrecked the car last week or if his old lady’s sneaking off when he’s not home to fuck the little league coach? Because you should. And if your brother is going through any of those things, it’s your job to help, and it’s my job to help because help doesn’t mean just when people need killing. Help means fucking help in any way you can put it in a fucking sentence.”

He glanced down again at Chop’s body, his blood outlined him in a halo at the bottom of the pool. “Get up off your fucking knees,” he ordered. The men holding the guns stepped back and gave room to the men who now stood with their faces upturned, hanging on to every single one of Bear’s words.

“Brotherhood means everything. Family means everything. This time, don’t fucking forget that.” Bear pointed to King. “King is my brother, my family, and a friend of the club. Disrespecting him or my old lady will guarantee you a one-way ticket to hell. That goes for all of our families. Your old ladies, your kids, your friends outside the club.” He leaned over the railing as far as he could, until he was practically bent at the waist. “Business used to be good because as a club, we used to be good for business, until people started looking at us as a reckless bunch of delinquents. That shit changes now. It all changes now. I am going to strip this shit down and take it back to what it used to be, what it was supposed to fucking be from the very beginning.”

Bear shook his head. “This shit isn’t going to be one-sided either. I will make you a promise right here and now that I will never ask something of you I wouldn’t be willing to do myself. And I assure you that I would be willing to lay down my fucking life for you just as you would for me. I’m a member, a brother, just like each of you, and I will live and die as your brother. That I can promise you.”

One of the men tossed something up to Bear and he caught it.

“My old cut,” Bear said, looking at it with a mixture of hate and reverence.

“Here,” King said, tossing Bear his knife.

Bear wiped it on his pants and dug into his cut, tearing the Bastards emblems off, and when he was done, he held up the blank scrap of leather. The once silent group of men erupted into whoops and cheers, whistling and applause. “Your turn,” Bear said, tossing the knife down into the crowd where the men eagerly started tearing at their own cuts.

Bear leaned over the railing and smiled. He was in his element, radiating pure power. A rare smile spread across his face. Genuine. Real. Huge. Reaching all the way to his eyes. “Welcome to your new club. You are now brothers of The Lawless MC.”

The crowd erupted into hoots and applause. Bear looked back at me, shrugging on his cut and flashing me a wink.

It was official.

Bear was now president of the Lawless.

And I was his old lady.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Thia

USING THE PALM of my hand I wiped off one of the plastic chairs surrounding the fire pit and took a seat. With my ankles crossed over the bricks I leaned back, tipping the chair onto two legs. I closed my eyes, soaking in the sun’s last heat as it disappeared behind the tall trees across the bay.

It was that very spot where Bear first claimed me as his own. I didn’t know that’s what he was doing when he kissed and licked his way around my every wound and injury in his attempt to heal me with his beautiful mouth, but I knew it now.

I shivered at the memory, pressing my thighs together as another part of me also remembered that night.

“Hey, Beautiful,” Bear said, making my stomach flip and my nipples harden with just those two words.

I opened my eyes to find Bear staring down at me. His sapphire blue pools hypnotizing me as he looked me over from head to toe. Maybe me and my woman parts weren’t the only one taking a trip down memory lane.

“Looking fancy over there, Mr. McAdams,” I said, with a low whistle. Bear was wearing something I hadn’t seen him wear before. His new cut, which was actually his old cut, because as he had said “took me for fucking ever to wear the leather in.” The patches over his right breast read PRESIDENT, THE LAWLESS, LOGAN’S BEACH, FLORIDA and their bright white color and lack of stains screamed of their newness, stiff with thick black embroidery.

“You ready, baby?” he asked, wagging his eyebrows.

“Yeah, but first, this came for you.” I handed him the white envelope with no return address.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. It’s addressed to you. The Mail America guy dropped it off a few minutes ago. There was one for King too. I gave it to Ray. I didn’t open it. I don’t know what kind of old lady biker code you guys have against postal fraud. Besides, it could be anthrax.”

Bear looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “Thanks for saving the anthrax for me, baby,” he said, planting a brief kiss on my lips. He sat at on the edge of the fire pit and tore open the envelope.