Brian stiffened. “Your woman?” A smirk lifted the stupid bastard’s lips, and still he didn’t let go. “She didn’t mention you. Sorry, bro.”

She knew the guy had shit for brains, but the moron obviously had a death wish as well. She didn’t know if he thought his association with Deke would save his ass, or if he was just that stupid.

Reid said no more, grabbed Brian by the shirt, hauled him back, and slammed him against the wall. The tools hanging beside them clattered and a couple dropped to the floor. “You didn’t take your hands off her.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Brian gasped, feet all but dangling above the ground. “Rusty and I have a history. We were close once. I just wanted to catch up.”

“Reid. Let him go.” She grabbed his arm. “He’s not worth it.”

Reid didn’t look at her, rage rolling off him, every vein and tendon bulging in his neck and forearms. “He touched you. No one touches you, especially not this piece of shit.”

Brian turned a blotchy, ugly shade of red. “What did she tell you?”

“Everything,” Reid gritted out.

“Did she say she didn’t want it? Because I can tell you now, she was gagging for it.”

Reid yanked him forward and slammed him against the wall, cutting off the crap pouring from his mouth. Then his fist drew back and plowed into the shorter man’s jaw.

“Reid! Jesus. Stop.” Rusty tried to grab at him, but strong hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her away.

“What the hell’s going on?” Deacon said, pulling her further back.

Brian tried to take a swing, but Reid easily dodged it and slammed his fist into his jaw. Brian went down hard, but Reid didn’t stop. He straddled the guy and continued to hit him. Deacon let her go and jumped in, dragging Reid off, or trying to.

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She also couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. Now Deacon and Reid were wrestling on the ground as Reid kept trying to get at Brian. The man in question had dragged himself out of the way, leaning against the wall, holding his nose, while blood pissed out all over his expensive suit. One of his eyes was already swelling shut, and his lip was split.

Rusty got in beside Reid and her brother. “Reid, you need to calm down. Now.”

His head twisted toward her, gaze black with rage, breath puffing in and out of his lungs. He shrugged off Deacon, but her brother stayed close, ready to stop him again if need be. Reid looked down at Brian cowering on the ground, then at her. She couldn’t read the expression on his face, but it wasn’t good.

She grabbed his arm. “Reid…”

He shrugged her off as well. “I need to leave.”

Deacon stepped forward. “Yeah, you sure the fuck do.”

Rusty spun to face her brother. “Mind your own damn business, Deke.”

Her brother ignored her. “I don’t want you seeing my sister anymore. Just stay the hell away from her,” he said, jaw tight.

“Deacon!” She stepped in front of him and tried to talk to Reid. “Ignore him. Come on. Let’s go to my place and talk.”

Deke tried to shove her behind him again. “He’s got an anger problem. Shit, if I hadn’t been here…”

Alex sneered down at Brian, who was watching the drama unfold. “He more than deserved what he got.”

Deacon stared at his fiancée. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Rusty ignored them as Alex started telling her brother the whole nasty story. Instead she focused on Reid, and the stricken look on his face. “Reid, please.”

He shook his head. “I have to go.” Then he strode from the workshop and out the door. She ran after him, but he was already in his car, firing up the engine by the time she got to him.

He backed up without looking at her—even when she called his name—and drove off without a backward glance.

Chapter Eighteen

“How many times do I have to repeat this shit, Dominic?” Reid shook his head. “Get the hell out of my sight.” The kid stared up at him like he wanted to batter him with the wrench in his hand, then decided against it and skulked off.

“What’s crawled up your ass?” Law said, coming to stand beside him.

“He doesn’t fuckin’ listen. Either he starts or he finds another job.”

His friend stared at him in disbelief. “You’d do that to him? After everything he’s been through?”

“Not my problem.”

Law narrowed his eyes, knew he was full of it. Yeah he was pissed, and yeah, he was taking his bad mood out on the boy, but he could never do that to him, despite his threats.

“I’ll be hitting the road again in a couple weeks. Can I trust you on your own? Or am I gonna come back and find you’ve fired the whole fuckin’ lot of them cause someone got your panties in a wad?”

Law was a member of the Rogue Saint’s MC—had been since they were young—but because he worked for Reid, overseeing his different stores around the country, he’d chosen the life of a nomad. A brother with no set charter. It worked well for both of them. Especially since Law was the only person that called Reid out when he was acting like a dick.

He could do without that on a regular basis. “You know me better than that.”

“Yeah? These guys owe you a hell of a lot, all of them. They respect you, work their asses off for you because of what you’ve done for each and every one of them. Don’t mess that up because you’ve had a fight with your woman. That’s not cool, bro.”

He clenched his fists and felt the pull against the tender skin there. A wave of nausea hit him in the gut. “I didn’t fight with Rusty.”

“What’s the problem, then? You’ve been an asshole for the last two days.”

Reid didn’t look at him, couldn’t. “I fucked up.”

“Yeah?” His friend’s expression went from pissed to concerned in a flash. Jesus, he hated that. Hated that as much as he’d tried to convince himself otherwise, convince himself that he wasn’t that guy, that angry, damaged person he saw in the mirror every morning, that it was all bullshit, because Law knew different. It was written all over the other man’s face. They’d seen each other at their worst, knew what the other was capable of. Had seen the ugly that lay beneath.

“I beat a guy. A guy from Rusty’s past, because he’d hurt her, because he was touching her.” He shoved his hands in his hair. “She saw the whole thing. Watched me lose my shit, watched me turn into a goddamn monster.”

“Jesus.” His friend walked around, hard stare locking with Reid’s. “The cops involved?”

He shrugged. He had no idea, but if the cops had been called he guessed he would have had a visit by now. “Don’t know.”

“What’re you gonna do?”

“What I should have done when I first laid eyes on her.” Law frowned, about to say more, but Reid shook his head, and thankfully his friend knew better than to push.

Turning his back on the guy, he headed to his office. The conversation was closed, he did not want to be talked around, couldn’t afford to be. His mind was made up.

He’d lost it, completely. If Rusty’s brother hadn’t been there to drag him off the guy, Reid would have killed him. If he was honest, he still wanted to. He wanted to hurt that son of a bitch for what he’d done, for touching her, for daring to speak to her.

But that wasn’t what freaked him the most. What really got to him was the look on Rusty’s face. He couldn’t get it out of his head. The shock, the confusion—the horror.

His father was right. He was nothing but a chip off the old block. He’d always known it. That motherfucker had infected him, had poisoned him long ago, and there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing but keep his distance, go back to the way it was before Rusty exploded into his life. Before she threw light into the darkness that was his world, shining bright, completely rocking his narrow existence.