Where the f.u.c.k is she? My heart feels like it's just stopped. My blood has stopped flowing; my breath has stopped entering my lungs.

"Over here," she yells and my breath picks up again. I look in the direction her voice came in and I see her squatting over Hammer with her hand against a bleeding wound.

I run over there and sigh in relief because it's just an arm wound. "f.u.c.k," Hammer shouts as she squeezes more pressure against his arm.

"Well it's bleeding a lot," she says undoing his belt and bringing it around his arm. She looks to me with blood covering almost every inch of her body. "It's not going to be easy keeping my father's men off me. I'm gonna have to be smart about what I say."

I groan as the cops, ambulances and fire trucks roar to a stop outside of the compound gate.

Even though I have most of the local cops in my pocket, they still do a thorough interrogation. Since Winter's father Vlad Belov was indeed a Russian Mafia leader, they deem the whole ma.s.sacre self-defense. But that isn't what is worrying Angel. She's worried about what the mafia will do. She doesn't know if they are p.i.s.sed off at her, or if they will be able to find another leader. When I asked her which way she thought it would go, she said to flip a coin because it actually is a fifty, fifty shot. Dizzy's wound ended up being a deep flesh wound. The Breakneck ladies went back to their chapter after their questioning was over. Of course, the cops told them not to leave their county for the next few weeks just in case they needed to answer more questions.

The news channels have been hitting Angel hard for interviews, and she keeps declining. She left a message on someone's phone about needing a call back. She's taking it as a bad sign because whomever she called isn't calling her back. Right now, my Angel is sitting on a stool in front of the remembrance case just staring at the photo of her and Lana. I want to get copies made of the picture; she says she has hundreds of pictures. This one is just different. She said she feels closer to Lana this way. I a.s.sume her ashes in the urn behind the picture are what she means by different.

Tatiana is sitting on the couch with Berry when Shadow comes in saying there is a kid here for her. I look at the monitor and recognize Haden right away. If ZZ sees him, it'll be h.e.l.l to pay for the s.h.i.t that little f.u.c.ker pulled on his daughter.

"I don't know why he's here," Tatiana says to herself as she gets up to walk outside. I follow because let's face it, this club has seen enough drama and bloodshed to last us for a while. If ZZ is feeling trigger happy..., well let's not think about that. Shadow and Berry follow us too. I know Shadow likes Tatiana, I just don't know how much and I worry about that. A brother falling for a daughter hasn't been done in my MC before. Don't know how that would f.u.c.king flow.

"What in the h.e.l.l are you doing here?" Tatiana asks Haden.

"I miss you... ugh can we talk alone." He cowards out.

"No... this is my family. I tell them pretty much everything."

Good girl Tatiana. She isn't falling for this little douchebags s.h.i.t.

"Fine, I want you back," he says standing tall.

"What a shame because I don't want you back." She laughs out, picking at her nails as if she's bored, but I know little Tat, and she is very much enjoying this s.h.i.t.

"Baby," he whispers trying to be suave.

"Oh give it a rest. You need to go. Bye Haden." She gives a little wave as she walks away.

"You heard the girl; get the h.e.l.l outta here," Shadow demands.

"What are you? Her new toy?" Haden laughs trying to knock the blow of rejection down a notch.

"Do you see this man's cut?" I ask.

Haden's eyes narrow as if he doesn't give a s.h.i.t and that just further p.i.s.ses me off. No respect. "You have two seconds to get the f.u.c.k off of my compound," I say and the dude still doesn't move. I get out my knife and start twirling it around in my fingers. This of course works. Why does violence always have to be the reasoning behind everything? Haden leaves smoke trails as his a.s.s high tails it outta here.

"G.o.d I've never wanted to hurt a motherf.u.c.ker so bad," Shadow grunts.

I shake my head laughing as I walk back inside to check on Angel. I just left her there staring at her best friends ashes, and that's where I find her still when I get back inside.

I don't ask if she's all right and I don't say anything other than I love you. She doesn't respond, and I didn't expect her too. I know she loves me; she's just in an extremely dark place. I've only been in her life less than half a year, and I've uprooted almost every single d.a.m.n aspect of it.

Her phone rings drawing her out of her mourning. She sighs and pulls her phone from her back pocket. She breathes in deep before standing and walking towards my chapel. She's not invading my s.p.a.ce; she wants me in the same room with her, and this is the closet for the most privacy.

"h.e.l.lo Uncle Yuriy. I'd prefer it if you speak English, please," Angel says as she puts her phone on speaker.

"It seems you've made a mess princess." His deep Russian accent comes through.

"Yes, well... we all knew Vlad was best for those, so it's only suiting I follow right?"

"So is what I saw on the news true my dear niece; did you put a bullet into my brother's head?"

Oh, f.u.c.k! She didn't tell me she was waiting on a call from her actual uncle.

"I did," she says simply.

Her uncle sighs. "I always knew he would cause his own death. So what do you want from me Winter?"

"I'm wondering if I should shave my head bald and change my name," she laughs out but it's forced.

"I've already taken over," he answers and her entire body relaxes. "You only did what was inevitable."

"Uncle, I know what I'm about to ask is a lot, but I beg of you, please take in consideration everything I've gone through," she chokes out. This f.u.c.ker must really scare her.

"Speak princess."

"I was wondering if you could have someone pack up my belongings and send them to me. I didn't really bring much with me when I ran. And if... and if... can I have my trust fund," she rushes out.

"I'll tell you what, niece of mine. If you agree to visit at least one holiday a year, I will grant you all of these things."

Oh h.e.l.l to the no. Over my dead body. She is not going back there.

"May I bring my boyfriend with me if I visit?" she asks.

"You may."

"Then I agree with your terms uncle," she whispers.

"You will have all of what you ask within seventy two hours. Not an hour longer. I will see you on this year's American Christmas."

"Yes and thank you uncle; see you in a few months," she says.

"Da," he says clicking off. "Yes."

"What the h.e.l.l did you just do? I thought you wanted away from that life. I thought you didn't want any ties to your old life, Angel."

I can't help it; I'm so f.u.c.king p.i.s.sed. Haven't we already dealt with enough from her family? I mean come the h.e.l.l on!

"He could have me killed so fast by putting a large price on my head. He chooses to be an uncle and not an avenger for my father's death. He is also sending me my belongings. Not everything from that life was bad. I went to good schools, had good friends, my trophies. Everything from my childhood I want back. I also want my money. I only got away with what I saved behind my father's back. Do you know how much money is in my trust? I may be what some call a mafia princess, but my mother was of a royal line. She's not dead; I have no I idea where she is. She left me that when she left my father and from what I was told, it wasn't even a quarter of what my mother had. My money is untouchable to anyone else. I know that is the only reason my uncle is going to have the lawyers transfer it to me. I wasn't supposed to get it until I turned twenty five."

I do want to know how much money is worth visiting once a year for the rest of her life and I'm not ashamed to ask her either.

"How much is this risk worth besides just your belongings?"

"Only one hundred and twelve million," she says and smiles.

She's s.h.i.tting me; I know she is. There is no way this woman ran away from that much money all because of some s.h.i.t her father did.

"I know what you're thinking and I was gonna go back when the time came. It's mine. My mother left it to me and no one else. Some of my belongings are the only things I have of hers. So there you have it."

"I need to sit down," I say.

f.u.c.k, I feel like a pansy. She doesn't need me to take care of her. She's proven that. She's been raped, she's killed people, and she's lost her best friend. She's also a f.u.c.king millionaire. I'm just this useless piece of trash biker. She's also a mafia princess and has royal blood running through her veins. How in the h.e.l.l did I allow this s.h.i.t to happen? I fell in love with someone who will most likely leave me. I can't friggin' breathe. s.h.i.t.

"Brax," I hear her say through the sound of blood pounding my ears. "Baby."

I grip my hair so tight as I silently scream f.u.c.k over and over again in my head. She jerks both my hands out of my hair, forcing her angelic golden eyes to my dark and cloudy gray ones.

"What's wrong?"

What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong. She's gonna leave me and I'm gonna have to kill my f.u.c.king self because I won't be able to live without her.

"You don't need me. You're gonna end up leaving my biker trash a.s.s," I choke out. I can't help it. This is some scary s.h.i.t. Never has a women grabbed a hold of me like her and I don't want that feeling to ever go away.

"Why would I do that? I love you."

"You're too good for me. You don't belong in my world. f.u.c.k, is it hot in here?" I say shrugging outta my cut.

What in the h.e.l.l is happening to me?

"I don't belong in your world," she repeats in disbelief. "I'm too good for you? I'm a murderer and a woman who was repeatedly raped, Brax. And even after all that, you still want me and you still love me. You're scaring me. I can't lose you too Brax. I can't do it. Not after Lana. I just can't; please don't leave me because you think I'm too good for you and you think I don't belong here with you. Please, please don't," she cries. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the money. I just want it because my mother left it for me. We don't even have to spend it. I won't spend it. Just don't force me away."

She thinks this is because she's rich? f.u.c.k, I've never made her cry. Not because of me. Not because of something I've said. Yeah, not liking this feeling either. Stupid f.u.c.king feelings. I don't understand them.

"I'm sorry, Angel. I'm sorry I said that. I don't mean it. f.u.c.k, I don't mean any of that. C'mere," I rush out. I just need to hold her and take everything I just made her feel away.

"You made my heart hurt," she sobs out.

"I'm so f.u.c.king sorry, baby," I say wrapping her in my arms. "I'm not gonna lie and say that your money doesn't intimidate me because it does."

"I don't know why. You probably have that in the gold pipeline, probably even more."

Uh my woman has ears. "Yeah but the man is still supposed to take care of the woman." I laugh, stroking her back.

"I thought we weren't the usual kind of couple? That falls under pretenses that aren't like us, Brax."

Dammit, why does she do that? Always justifies s.h.i.t.

"You're right. We're not. Let's agree to just love, spoil and f.u.c.k one another equally, yeah?"

She looks up, her gold eyes trained on me, wide, serious and staring straight into the depths of my soul.

"Don't leave me, Brax."

"Never," I say truthfully.

She's my Winter for my hottest summer days. She's the Angel for my h.e.l.l. I will never leave her. She will have to do the leaving and even if she did leave, she'd still own every single inch of me.

It's been three days since I've talked to my uncle and he released my money. As per our agreement with the lawyers, they are not responsible or liable for any future lawsuits because they released my money early. I needed someone to sign in that place and to my shock, my uncle did. It's a shock because if my mother were to ever come around, ever find this out, and be angry about it, he would be responsible for paying back what I spent between those years.

I imagine this is why he made me agree to one holiday a year. He wants to be able to find me and still know everything there is to know about me. I don't blame him. It's a lot of money. I have access to Lana's account and I have donated her trust fund that to an advocate program for victims of violence. I obviously did the donation through her stage name. Victims who receive care and treatment will think of the woman named Hazel who helped changed their life. That is the best feeling in the world. I know deep down it was the right thing to do. I know I would have her complete blessing on it too.

Braxxon is out on club business or so he says. He didn't take anyone with him and that's not like him when he's out on club business. I trust him. I really do. It's just that he's up to something and I can't figure out what it is. Ever since our conversation the other day, I've been on edge that he's gonna end up leaving me. I know he will never cheat on me now that we've said I love you, but he will leave me if he feels it's better for me and that's one scary feeling to have.

My love for him is so deep and so powerful it alone owns me.

Tatiana graduated yesterday and it was so touching to be able to share that with her. It was a piece of normality that I needed. The fact that I'm still sane is a miracle. This has been the roughest year of my life. I hope the chaos and bad s.h.i.t stays in this year too and leaves my future alone.

I'm sitting on the couch in the community room surfing through spas on my laptop. I want to give Tatiana a spa weekend with Berry for her graduation. I want Berry to be the one to take her because I feel like Berry could use it. She lost her husband and she has been so good to me; she deserves some R&R.

"Winter," Rap says walking up to me. "Someone's at the gate saying she's Tatiana's mother. I can't find any of the brothers and you're the only ol' lady around. I'm getting ready to call ZZ, but this b.i.t.c.h is persistent."

"s.h.i.t. Okay. Call ZZ and I'll hold her off," I say closing my laptop. "Just like any other day, nothing but drama. How much longer you got left, Rap?"

He smiles. "Just one month."

I hope they vote him in. He sure as h.e.l.l deserves it.

"Good. All right, is this woman hostile? Do I need my gun or anything?"

I'm only half kidding. Just half though.

"I don't think so...," he trails off.

"Okay."

I take my phone with me and text Braxxon as I walk. Even though Rap is calling ZZ, I still think Brax needs to know.

His response was as I thought it would be. Nothing but a string of curses followed by I'm on my way. He never puts s.p.a.ces between his curse rants when they're via text and it makes me smile every time because I can just hear his voice actually doing it.

I reach a pretty, blonde woman who looks exactly like Tatiana and is no doubt her mother. She frowns as I approach.

"Where's my daughter?"

Great, she's hostile.

"You'll have to wait for ZZ," I respond.

"Is that his f.u.c.king name now? I haven't seen him since he lied about his d.a.m.n age so I'd f.u.c.k him."

This I already know.

"Well yeah. Anyways, he's on his way and so is Braxxon."