Fire pumping through his veins, Liam hated to admit that Rico had a point. Corey was mouthing off to at least four of the bikers. Who knew how many more would join the conflict? He didn't like involving Rico in anything, though. Rico kept his nose clean, and he was too old for this kind of shit.

“Alright, but don't get too deep in it.”

“I'm coming, too,” Mike Rowdy chimed in.

Biz rose from his stool, as well, without a word.

Well, that outnumbered the fuckers Corey was about a second away from going to blows with. Making their way over to them, Liam steeled himself for the possible worst. The Loko MC were reckless bastards. The types to pull out a knife for no fucking reason. They had a tendency to create trouble where it didn't need to be.

“Everything alright over here?”

Jerking his head in Liam's direction, clearly ready to tell him off before he realized who'd addressed him, Corey's eyes widened, and in that misstep, the bald-headed biker he'd been doing the majority of the mouthing off to caught him square in the jaw.

From there, all hope for peace dissolved in a calamity of trained blows met with reckless, wilder blows. Liam had acted without thinking, knocking the bald-headed due in the jaw. Corey took on the long-haired brunette moving in for Liam, who'd fashioned himself like a Native in a cut-off jean jacket with the Loko MC emblem sewn onto a stretching patch over the back.

It didn't take long for little bro to handle him, but before he had a chance to catch his breath, the rest of the bikers had taken notice and dropped their pool sticks to rush over and break up the mayhem. Surprisingly, they were using their heads. A bar brawl would attract cops, and that wasn't good for a crew that dealt in illegal trading.

“Woah, Woah. Woah,” the Pres called out, yanking back several of his brothers by the shoulders. Little Mike (who as it happened, wasn't so little). Liam knew him from the gym. Before he'd chosen this path, he'd had a hell of a boxing career ahead of him. Locking eyes with Liam, he gave him a nod of recognition.

“You think you can calm your men down?”

"If you can rein in yours."

"I can do that."

It took some doing, but between Liam and Little Mike, they managed to put an end to the flying fists and poised beer bottles. But the good will had long left the air by the time they'd finished. It was time to go.

Liam couldn't hang around here now without feeling the need to watch his back every five seconds. Giving Rico and the others a knowing look, he gave them a final farewell with his other hand gripping the back of Corey's shirt, tight.

“Thanks. Sorry about fucking up the evening.”

“Oh nah, man. This was fun. We don't get a lot of action outside of the ring,” Mike Rowdy assured him.

Liam didn't hang around after that. He'd been trying to get his hands on Corey for a minute, and now that he had him, he was going to lay into him, verbally, but forcefully. This shit had to stop. He refused to watch his brother throw his life away.

The cycle had to end somewhere.

Passing through the exit, his stole a glance at the bikers, giving Little Mike a nod while taking note of the cold glances the others were giving them. He didn't get the best feeling from that. They'd probably be looking for some sort of reprisal. And that wasn't the sort of shit Liam needed in his life right now.

Turning his eyes ahead of him, he started at who he saw waiting outside of the door to get in: Jackie and a Japanese chic with electric blue hair trailing down to her elbows. What in the hell was she doing coming to Dwight's?

They held one another's gaze a long moment before he gave her a half-nod and kept it moving. His whole purpose for coming out was to get her off of his mind, even if the universe had other plans. He had a different set of problems to contend with right now.

~

“You trying to get yourself killed or something?”

Liam was nearing the end of his rant, but he was flipping pissed at the arrogant expression pasted on his brother's face. Tossing a towel his way, he took a seat across from him. If he had to lecture him for the next three hours, he was fully prepared to do that. Shit, he'd failed to do it enough before, apparently. And it wasn't like their father was even trying to get him on a better road. He doubted Corey even knew their father was getting married.

Corey represented the sort of element that would be bad for press.

Their father was a fucking jerk. Plain and simple.

“Look, man. I heard you, alright?”

“You heard me, huh? Little man, you haven't heard jack. You're going to get your shit together, or you'll have a lot worse than the Loko MC to worry about. I don't care if I have to give you a fucking job mopping the floors here until you apprentice up and earn your ink. The street phase of your existence is fucking done. You hear me, kid? Done.”

He could tell Corey wanted to roll his eyes in the worst way, and it was a damned good sign that he didn't. It satisfied Liam enough to lean back in his chair and give him the steel-eye before telling him to get his ass in the shower.

“There's a change of clothes in the bottom drawer. Use them. You're not getting blood on my furniture.”

Quietly storming off with no response, Corey let the bathroom door close behind him with a click, and Liam rose up from the chair with a sigh. Seriously, this better be the last time his brother got himself into unnecessary bullshit. As it was, those fuckers were probably going to be looking for him. Maybe both of them. They'd do it under their Pres's nose, but Liam doubted they'd give it up anytime soon. Corey needed to lay low. And he definitely needed to keep Liam as far away from that nonsense as possible.

Checking his face in the mirror, relief flooded him. A couple nicks from the rings of the big dude he'd gotten into an impromptu sparring match with when the bald guy had hit the floor, but no lasting damage.

Thank God.

Things could have gone a lot farther south than they had tonight. He needed to get his head back in the game. No more distracting bullshit. As soon as he got the call, he'd be on the set of “National Ink” for 3 months. It was the promo spot of a lifetime, and he was determined to follow through with it.

Jackie

Jackie smiled at Roxy's quietly snoring body on the sleeper. It was good to have her back. She hated when Roxy picked up and left with no explanation. She worried about her, even though she knew she could handle herself. Stretching and tying her hair up in a bun, she tucked into the blanket on the opposite couch, still slightly buzzed but more concerned than anything.

They'd arrived at the tail end of a bar brawl, and had almost been turned away for the night, being dainty ladies no one wanted to see hurt if the madness started up again. But Carole had noticed them standing outside and told the bouncer to let them through. Then she told them all about the brawl, which had apparently started with Liam's brother and devolved in Liam jumping in with his friends.

She'd been shocked as hell to even see him there, but of course, there was a great deal she didn't know about him. She was at least warmed to the idea that he had no problems hanging around people that weren't on his hob-nob level. It said something about his character, and she couldn't deceive herself about how curious it made her to know more.

Merge that with Roxy's unexpected approval, even knowing that Liam was about to be Jackie's stepbrother. She was still wrapping her mind around that. It was the exact opposite of what she'd been expecting to hear from her dearest friend in the whole wide world, and it was chipping away at the part of her that had been fending Liam off.