Prologue
Kodiak Black leaned against the far wall with his hands in his vest pockets. Tonight, the smell of warm, metallic blood filled his nostrils. The kind of blood that stained everything, even the corners of the room where his men waited for him to speak.
The fluorescent lights hummed overhead. He forcibly blinked, wishing he could go back six hours and prevent what had happened.
The Royalla Motorcycle Club had lost one of its own. His loss settled in his chest like a heavy anchor.
Chopper, the club's Vice President, his best friend, his brother, was dead. Murdered. Shot in the back of the head. The news sent a ripple through Royalla.
He could still hear the crack of the gunshot in his head and feel the heat as he knew the bullet had hit its mark. He kept seeing Chopper's body go from fighting to slumping in the alley, eyes wide open and staring at nothing.
Kodiak's thoughts shifted, the image of Chopper's lifeless body fading for a moment as he stared down the hallway where the rooms were in the clubhouse. His night wasn't over. There was one more thing he needed to do.
The final moments of Chopper's life hit him hard, like a punch in the gut. Chopper's last wish:"Promise me, brother. Promise me you'll look after her."
The request came, barely above a whisper, but Chopper's fingers had clutched Kodiak's arm in desperation. He hadn't spoken a word, just nodded, as if agreeing was the only way he could hold onto Chopper longer.
He refused to give up. Chopper was his best friend. The one person he trusted completely.
Chopper lived exactly how he left this life. First and foremost, he thought about his daughter.
Roma. His chest tightened in dread. Sweet, young Roma.
Chopper had raised her at the clubhouse since she was two years old, after her stripper mother overdosed. Now, Roma was an innocent sixteen-year-old who would have to face losing her father. The life Chopper tried to shield Roma from could no longer be kept hidden. Roma was going to learn the truth about how hard life was for a Royalla member.
There wasn't a damn thing Kodiak could do to bring her father back.
Roma was the reason he remained behind in the clubhouse tonight instead of riding out and trying to find the man responsible for killing Chopper. He needed to deliver the news to Roma.
But how was he supposed to tell her that he'd failed to protect her dad?
How was he supposed to take care of her?
How would she handle losing her whole world?
She had a home at the clubhouse for as long as she wanted to live here, but Roma deserved more. She needed a dad. She needed a mom. She wasn't done growing up.
In a sick twist of fate, all Roma had was him. And he had no fucking clue how to raise a sixteen-year-old girl.
Chapter 1
Roma strolled into the clubhouse with a grace that made Kodiak's chest tighten. She wore a leather jacket, sleeves rolled up, revealing daisy-chain tattoos on her wrists that Kodiak hadn't been able to stop her from getting. Her brown hair, which nearly looked black, hung loose, falling in wild waves over her shoulders. Her eyes—those damn amber eyes—were the same as Chopper's, full of passion and wisdom beyond her years.
He remembered Chopper saying Roma had the eyes of an old soul. She could see past the surface. There was no hiding anything from her. She understood things beyond what others expected. Being her guardian, he'd found that her curiosity opened her up to feelings that were too big for her to handle. She'd gone through stuff most kids her age never even imagined.
Life was rough lately. The one person he trusted with everything wasn't there to push him or stop him from making the wrong choices.
Fuck. He missed Chopper.
He'd grown up with Roma's dad. They were two juvenile delinquents, constantly in and out of detention. At eighteen, he'd convinced Chopper to join Royalla as soon as he aged out of the foster care system. At that time, his dad, Geiser, ran the club. Instead of getting into trouble, they both threw themselves into riding under the patch. Chopper was there to persuade him to step up as president when his dad got cancer and could no longer lead Royalla. He was there when he had to bury his dad six short months later. He supported Kodiak during those tough first years, managing a hundred and fifty members. Chopper played a significant role in making the club what it was today.
Now, he was alone, caring for an eighteen-year-old girl who leaned on him as her grief-stricken gaze searched constantly forthe father who promised to protect her— the one who wasn't coming back.
If he could take her pain away, he would have. Hell, he'd even change places with Chopper, so Roma wouldn't have to hurt anymore.
But all he could do was stand beside her and watch. He'd kept his word to his V.P. and taken care of his daughter.
He'd raised her like he raised the members of the club—tough, strong, with no room for weakness. But somewhere along the way, Kodiak realized he was losing her. Not because she was growing up, but because she was starting to become something he couldn't control.
